ABF on K-jet - setting up & troubleshooting? Fixed and MOT'd!!!

That would be handy if you could check yours and let me know which wire should go where on the coil connections. Colours of wires would be good as on this car some of the wiring has been repaired in the past and may be difficult to trace as the spade connectors aren't original in some cases.

I have another, later model Mk2 16v which is my daily car and did look at the coil connections on that the other day for comparison. However, it seems to be different and have a lot of extra wiring that the earlier red car doesn't have have so it's difficult to tell if it's the same or not.

All assistance is much appreciated!

 

Was looking up a new coil on the GSF site and just had a thought - would the spark plug choice cause these running issues?

The reason being that I bought a set of new NGK Mk3 ABF spec plugs for this car and am using those, whereas the ones that came out of the KR are different, presumably due to the Mk3 as standard having a cat, electronic fuel injection etc etc...

Should I try the old plugs? Perhaps the original KR fuel and ignition system doesn't like the Mk3 type plugs?

What plugs do other people use in an ABF when fitted in a Mk2 with k-jet?

 

HI ya,
i had some similar issues when i did a conversion to a 9a last year.
i had tried most of the suggestions above as mine would idle fine, rev cleanly with no load but then struggle once out on the road but always ran a lot better with a full tank

I know it sounds silly but if the car has been stood for a while then all sorts of crap might be sat in the bottom of the tank and since you said it ran better with fresh fuel it could be worth investigating the fueling. My car was cursed with similar symptoms and a fuel filter and lift pump made all the difference !

 

Thanks for the suggestions - I will definitely look into the fuel situation, very frustrating problem this, can't seem to find an easy resolution!


I've just changed the spark plugs to see if that helped. It had Mk3 spec NGK BKUR6ET's in there, I have now swapped for a set of new Bosch FR6DC+ 'Super Plus Yttrium' ones which I had 'in stock'.

I reset the idle, mixture and timing again and the car does seem to idle smoother, dead on 1k rpm on the rev counter when warmed up, but unfortunately the original problem persists. Also, when revved hard now there seems to be a fumey smelling smoke from the exhaust like it's too rich, or burning a bit of oil?!?

Any more ideas?!?

 

Thinking about this again and could the apparent 'pinking' be caused by fuel starvation under load, whereas it's fine just idling? Presumably that would cause pre-detonation wouldn't it?

I think my next port of call is to start checking the fuel pumps, filter etc as recommended above but it could still be the coil. I don't want to keep replacing bits to find out what's wrong really but can't see another way, bah!

Any more help always appreciated

 

gsf i quite cool about bringing parts back.

get the coil. it takes 5 minutes to fit. if it doesnt change. take it off, box it up and take it back.

they will be cool with that

 

Yes, good point and in any case, if I don't change the coil and start messing with other things and it still doesn't come right, I'll always suspect the coil!

I ordered a new Bosch coil today from GSF, will see how I get on when that arrives. Fingers crossed!

Also remembered I have a spare good fuel pump, filter, accumulator and fuel line setup in the garage so if I start looking into the fuelling at least I have most of parts already.

 

Did a bit more investigation into the electrical side of things last night.

Firstly I tested the TCI-H switch and associated wiring, as per the Haynes instructions, with my trusty multi-meter and that tested fine. I was a little worried about that as it occured to me I forgot to disconnect the battery when doing some MIG welding on the roll cage a while ago, I believe this can cause electrical issues. Anyway, that seems fine. Also tested the LT side of the coil and that seemed fine too.

I also un-did the coil from the bulkhead and checked out the connections - pics below. As you can see the wiring has been repaired in the past so is a little confusing colour wise - does this look correct? My other 16v has considerably more wiring in that area so it's difficult to compare.






Basically it seems to have these connections.

15+ terminal side

1. white connector with 2x black/white wires
2. plain black wire (jointed to green with blue spade connector in pic)

-1 terminal side

1. plain green wire
2. 2x red/black wires (jointed into one blue spade connector with light blue wire)

Earth strap from cam cover to coil bracket is present and correct.

I think one of the red/black wires is the usual one you disconnect when setting up to kill the ISV circuit, the other must be the rev counter as that also dies when this lead is disconnected as I noticed when setting up the idle.

Does this lot look right, ignoring the repairs and different coloured wires of course?!? It used to work alright with the KR in there!

Any help much appreciated - the Haynes diagrams aren't very clear in this area!

 

Stu just checked my 16v and the wiring looks right in that the black/white & black wire connect to the same terminal and the same is true for the green & red/black.

The reason revcounter counter dies is beacuse of the bodged repairs, one of the red/black wires should be a pig tail from the coil which then has another spade connector to allow for disconnecting the ISV

 

You said earlier that you tried advancing the timing. Reading through i keep saying to myself the timing is too far advanced! Have you tried retarding the timing? 1st thing id do if i had pinking. If this sorts it and all your marks are lined up then id look into why the marks are wrong. In the past ive had 2 keys shear on the crank pulley throwing my timing out.

 

Thanks for checking and confirming that Jamie - one less thing to question!

Judderi - Yes, I did question the timing marks myself but have checked TDC with a metal rod down the spark plug hole on cylinder number one and the marks are correct for when number one piston is at the top of it's stroke.

 

Right, tonight's progress:

Good news - new coil arrived from GSF (very quick service!)




Bad news - fitted it, cleaned up all the connections, crossed my fingers and....


... it doesn't make the car run any different!


But - I have had this nagging thought that perhaps the fuel pump, lift pump or associated wiring was on the way out so started to investigate.

The lift pump wiring was all taped up so I started to remove the tape and discovered that firstly it was very warm from the car running, suggesting a possible short circuit. Secondly, it looked like this... It may just have been getting a bit hot then looking at the colour of it!






So I am beginning to think that the lift pump as gone, hence the running issues under load but idling ok problem I've been having. You can hear the lift pump running when the engine is running, so it's definitely getting power but perhaps it's struggling to go and hence heating up the wiring under load?

To double check the lift pump was in fact knackered I tried starting the car and driving it with the pump disconnected (but the main fuel pump still connected of course) and guess what, it makes no difference! The lift pump connected or not, the car still runs like a bag of cr@p!

Can anyone confirm for me that the lift pump is indeed knackered for me so I can order a new one tonight then it'll hopefully be here for the weekend.

Am I right in thinking this would cause the running problems / pinking etc I've been having?

 

Even with the static timing correct your ignition timing could still be way too far advanced. Id still try retarding the ignition timing, quick and easy to do. But i also think your onto something with the lift pump! Id agree that maybee the wire is knackered because of the extra current its trying to draw due to failing pump. Replace the pump with the one from your second car to try.

 

when my lift pump went the car still ran but like a kangaroo.

don't think they are all that expensive so i'd say it would be worth changing anyway just to rule it out

 

lift pump and fuel filter can be bought for 30ish quid.
have you tried testing the fuel pressure at all? if not get a gauge and check now before spending many more hours and potentially buying parts you might not need.

a dead lift pump puts a hell of a strain on the main pump so depending on how long its been dead the main pump could be suffering to.

good luck!

 

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies, all much appreciated. I ordered a new lift pump from GSF last night so hopefully it will be here tomorrow, they have been very good with quick deliveries on all these bits so far so fingers crossed.

Thought it was worth replacing for 30 even though the old pump does appear to run as surely it should have some effect on the running of the car when I unplug it? In this case the car runs the same, revs the same, and makes the same nasty pinking noises with the lift pump connected or not.

Tonight I've stuck another 5L can of Optimax in the tank and removed the old lift pump ready to swap it. Everything looks ok in the tank from what I can see through the hole where the pump and level sender go, and I've been careful not to drop any dirt in there.

Hopefully the new pump, plus plenty of fuel will do it. If not, as mentioned, next thing is to look at the fuel filter, lines and under car pump of which thankfully I have good spares from my other car.

I wonder if it's worth blowing out the fuel lines from the metering head back? I did this on my other 16v once when I was having cold starting trouble with it (turned out to be a knackered WUR in the end) and it seemed to help.

More tomorrow no doubt when the saga will continue!

 

Judderi - I know what you mean about the ignition timing. I did originally have it set to an indicated 0 deg btdc by simply rotating the dizzy so the mark in the outside of the casing lined up with the rotor arm at TDC on #1 cylinder. It still ran poorly like that, didn't want to start, backfired etc hence why I advanced it to 6 deg btdc once it would idle.

I'm not sure it could be that far out as I fitted the flywheel, pulleys, cams and everything myself and always made sure everything lined up and was fitted correctly. None of the parts were damaged so they could fit incorrectly, ie. the keyways in the pulleys etc weren't sheared.

 

Kerrly - Cheers!

No, haven't checked the fuel pressure as I don't have a gauge. Could do with one though so if / when it is running properly I can modify the WUR and set up the control pressure to suit the larger engine. Any tips on where to get a suitable gauge for a reasonable price?

 

Hi
Please explain this a bit more.
The key helps to locate the pulley onto the cranksahft and then the pulley must have bolts going throuugh it. So if the key shears but the bolts are still intact, then how does the timing get upset. Cheers in advance.

 

Right, more tinkering - it's driving me mad!

New lift pump didn't arrive today so I cleaned up and put back the original one since it seems to work to see if I could troubleshoot the problem further.

I disconnected and blew out the fuel lines from the metering head back to the tank and also the fuel pressure regulator valve. I notice that the inlet line banjo bolt has a filter built into it, I don't remember this on my other 16v? Should it be there? Would this restict fuel flow?

Started back up and set the mixture, idle etc. again and still the same problem as expected... but now with a new problem. If you rev the car over 5k rpm the oil light flashes and the buzzer sounds? What's going on?!?

The oil level is fine and the wiring to the senders is ok - could it be an earth somewhere? Again these look fine?

Am I going mad?

As Judderi says above - what if my flywheel marks were wrong somehow (not sure how) and the timing was too far advanced to start with, would it run out of advance at 5k rpm in the map and cause havoc?

If I wanted to start again with the ignition timing and ignore the marks, where would I start though? Set the engine to TDC and the dizzy to zero degrees with the mark on the outside of the casing?

Making a sausage butty now, hopefully I can manage that and will have a flash of inspiration whilst eating...

Help please!