aluminum radiator...

previously i did mentioned i had overheating issues if maintain speeds above 140kmh rite??... i guess the problem should be my old radiator stuffed with rust inside... hence causing blockage which prevent heat from being dissipated away...

i bought myself a thicker aluminum radiator from omels... costing Rm190, the price is rather reasonable... plug and play as well...



i also took this opportunity to change a few items...



JASMA silicone radiator hose...



new radiator fan motor...



1.1 bar radiator cap...

first step is to remove the whole radiator unit from the car... disconnect the radiator fan wiring and radiator hose... allow rusted water to drain away from the engine block...



old radiator out from engine bay...



dismantle the radiator fan housing from the old radiator... need to reuse the housing...



install back new radiator fan motor, new fan blade, fan switch sensor, casing and silicone radiator hose to the new aluminum radiator...



install back everything in reverse order into the engine bay... fill up with new toyota long life coolant and top up with RO water... do not use pipe water as it has iron residue inside which promotes rust in the new aluminum radiator...



so far tested speed 170kmh no indication of overheating... as i'm using thermostat, temperature will always maintain at normal temperature...

lower arms...

next up in my repair list... lower arm bush... its been vibrating even since 6 months ago... each time wanna do alignment mechanic sure complain cannot do coz "goyang"... initially planned to save up and go for some stiff SuperPro bushings... complete front set cost Rm540 set me back... i need to budget some for other stuff... in the end i decided to go conventional with rubber bushings...

so, here are the shopping list...



lower arm left and right side...



main lower arm bush...

i took this opportunity to change the tie rod end as well...





old lower arm...



new lower arm... use back the old bracket which mounts to the lower subframe...



during installation, mechanic also discovered my badly worn satay bush thread...



in goes the new set...



overall fairly satisfied... steering no longer vibrates under hard braking... but one thing i not satisfied is the badly done alignment... steering does not straightened itself and obvious "yiik yiik" sound from the front suspension strut... i guess its due to the tired front absorber and/or worn out top mount bush... need to change that and redo my alignment nicely...

driveshaft problem... again...

remember my last experience with broken right side drive shaft (the shorter one) last year December??...

http://kahchai1985.blogspot.com/2008/12/rh-driveshaft.html

yes it happened again a couple of weeks ago... obvious symptom is ur steering will automatically jerk to the right vigorously each time u accelerate... during that sunday i went to my frequent spare part shop to inquire the price of the drive shaft... lady luck was not on my side that day... the last junction turning to the shop, i heard a loud snapping sound coming from the drive shaft... as soon as that happened, i lost all drive... the bearings had disintegrated from the constant velocity (CV) joint.. in other words, the drive shaft is spinning freely but the wheel as no drive... bought my drive shaft for Rm145 and left my car there overnight... on monday i pushed my car to nearby workshop to get it changed...



my disintegrated ball bearings jz dropped out...



changed to this one... hopefully this can hold much longer than the previous one...



as removing the drive shaft from gearbox will drain out some gear oil, the mechanic topped up the drained oil with his el-cheapo gear oil, which i presume has higher viscosity... now my gear change no longer smooth as before...

cylinder head project v1.1...

couple of months back bought a cylinder head from SIC forumer... complete set including valve springs, rocker arms, and camshaft... plans to rebuild this valvetrain nicely hoping to optimize the cylinder head flow efficiency...

took my sweet time dismantling the parts out one by one... as i didnt have valve spring compressor, i took the cylinder head to my mechanic to remove it... he taught me a very simple and effective way of removing the valve spring... put the cylinder head on a wooden block... position a spark plug opener on top of the valve spring... use a hammer to knock on it until the valve spring retainers come loose (fly out)...

another important thing is to document each and every valve with respect to their cylinder... no idea why but my mechanic said each valve is unique to its valve seat at the cylinder head...



bought some steel brush with some ron97 shell fuel as detergent... lolz...



after some hard cleaning job... here is the outcome... some stubborn stain still remains at hard to reach area... have to buy more fuel and soak the whole cylinder head with petrol overnight to remove the stubborn stain...





next up... still deciding whether i should send it to professional for port and polish job or jz DIY... this is also a good chance for me to learn how to do top overhaul myself...

to be continued...

adjustable fuel pressure regulator...

previously i had overheating problems if maintain at speed 140kmh above... after several discussion with local mechanics, they suspect my ignition timing is a bit too high... i lowered the timing till 10 degrees advance (previously was 25 degree advance)... overheating still occurs... after several consideration, overheating was not mainly due to ignition timing as i suffer no detonation or pinging even at 25 degree advance... AFR was quite stoich refering from my previous dyno run... so, i guess its my tiny radiator problem... a few lines possibly stuck inside due to accumulated rust...

since i had previously bought my fuel pressure regulator, why not try bump up the fuel pressure a bit... richen the AF ratio a little... this allows a bit better cooling as fuel has cooling effect...



currently boosting 2.5 bar...



overheating solved... maintain 150kmh also no overheating... AF is a bit rich... hence, low end torque lost a little...

reinstall thermostat...

previously when i did my engine, my mechanic afraid the engine will face overheating issue... hence, he removed the thermostat for better water flow... this is in fact the wrong method of solving overheating issue... thermostat is there for a reason... it allows the engine to work at proper operating temperature... cold is not always the best...

anyway, i went and bought a normal thermostat rated 82oC... means at 82oC, the valve will open, allows water to flow through it and circulate to the radiator for cooling...



process of installing back the thermostat should be very easy... the thermostat housing is held by just 2 bolts... but in the end i need to remove the fuel rail, throttle body, front strut bar and throttle body coolant lines...



when i install back everything, i noticed my ISC socket is kinda loose... no wonder i had cold start difficulties... now my car warms up faster...

redo exhaust...

previous exhaust piping which i did in melaka was approx 1.6" in diameter... a little too small for current displacement... hence i opted 1.8" piping from extractor flexi pipe till muffler... midbullet also changed a straight flow one as my previous swirl bullet induced alot of restriction in the exhaust gas flow...

mid bullet cost me Rm100 include installation while the piping cost me another Rm160... the piping was ready-made from factory... although not mandrel bent, the finishing of the crush bent piping was good... minimal reduction in piping diameter in the bents...





still pending on a new extractor... still deciding between powerzone, hotbits or zenden... see budget first... muffler last only do la since its still applicable...

efi tune up 1.4...

this time we attack the intake side... throttle body...



the original throttle body that came with the injection package had just 46mm in bore diameter... fairly suitable for standard 1.3L engine... but with the current displacement i'm having, i needed something bigger...

i was planning on getting a 50mm throttle body from 4g92p (1.6 wira) but the prices are kinda steep... halfcut shops are selling at approx Rm350 each...

fortunately i found someone selling this particularly rare throttle body from perdana sei which uses 4G63 SOHC engine... it measures 54mm in bore size diameter... price kinda cheap, Rm220 to be exact...



FYI, the ISC for 4G13, 4G15, 4G92p and 4G63 sohc is the same... hence, its plug and play...

installation was done at home by myself... bought new 0.8mm paper gasket to prevent air leak in between throttle body and intake manifold...



installation was abit tough because the coolant inlet and outlet piping is at the wrong position, blocked by the water temperature sensor... the usage of coolant flowing into the throttle body is to actuate the so-called "autochoke" function to ease cold start in the morning... in the end, i forced and twisted the metal piping away and bypass the coolant so that it does not flow into the throttle body...

i also made a crude heat shield protecting the plastic ISC unit from direct contact with the intense heat from the coolant hose running below the throttle body...



fired up the engine... soon after i found my idling rpm is vr high, approx 1.8k rpm... managed to turn down my idle rpm till the minimum by closing tight the idle air bypass hole and throttle spindle hold back screw... yet, my idle still maintain approx 1.2k and fluctuates 1.2k-1.5k when engine warmed up... my mechanic said too much air leaking through, hence causing the idle fluctuation... he suggested me to remove the ISC completely so not much air will leak through...

another problem i'm facing after swapping to larger throttle body is partial throttle response... the TPS that came with the perdana sei throttle body has 3 pinouts while original 1.3 throttle body has 4 pinouts... the previous seller recommend me to use back my original TPS...

the problem is... maintaining the TPS at stock setting, partial throttle has very bad response... as if throttle body isnt communicating with the ecu... this can be solved by advancing the TPS setting, but creates another problem... advance TPS setting will cause high AF mixture, hence deteriorating the fuel economy...

in the midst of giving up, i swapped the 4 pinout TPS with my 3 pinout TPS and see whats what...



to my surprise, the engine runs smoother than before... latest calculation gives me slightly better fuel economy compare to previous original 4 pinout TPS...

due to slightly larger intake, the engine AF mixture would had messed up... and yes it is... oversize throttle body is certainly letting too much air into the engine..



damn, i'm in desperate need of adjustable fuel pressure regulator to bump up the fuel pressure...

other updates...

bought myself a lightweight, space saving spare tyre... because my current front and rear brake setup requires minimum of 14" rim to clear the calipers, i opt for this lightweight 15" spare rim...



measures 125/70/r15...




lately i also notice my front windscreen has a 4cm long crack... i've enquired from workshop for the fixing cost... they quoted me Rm1xx... they also advice me it is not worth repairing as a brand new windscreen only cost Rm3xx... so, i'll leave it there as it is... unless insurance company willing to cover the damage... hehe...

efi tune up 1.3...

210cc injectors i previously using causes rich AF ratio... this kills my fuel economy and sparkplugs... hence, got my hands on 4g92p injectors... they measures 182cc each... hopefully can achieve close to stoich AF ratio...



changing the injectors are fairly easy... here is step by step on how to change injectors of ur engine...

- unbolt 2 bolts which holds down the fuel rail... becareful not to lose the rubber spacer under the fuel rail...
- disconnect the injectors signal cable... remove the safety pin first...
- pull the injectors out together with the fuel rail...
- unplug each injectors and swap them with ur desired injector... make sure the top o-ring is in good condition... replace it if worn out... worn out o-ring can cause fuel to leak due to high pressure in fuel rail...
- put everything back together in reverse method...