Project TZI- Day 1

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 04 Oct 2004, 00:10

Having collected the car yesterday, and fitted the new battery, I spluttere[:(][:D]d it home, noticing that the temperature gauge read low.
That almost certainly meant that the coolant temperature sensor for the injection was running it too rich for too long. The idle went up and down, surging and falling back regularly and any attempt to pull away was met by missing and cutting out. By the time I'd driven 20 miles back, the missing had stopped but the idle surged between 800 and 1200 on a 3-4 second cycle.
Today, I decided to start with the stat. Engine temperature now being normal, Time to sort out the LE3 Jetronic. Off with its plugs
and out with the ECU. Cleaned out the airway and checked that the flap valve wasn't binding. Air filter was new so that's ok.
Remove the idle speed screw. Thick with crud. Pull the breather pipe off the throttle body, Pipe blocked with muck. All the breather pipes between the airmass meter and the throttle butterfly were loose but owing to the previous owners' wise decision to leave ill alone, the tamper proof cap was on the idle mixture screw.Good. That means that only the other two have been adjusted and I've got a chance of getting it to work. I can also adjust up the rather abrupt clutch.
Lots of cleaning and pipe tightening later I consulted the Encyclopaedia Mendacia for the setting up instructions and fitted a new set of plugs. The idle is around 850 RPM and surges by about 50 rpm on a four or five second interval, with the occasional weak miss.
Which is a damn' sight better than it was! It pulls away on lifting the clutch from idle and then takes throttle well. I reckon that it is just a little lean at idle. Doesn't seem that fast at the top end either. Fuel filter first then soak out the injectors with 10 % paraffin in the petrol for about 50 miles. If that helps, then I'll
have a faster idle, I guess and that will show that the engine is runnning better. I'll be able to turn it down then. Next week,
a back box, some serviceable rear spheres and a quartet of front pads. So far, so good.

Post by **Jon** » 04 Oct 2004, 02:12

Sounds like good work today, maybe when its running 100% you won't feel the need to turn it into an oil burner?!
Remember that we used to remove, and clean those pesky idle speed screws with Brasso (!!) in the "good old days" they tended to stay a bit cleaner for longer then.

prm · Post by **prm** » 04 Oct 2004, 03:30

Does this mean all my sins are going to be discovered with this rebuild. LOL
Have a look at Lambda sensor with miss fire.May tie in with temperature.
You will most probably, sorry, will find, very little internal remains of cat for obvious reasons. Rodded with 2inch iron bar, It also went allot quicker.
Distributor always had a slight oil leak. Never investigated fully. Presume main shaft seal.
Also oil consumption seemed high. Certainly not piston/valve related. Put this down to increased vacuum with the different intake/breather manifold set-up.
One mod I never got round to, drilling drain holes in rear cross-member box section.
Noticed quite a few BX's, saloons and estates start to rust internally on this section where rear exhaust hanger is welded. I wonder if this weakened any protective coatings.
Quite agree with that body shell, must be the best live seen.
If it was red -- you wouldn't have got near it!!
R

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 04 Oct 2004, 13:48

Peter, This car doesn't have a lambda sensor as far as I know.
Lots of the breather assembly sems sludged and/ or blocked which may have caused the crankcase pressure to be a bit high. Terrible shame about the cat!
I suspect a camshaft oil seal has failed, passing oil into the distributor. It is on the list for next weekend.
Re Brasso, I'm reluctant to do that and washed everything in white spirit. I've found from experience that the thing shouldn't be too clean because it will richen up
after a couple of hours' running. At present, I am trying to get the car running cleanly;
fine tuning can only take place then. I'll bet it drinks less now. though!
As for the proposed Diesel conversion, This is a nice engine but it has done 147,000 miles, which for a GTI lump is creditable. I doubt if there is much more life left in it.

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 04 Oct 2004, 15:45

Tom's well on the road to finding all my sins of omission too... though I'd swear the injection system was of a later vintage. That was based on my reading of the encyclopedia mendacia, though.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 04 Oct 2004, 19:22

Oh dear. Just when you get going on a project, the slope of the playing field alters.
I had planned to stash this one at Dinard so that I could fly from Luton, but Flybe are starting a service from Southampton to Cherboug which will suit Jane better.
It looks very much as if I'll be needing yet another car!
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