We're pretty much used to the new engine now. The last long trip to Ohio went well, with the van roaring up the interstate hills here at 65 - 70 mph. Just don't let the speed drop below 60, though, since it falls off the torque curve and then the speed drops until you have to downshift.
Fuel mileage has improved from 21 - 23 to almost 26, which is a welcome improvement as we near $4 gallon for regular gas.
Strangely, the end of the oil dipstick broke off at the top hole drilled into it for oil measurement. Why they drilled holes, in addition to stamping the measurement points into the blade, I don't know. A new dipstick (with the same holes) was $18, and I hope to find the end of the dipstick in the bottom of the oil pan when I change the oil shortly.
Coolant needed to be added for several weeks after launch, since the system appears to take awhile to purge itself. It's been a month now without needing any, so that's fine, though I still need to bite the bullet and fix the leaking heater shutoff valve. It will soon be too warm to ignore it.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Latest Update
The engine is still running pretty smoothly, though it has had two hard-to-start-when-hot incidents. We filled the gas tank for the first time earlier this week, and I added a dose of Techron fuel system cleaner in case we still have any sticky injectors. I plan to try to run the MAF-cleaning test this weekend. No matter the outcome, we're hoping to take the vanagon on a round-trip 600-mile run on Monday/Tuesday, but we may change our mind, because the weather has been beautiful late spring temperatures, and the motorcycle beckons.
I'm afraid there's a small leak in the rear heater core. After trying to extract the heater core during the last round of cooling system connecting, I found, via a stepwise disassembly, that you must remove its cover, then remove the front skirtboard, then pull up the rug and padding, then finally find out that you can't actually remove anything more unless you remove the entire rear seat and its support structure. So, I threw in the towel and put everything back together, after blotting up the tiny bit of coolant that I found underneath the heater. However, it still smells whenever we turn it on. Unless the leakage increases to a noticeable amount we'll live with it. I've seen on another site that other users have complained of this component developing leaks in its core.
Speaking of heaters, we've had a problem completely turning off the front heater. No matter how hard one shuts off the temp lever, the air blows out slightly warm once the engine warms up. My suspicion is that I've hooked the heater flow backwards, so that the hot water doesn't hit the cutoff valve until it passes through the heater core, instead of vice-versa, and that some small amount of hot coolant fills the heater core when this is the case. There's also an audible gurgling, when the van is stopped after driving awhile, that I think may be related to this. The connections are easy to reach, but I'm mulling over ways of switching the hoses without spilling a lot of coolant in the process. It's easy to pinch-clamp the hoses, but the connectors plumbed into the main coolant lines will need to be corked or something. Until I fix this, if we drive the van on the long trip and don't need the heat, I'm going to clamp the heater hose off at the engine, so that NO hot coolant reaches the heaters. Lazy but effective (as long as we don't need to defog the windshield).
I'm afraid there's a small leak in the rear heater core. After trying to extract the heater core during the last round of cooling system connecting, I found, via a stepwise disassembly, that you must remove its cover, then remove the front skirtboard, then pull up the rug and padding, then finally find out that you can't actually remove anything more unless you remove the entire rear seat and its support structure. So, I threw in the towel and put everything back together, after blotting up the tiny bit of coolant that I found underneath the heater. However, it still smells whenever we turn it on. Unless the leakage increases to a noticeable amount we'll live with it. I've seen on another site that other users have complained of this component developing leaks in its core.
Speaking of heaters, we've had a problem completely turning off the front heater. No matter how hard one shuts off the temp lever, the air blows out slightly warm once the engine warms up. My suspicion is that I've hooked the heater flow backwards, so that the hot water doesn't hit the cutoff valve until it passes through the heater core, instead of vice-versa, and that some small amount of hot coolant fills the heater core when this is the case. There's also an audible gurgling, when the van is stopped after driving awhile, that I think may be related to this. The connections are easy to reach, but I'm mulling over ways of switching the hoses without spilling a lot of coolant in the process. It's easy to pinch-clamp the hoses, but the connectors plumbed into the main coolant lines will need to be corked or something. Until I fix this, if we drive the van on the long trip and don't need the heat, I'm going to clamp the heater hose off at the engine, so that NO hot coolant reaches the heaters. Lazy but effective (as long as we don't need to defog the windshield).
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Stalling resolution, part one
The stalling fixed itself. On a test run to Lewisburg and the bank, the van coughed and stumbled into the drive-in line, idled fine for the several minutes it took to make a deposit, then I took off for home, ready to catch the engine at every stop. No problem at all, the rpm dropped but held at about 800 - 1000 for every stop. So I've put away the problem, but am pondering what could fix itself in this scenario.
My hypothesis originates with experience with our V70, which also has a MAF. For years, it was occasionally stalling at stops. Complaints to the dealer were useless, since it would never stall while they had the car, and there were no error codes in the computer. However, as part of the Great Power Steering Pump Debacle, we had taken it to AutoScandia in Herndon, Virginia, and it coughed on them while they were test driving it. The technician said this indicated that the MAF needed to be cleaned, and did so. It's never stalled since.
As almost everyone who does this conversion will probably do, I purchased a used MAF. It did not come in a plastic bag; on the contrary, it was pretty dusty. A MAF error could cause this stalling, and the MAF can conceivably clean itself . I don't have information on this particular unit, but the platinum-wire MAFs used in the Volvo 240 series would heat the wire briefly after the engine shut off, to burn off any contaminants.
I plan to run an Elmscan log of the MAF output, the throttle position, and the fuel trims before and after a MAF cleaning, and see if there's an obvious difference. In general, though, I think that anyone buying a used MAF would be well advised to also get a can of cleaner (about $6) and follow the cleaning directions, which would be easy to do before installing the MAF. Another thing I wonder about is the possibility of plastic dust in the airbox from the modification process. I washed the box after I was done modifying it, but there's always the chance I missed something on the "clean" side of the air path.
My hypothesis originates with experience with our V70, which also has a MAF. For years, it was occasionally stalling at stops. Complaints to the dealer were useless, since it would never stall while they had the car, and there were no error codes in the computer. However, as part of the Great Power Steering Pump Debacle, we had taken it to AutoScandia in Herndon, Virginia, and it coughed on them while they were test driving it. The technician said this indicated that the MAF needed to be cleaned, and did so. It's never stalled since.
As almost everyone who does this conversion will probably do, I purchased a used MAF. It did not come in a plastic bag; on the contrary, it was pretty dusty. A MAF error could cause this stalling, and the MAF can conceivably clean itself . I don't have information on this particular unit, but the platinum-wire MAFs used in the Volvo 240 series would heat the wire briefly after the engine shut off, to burn off any contaminants.
I plan to run an Elmscan log of the MAF output, the throttle position, and the fuel trims before and after a MAF cleaning, and see if there's an obvious difference. In general, though, I think that anyone buying a used MAF would be well advised to also get a can of cleaner (about $6) and follow the cleaning directions, which would be easy to do before installing the MAF. Another thing I wonder about is the possibility of plastic dust in the airbox from the modification process. I washed the box after I was done modifying it, but there's always the chance I missed something on the "clean" side of the air path.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Stalling update
Well, it isn't the speed sensor. I jacked up the driver's side rear wheel, and spun it while watching the Elmscan. The MPH dial registers off the speed sensor and worked just fine. So, back to troubleshooting.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Life on the knoll
Our farm is at elevation 2470 feet, on a small knoll, facing a valley that points south-southwest. Most of our weather approaches from the west or southwest, gets funneled in the valley, then hits us hard, and it gets a bit windy sometimes. How windy, you ask?
Yes, that's eighty-five miles per hour, a peak recorded on Wednesday night at about 8 pm. The constant speed was around sixty mph for about half an hour.
This wind came out of the west. How could we tell?
A total of eight trees down in the pasture. Fortunately for us, the power line is on the west side of the trees, so it's been spared this and other windstorms' damage. We're never short of firewood. On the minus side, we now need to re-shingle our roof. Looking forward to talking with the insurance agent about that.
In all this chaos, the power went down a little before 8 pm. As I've done ever since I bought it, I brought out the generator, and got ready to start it up in the morning if the power was still out. And, as it's happened in the four times previous to this, the power came back on in the dead of morning. So, we still have a generator that we bought almost a year ago that has never been fueled up and started. I think of it as sort of a talisman that guards us against long term power outages.
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| The gust needle on our expensive but accurate Maximum(tm) anemometer |
This wind came out of the west. How could we tell?
That's the rope that held the bird feeder between the porch and a tree. It's aligned almost exactly west. Sunrise revealed the not-unexpected:
A total of eight trees down in the pasture. Fortunately for us, the power line is on the west side of the trees, so it's been spared this and other windstorms' damage. We're never short of firewood. On the minus side, we now need to re-shingle our roof. Looking forward to talking with the insurance agent about that.
In all this chaos, the power went down a little before 8 pm. As I've done ever since I bought it, I brought out the generator, and got ready to start it up in the morning if the power was still out. And, as it's happened in the four times previous to this, the power came back on in the dead of morning. So, we still have a generator that we bought almost a year ago that has never been fueled up and started. I think of it as sort of a talisman that guards us against long term power outages.
Latest news
The conversion had been running fine, with one exception: the shifting out of reverse is very difficult. Apparently, the extremely slight difference in the reinstalled transmission position, combined with the (now I know) extreme sensitivity of the adjustment of the linkage, is sufficient to cause a problem with the shifting. There is a fairly simple adjustment procedure in the Bentley manual, but it requires dropping the spare tire, again, and getting access to the bottom of the shifter (front) to allow proper adjustment. I think I'm going to try to fiddle with adjusting the clamp under the middle of the van, which is easy to reach, and see if I can find a sweet spot without so much work.
Second issue: if you bought the proper Ford engine mounts (much $$$), you saw in the SK-M kit instructions that Bostig recommends you check the clearance of the ring at their base and ensure there's enough clearance between the ring and the steel cradle. Well, when the engine is mounted, but hasn't sat with full weight, there's plenty of clearance. Once the engine hoist is removed, though, the rings apparently WILL contact the cradle. I need to remember to tell Bostig that there's no reason to check this - just go ahead and grind off a bit of the ring, as they suggest.
Lastly, after running cleanly for several days, the engine has begun to stall when the van is brought to a stop. This is almost certainly due to a lack of signal from the speed sensor that was added during the installation. I've checked the plug (which can be done easily), but it's connected. So, today I'll have to jack up one side of the van, pull off the wheel, and verify the proper position of the sensor, which is quite critical. I hope that's all that I need to do to fix this.
Meanwhile, how about a brief off-subject excursion to the farm we live on, and how's your weather?
Second issue: if you bought the proper Ford engine mounts (much $$$), you saw in the SK-M kit instructions that Bostig recommends you check the clearance of the ring at their base and ensure there's enough clearance between the ring and the steel cradle. Well, when the engine is mounted, but hasn't sat with full weight, there's plenty of clearance. Once the engine hoist is removed, though, the rings apparently WILL contact the cradle. I need to remember to tell Bostig that there's no reason to check this - just go ahead and grind off a bit of the ring, as they suggest.
Lastly, after running cleanly for several days, the engine has begun to stall when the van is brought to a stop. This is almost certainly due to a lack of signal from the speed sensor that was added during the installation. I've checked the plug (which can be done easily), but it's connected. So, today I'll have to jack up one side of the van, pull off the wheel, and verify the proper position of the sensor, which is quite critical. I hope that's all that I need to do to fix this.
Meanwhile, how about a brief off-subject excursion to the farm we live on, and how's your weather?
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Startup is successful
Troubleshooting gas engines is usually checking compression, ignition, and fueling, in that order. I had checked cam timing before installation, and the cranking noise indicated that we had compression, so I crossed that off. Looking at ignition, I had an earlier problem in that the engine, as purchased, had no coil. I bought a coil on eBay, and when it arrived, I found that none of the output posts were numbered. So, I went to the local Advance Auto, and found a Haynes manual for the '03 Focus that had been opened and (obviously) thumbed through, and looked up the ignition wiring. I know, it's a bit tacky, but they got my alternator and starter business, so they're not suffering too much.
Haynes was useless. The advice was that if the coil wasn't marked, make sure to document the connections before removing the old coil. So, I asked Bostig, and they supplied me with a photo of a crated Zetec that showed the correct wiring. I went back to that ticket, and confirmed that my wiring matched. I don't have a spark tester, so I tentatively crossed off ignition.
Next, I carefully disconnected the incoming fuel line. I had obvious pump noise when I turned the key, so I was surprised to see that the hose was dry. I tried the pump with the hose disconnected, and - no fuel. Aha! I went under the van, and reversed the wiring to the fuel pump. I then re-tried the pump, and got a good flow of fuel into a can I'd placed. Buttoned everything up, and went back to startup. This time, the engine fired right away, and after solving a final issue (see below), I let it run. It slowly settled down as I watched its vitals on the Elmscan display (actually, the component on the laptop is called OBDwiz, but Elmscan sounds better).
The fuel trims varied widely for the first five minutes, as the engine probably tried to adjust to sticking injectors, then settled down to a good 5 - 7 percent (short). The long trims came in at 24%, which is high, but influenced by the volatile short trims and should, I think, settle down.
We had a problem on the first start. The engine started to howl right after it smoothed out, a noise that could only come from an accessory, which I proved by removing the belt and running the engine by itself for a couple of seconds. The culprit turned out to be easy to find. Somehow, the power steering reservoir had drained enough into the system over the past few days to bring the level below the height of the intake hose to the pump, and it was running dry. We went downtown, bought a pint of PS fluid, and filled it back up. Problem solved, except that at the end of the initial 20 minute run I seemed to be hearing a fair amount of noise from the pump, despite a full reservoir. We'll monitor this today.
Next: coordinating the drain/refill of the cooling system after the around-the-block run, which I hope to do late morning today.
Haynes was useless. The advice was that if the coil wasn't marked, make sure to document the connections before removing the old coil. So, I asked Bostig, and they supplied me with a photo of a crated Zetec that showed the correct wiring. I went back to that ticket, and confirmed that my wiring matched. I don't have a spark tester, so I tentatively crossed off ignition.
Next, I carefully disconnected the incoming fuel line. I had obvious pump noise when I turned the key, so I was surprised to see that the hose was dry. I tried the pump with the hose disconnected, and - no fuel. Aha! I went under the van, and reversed the wiring to the fuel pump. I then re-tried the pump, and got a good flow of fuel into a can I'd placed. Buttoned everything up, and went back to startup. This time, the engine fired right away, and after solving a final issue (see below), I let it run. It slowly settled down as I watched its vitals on the Elmscan display (actually, the component on the laptop is called OBDwiz, but Elmscan sounds better).
The fuel trims varied widely for the first five minutes, as the engine probably tried to adjust to sticking injectors, then settled down to a good 5 - 7 percent (short). The long trims came in at 24%, which is high, but influenced by the volatile short trims and should, I think, settle down.
We had a problem on the first start. The engine started to howl right after it smoothed out, a noise that could only come from an accessory, which I proved by removing the belt and running the engine by itself for a couple of seconds. The culprit turned out to be easy to find. Somehow, the power steering reservoir had drained enough into the system over the past few days to bring the level below the height of the intake hose to the pump, and it was running dry. We went downtown, bought a pint of PS fluid, and filled it back up. Problem solved, except that at the end of the initial 20 minute run I seemed to be hearing a fair amount of noise from the pump, despite a full reservoir. We'll monitor this today.
Next: coordinating the drain/refill of the cooling system after the around-the-block run, which I hope to do late morning today.
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