Adsy' Intro and some Questions; '72 1600 Wagon.

[Adsy]

Hey Guys,

My name is Adam and i hail from Perth, Western Australia. Just joined up as I've recently bought this little froth machine and saw that this forum has a pretty sic community.

http://imgur.com/lVG5s77

http://imgur.com/8Lg0wgE

http://imgur.com/4T5KUfQ

 

I'm new to old Dattos, but have had a couple of R33 skylines, a few R32 skylines and an old faithful Volvo 240.

This particular lady has an L20B with EFI +Motec M4, headers and a 5 speed box. She's straight as anything, and there isn't any rust to be found. Interior is immaculate other then the festy looking bucket seats which i'll be replacing with a spare recaro i have laying about and 1600 passenger seat. 

Immediate plans are predominantly handling wise only. Want to upgrade brakes, lower her, fit some 15x8+-0 enkei Apache II (I realise this might take some work) and generally just staunch the place.

Lastly, this morning after i had fixed a fuel problem, i was driving her in a 'spirited' manner (They can do 100km/hr in 2nd!) when all of a sudden there was a massive cloud of white smoke. I pulled over to check the engine bay, and it died as soon as i stopped giving her some throttle. Checked the engine bay, and there was oil all around/near the catch can/breather area. I hadn't checked how full the catch can was in a while, so i opened it and it was about 3/4 or more full. After 10 minutes i tried turning her again, started immediately and idled fine. So...any ideas on what this could mean? My first thought was that it could be pistons, but nothing after the smoke is suggesting any rough play.

Anyways, sorry for the long winded intro! Stoked on hearing back from you all,

Cheers,
Adam

[mrbigtanker]

Very nice car mate. Looks done to me.

[Busta Nut]

Super clean goon!! :thumbup:

 

Welcome!!

 

Got any pics of the skylines??

 

 

Was the smoke from the engine bay or out the exhaust??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice car mate. Looks done to me.

 

 

No no no.......vv

 

Immediate plans ... lower her

Cheers,
Adam

 

 

 

With your resume of cars........this is gonna be sick B)

 

 

 

.........I don't get the Volvo though.....just.....why??

[Just Joel]

Very nice... I like the color ;)

[Just Joel]

.........I don't get the Volvo though.....just.....why??

[Busta Nut]

^^.......ok.......maybe if you had a different power plant too........but looks nice......

[datrod]

Nice lookin wagon. Good to hear your going to ditch the seats that are in it now.

[Adsy]

Thanks for comments guys, appreciate it!

 

Super clean goon!! :thumbup:

 

Welcome!!

 

Got any pics of the skylines??

 

 

Was the smoke from the engine bay or out the exhaust??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No no no.......vv

 

 

 

 

With your resume of cars........this is gonna be sick B)

 

 

 

.........I don't get the Volvo though.....just.....why??

 

 

Hey dude, yeah i'll try to find some pictures. I had a 33 Coupe, 33 4 door, 32 4 door and the volvo was honestly quite fun haha. Plans were to fit wide wheels, lower it and just drive it as it still is Manual and RWD unfortunately or maybe fortunately an elderly lady ended those plans when she decided to absolutely impale my car and write it off. I got a lot more from insurance then what i paid for the car, so now here i am with the Goon!

Ok so i've done some looking and cylinder 4 is cooked. Idles fine when cold, about 5 minutes later, a gentle spray of oil will come out of the exhaust and a small plume of white smoke. So seems to be a piston ring. Though who knows what else damage there could be for now.

This is both good and bad in that it gives me proper justification to spend money on her but bad in that i don't have a huge amount of money to spend on her haha. 
Ideally, i'd like to rebuild the L20B as i like the period correctness of it, and can find a replacement L20b for $200 locally to drop into for the moment. Rebuilding it would mean i'd want to do some head work, and then obviously sort out the block, so this could rack up a bit of money but would be a great experience to learn as i personally really like how the L20 feels. 
Alternatively, a mate has just built a sr20det with the intentions to put it in his s13 silvia but has now bought a vh45 so i could have the sr20det and gearbox for under $1000.

I'd love some feedback from you guys, what do you reckon?

Cheers

 

[Just Joel]

Don't swap it... just my opinion tho. I'm partial to l motors ;)

[datzenmike]

Oil smoke when super thick is white. When thinned out with lots of air it's bluish. Spirited driving would probably include severe cornering and panic braking. Both will cause the oil splash over to the sides or to the front and climb the inside of the block where it will come in contact with the high revving crankshaft. This will throw more oil on the cylinder oil rings can control and it will get into the combustion chambers and be vaporized. Race cars avoid this by deepening the pan (if room) widening it so the oil is lower, weld baffles to keep the oil in, add a wind-age tray to keep the oil off the crank or ultimately run a dry oil sump.

 

My first thought was steam from a over heated and blown head gasket but if it restarted, maybe not. Keep an eye on the coolant level. If you start needing to add water every week it might be the gasket IS going south. Or north in your case. 

[Adsy]

Oil smoke when super thick is white. When thinned out with lots of air it's bluish. Spirited driving would probably include severe cornering and panic braking. Both will cause the oil splash over to the sides or to the front and climb the inside of the block where it will come in contact with the high revving crankshaft. This will throw more oil on the cylinder oil rings can control and it will get into the combustion chambers and be vaporized. Race cars avoid this by deepening the pan (if room) widening it so the oil is lower, weld baffles to keep the oil in, add a wind-age tray to keep the oil off the crank or ultimately run a dry oil sump.

 

My first thought was steam from a over heated and blown head gasket but if it restarted, maybe not. Keep an eye on the coolant level. If you start needing to add water every week it might be the gasket IS going south. Or north in your case. 

Thanks for your time Datzenmike, appreciate it. 

Actually i'll revise the details a bit, it was raining yesterday so the bit of smoke that came out was probably from the rain? I checked all spark plugs and #4 was fouled pretty bad, the others were spotless. Just a bit more description; I'm able to start her up when cold, first shot, and she idles fine, however as soon as it warms up, idle becomes rough, eventually choking out and dieing. If i rev it lightly at around 1-1.5k RPM it'll be fine and i can continue to drive it so long as it's constantly revved.

 

In terms of diagnosing the extent of damage, i've been advised to check loosing water, make sure there is no oil in the water, check the oil level periodically, put a NGK bp5es in cylinder 4 so it doesn't foul and if there is any oil contaminant it'll burn it of and lastly get a compression test done. What do you reckon?

 

In the mean time, i've started to read the Service manuals, and have been watching Heinz' videos which are great.

 

Thanks

[Busta Nut]

 i could have the sr20det and gearbox for under $1000.

 

 

You........................bastard.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am torn with the same issue.....keep it period correct.........or turbo that bitch.......

 

I have found a solution to my problems................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...............2 510s :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd pick up that SR cuz you know you're gonna get one someday anyways......... ;)

[datzenmike]

Yes a hotter #4 plug will stay clean longer. Possibly the valve seal is bad on that cylinder but that would be asking too much. They are cheap and easy to change without removing the head to try. A low compression on that cylinder would indicate worn rings.

 

As for rough running when warmed up.... It may have a blocked idle circuit which is masked when cold because the choke is on.

[Adsy]

Hey gang,

So, adjusted the valves, messed around with the idle control valve, changed the oil/filter, checked oil pressure - everything was good, and now it runs, albeit rough but consistent.
Now, when I drive, power will temporarily vanish for a brief second at random times and then it'll come back, almost like it lurches without the lurching (if that makes sense). Also, fuel efficiency is pretty bad but it's not running rich or lean for that matter...

So, I checked fuel filter - that was fine, I checked the pump - it's noisy but its working fine. Now, it has to be a sensor problem or tuning (ECU) problem? This is where I'm stumped because I have no idea
what manifold or EFI system my little L20 has so I was hoping you guys could shed some light on it? Would really appreciated it. It just seems to go from one small problem to the other

http://imgur.com/a/SPk6g (This is a link to an album I've just made, as I can't seem to link images into here)

Lastly, is there a way to link imgur images as actual images and not just links?
Thanks for reading ya big champs.

[Just Joel]

[Just Joel]

[ img]actual image address goes here[ /img]

[edekalil]

Nice wagoon, good luck.