After the initial 20 min run, you need to change the oil anyhow

Ugh; I was going to try to get a little more break-in time before doing the initial oil change.

I guess that I will grab another 14 Q of oil at lunch tomorrow....

You will probably not need the full 14 Q as the oil-cooler and hoses will not empty without the thermostat being open. For the reason of having to change oil so often (next time is after your initial drives) I would not take the most expensive oil. And don't forget to change the filter as well.

Drained the oil and removed the oil hoses last night. The junction in the right rear wheel well was a bit of a tight squeeze, but we were able to get in there with a wrench and break it loose.


Today: took both oil lines (the one to the tank as well as the one to the engine which was leaking) to a hose repair shop that specializes in hydraulic hoses.

I figured if ONE was coming off to be repaired, than it would make more sense to get them BOTH repaired.

I am unable to tell if the original hoses have wire reinforcement, but I do not believe that these hoses are under "high" pressure. Does anyone know (off hand) the approximate pressures that these hoses see during operation?

I was told a long time ago that any rubber oil line rated over 30 PSI would be sufficient for that application.

SO close....
 

I installed the rear bumper (reminder, next time that engine/trans comes down, the bumper is staying installed, and I am not kidding).

I put a new filter on and put the oil in...

then did a static timing on her, a task that took me much longer than I thought it would.

I then pulled her out on the drive, and gave it a shot.

I was able to get her to run - much better this time than last, but it would not idle, and if I took my foot off the gas, it would stall, and I would have to re-start it. Also (as a detail) I was holding the idle at just over 1k, and it seems like its running rich from the smell. The plugs looked normal.

It was back firing, though not nearly as bad as it was last time - I think that I may still have a timing issue.

Any thoughts on where I should start? Any further work adjusting timing I believe is going to require another set of hands - a luxury that I will not have till the weekend, at the very best.

I have been running her with out an air filter and box-cover.

After thinking about the reasons that I have a back-fire issue - I decided that there must be a vacuum issue in addition to the timing issue that seems to be present. So there were a couple vacuum lines that I wasn't sure about, so I swapped them.



I still cannot get this thing to establish an idle. It's running, and I wanted to give this thing a little test drive - and seeing that I live on a hill (near the top), I decided to drive UP my hill to see if I was going down that I would be able to get back up the hill.

So, I pulled out of my drive way (100 feet), kind of turned left to go up the hill, and I stalled it - like a person who doesn't know how to drive stick. Started it again, in 1st (...need to figure out why this shifter is so sloppy, a call to the coupler whisperer is in order in the near future...) made it up the hill, about another 200 feet, and because I could not get it to idle, the RPMs were all over the map. ....and I stalled it again....

now, I just went ahead and pushed the clutch in and rolled back to my house (slowly) and set the E-brake so that I could figure out what that smell was... and the smoke bellowing out of the engine lid (uh-ohhhh). I then grabbed my fire extinguisher and popped the lid looking for the worst, and it was just smoke, no fire.

Nothing on fire, I decided to start it again, put it in reverse, and pull it into the garage. The "burning smell" I believe was the clutch (new friction disk) - which may also have been the smoke.

Back to my garage, I went through all of the vacuum lines on the CIS, and looked for anything that was not right, and I found nothing.

Symptoms:
Starts, but will not idle (have to keep the foot on the gas to keep it running)
Seems to be running a bit rough - even when I keep my foot on the gas to run it at about 1k RPM.
Back fires - not huge - but still is a bit.
Does not matter if I have the air filter on or not (this time I ran it with the air filter on it).


I have not touched the rich/lean adjustment screw on the CIS (...nor do I know where it is...)

Input here would really be appreciated. Any ideas why we cannot establish an idle?

Could you post a video of the running condition ? May be a plug wire mix up, timing off, bad fuel, mechanical/compression issue or any combination. Does it change condition at all with engine operating temp or is it just as bad cold as warm/hot? Any smoke?

Realistically you'll need to trouble shoot all three requirements methodically. Fuel supply (pressure and output for each injector), ignition (timing light, confirm order) and mechanical (leak down and compression).

Have you put a timing light on it? The distributor is really easy to installed backwards or be off by enough teeth to cause your issue. I choose not to admit how I know :)

Lapkritis: a video is possible, but not likely till the weekend.

I have not (yet) put a timing light on it, but that's the next step this weekend, when I have another pair of hands to help out.

There is not any smoke (from the exhaust) while running.

DSPTurtle: I appreciate your input, you have a good point (...don't worry, I wont ask...)

I have not pulled the injectors to confirm that we have a uniform amount of fuel --- per cylinder but the injectors are newly re-worked (from Marren), the filter is new, the gas is new. I am not going to rule the fuel factor out YET, but when looking at the list of items that could be causing this - fuel is near the bottom right now.

I had to take a small break in the activity on the car - we went on our annual vacation (this year we went to wine country, SF, Oakland, and up the 1) - I suppose that is a decent reason to take a "break".

Today, after thinking (for 2 weeks) about what I could have missed in the project - forcing this car to run poorly, I again came up short. Still wont idle, and is backfiring all over the place.

I was able to put a timing light on it, as I had a friend swing by to help for a little bit. I adjusted the timing so that it is very (very) close to hitting the mark of 5 deg off TDC. It's not perfect, but it is much closer from a timing perspective. Still running poorly.

I must have something else going on. I must not have only a timing issue here, or I have something else going on here.

I took advantage of the spare set of hands and took a video; and posted to Youtube.

911SC running poorly - YouTube

Any thoughts here?

Sounds like firing order or poorly adjusted valves to me.

Sounds like backfiring out the intake. I would guess lean condition. Fuel pressure would be first test.

mreid:

I wish that this was something that was "that" easy.

I've checked it no less than 10 times to make sure that my plug order is correct, and my cap is positioned correctly.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1381619898.jpg

Unless I've done something incorrectly, the firing order is still 1-6-2-4-3-5, and the rotor turns CCW.

Lapkritis:

you're guessing lean, eh? well, anything is certainly plausible --- the fuel filter is new(er), but I think that my next step is to get an in-line fuel pressure gage: anyone want to sell theirs??

I see you are not using factory metal shielded spark plug wires...probably not the cause but just saying...I personally ALWAYS try to use oe/factory parts unless I am 110% sure an aftermarket part is BETTER...not equal...
You need to start testing ALL of systems as repair manuals say = gets expensive replacing parts that way...
Do you have any factory books a/o a Bentley repair book...?? dont run the engine too long this way in case it is an internal issue...
good luck...almost there...

Hard to hear what's what on the vid, but the description sounds like a big vacuum leak. Could all the backfires have either blown the air box, or is there another leak source?

Vacuum problem?
 

I am going to do more inspection today.

Just a question, should I hear a "suction" sound when this thing is running? I fear that there is a problem with the airbox based on the continued research. When I replaced the old airbox with the new - I put all new vacuum related hoses on, which was my attempt to rid myself of potential "false" air entering the system by re-using one of the old hoses (which were all dry rotted).

It is possible that the leaks were tuned into the system by a mechanic. The CIS may be adjusted to the correct lambda by a mechanic. If you've now sealed those leaks you would be rich and idle would be low/rich. Depends on how the car was serviced.

tell us the order of the check list u did PRIOR to starting the engine so we can assess what you did & did not do...other wise you are stabbing into the dark IMHO...

shulda stopped in...
 

. we are in western Sonoma County about a mile from Hiway 1 and the water...