WUR - Rebuilt versus New

[Sunroof]

I will need to replace my WUR, which comes off my 1973.5T, and cannot be rebuilt. It was the original unit. In researching prices I noticed that several parts houses sell rebuilt units at a great discount with the same warranty as new units. I plan on upgrading to a newer model with the retro-hose kit. Its a $100-$200 spread on new versus rebuilt.

Having never cracked one of these open, just what wears or fails on these units? What do they really "rebuild" or replace in a rebuilt unit?

Thanks
Bob

[jeff91C2T]

Having just cracked one of these open, I can say that they are relatively simple and straight forward to work with. For the money you don't have much to loose in taking it apart.

If you are a hands on type, give it a try. However if you don't have a CIS pressure tester, I would offer you won't get much out of the process (other then seeing how it works).

[oneblueyedog]

IMHO- New WUR.

Check the pressures at cold through warmup. If results point to the WUR, buy a new one. I went down the adjustable wur route and took it all apart+flipped the diaphram, etc. bi-metallic strip was suspect. This was all on a rebuilt unit- always ran badly during warm up, from purchase.

After 4 years of frustrating performance, I bought one from Pelican. Warm up is great now even with cold plugs.

You ought to make sure all of the Vac lines and hoses are perfect. Air leaks make the car a nightmare to tune.

[Sunroof]

I figure for the money, why not bite the bullet and buy new.

Thanks
Bob

[leverpuller]

just curious... what will a bad wur cause during the cold start of, say my 82 SC?

[vash]

my car is running smooth and silky with a rebuilt unit. i never hooked up my gauges to see if all the numbers are in spec, but the way it runs, who cares. somebody posted a link to a company that rebuilds yours and sends it back. even cheaper! the guy that had it done is happy. do a search. i may pull my broken one off the shelf and send it in for kicks.

[Jim Sims]

I know of two good recent experiences with rebuilding WUR's out of SC's.

[leverpuller]

ever since I replaced the intake boots, and most of the rubber pieces, on the motor I have been experincing a weird sine wave type of idle. If I drive during this period, I get really hard bucking thru the throttle. I can overide the bucking by keeping the revves above 3000. Does this sound like your old problem?

[vash]

lever, i had that prob, i took it to my mechanic and he adjusted my mix. that was all it was. sine wave idle? haha, mine was like the cosine wave, alittle bit further down the x axis from yours. good luck, my mech did it free once, and the other time he charged me $40. money well spent IMO. i bet you changed the O2 mix by closing all the holes.

[Sunroof]

I have a sudden and unique kind of issue. Hard starting because my fuel pressures cannot be up to snuff (new pump, accumulator, cold start valve, lines, etc, etc). When I turn the key, I hear the fuel energize and have to wait a moment or two before start. Thru warm up slight bucking at 4000-5000 range, but intermittent. After warm up slight bucking, but very intermittent again at 5000+ range. I replaced every CIS component in the last year besides the fuel distributor and WUR. I believe I have sediment from my old rusty tank in my WUR thats killing it! I think its a passage blockage. My WUR is the original (cannot be rebuilt) unit that can be adjusted (pin on the bottom) like the newer models, but thats just a fast way to richen once.

My mechanic wants two hours for a pressure test and that would only isolate the cold start, WUR issue. At $185.00 for the test, thats more than half for a new WUR and slightly les than a rebuild. Logic tells me, just get a new WUR already. Worst case its the distributor downstream..........or both.

Gotta love that first CIS, heh?

Bob

[Jim Sims]

Gotta love that first CIS, heh?

Remember it's 33 years old; get it right and feed it clean fuel and it'll run a long time without much trouble.

[Sunroof]

Jim -

Its actually not the original WUR that came with the car. A newer model was installed before I purchased the car almost six years ago. I switched it out about five years ago with an "original" WUR in an old dusty box found at PAP here in Georgia, that was claimed to be "never used". It appeared okay and I installed it. They come sealed as a one piece unit and are much smaller then the new models.

I went thru that fuel tank restoration process a few months ago after changing out fuel filters all the time because sediment was always breaking thru (the glass jar and settling test). When I changed out my fuel accumulator last week, I was pleased to see that the fuel was very clean with no sediment accumulation. The tank coating and new filter is holding up so far. The WUR must have been catching sediment for years, and now I believe exceleration is messing up the passage way with crap, or so goes my logic train!!

Bob

[Paulporsche]

leverpuller,
That oscillating idle is usually a sign of a too rich mixture. As Vash said, it's probably because you plugged some air leaks. You could slightly lean the setting in one or two 1/16 turn increments, and it should even out. Or you could have it set by someone w/ a CO meter. As was mentioned earlier, checking your control pressures w/ a fuel pressure gauge will tell you if your WUR is functioning correctly. Quite often they are not bad, they are just out of adjustment. And BTW sometimes even new or rebuilt ones can be out of spec.

[oneblueyedog]

Originally posted by leverpuller
ever since I replaced the intake boots, and most of the rubber pieces, on the motor I have been experincing a weird sine wave type of idle. If I drive during this period, I get really hard bucking thru the throttle. I can overide the bucking by keeping the revves above 3000. Does this sound like your old problem?

That sounds like you need a mixtue adjustment on account of you fixing all of those leaks.

[leverpuller]

thanks for the tips everyone