Internal combustion.

[alauder]

I reached a small milestone last night. My car had internal combustion taking place :-)
As opposed to EXTERNAL COMBUSTION :-(

I have some questions but I'll start by describing what I have done so far. My car was a 1.8 Ljet 74 that had an engine fire. So I got hold of a complete second hand 2.0 Djet. Replaced the burnt wiring harness and fuel hoses. Then plugged the motor in. First time I turned the key it turned over great. But did not start.

So I took off a fuel line to see if fuel was getting to it... Apparently not.

I emailed DD and he confirmed that I had the hoses connected up correctly.

I checked the voltage across the fuel pump and it was getting 12V when I was cranking the starter but stopped when I let it go.
Could not tell if the pump was running because of the noise and vibration from the starter. I figured it just needed to run a bit to get the fuel all the way around the new hoses.

Next I connected the pump directly to the battery and away it went. There was a wonderful gurgling sound as the fuel started to get going. I waited a bit till it was full and all the sounds had stopped. Then connected it back to the main harness and turned the key again.

Hooray! The engine fired. Coughed. Spluttered started to turn so I let go. It fired a couple more times then ground to a halt. Tried again, same thing and so on.

I'll check my sparks and clean the distributor tonight.

So my questions for today.

1) Is it normal for the voltage to drop to 0 at the fuel pump when the key is not turned all the way cranking the starter?
Is something sensing that the engine is not running and switching the pump off?
Is it a faulty relay? I tied switching the blower motor relay for the fuel pump one already.

2) The Air Pressure Sensor has a connector with four white wires and no obvious keying. I presume this is for the four cylinders. Does it matter what way round the connector goes?

3) What would be the first adjustments I should make if any to get the engine running? (Change the mixture or the fuel pressure regulator,)

4) If I had a vacuum leak could it fire and die like this?

5) Anyone in San Francisco got a compression checker I can borrow?

Andy

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Item 1: The fuel pump runs for about a second or two when the ignition key goes from "off" to "on". Then it stops. This is controlled by the ECU. The pump comes on again when the engine turns over. I think it gets that info from the yellow wire to the starter.

When the engine is running, I believe that the ECU sees that the FI trigger points are opening and closing, and so keeps the fuel pump running.

Item 2: The Manifold Pressure Sensor (MPS) has a keyed plug but not a keyed socket, if I recall correctly. It does not matter which way around you plug it in--the four pins are for two ends each of two coils, which change their inductance depending on the manifold pressure.

Item 3: Make sure you're getting fuel. It sounds like that is your problem. Check the FI trigger points in the base of the distributor; are they plugged in? Do they alternately short the outer pins to the center pin and then break the connection?

Item 4: Possibly, but it's unlikely. The D-jet cars seem to be more tolerant of vacc leaks than the L-jet (1.8) cars.

Item 5: Sorry; I would if I could find the time. Are you up in the City or in the South Bay?

--DD

[alauder]

SUPERB, THANKS EVERY ONE. Especially Dave

It's running. I had another go last night. I think one of the connectors to an injector was loose. I connected the fuel pump to the battery again for a bit longer this time and when I turned the key it came roaring to life.

Once it warmed up it ran clean, no smoke. The idle is set pretty high. But other than that I'm over the moon.

Andy

[John Rogers]

I noticed the loose connector.... We had this problem with our 1974 2.0 liter and it is hard to find replacement connectors and usually the wires are in pretty sad shape anyways so I put a dab of GOOP connecting the male and female connector after they were put together (not letting any inside the connector)and have had no loose connector problems since. The connectors for the trigger points were a real headache till I did this. The connector still comes apart easily when I need to do maintenance.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Which connectors do ya need? I've got a whole bunch. I got them through a Beck-Arnley place (they're a national distributor).

I also picked up some of the two-pin ones from a local wholesaler.

I've got plastic plugs (housings) that hold two, three, or four of the pins (contacts). The pins are the smaller, about 1/8" wide female connectors. And I have the pins themselves. Drop me a note with your needs, or ask your FLAPS if they carry B-A stuff and have them dig out the catalog.

--DD

[John Rogers]

Thanks for the connector info. The loose connectors showed up last winter and haven't been a problem since I sealed them. I did find them at an electronics store in San Diego, but I waited till we have the engine out to replace the loose ones which was done last week.