My Lseries Died

jsubie · Post by **jsubie** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:12 pm

I was on way home yesterday the car was running well. I turned a corner and the car just seemed to splutter out like if I ran out of fuel. i still had half a tank, I check all the usual things anyway turn the engine over with the dizzy cap off and found the rotor was not turning. So i guess that the timing belt has snapped. On top of that the lifter and the water pump need to be done too.

Heres the big question:

What sort of money would I be looking at to do the EA to EJ convertion??

Or should i just do the timing belts and water pump and just wait for the engine do died in a big way later?:???:

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:43 pm

Bugger eh?! These things happen. The good news is that when you snap a timing belt in the L there's no internal damage that can occur with other vehicle's motors.

In regard to your question about cost of an EJ conversion, it all depends on how much you pay for parts and how much of the work you do yourself. I've been slowly gathering parts and still need a few more to do what I want with my L, some one will have a general price range for you.

I'd say fix the oil and water pump, they're not that expensive to do while your doing the cam belts. While you wait for the EA to die you can collect the bits you'll need for a conversion and go from there when you're ready

That's how I'm doing it at the moment (when I can find the time)...

Cheers

Bennie

Busdriver · Post by **Busdriver** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 7:56 pm

As El Freddo says, fit new belts and if you need to do the oil pump and water pump, do them too, but dont forget to take a really close look at all the tensioners and idler bearings, as they are not that dear if you go to a bearing shop and if you dont change them as well you are risking having to do the belts again if any of them seize.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:36 pm

for Liberty - from CBC aftermarket ones you can buy timing belt kit for $198 (all bearings and seals & belt).. I dunno how much it would be for L series.
Cheers
AP

subarutility · Post by **subarutility** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:58 pm

If your valves hit the pistons when the timing belt snaps then the engine is known as a 'interference engine'. Luckily for you the EA82 isn't.

Buy a new belt, water pump (examin the old one first, you may not need one), ditto with the oil pump. I don't think replacing the oil pump is a guaranteed way of fixing the typical EA82 hydraulic lifter tapping noise, maybe someone can add some info on this.

I don't mean to question your motivation, but the amount of people I have heard say "I'm going to EJ20T my L series" or " I'm going to put a SR20 turbo into my Datsun 1600" is unbeleivable (I am guilty of this myself). You need to be realistic: get your standard car running ASAP so you can start having fun in it again. Who knows, in two months you may find a L series with all the engine/brake/suspension mods you want for a fraction of the price that it would cost you to do it to your L series.

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:53 am

ej22 conversion your looking at at least $2k all up.

much easier just to chuck another timing belt in.

jsubie · Post by **jsubie** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:18 pm

Thanks for your advice guys I will just replace the timming belts and w/pump for now.
At least I should have the car back on the road by Monday/Tuesday.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:50 pm

jsubie wrote:Thanks for your advice guys I will just replace the timming belts and w/pump for now.
At least I should have the car back on the road by Monday/Tuesday.

keep in touch see how you go.
Cheers
AP

CPOCSM · Post by **CPOCSM** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:49 am

jsubie wrote: I was on way home yesterday the car was running well. I turned a corner and the car just seemed to splutter out like if I ran out of fuel. i still had half a tank, I check all the usual things anyway turn the engine over with the dizzy cap off and found the rotor was not turning. So i guess that the timing belt has snapped. On top of that the lifter and the water pump need to be done too.

Heres the big question:

What sort of money would I be looking at to do the EA to EJ convertion??

Or should i just do the timing belts and water pump and just wait for the engine do died in a big way later?:???:

]
Yeah its a bummer when that happens - I did the same thing in exactly the same circumstances...but the culprit was the tensioner bearing seizing and breaking the belt.

Love those non-interference motors!!

Good Luck and hooroo

jsubie · Post by **jsubie** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:54 pm

She lives
I got my car back, it took a timing belt kit and a water pump. All the bearings where lose and sloppy and one of the belts had about ten teeth chewed off.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:52 pm

Good work, glad to hear it all came together.

Cheers

Bennie

syro75 · Post by **syro75** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:23 am

G'day I had a similar thing in my L wagon on Friday it was a wet day and i had been in a bit of water the car was running like a treat. I got home had a cuppa and went to go out but the car wouldn't start it turned no worries, after a bit of searching i discovered the fuel pump was not getting any voltage. Why would this be the fuse is good and there is power at the box.
HELP

Thumpage44 · Post by **Thumpage44** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:44 pm

You could pick up a early model WRX engine + g/box with around 150k on it for around $1400 and chuck that in!

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:27 pm

syro75 wrote:G'day I had a similar thing in my L wagon on Friday it was a wet day and i had been in a bit of water the car was running like a treat. I got home had a cuppa and went to go out but the car wouldn't start it turned no worries, after a bit of searching i discovered the fuel pump was not getting any voltage. Why would this be the fuse is good and there is power at the box.
HELP

G'day syro,

What year is your L? You'll find that later model L's (if not all) were required to have a relay on the fuel pump that would allow it to prime the line for a short period of time, eg 5 seconds, then if the engine isn't running it would cut out.

Try checking it again with someone's help - have them turn the ignition to the "ON" position and check the voltage at the pump, you can turn the ignition to the "ACC" position then back to the on position to operate the power to the pump again...

Good luck with it.

Cheers

Bennie