Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

[El_Freddo]

Looks good mate!

I need to get this done on my brumby and one of the Pajeros! It’s incredible the difference driving the same model with and without tint, even the mild tint!!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

First post of the new year?

For anyone interested, I put a new muffler on the wagon. Was getting tired of the volume level of the straight-through kind so I got a Lukey "super turbo" one which was slightly bigger and has a big S shaped internal piping so 3x more internal piping at least. Made a video about the process, skip through to the before and after tests if you like. Although my old handycam didn't really pick up the sound all that well in the driving tests.

The short version; initially it seemed like there was little to no difference in the volume level at all between the two mufflers. Although now a couple of weeks driving later and I think maybe it is coming around, it is definitely quieter at the lower revs now and maybe even a tiny bit more torque? Perhaps it is "breaking in" after all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ7KTYWDQUg

On another note I'm replacing both the rear wheel bearings this weekend. For some reason after 15,000k's the current ones are howling like crazy above 60km/h it's really loud.

[El_Freddo]

Hey Sam, just that’s a bugger about the rear wheel bearings! Did you pack them with enough grease and tension the rear nut and the castellated nut properly?

Big move on the muffler, as in a daunting one where you wonder if you’re making the right move. Hopefully it beds in the way you want it to!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Hey Bennie, yeah the grease is the main suspect I think in this issue. I'm sure I packed enough in yet every time I've had to pull the hubs off (changing brakes etc) there seemed to be a lack of grease in the bearings looking from the outside. The grease that was there had turned completely black which indicates to me it's getting cooked. I suspect the grease used is not up to scratch but I'm struggling to accept that as it was Timken wheel bearing grease which isn't usually a crappy brand. I'm using a different grease this time, has "high temp high pressure" blah blah plastered all over it. If this is no good them I'll go to extreme environment marine grease.

And yep, the muffler has definitely broken in! Cruising at 60 now and I can barely hear anything from the rear end. Dad says he can't hear me coming any more until I'm in the driveway whereas he used to hear me 2 blocks away. Gone from a little disappointing to very impressed, I don't have to change it again wahey

I got the trailing arms out just now, 90 mins just about which is good. I slotted the brake line clip too so I could remove the caliper without breaking into the fluid lines.




Weekend after next (Australia day) I'm off on a trip to Beachport/Robe with a 4WD club I joined a couple of months ago, stay tuned for pics/report, quite looking forward to that

[El_Freddo]

You’ll love it out at the Robe/Beachport area, amazing beach and dune 4wd’n! Enjoy Errington’s Beach (from memory that’s what it’s called!), it’s the softest beach of all of them!

Also with the swing arms out you’ll find that those three bolts to the outer swing arm on the K frame can change the camber of the wheel and possibly toe in a little bit. I’m still stuffing around trying to get Ruby Scoo’s rear end sorted again as all tyre outlets say the rear is fixed because that’s what their manual thingy says.

^ that is why I do my wheel bearings on the vehicle where possible. It’s not hard with the right tools

All the best with getting those bearings sorted. I’d be interested to know the brand of the grease use used that went black. I’ve used Castrol, penrite, and some other one I forget the brand of without issues. I make sure the packing grease is all pushed out and have loaded the bearings with my grease of choice, then add more into the bearing races before putting the bearings in and finishing the job.

Also are the bearings you use a quality Japanese make such as NTN or K-something (I’m doing well tonight aren’t I?!)?

I hope it’s the last time you have to do them on this car, they should last a long time!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Also with the swing arms out you’ll find that those three bolts to the outer swing arm on the K frame can change the camber of the wheel and possibly toe in a little bit.

I have heard this before and even seen it written in a service manual scanned online...just can't understand how it's even possible since once all 3 bolts are started (still loose) the trailing arm is pretty well stuck in position. There hole is a pretty small clearance to the bolt, not much room to move.

^ that is why I do my wheel bearings on the vehicle where possible. It’s not hard with the right tools

I did attempt this, there was no way I was bench pressing 205Nm to loosen and then tighten that ring nut Only for the spanner to pop out and smash my knuckles on something

Also are the bearings you use a quality Japanese make such as NTN or K-something (I’m doing well tonight aren’t I?!)?

Thes new ones are NTN, same as the ones I replaced.
I determined the cause of premature death was lack of lube, there wasn't very much grease present when I pressed all the old bearings out. I guess it was nearly 10 years ago before I knew enough about it. This time I packed so much in that it squirted out the other side when I pressed the last inner race/cage into place


On another note...I didn't exactly expect to be doing this today...



After I did the bearings last weekend I put the rear axles back in as well (have been driving with them out for months now) Tried to get it up to 100km/h on the test drive but couldn't get much above 60 because the traffic on the expressway was too heavy. Today around mid day, I finally got it up to 100 then 110 and well...it was not good. Felt like the car was going to vibrate to pieces and everything in the rear view mirror was a blur since it was shaking so much. Can't drive 4 hours to beachport like this I thought...I have to fix this TODAY or tomorrow at the latest...bugger bugger bugger!!!!

Anyway I ended up going back to U-pull for the tailshaft out of the L series that I got the 3.9 ratio box and diff from a few weeks ago. Had to cut one of the center bearing mounting bolts with a hacksaw blade since the captive nut was spinning, that was not easy. It was the only one in the yard and god I hope it's in usable condition cos if it's not I'm completely boned. And now I'm making the center support for it. By the time I got home again and got the car up on stands it was nearly 5 O-clock....some frantic surgery with the angle grinder on some 50x50x3 RHS (All I've got laying around) I'm heading in this direction:




Really annoyed at this whole situation, should have resolved this issue sooner. I got that diff weeks ago hoping to swap it in but the only one in the yard and it was a 3.9 The vibe is too high frequency to be anything other than the tailshaft or the pinion shaft in the diff. So I'm betting on the single piece tailshaft of mine being a single piece of S#!*!!! Has vibrated since day one, you can even feel it at 80km/h It was custom made, everything should be new and fine. When I rang the place that made it he didn't really want to accept the shaft was faulty kept telling me to check the unis (they're fine as far as I can tell) Argh what a nightmare. Supposed to be getting ready for the trip next week not stuffing about with this.

[Silverbullet]

What a day! Started working on it at 7:30 this morning, marking out and drilling only so not to annoy the neighbors with the grinder. Went and did the groceries shop for my trip for an hour but apart from that and 1/2 hr for lunch I've been on the car non-stop. By 5 I was putting the car back together, pulling my hair out cos I couldn't find where I'd put anything (fatigue well and truly set in) well and truly over it. 5:45 went for a tentative test drive expecting the worst. Got it up to 100 then gingerly 110 waiting for a big bang or something Nothing! and no vibration either! not even a hint of what was there before! Smooth as. Man I nearly cried tears of joy been chasing this problem for so damn long. Could still hear the diff bearing noise though but I can't tell you how relieved I am, I can actually do 110 now smoothly, this opens the options for so many places I've wanted to get to but couldn't because of that vibration. Yippee!!!!

You could probably run over my crossmember with a tank and it would shrug it off, it's bloody strong. Much stronger than the floor pan around it which I'm not 100% happy with. Thinking I'll get some 30 or 40mm flat bar and shape it to the tunnel hump on the interior and join the two mounting nuts together, the strap hugging the tunnel tight. I've got the nuts welded to two big plates at the moment to spread the load as much as practicable.

Bring on the Beachport trip!!!



As for this piece of

[El_Freddo]

Good effort there Sam! And how good is it when you get some huge issue like this sorted?!

You’ll love it at Beachport, more so as you destress from this ordeal!!

Are you running the 3.9 ratio gearbox and rear diff or is that still on the shed floor for now? I’m interested to know if your speedo reading changed.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

It is such a relief definitely, the whole car feels smoother now over many conditions other than highway. With that and the new muffler broken in, feel like I'm ticking things off one at a time in the comfort department The donor shaft though did have a tight-loose-tight feeling in the rear-most uni joint in one axis, which I think I can just barely feel when driving.

Super duper keen for Beachport tomorrow, been frantically organizing and packing everything after work yesterday and today though when I should have done it on the weekend

Still have the (increasingly) leaky, noisy old 3.7 ratio box at the moment, no way I could have changed it over in time and not sure I even could change it in the driveway now, can't get the car up high enough to get it underneath. The 3.9 box and diff are waiting for me to have a chance to drop them off at the gearbox specialist for a rebuild/freshen up which will solve a myriad of other little niggles at the same time. Speedo is still 12% out currently, and the needle wobbles like heck since I think the speedo drive slot in the gearbox is worn out, brand new speedo cable too.

[Silverbullet]

What a weekend! That was a blast. The wagon performed superb really, surprised me for sure what she can do. Only one minor issue with an exhaust gasket blowing out on the way down, just an annoying noise and nothing more. Must have racked up close to 1000k's That whole area is ace, never been there before but keen to go back again, and do more camping/4WDing trips in general.

A trip report will come when I can get ahold of all the photos and video clips from various others in the club. I didn't take many photos myself since we were so busy driving most of the time. Here's a little teaser anyway.

[El_Freddo]

I’m glad to read you had a blast! I need to get back out there again too! Ruby Scoo needs some work before heading out again (in hiatus atm), and at the same time I’m keen to get the Pajero out there too so I can see what the differences are.

I look forward to what the trip report contains!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

The Monday after I got back from Barmera the car was back to vibrating like crazy above 80 km/h, exactly the same vibration the single piece tailshaft had right before I took it out Took the rear half of this second hand shaft out of the car and checked the unis and sure enough they were both really tight at the far ends of travel and really loose in the middle.

So I did some research online and found a greaseable/rebuildable uni joint kit that would fit. Did the two on the rear half yesterday and the other in the front half of the shaft this morning. The first one was a real learning experience and extremely frustrating The last one this morning was easy peasy Filmed the process on one of them for a youtube vid coming soon.

Took it for a test drive just now, fixed? nope...it's better than it was but still there's a low rumble from the rear at 100km/h. Exactly how it felt the first time I ever got the car on the road with the rear axles in. This pretty much confirms to me that the combination of this gearbox in this car has un-resolvable driveline angle issues and there will always be a vibration that cannot be fixed. Dunno how other people don't have the same problem in their 5 speed swapped Brumbies etc. Think I'd need to drive someone else's car to see what it feels like. When the car goes in for the rebuilt gearbox to be swapped over I might see if they can check the angles for a second opinion and see if there's anything they can do about it. I still suspect this rear diff is bad, maybe the gearbox is contributing too. The new box and rebuilt diff might be better.

For anyone interested in doing this job, the joints are Rockford Driveline 430-10. Had to come from USA which was pretty exxy on shipping.

[El_Freddo]

Sam try running the front half of the shaft only, drop the rear section. That’s one of the beauties of the L series two piece shaft.

The only other things I can think of are:

- broken/worn engine or gearbox mounts
- modified gearbox mounts aren’t sitting true/have changed driveline angles
- rear output shaft bearings are toast in the gearbox, but this is usually accompanied with a leaking rear output shaft seal too (been there done that)

Other thoughts point towards a drive shaft issue, and it could be any of them!

I know you’re down and out on this one, keep at it though, you’ll work it out.

I doubt an EJ conversion will solve anything - but with that said, do you have all cylinders running at 100%?

Theory on this: if the vibration happens in 4th but disappears by dropping to 3rd or it changes significantly, it could be an engine issue. 4th ratio is just over a 1:1 engine speed to tailshaft speed. If there’s something in the engine that’s not operating as it should it could be manifesting as this vibration.
One of the reasons I say engine issue is because we had an old family bus Holden WB Statesman series II with the 308. One day towing it developed a MASSIVE vibration under load to the point it was almost undrivable - we limped it home. The issue turned out to be one fed spark plug and a failing spark lead. For a V8 that was substantial and surprising that it was just that simple.

Does this vibration come on strong/quickly straight up when you start driving or does it work itself up to the vibration at set cruise speeds?

I was going to say the locker could be the issue too but this was put in after the vibration issue. Did you check the pinion shaft bearing for noise or play at this time?

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Sam try running the front half of the shaft only, drop the rear section. That’s one of the beauties of the L series two piece shaft.

...

Does this vibration come on strong/quickly straight up when you start driving or does it work itself up to the vibration at set cruise speeds?

I've been driving smoothly and peacefully with the rear half of the shaft out for the last few months. Had to put it back in again last weekend for a drive down on Goolwa beach for a cockling trip (bag limit for 2 people in less than 1 hour! ) and the vibe is instantly noticeable and really annoying. Right now it's at its worst between 60 and 80km/h. It all but disappears around 100km/h. Which is very different to when I had the single piece shaft in last; working it's way up to worst vibe at 100-110km/h so bad I couldn't see anything out of the rearview mirror from the blur. At the moment can feel it in any gear, clutch in or out.

Anywhoo I came to post some news, the EJ swap is imminent Let me pre-empt the following info by saying I know I'm spending way too much money. What can I say, I like spending money on this wagon

Picked up my rebuilt (better than new!) blueprinted EJ20 from S&J last Friday






Ordred myself a Haltech elite 750 with the basic wiring kit plus a few extra sensors on Friday night. Safe to say I've never spent that much money in one day in my life


And promptly over the weekend discovered I made a blunder despite having researched the ECU thoroughly (or so I thought) The EJ20 I have uses the 6 wire, stepper motor idle control valve in the throttle body. The Elite 750 ECU can't drive it...only the 1500 and up has the provision for stepper drive


Well I wasn't going to spend that much extra money and get 10x more functionality that I'll never use just to control the idle speed anyway. So a few options I'm thinking of in order of preference:
- Find a different (older) throttle body with a 3 wire idle valve, and make an adaptor plate for it. I think early Impreza(?) or EJ18 is what I need
- Find a different (older) intake manifold with the 3 wire idle valve mounted to the passenger side on the intake runners and swap the manifold
- Find an aftermarket stepper motor controller that can take a PWM input from the Elite 750 and turn it into 6 wire stepper drive
- Make a stepper controller from an arduino to drive the stepper (I really don't want to have to do this)

Along with all that I need another car to drive around in while the wagon is off the road. I'm hoping it is off the road no longer than 3 months, tops. The biggest issue I have so far apart from the idle valve is the fuel system, my car does not have a fuel return. With the haltech though I can run the fuel pump with PWM for variable speed and have a dead-head fuel system with an in-line pump, fuel pressure sensor, no surge tank or return line. Might have to upgrade my fuel supply line though, see if the later model Brumby one is any bigger. Much to do, fun and games.

[El_Freddo]

Whoa! Go you good thing! You certainly know how to go nuts on the good bits!!

I didn’t know you could get a blue printed NA EJ20 unless you got it built for you.

And the Halteck ECU will be good. As for the throttle body, find something that the ecu can control and adapt it to the intake manifold.

Using an earlier intake must also be a phase 2 intake manifold otherwise it won’t fit. You can use a phase 2 turbo intake as this will bolt up but you’ll probably need the matching coolant crossover pipe too. This might require some shaving of the RHS head where there’s a block that’s in the way of the coolant crossover pipe’s outlet to the radiator. This block also houses the locator pin for the inlet manifold gasket.

If you plan this out you shouldn’t have the car off the road for 3 months! I see the following being the major parts to this conversion:
- engine removal, swap and fitment. I presume you’ll be using an adaptor plate to keep the EA 5spd.
- wiring of the ECU - namely how you’ll lay it out in the engine bay and where it will pass through the firewall.
- coolant and exhaust mods to fit. Probably minor. Get a stock UEL Y pipe from a Gen 1 or make/score a borla set of UELs.
- tuning once the little bits are done.
- little bits such as:
- pitch stopper rod setup
- air box location (I’m guessing factory behind the throttle body)
- fuel setup but that inline setup sounds good if you can do it.

A return line can be fitted easily enough - use another line from a wagon, this will require removing the interior down the passenger side of the vehicle including the seats. The tank might need to be swapped, or put a T piece right near the pick up line as the return. The only issue here could be over heating the fuel as it won’t all go back to the tank to cool off a bit after being in the engine bay.

Other than that it should be a good goer!

The alternative way to run this engine is with the factory engine mounted ECU. Not hard to get this sorted apparently. But you’ll need the ECU, key transponder, immobiliser box, ignition barrel ( <- optional) and the ring around the ignition barrel. That’s the hardest part but it’s doable, or Subarino can do it for you and post it back to you cut down and labelled.

But you’ve got the haltech.

Lastly, you didn’t want to go for the EJ251? That engine has a straight torque line and they go well with a set of MLS head gaskets to sort out the apparent factory HG issue.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Thanks Bennie It's going to be good can't wait to get started.

There's one simple fact that decided a few things about which engine, ECU to use etc and that is; I already had this engine sitting around the side of the house for about 4 years now (this is why not the EJ25) But with little/none of the wiring harness let alone the right ECU (hence the Haltech) I don't even know what year/model car it came out of (foz maybe?) so no idea what to go and scavenge as far as all the other bits required to make the factory ECU work. Plus I like the idea of being able to plug my laptop into it and tinker with things at my leisure and the fact that it will be absolute bare minimum wiring to make the engine run, no loom stripping required.

Also considered just putting the engine in as it was in original condition but; the throttle shaft was bent and in taking the TB off I noticed some oily bulldust sludge stuck to the back of the plenum insides. Pulled the plugs out and they were all oil soaked. Most likely rings/bores were all shot from dust ingestion confirmed with my borescope. Hence the rebuild, wanted it to be done right so took it to the premier Subaru guys in Adelaide who told me their standards of rebuild include blueprinting. So now have a better than new engine, I'm more concerned with longevity, reliability and simplicity than power.

I'll collect all the parts I can forsee that I'll need before taking it off the road to reduce downtime. There's a couple of things though might need to trailer the car around for namely power steering lines customization. There will be many trips to U-pull it in the near future

[El_Freddo]

Ah bugger, wish I knew about that sooner!

The trick with engine management systems is to get matching intake and any sensors connected for that wiring to the block. Only thing to get right here is getting an intake that matches the block which isn’t hard to do really.

The under bonnet, engine mounted ecu is apparently very easy to cut down since all the ECU wiring that you need is on the engine and doesn’t get touched. It’s the power wires and the immobiliser that you need to sort out. In saying this I haven’t I haven’t cut down one of these looms myself so consider that tid bit of info second hand

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Just my opinion but I think a Haltech upgrade/swap is going to be easier than re-purposing the factory ECU and wiring The Elite 750 has only a single connector 34(?) pins and I won't even be using every pin. A couple dozen wires only into the engine bay and adding a fuse or two for the ECU power and fuel pump relay. No excess wires, no immobilizer to defeat, no un-wrapping and re-wrapping. Of course the downside is cost, if I was working to a budget I would do the factory loom cut-down. I'm sure the whole conversion could be done for the price I paid for my ECU and assiciated bits

Anyway progress has been made with the idle valve issue, went down to U-pull it on Friday after work (first of many, many trips I think!) and looked under every bonnet until I found a TB with the 3-wire IAC valve on a Forester EJ20. Took the throttle body for $48 and the accelerator cable. In the yard there was a pretty nice condition 2nd gen Forester for sale $2800. Manual with low range and leather interior, clean engine and underside, only problem I could see was the clutch was not working. So I put my name down for it! would make a good run-around once the clutch is replaced, but there was another guy in front of me on the list so we'll see.

Spent today cleaning the TB up with some ally cleaner and un-seizing the throttle shaft/plate. Don't think it had ever been cleaned, there was a thick ridge of crud in the bore that the throttle plate was getting stuck on. All gone now and it feels smooth as




The bolt pattern is identical to the old TB, some slight difference in the idle air passage area. The plan so far is to bandsaw off the bottom of the old throttle body, machine it down to 6 or 8mm thick and use it as the adapter plate. Also if anybody could tell me what that other sensor is I'd be thankful, the one other than the IAC valve and the throttle position sensor. It is in the coolant channel so is it coolant temp sensor? Pressure sensor?
*EDIT* It's the MAP sensor, so not in the cooling jacket. The ECU will have onboard MAP so don't need this...

[Silverbullet]

The engine swap is officially underway this weekend, the blue wagon has driven it's last km under EA81 power Took it to get the A/C gas vacuumed out after work yesterday and then the drive home was the last. Pumped the last fuel out of the tank (less than 1L came out, talk about cutting it close! ) Had all fluids drained, radiator out and most of the other cables and hoses disconnected yesterday. Engine out next, that will be next Friday afternoon. Let's see how quickly I can get it back on the road I'm signed up to a 4WD club fishing trip at Salt creek in November and I'm really looking forward to doing that under EJ power

Last week I also took delivery of and installed some new LED batten lighting in the car hole for all night tinkering. Got that wired up today on a dedicated switch and, holy moly is it like daylight under there or what! 5 x 1200mm battens plus 2 x 600mm ones in the shed itself. Got sick of scratching around in the dark not being able to see after 4PM in winter. Chuffed with the result.




Oh and I probably should mention what I'm getting around in while the main car is off the road. A few weeks ago I rescued a 2004 Forester off marketplace for $4k. Manual with low range so I can still go camping in it. It has its fair share of dings and dents, interior has a smell that only a seats-out deep shampoo clean will remove but that's fine, just waiting for a weekend where it doesn't rain so I can do it, haven't had one since I bought the car. Already fixed a jack-hammer brake pedal issue which was warped front rotors, took them off myself and got a mate to machine them for $50. The main issue with it is of course the head gaskets, it's weeping oil and coolant pretty bad from the passenger side underneath. It's not blown though and the engine still runs sweet as so I'm just going to leave it. It may also need a front 02 sensor. Will probably move the car on again once the main wagon is back up and running.

[El_Freddo]

I reckon you’ll come to love the SG foz Sam! Our one in the family is going awesome most likely with over 400,000 on it now! Auto though but my MIL loves it which is what it’s all about!

Sadly the low range is the crappy 1.19:1 - but at least it’s got one as it allows you to swap in the L series low range if you ever felt that way inclinded!

Looks like the northern suburbs of Radelaide will know when you’re working on the wagon mate!! Those LED battens are BRIGHT! I bet they bring out the metal flake in the paint work really well

I thought you’d have the EA81 out by now. Should take about 40mins, maybe 49 if you’re protecting that lovely engine bay paint work! Getting the EJ20 in will be a much more careful procedure since there’s less room to work with (but it does fit quite well).

Cheers

Bennie