EA81 Overhaul thread

[Silverbullet]

So close!

Engine is all back together and of course it started on the first crank, idles beautifully, almost silent and perfectly smooth. Timing wasn't far off and the idle screws on carb needed a little bit of adjustment.

Problem comes as soon as I put load on it. In 1st gear letting the clutch out the engine nearly stalls and really has no power. There's not much acceleration to speak of either. At first I thought it was a clutch problem, since I wasn't too sure of the pedal freeplay. Went back and adjusted that, but still have same problem.

So I'm thinking it's a carb issue since timing is spot on. But what could the issue be on the carb? on the other engine this manifold as it is ran perfectly, plenty of power and acceleration. I haven't changed anything since (except the engine ) Info that might be related; I let the engine idle up to operating temp, didn't rev it much if at all. Then when I went to rev it, it struggled a bit, cleared and revved up. Too much fuel? There is also some liquid coming out of the exhaust but it isn't fuel. To my eye it looks like fresh water, not coolant either

Here's a quick vid of it idling
http://youtu.be/QtTk5WkDE1c

[TOONGA]

Did the phenolic spacer plate go back on between the carby and the manifold?

if it is the original one there is a good chance part of it has broken or cracked and water is getting into the manifold from the tube that runs water up to the bottom of the carby to keep it from freezing fuel.

wouldn't hurt to do a cold compression check then a hot one to see how big a difference there is

TOONGA

[Silverbullet]

Phenolic spacer plate? Never heard of it All I remember is the gasket between the carb and manifold, and I put a new one of those in. You just reminded me though, should I have put any kind of gasket sealer on that gasket? I remember now that I didn't put any on (could be the problem?) I've got another gasket anyway if I have to take the carb off.

*Edit* thinking about it more I do remember a big fat gasket sort of thing, but it was between the throttle body and the float chamber assembly if I remember right and didn't have a coolant channel through it.

[TOONGA]

if there is one it is a black plastic looking gasket on the bottom of the carby it looks like a thick gasket they break with age and let coolant into the engine .

you won't believe what gasket goo I use but I coat carby gaskets with a light coating of high temp grease it keeps them wet and stops them sticking to the carby surface so they can be used again.

TOONGA

[littlewhiteute]

if there is one it is a black plastic looking gasket on the bottom of the carby it looks like a thick gasket they break with age and let coolant into the engine .

you won't believe what gasket goo I use but I coat carby gaskets with a light coating of high temp grease it keeps them wet and stops them sticking to the carby surface so they can be used again.

TOONGA

Good to see somebody else does the same thing, been doing that all my working life.

Only thing to use on a carb base gasket.

[Silverbullet]

So if there was a slight coolant leak into the engine that way would it make the engine lack so much power? At the exhaust pipe when it's running there is a very slow drip.

[TOONGA]

yep I just did a carby for a guy and missed the phenolic plate being cracked.

it Idled fine revved fine but under load it had no power and ran like a chaff cutter.

pulled the carby off and a bit was missing from the plate, threw it away put the carby back on and things were great after that.

look for a water leak if not the plunger is swollen and not doing its job properly but I doubt that.

TOONGA

[Silverbullet]

Ok, will do that tomorrow. Hopefully that's the issue, with it sounding so good I can't wait to see if it drives as well as it sounds. It's so quiet, doesn't seem like my car

[El_Freddo]

Lets not forget that in cold weather you'll find water coming from your exhaust as vapour from the burn process until the exhaust is hot enough to evaporate the vapour before the end of the tip. A cold exhaust cools the exhaust gasses until the vapour becomes visible, this collects and you see the water droplets as well as some "fog/cloud" as the engine is running.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Lets not forget that in cold weather you'll find water coming from your exhaust as vapour from the burn process until the exhaust is hot enough to evaporate the vapour before the end of the tip. A cold exhaust cools the exhaust gasses until the vapour becomes visible, this collects and you see the water droplets as well as some "fog/cloud" as the engine is running.

Cheers

Bennie

That's interesting, makes sense. The weather isn't really cold but the exhaust pipe was cold/cool when it was happening. Although the engine was up to operating temp. The liquid coming out did look quite clear (apart from soot), but not sure if it's possible to see the coolant colour if it's just a little drop.

I took the carb off this morning, nothing really obvious but the gasket looked a bit tatty in some places, replaced it and put some sealer around the coolant hole (didn't have any high temp grease) but not enough to block it up before someone says it

*Edit*
So I went and warmed it right up, exhaust was warm as well and it stopped dripping liquid. So that's that. But it still has no power/acceleration. I think it must be a carb issue, because again if I let it idle for a few minutes and then push the accelerator hard, it stalls, backfires or both
It's getting a bit frustrating now

[TOONGA]

did you do a compression check?

TOONGA

[steptoe]

firing order is not 1.3.4.2 is it?

[steptoe]

compression test of new install ??

[TOONGA]

yep why not it isn't a rebuilt motor it is an exchange motor with the headgaskets and heads changed.

eliminate all possibilities and the last thing left is the problem.

but it could be the needle and seat adjustment as well or the plunger

TOONGA

[littlewhiteute]

firing order is not 1.3.4.2 is it?

EA81 is 1324, normal inline 4 cylinder is 1342.

[Silverbullet]

did you do a compression check?

TOONGA

Good point, not yet Will do first thing tomorrow.

And yep I know the firing order and the positions on the dizzy cap back to front, been taking it apart and putting it back so many times
Interesting I have this sort of issue with this engine/inlet combo, but with the other block (before it failed) this exact manifold unchanged ran beautifully I know I know something could have failed inside without me seeing during the inbetween time, knowing my luck

[TOONGA]

Did the carby rebuild kit have a leather plunger or a synthetic plunger?

Just got told very recently about an aftermarket kit having a synthetic plunger, that swelled up causing the car to run really badly under load. the offending plunger was swapped for a leather on and the problem dissapeared

TOONGA

[Silverbullet]

Interesting you should mention that, the rebuild kit came with a leather plunger but it didn't fit in the bore The leather skirt was too big and just wouldn't go in so I had to reuse the old one which wasn't leather.

[TOONGA]

I would say the reused plunger has met its maker, soak the leather plunger in petrol and let it soften up. it should then fit into the carby.

TOONGA

[Silverbullet]

Done, got the leather plunger to go in once it was soaked in petrol. It certainly does a better job of pushing fuel around than the old one, and it revs great now with no stalling or backfire. But it hasn't made much difference to when the engine is under load
Now when I take off in 1st, it will pull like it should for less than 1 second, then the engine bogs down, loses power whilst sounding very choppy (only word to describe it) Once up to some sort of speed it sounds ok but still lacks power. Feels like I'm going around in circles

Did a compression test while it was hot:
Cyl #1 - 130 psi
Cyl #3 - 120 psi
Cyl #2 - 140 psi
Cyl #4 - 140 psi

I don't like those results