L-troubles

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:03 pm

bit of a story but here it is...
my brother used to have this L-series wagon untill it was hit up the arse by a drunk in an unregistered car...

after this we found a replacement L-series GL 88 touring wagon MPFI ...all was good after we put new timing belts on and away she went... had it a week and put a pod filter on for a bit more air for it.....went and sounded sweet..... the following week we planned to put an exhaust on it but one day he was driving down the highway...lost power and it stopped...
RACV said headgasket and over the phone talking to him it sounded like a headgasket...

so now i rang around and found a MPFI motor for around $1500 (more than what we paid for the car)

So what were doing now is pulling the stuffed MPFI motor out and my EA82 carby is going in.......along with carby fuel tank etc...

its annoying and time consuming but i think its the best way to go.....

is it worth rebuilding the MPFI motor? new head gaskets ect? or should i do what i have already thought about?

cheers
wrx_nut

Craigus · Post by **Craigus** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:22 pm

If the engine won't run at all - ie no signs of life - it's unlikely to be a head gasket failure. Is there spark? fuel ? Could it simply be a loose plug in the wiring harness ?

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:25 pm

na she runs but spits all the water out and runs rough...didnt have time to do it meself so the local mechanic pulled it apart and its a head gasket....

Craigus · Post by **Craigus** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:28 pm

Well, it sounds like a fair bit of the work is already done then - getting the heads skimmed and putting it all back together with new gaskets would have to be the easiest option - as long as the rest of the engine is OK.

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:32 pm

but to get all that done pressure tested etc...is it work the $$ when i can just wack the carby motor in?

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:30 pm

I would say its worth it, considering the carby motor just might spit a head gasket after you drop that in

At least if you have it replaced on the MPFI motor you'll have peace of mind. If it were me in your shoes I'd bust a gut to get the money to do a full top overhaul, making sure all the valvetrain is in top notch before she goes back in.

Plus an MPFI motor runs heaps better than a carby one.

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:47 am

not sure of the condition of the MPFI motor....ie- rings..if it was damaged etc.... cost more to rebuild i would say

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:32 am

do you have to change the fuel tanks over...from the MPFI tank to the Carby tank...or can you just use adapters for the fuel lines?

twc · Post by **twc** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:33 pm

It appears you have already done half the work in splitting the existing engine. just a matter fo replacing gaskets and overhauling heads if nesseccery.
Im only guessing but wouldnt it be more cost effective to keep rebuilding the original rather than start again converting to another engine of dubios quality and all the associated problems of switching things over to match?????

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:21 pm

the MPFI motor is out bout not pulled down.....ive got a spare carby ea82 in the shed which i am going to put in which saves the cost of the new head gaskets and pressure testing and so on....

daza · Post by **daza** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:06 pm

now I know nothing about the L series so I may be missing something obvious but... Why on earth would you do all the work to convert to carby if you've got MPFI! surely you can drop the carby motor in using the MPFI manifolds, dissy etc etc?

?

?
Daza.

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:10 pm

different ports on the MPFI motor to the carby

daza · Post by **daza** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:15 pm

Oh,

Bummer...
well that's me all out of idea's,

Sorry,
Daza.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:22 pm

Unfortunately not the case, Daza, the MPFI heads are twin port on the inlet side whereas carby is single port.

Why oh why didn't we get the SPFI L series down under?

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:25 pm

with this conversion there is just going to be alot of wires that go nowhere in the engine bay

stamp_licker · Post by **stamp_licker** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:36 pm

my mpfi has over 400000 km on it runs cool and hasn't caused me any trouble.they seem to have a bit more go then the carb ones.might be worth fixing and chucking back in.

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:40 pm

but why spend the money on rebuilding it when ive got a spare carby one here to wack in?

will eventually be rebuilding it in any case but not straight away...brother needs his car for uni

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:07 pm

Most people would pay to convert a carbi vehicle to mpfi.

Your brother will be losing money in fuel costs as soon as he starts driving it. My carb L series uses as much fuel as my wifes 4l Falcon. I believe that 10l/100km is pretty standard.

Fuel just went up another 10c in Perth.

A lot of the work is already done. You should have a good look at the motor to see if you have done more damage then a simple head gasket. It may just be a case of refacing the heads & replacing the gaskets.

Kev

wrx_nut · Post by **wrx_nut** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:36 pm

when the MPFI motor was going it was getting less km out of a tank than what his old carby one was....weird i though the MPFI one would get better enconomy

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:51 pm

An Mpfi motor that has that sort of fuel economy might be a sign of upcoming problems. There may well be more wrong with that motor then your post suggests.

Your best option may well be to whack in the old carb motor for a while until you can afford to do something with the mpfi motor.