2seater

Lookin' good. I learned long ago in the theory of everything that Too Much Is Just Right.

It is a standard rotation bolt, righty-tighty, lefty-loosy? Engine rotates clockwise when viewed from the balancer end.

Are you sure what you hear is the brake pump running and not the fuel pump? The ad doesn't mention the pre-charge or total volume, but starting from a new, empty ball that has been pumped down, I would expect the pump to run from 45sec to one minute on initial start.

First ride this morning. No instrumentation save for watching the knock counts, after checking to be sure knock sensor is working. So far no big issues evident. It looks like the boost is under better control this time, intake manifold pressure rises to 5 psi at about 3500rpm under part throttle, and is stable with a little more throttle. No knock counts at all while driving but trying to be gentle while I feel it out. Darn thing feels good.

I might need a laptop holder and will keep that in mind?

Engine installed and running. After replacement of A/C system components listed previously, system held vacuum for five days, so should be good to recharge. Now to start the tuning process.

Sweet. I guess as you get older it is possible to hide your own Easter eggs, but at least I remembered I had some?

Wasn't there a thread a while back about another source that apparently worked. Less money than the Spinning Wheels Hydac, maybe a Wabco brand? I know I thought about buying one just to test, but never did.

The ratings are indeed the same for '88-'90, but there is some conflicting information. These are the power curves available online, and the rpm for the peak hp. is higher than stated. My experience with the vin C variants leads me to believe the '88 peaks at 5200 rpm, and the '89-'90 peak lower at 4800.

Old engine on left, very low miles on it, but destined to get an '88 replacement cam. Original engine on right is fully turbocharged, in contrast to the half-turbo I just removed.

You are correct about the replacement tutorial but I was surprised there wasn't a write up on just the cleaning which has been discussed many times? That said, I just did this operation with the benefit of having the engine removed. Unbelievable how much easier to do standing on the ground in front of the heater box? Surprise, surprise, the interior was almost spotless, and I know it hasn't been done before. Photo of the plenum just after opening it up:

Odds are the evaporator is somewhat obstructed with debris on the ones with substandard airflow. Remove the heater blower assembly and the fan speed controller on top of the air plenum to see and access to clean inside. I thought there was a tutorial on ROJ but I could not find one?

The knock sensing is in the Memcal. When the ECM was swapped, did the original chip get swapped in?

x3 Or Victor Reinz which is O.E. or closest to it.

Just a follow-up since this is my first attempt at a/c repair. I knew I was on borrowed time with the a/c system and this should have been done last year but other things were higher priority. In any case, I couldn't get any oil to drain from the compressor, condenser or accumulator, so it was right on the verge of going very bad. I was hoping to install one of the new, improved temperature sensors for the expansion tube but alas that seems to have dried up, another consequence of my delay on doing this work?

I doubt just spraying is unlikely to fix the problem. The contact is under a membrane and the best, and long lasting repair, is to take it apart and manually clean the contacts. Thanks Ronnie, it is my old bookmark for ROJ.

I believe the HVAC controls are the same as the '90. Are you saying the requested interior temperature is stuck at 90* and will not change with the temperature down switch? I have seen a similar problem where the temperature would only go down but not up and that was caused by dirty contacts inside the control unit in the dash. It likely needs to be taken apart and the contacts under the buttons cleaned. Edit: I tried to link to the ROJ tutorials for the instructions but it gave error 404?

Yeah, I received a similar offer from my friend with two English Fords, an Anglia and the four door version, the Prefect. That's at my cottage so it's snowed in for a few months over the winter. I will give the offer all due consideration?

Pulled the engine from my '90 today, cleaned out the heater box by evaporator, removed a/c compressor, condenser and accumulator. Over the weekend my older son helped get the '89 uncovered , down off of blocks and moved into my new shed.

Found a local shop that would discharge my original R12 a/c system and that was done wed. Engine is now ready to be removed to be replaced with the original engine which is fully turbocharged. While the engine is out, the plan is to replace the a/c compressor (leaks oil), condenser, accumulator, O-rings and misc. small parts. I call this my original engine but it has been modified. The short block is all original, with about 100k miles, but the compression is lowered slightly with FelPro headgaskets, a used '88 cam, and the ported '88 heads I got from Daves89.

Recheck the transaxle fluid level again. I am sure that was part of your previous investigation but I had a blown diaphragm allow the engine to ingest a pint of fluid in a short time. Just a double check but it sounds like you caught yours early. Glad to hear it's happy now.

Well there's your problem, the spark was confused

I would leave the modulator alone if the car is now working to your satisfaction. One change at a time and then verify the fix for a while. You can always change it later. If the plugs alone cured the problem, how did the ones removed look?

The first thing(s) I would look at is the diagnostics for such things as the TPS, IAC and maybe the MAF. Watch the readings while it is acting up to see if they keep moving around with no other input and it may help narrow things.

The fuel lines on the '90 are plastic, so rust is unlikely, but the fuel filter is steel. I agree with Dave on checking the splices under the seats. I had a couple issues which weren't auto activation but more like non-operation, and when I repaired them, I found things worked that I hadn't even noticed were out to lunch, like the courtesy light in the lower drivers door.