engine and drivetrain Embrassing Drive Home With The Lady

[ndog]

 

Let's get your tii fixed before your GF fixes you.

 

 

Have you done a fuel pressure check? 

 

Is the fuel pump an original tii unit?

 

What ignition coil are you using?

x2^^^^^ fix car so it runs like a top....

then when she is out getting her hair/nails done unplug her honda civic ignition and wait for the call,show up in 2002 fix her car and fly away like HEROMAN..gluck with thecarandgirl.nate

[Kpeters]

 

x2^^^^^ fix car so it runs like a top....

then when she is out getting her hair/nails done unplug her honda civic ignition and wait for the call,show up in 2002 fix her car and fly away like HEROMAN..gluck with thecarandgirl.nate

 

Hahahaha that's a good one!

[Beck180]

 

Have you done a fuel pressure check? 

 

Is the fuel pump an original tii unit?

 

What ignition coil are you using?

 

 

Haven't done a fuel pressure check, but need to. The electric fuel pump is possibly an original Tii unit. The coil is a new red coil fitted and tested by Sean Casey and Tom Jones of Casey Motorsports and hasn't missed a beat in the last year since it was installed.

 

I suspect it is fuel related as the timing clearly wasn't messed up during my rebuild, or else it wouldn't run at all. It could be a throttle body or K-pump adjustment issue but both ran perfectly before my rebuild. And I didn't tough either.

 

HOWEVER...

 

I did replace the fuel filter with a new one. The old one I pulled off said "made in West Germany" on it so I suspect possibly the original fuel filter. Is it possible that the old one was less restrictive than the new one I put on and the K-pump/throttle were adjusted as per the old (weaker) filter?

 

Thankfully I held onto the old filter. Tonight I will swap it back in and see if it makes any difference.

[ndog]

wow filter restriction i dont know squat about tii but i doubt that re-restricting the fuel flow will solve it. good luck again...  I have been in that exact intersection wtf momement with my wife of 16yrs... . Her reply was fix it qwik UFOOL

Edited June 5, 2013 by ndog

[roadhog0]

I'm so glad the women I like loves to come to car shows and gatherings with me! Sorry, to the ladies, but the car is my choice.

[thehackmechanic]

"At what point do we call a cab?" is not necessarily an out-of-bounds question. It's your description of the body language and a history of dismissive-ness_ toward your passion that raise alarm bells.

 

But regarding the problem with the car, if it revs freely and never dies under load but only dies at idle, it probably isn't a fuel delivery or fuel restriction problem. It may be as simple as the idle speed being too low and/or the idle mixture being off, though I'll admit there's no clear reason why those things should've changed if you had the upper timing cover off. Maybe I just didn't read what you did carefully enough. Does it die if you feather the gas pedal with the right foot and brake with your left foot?

[Beck180]

if it revs freely and never dies under load but only dies at idle

Correct. Only at idle or below 1000 RPM.

 

 

I'll admit there's no clear reason why those things should've changed if you had the upper timing cover off.

I had the lower cover off too since I was replacing the chain and tentioner too.

 

Does it die if you feather the gas pedal with the right foot and brake with your left foot?

Nope, that's eventually how I got it home. I used the hand brake to stop and feathered the throttle with my right foot while holding down the clutch with my left foot.

[thehackmechanic]

This is good news. If it revs fine and only dies at idle, I'd wager it's a minor idle setting adjustment. 

 

So if the lower cover was off, you had the Kugelfischer pump off, correct? So the linkage rods were disconnected, correct? It "should" just go back together with everything at pretty much the same settings, but we all know that life is never like this. You didn't have to pull off the intake manifold / throttle body for some reason, did you? If you did, then the synchronization at the vertical shaft coming out the bottom of the throttle body will definitely need to be reset. Have you gone through the tii setup process as described in the tii setup manual on the tii register? It's pretty straightforward.

 

The big screw with the slot in the end coming out the side of the "tuna can" at the top of the throttle body is the idle speed adjustment. You can loosen the locknut and screw it in to increase idle speed. Inside the tuna can there's a tiny screw that adjusts the idle mixture. Screwing it in makes it lean, out makes it rich. I use a CO meter, but you'll know if it's too lean because the idle will oscillate; back it out until it stops. You'll know it's too rich because the unburnt fuel in the exhaust will make your eyes water. Other people use the test of blipping the throttle and if it drops down low before settling at around 900 then it's too rich, but their ears must be better than mine. Remember that idle speed and mixture are intertwined; when you change the mixture, it changes the speed.

 

Of course, it's also possible that low idle is caused by timing being too retarded. If you're looking for things to check, recheck ignition timing. When you rev it up, if you hear any misfiring, you can put the timing light on each plug wire and check for a steady strobe, but, again, you're describing a problem that occurs only at idle.

 

Chin up.

[ClayW]

A few years ago, my luck ran dry on the way to Vintage (2011). I had just installed what turned out to be a bad M42 and the car overheated less than 60 miles down the road. Here's where I brag on my then fiance, now wife: She never complained a bit. When i was tearing the engine apart in the parking lot, she sat on the curb and kept me company. When I was scratching my head in the Autozone parking lot, she sat in the shade and snapped a few pictures. Car-wise, it was a failure of a weekend. Otherwise, we had a nice two-night stay in a little town outside of DC. She could have made things a lot worse, but instead made things a lot better.

 

http://tx02.blogspot.com/2011/05/vintage-fail.html

 

[Beck180]

 

So if the lower cover was off, you had the Kugelfischer pump off, correct? So the linkage rods were disconnected, correct?

Actually the K-Pump stayed on. There is a rear bracket that connects the k-pump to the oil filter bracket. So I was able to keep the pump and linkages attached.

You didn't have to pull off the intake manifold / throttle body for some reason, did you?

Correct, neither came off

Have you gone through the tii setup process as described in the tii setup manual on the tii register?

Not yet unfortunately. I am preparing for a week long trip (not taking the Tii). So I haven't had a chance to really dive back into the car yet.

The big screw with the slot in the end coming out the side of the "tuna can" at the top of the throttle body is the idle speed adjustment. You can loosen the locknut and screw it in to increase idle speed.

I'll start here. I didn't mess with the ignition timing, but I have a dwell meeter so at least I can't make sure it is within limits.

 

Thanks dude. I've always appreciated your help.

[jgerock]

Beck - 

 

Since your KF pump stayed on the timing cover, are you 100% sure you got the belt back on in the right place @ TDC for # 1?  These cars will run with the gear off by a tooth either way.

 

Jim

[Beck180]

are you 100% sure you got the belt back on in the right place @ TDC for # 1?

 

Well I was 100% sure until you just asked. haha. I re-installed the k-pump belt about 6 times until I felt it was on the closest alignment possible.

 

Beyond the idling problems the car is running at about 95% power which I figure is due to the other mixture issues. If the Tii belt was off by a tooth wouldn't there be some several power loss even if it was capable of running.

 

The big screw with the slot in the end coming out the side of the "tuna can" at the top of the throttle body is the idle speed adjustment. You can loosen the locknut and screw it in to increase idle speed

 

I messed with the idling screw today and nearly eliminated the stalling issue. Car was feeling great for about 4 miles until I lost power at about 2000 RPM. This was followed by the loud backfire and engine died. It started right back up and I has some issued of power below 2000 RPM but still got it home without much problems.

 

Sadly, I won't be able to work on the car for a week as I will be out of the country on a Boy Scout trip I am volunteering as a scout leader for. When I get back I'd love to learn how to really tune the Tii and fix this issue myself. Any more words of wisdom would be very welcome!

[thehackmechanic]

Well... that changes things.

 

Regarding the FI belt being off by a tooth... when I was sorting out a lean-running issue on my tii, I messed with advancing and retarding the FI belt by one, even two, teeth, and didn't find it to make a dramatic difference, but other people have reported more dramatic results.

 

Backfire on deceleration is a textbook symptom of lean running, but that's not what you described. A sudden loss of power can be either a loss of fuel or a loss of ignition. What you're describing sounds more like the ignition cutting out with fuel continuing to be squirted in, then the ignition cutting back in and igniting the fuel to create the backfire, but that's a guess.

 

Bill William's signature is "90% of your fuel problems are in your ignition." It's always good to start with the basics, check your timing, make sure the contacts on the inside of your distributor cap aren't corroded crap, verify that you're not running on 40 year old plug wires, etc. Also a good thing to make sure the series resistance of your coil and its ballast resistor are a total of 3 ohms. Your car is a '74 tii; I forget if that's one of the ones with a resistance wire rather than a ceramic resister that screws everyone up. I'd check these things, then step through the tii setup according to the manual (holler if you need a copy e-mailed to you), and see where you are. C.D. would also tell you to change your oil and adjust your valves.

 

Have a good trip. We'll still be here when you get back.

[OriginalOwner]

 

 spotted this at another board ..... an interesting perspective ..... 

 

My wife and I almost didn't get married.

She refused to marry me when I drank.

I refused to marry her when I was sober.

Edited June 11, 2013 by OriginalOwner

[Get2theBimmah]

Great thread.  Love the "if you were as much fun" remark. 

 

When I got my 02 on the road for the first time earlier this spring, I picked up the girl I was dating and broke down during rush hour in a busy town.  Luckily we safely got off the road and into a parking lot within walking distance of a coffee shop.  I went and grabbed a couple of coffees and came back to the car to make the best of it.  She said she was cool with it and understood the situation (original fuel pump failure), but it was not a proud moment for me or the car.  When we broke up in the middle of the summer, I had my 02 with me at work that day, but just to play it safe, I went back home and picked up my M3 to make sure I could safely make it out of her driveway after it was over.