Perhaps someone can help me with this. I am not sure why, but there is some DIY wiring going on here from a PO, and not sure exactly what they hoped to accomplish here. Does anyone know what this is? I will def want to fix this.



The black wire you see leaving goes here:



Its hard to see, it is the single wire that comes in from the 10 o'clock area in the pic and wraps around the wire harness in the center. Not sure exactly what that wire goes to.

 

I use brass wire wheels and brush on my rotary engine in my RX7..They work really well and leave a nice finish!

 

More progress today. I got the heat shields put back on, many of the parts cleaned, and the valve cover/cam retainer cleaned and painted.

I was not planning on painting this, but thought what the heck. I started cleaning it (it was much dirtier then this before I took the picture) and then though I would throw it in the sand blaster. That cleaned it right up. Since it was so clean I thought...meh, mind as well paint it. Don't care much for the red I found at the parts store, was hoping for something a little more "red" and less "orange", but oh well.

 

l hope you did not paint all around? because you dont want to paint the surface where the gasket will sit.

 

No gasket on these, they use a special sealer. No, I didn't paint the mating surfaces, I just painted the top. If there was any overspray I will scrape it tomorrow morning.

 

lol, l know,it still works as a gasket, you can go cheaper ways by using permatex, thats what l used. works great.

 

Still at it. Made a ton of progress today. Cam retainers/valve covers back on, intake installed, new water pump installed, plus lots of little hoses and such that needed reconnected. Not all of them are done, but close.



Looking pretty!



Anyways, having trouble getting the timing belt on. The timing itself seems pretty straight forward, but I feel like this belt is about an inch too short. I have tried removing the tensioner placing the belt around the pulley (which fits) but then getting the tensioner in is then impossible. What gives? Wrong belt? I am pulling HARD on this thing.

 

Ha! Figured it out! There is a boss right below the crank gear that I did not move around. I made sure the first time to get around the cover mounts (the cover w/2 10mm bolts) but there was another aluminum something-or-other beneath it. After I wiggled the belt past that I had the slack needed. After monkeying with the timing for a bit I was able to mount the tensioner underneath.

One question:

I keep seeing something about this:



It is called the tensioner restricting washer. Not quite sure what it does, or why it is there. I keep seeing that I need one, but there was none when I took the old tensioner off, and the kit I purchased (including a new tensioner) did not have one either.

Not sure if it is needed. I will check the stealership tomorrow and see how much it is. Small piece of plastic, can't be that much, right?

Have not pulled the pin for the tensioner yet. From the looks of it you install this after the pin is pulled, but I want to be sure.

 

That keeps the shaft from retracting into the tensioner, which would be bad

 

Actually that plastic spacer stops the tensioner roller from giving the belt to much slack in the event that the hydraulic tensioner fails and the position retracts. It may stop the belt from jumping cogs. Not sure if it actually works but it might.

Here is a video I put together on the timing belt job which shows the piece at the beginning of the install video.

 

Thanks, RSPI. I actually saw those before I bought the car when I was wondering how big of a job fixing this car would be. It was key to me deciding to buy it.

Well, all in all a good day. Got her fired for the first time. She runs!

With all the shiny cleaned items that go on the top of the engine it covers up the not-so-pretty and clean stuff below, which I was kinda glad to see. As I started putting it all together it was looking more and more like a well cared for car.



When I first fired it up, I got the usual from a rebuilt head job. LOTS of valve noise (TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT), weird smells, smoke from the engine, and a blue cloud out of the exhaust. It is ALWAYS nerve wracking, even though you expect it. I hate this stage.


After about 10 minutes, however, it all cleared up, the engine went silent, the smoke stopped billowing off of the exhaust manifold and I was good to go. There is still a bit of a whine sound I need to figure out.


Also did a wax job for about half the car. This was prompted by a sound I was hearing when I was putting away my tools. It kinda sounded like a grinding/knocking sound. I looked up from my bench to see my 2 yr old son walking in a circle around the car dragging a rock on the paint. I scolded him and broke out the polishing compound. Took away MOST of it. Here is before:



Good thing he is cute.

Car doesn't look to bad from this angle...

 

I tip my hat off to you. Job very well done. Looks AWESOME!!! I couldn't see the videos though, my computer didn't give them out but still...you did a great job!!!

I'm curious on the head work. What was the turn around time and if you don't mind, how much was the cost to re-do the head?

My 94 na is my daily driver. It's my 1st interference engine and if my belt ever snaps, I would like to know if I would be able to get it done in reasonable time. I've done head gaskets on my other cars when they needed them and it usually takes me a day if I have everything ready.

 

Hey, thanks!

The head costed me $650 for surfacing and 10 or so new valves. I think that included new guides. This is more expensive then other single head engines I have done.

As far as your belt- change it! Don't leave it to guess work. On mine I can change the belt in a few hours, and for $30 or so. If you go fancy and do the water pump, tensioners, and pulleys it is $200. Cheap insurance if you ask me, as opposed to having to get a new gasket set, head bolts, machine work, fluids, etc.

$200 timing set
$150 gasket set
$40 head bolts
$60 fluids
$650 head work

This does not include labor. This is my actual cost. I am not as fast as some, but I probably got 20 hours into it. Anyways...all that to say...change your timing belts! Or don't....cause I always am up for a car at a bargain, and cars that don't run generally sell at quite a discount.

 

Yeah I did the belt when I bought the car back in December. I actually pulled out a Volvo belt. Took me a little over 2 hours to do just the belt. This is what sucks: The front sticker on the plastic belt cover said 68k miles. So I bought a new belt, then there was another sticker on the inside of the cover. I saw it when I was putting cover back on. It said 117K. I bought the car with 123K miles.

I actually pulled out a Volvo belt that had 5k miles!!!

But hey, I got a OEM belt to put in when I do it again.

I really like how the red of the valve cover makes your clean engine bay look even cleaner!

 

Very nice, and the tot is the cutest ever. Not sure what I would have done if he was dragging a rock around my car. Lol may have been a YouTube moment. Gotta love 'em.

There should never be the thought of "if the belt breaks". The thing about these issues is that more failures occur due to roller failure than belt breakage from what I have read. Then there are about 5% that bite the water pump failure fait. I use to be a "change the rollers every other change" guy but not anymore, just not worth the risk. Water pumps usually warn you with leakage and rollers usually warn you with cold start squeeling but if you can afford it, change the rollers every time and the water pumps every other time.

As for the head job, cost my daughter $800 to have her's done. The shop cost was $435 which I thought was high. I didn't do a timing belt nor the PCV because they had been done not long ago. Took me around 15 hours with cleaning parts and all. I'm also a slow worker.

I can't wait to hear your feedback after you drive the car for 30 days or so. Keep us updated.

 

Oh, the alarm horn is missing parts and it may be idling a little high (cold open loop maybe).

 

what paint did you use to paint ur valve cover? l might do same. how much was the paint?

 

Paint was just a rattle can engine enamel. i think Dupicolor from AutoZone, although I like the VHT engine enamel better.

Why do you say my alarm horn is missing, where does that go?

Need to fix a pretty bad oil leak. Had a plate size spot under my car. I think it is the seal around the distributor on the cam. I will pop it off today and take a look. Not sure if you have supposed to install that cover with the seals in place, but that is what I did.

Honestly though this car would have more power. I went out to the main road and had a chevy cavilear out accelerate me, and I don't think they were trying to race. I was not floored, but felt I was pushing hard. The Service light cycles on and off. I hooked it up to a OBDII reader and had a bunch of misfire codes. Cleared them, went for another drive, and the light came back on, but no codes were read. Is the service light same as a CEL?

 

The service light comes on every 5k to remind you to take it in for an oil change, and my understanding is only a dealer can clear it.

I had to replace the odometer gears in my cluster, and I removed the service bulb while I had the cluster out, since it doesn't serve any purpose other than to remind you to visit the dealer

Mine doesn't lack power. I wonder if you have another problem?

 

How hard to replace those odometer gears? Mine is stuck at 146-something. Wonder how many more miles are on it then that.

My speedometer is not working, nor is the in dash mpg calculator and such. I think the display and computer itself are good, but it is not getting the "speed signal". Not sure what the best route for troubleshooting this is. For a while the speed gauge and trip computer did work, and then quit at the same time. Anyone know where the sending unit for it is?

Did get my massive oil leak fixed. It was the seal under the distributor, just worked itself sideways while installing the cam cover. If I were to do it again, I would have left those seals out until the cover was installed.

Here are the final issues:
* Door needs fixed/painted
* Hood and roof need painted
* Need non-studded tires
* Still a slight stutter at idle and sometimes at speed
* AC compressor does not turn on
* Odometer and speedometer troubles