I hear ya, I hate half-assers. It should last a while for her once you're all done.

 

Lord I hope so mate!

Martin

 

All back together,
Afrter turning over by hand yesterday, turned it over a few times on the starter before putting the new plugs in. Get rid of any dirt etc.
Started and idled fine, but then got a 0303, then after moving the coils around to see if it followed it, 0302
Pulled the coils off (only one available locally), had a looksie and stretched the springs a little. Now running with no codes.
Needs a new oil and filter, but it does sound a little "tappety". Maybe get better with some new oil etc. but it is resembling a small diesel....lol
There is an exhaust manifold bolt backed most of the way out I saw last night, so I guess the manifold gaskets will be getting used. May be part of the noise I hear too.
Cant road test yet, back wheels are off waiting for the adjusting socket to wind the pistons back into the calipers for the new pads.
Will let it cool off and look at the turbo return oil pipe, and pull the exhaust manifold too I guess.
Looks like the trans mount will be through Amazon, which means Tuesday.
Any "learning" for the VVT to do after a new one is installed?

Martin

 

Oil leak at rear of engine looks to be the cooler lines......Seems some monkey used some hose that is bigger than the nipples!
I thought turbo oil return gasket, but it's dry. There was 3 nuts missing from the exhaust manifold though, so someone has been in here before.
No wonder the bottom/rear of the motor was soaked!

 

Well the return hose would have leaked eventually any way. Too bad about no o ring though. Bit of a nuisance. Take a good look at the small dia 4" long rubber cooling hose that joins two small metal hoses. It is supposed to have a heat shield/tube wrapped around it. If it does not take it off and put some protection on it. It too is prone to leaking (coolant, not oil).

 

Exhaust manifold leak figured out......Manifold flange is warped!
Off to the machine shop to get it surfaced. Then fingers bloody crossed it shuts it up

Martin

 

Wow, you are raising this thing from the dead!


That does raise a question though. Did this thing overheat at some point in its history? if so, you may want to replace the thermostat and temp sensor just to be safe. Small cost but it would be a serious shame for one of those two things to fail after all your work.

 

I think it was warped/not flat due to the last nut being extremely loose, and the 2 nuts next to that one MIA. It was the nut near the trans, then the 2 nest to it in the middle that were missing/loose. And by loose I mean there was a 1/4" gap between the base of the nut and the manifold... Add the weight of the turbo hanging off it, and it would twist I think.
Looking at the reader, the fan kicks on at 216, and off at 200. Gauge is always in the middle (buffered signal as normal)
Gaskets for the manifold and turbo will be here tomorrow, as well as new coil/leads and an air filter.
Did get a code for the VVT solenoid so will investigate that when the covers are back off. It was a disconnected signal, so will check the wiring.
Making some sheet metal corner braces right now, to stiffen up the inner splash guards. The lower valance is missing, along with the splash shield....

Martin

 

I see. Ok all sounds normal them. I too got the disconnected solenoid code one time. Turns out that I had crushed the wire when I put the engine cover back on. Good idea re splash shields.

 

I'll double check the wiring when I remove the covers for the new coils tomorrow, thanks!
The splash shields will just be on the corners, to support the corner of the bumpers and inner fenders. Had some sheet metal laying around, so plasma cut out some pieces from a cardboard template I made. Black paint is drying, so I'll install them tomorrow morning.
Dropped one of the $%^&ing bolts from the engine covers, and cant find the thing anywhere!

Martin

 

Remove and reseal exhaust manifold- was warped!

Mine was warped too, had all new stuts around and a thermostat, temp sensor, fuel pressure regulator, brake line vacuum hose.

Seems like some of these problems are inherent.


My car was really pampered by the previous owner, had ow 40 MB1 oc every 3000 miles

 

I can see a lot of the stuff wearing out over the 206k miles this thing has done, but that brake vacuum line is just plain stupid. And expensive.

Martin

 

Looking at the VVT solenoid wiring, I found this wrapped in tape....

Its a Epcos B41684 capacitor.
Cant find mention of it in Alldata

Any ideas as to its purpose?? Anyone else have one?

 

$10 says that they were getting a CEL due to the VVT/Solenoid so they decided to wire something in to fool the solenoid or some s$%t like that. That bit should definitely not be there. Take 'er out and re-wire. BTW, they created a revised design for the solenoid gasket that included a small screen to prevent oil crud from entering the Solenoid...if you happen to be placing an order might as well grab one of those while you are at it.

 

The new solenoid had the gasket that had a screen on it already I noticed.
Will take it out and solder the wiring then, see what happens. Wondering if the solenoid was starting to go out, so they put a capacitor in there to give it a boost of juice to open/close it?

 

Wow, talk about some screwed up wiring. Exposed wire all over, wires are brittle, and coil plugs with the terminals falling out of them. Will be rewiring all the top end by the look of it. The capacitor went from the ground wire to the positive for the VVT/coils (they share a power wire under all the crispy tape).
Will leave the capacitor out, solder in some wires, and see how it goes

Martin

 

With a bit of luck, you will be code free. I'm thinking that all your VVT work will have eliminated the need for all the macgivering.

 

Hoping so mate. This has fought me along the way, so a bit of luck is overdue!
New tie rod ends arrived, so they are on. New trans mount arrived, so it is also on.
Now if the parts store would call with ALL my order, I'd go get the coils, leads, air filter, and exhaust/turbo gaskets. Called twice to tell me this or that is there, but not all of it, idiots.
Only thing I'm waiting on is the o ring for the oil return pipe I think. Tracking said it was due to deliver yesterday....When it was 100 miles away.
New hazard light switch is also here, but will solder in one more light to the HVAC controls. Every time I soldered in a new bulb, the one next to it went out, and so on. Just using the small solder in bulbs from Radio Shack for now. If they stay working, great. If not, Lexi can spend the $30 for the 3 bulbs.....I have a feeling they will be fine regardless!

Martin

 

Well, looking through a wiring diagram yet again, I found the capacitor.....Oops.
Are we saying no one else that in the wiring under the plug covers??
I went back and looked at it when I found a ground wire linked to a power wire for a coil. Very funky indeed, never seen anything like it on a coil wiring circuit.
If you look near connector 43/353, its there. 4/30-1 and 2 are the coils.

Try again with the image...

 

Looking through some threads, it seems this harness is a problem child.....
The connectors at the coils are the issue, they are broken/breaking. Cant find anything that would fit right, and a new harness is $126, complete.
I've redone the harness for now, but ordered the new one to be safe.

Martin