2.4E Engine rebuild. The Good, bad and expensive news

[impmad2000]

Set Megasquirt with a real cut off, where you want it, and ignore the red line
Tim

[butzsi]

I'll have to have a glass or two of something medecinal, preferably Islay.

Better see the thread on Jagermeister!

Well done on progress in record time.

Chris

[TheEasyLife]

What is the redline for an E tacho? I have 7200 in my mind or is that the limiter on the rotor or am I confused again?

Tim, I remember you setting one limit in Megasquirt when you were adjusting it in June on the M1/J21A slip road. I was in 3rd gear and you were adjust the speed of the car without me moving my right foot by adjusting with the rev limiter settings.

I've never tried Jagermeister. I like a nice single malt Islay to wind down with occasionally. Laphriaig has been a favourite for years but most people think it smells like TCP.

Well, I was supposed to go to the garage this afternoon to help putting the engine in the car and hopefully start it up but the Garage owner had to leave due to a family issue and closed the garage. He did say that the engine and gearbox is now bolted in the car and just needs the oil, fuel and electrical pipes/cables connecting. Should keep me busy for an hour or so. I also need a new oil filter and to fill it full of oil as the engine rebuild has happened when the service is due and I'd have been daft to have had a service done then rip it apart a few weeks later. I am also going to take the 4 point harness points out at some point next year as its not a trackday car.

More tomorrow. The plan is to have at least one pic of a grinning owner stood next to car with engine running. Maybe a video too. We'll see.

Cheers

James

[myatt1972]

What is the redline for an E tacho? I have 7200 in my mind or is that the limiter on the rotor or am I confused again?

James

Mines a sporto, dont know if that makes any difference,

[TheEasyLife]

And todays update is that my engine starts, ticks over beautifully. Has great compression. Sounds too good to be true? It is, 20 minutes later it started rattling from the right hand chain box. So I have a failed chain tensioner. Drink, F*ck, Nuns!!! Not happy.

I have early 930 chain tensioners, not oil fed ones so these should be cheaper hopefully to replace. If we can't get one tomorrow the chances of me getting the back this year are slim as my garage goes away for a fortnight next weekend and I'm in Manchester again next week so can't collect it if it is ready. Roll on 2011

Cheers

James

[hot66]

I'm sure your engine builder knows this, but make sure the new pressure tensioners are bled before fitting

[IanMcLeod]

...If we can't get one tomorrow the chances of me getting the back this year are slim as my garage goes away for a fortnight next weekend and I'm in Manchester again next week so can't collect it if it is ready...

James.

I'm sure if the worst comes to the worst I could pick it up for you and you can collect it from mine at the weekend.

Ian.

[TheEasyLife]

It's back and I'm grinning like the cheshire cat again.

The car now has a new used chain tensioner fitted and isn't rattling. Ian McLeod has kindly stored the car for me for a few days and Tim (impmad2000) drove me down to Ians last night to pick it up. Many thanks to Ian and Tim, without whom I wouldn't have my car back this year.

The cold starting wasn't previously mapped properly but was very useable, now it needs attention. Once started and warmed up it runs very well and has a totally different exhaust note to before, louder and more aggressive. I may have to get the garage to re-measure the sound levels as a comparison to before. It was -2 last night as I put it back in my garage. I drove home slowly on the main roads as I could see the frost on the side roads and snow in the fields. There is definately more poke in it now and it has a greater willingness to rev and is also a lot smoother running too. It is running rich at the minute as you can smell the petrol in the exhaust fumes so I need to look at the Lambda sensor readings and spend an hour or two with an assistant ensuring that the AFR is correct and that the map is as close as we can get it in the first 500 miles whilst keeping it under 4K revs if the weather gives us a break. Dear Santa, can I have a few days with no snow or ice between xmas and new years please.

Once mapped as best we can and past 500 miles I think the plan will be to visit Bob Watsons for a tuning session and a power run just to confirm it is as optimal as we can get it and the BHP figure. I also want to give the keys to Ian so he can compare my modified E engine to his standard one.

I'm still grinning.

Merry xmas and a happy new year to you all

James

[Gary71]

Fantastic! What a great Xmas present to yourself!

Of course it would have been better not to have to rip it apart...

But still you have probably ended up with a stronger more powerful engine as a result

[Peter]

Good new James. Hope you get a chance for a blast over Christmas.

[Lightweight_911]

Great news James - hope you get the opportunity to enjoy it over Christmas.

[TheEasyLife]

Now the snow has gone I've been hitting the road.

So far I have done 40 miles with Tim to ensure that the map isn't running too rich or lean when under load. I put another 80 miles on it yesterday and it really is pulling more than it ever did before. But, just as I think "wow, this is really going" I have to change up as I'm at 4K revs.

Cold starting is still on the to do list and has its own procedure but once warm there is no stopping it and it starts when hot without touching the throttle. Brilliant! My garage also re-connected my hand throttle so I've been playing with that whilst the engine is warming up. It's bizarre having a 3K RPM tickover when you are trying to go slowly round a roundabout. I'm not doing that again.

I just need permission from the missus so that I can have a few hours in the car by myself for the next couple of weekends to get past 500 miles. After an all clear checkover from the garage, I'll have another 2K revs to play with. I can't wait. An appointment with Bob Watsons rolling road will then be next (if he works weekends?) to see how many horses I actually have..

Cheers

James

[Barry]

Good stuff James: it'll be fasinating to see what figures you get.

[TheEasyLife]

OK. Its been 16 months and one child later. I now know why people with young families sell their sports cars as I've had no time to play with my car for most of 2011 and have been fed up with not having the time to use it. I probably drove it 700 miles in 2011. The engine was run in by me taking it to work in birmingham in feb 2011 which is a 100 mile round trip for a week in rush hour traffic. This got me to 500 miles at different rev levels. One oil change later I was allowed to rev to more than 4K .
Tim and I mapped it reasonably well apart from a hiccup around 5.5K rpm and took it to Bob Watsons last October for confirmation that we we aren't miles out with fuelling. We weren't and got 170 bhp on a power run despite the 5.5K rpm hiccup. Bob reccomended additoinal oil cooling due to being at 170bhp which was when the factory put on an oil cooler. We also had 210 nm of torque which is 2.7 MFI territory. Nice. And we had another 1500 rpm to go once we sorted the hiccup so more power was expected later. The journey home was terrible as the map worked well on the rollers but not on the road. Think Kangaroo juice for petrol and thats what it was like. We reverted to the previous map and it was much smoother if rich. Tim sorted out the map in december 2011 and it was a different car, pulled better than before and started like a modern car at the turn of the key. Fantastic.

This year has been the same as the last. Its all about my baby who is now one year old. I still have no time to play or drive my car so its taken till today to get back to Bobs to see if this new map is good and the power run to see how many horses we are at now. I'd had an SC trombone oil cooler fitted and had high hopes for the day. We all like and want more power from our 911's!!!

Check out my door pockets!

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.

The exhaust on the bus gets warm

The exhaust on the bus gets so warm, it looks like it is going to catch fire

And the end result


So in Oct 2011 we had 170 bhp and 210 nm and it ran like a dog.
Now it drives like a dream and we had 155 bhp and 202 nm. WTF???

Now I was confused at this point as I'd lost 15 bhp from the last map but it felt faster and pulled better, yet a 2.4E on MFI gets 165bhp. At high revs, over 6K, you can feel the accelleration tailing off as if it is being restricted somehow. We can only put this down to my air filter (cheap generic cone type) and/or the 90 degree rubber boot as reccomended by Bitzracing.com as I'm running a bitzracing kit. The CIS throttle body and CIS inlet manifolds are then next on the list of suspects as these were designed for emissions, not performance and I have SSI's and a standard Dansk SS exhaust so getting gases out isn't an issue. It must be airflow in thats the issue.

If I had more time and could be bothered, I'd replace the air filter and rubber boot with better, less restricive ones but I haven't the time or patience so its staying as it is given that it goes so well otherwise.

If only Tim didn't keep reminding me that he has 1bhp more from his 2.2T , but he does admit that when I convert from my CIS manifold and TB to Triumph ITB's next year that mine should blow his out of the water. Untill then, I'm going to drive my car as often as I can, like I stole it, safe in the knowledge that the engine is in rude health and that I should have lots more power to come when I do convert to ITB's next year.

This year I've also fitted refurbed door cards, refurbed door pockets, fitted refurbed parcel shelf and am soon to fit my custom seats once I can get my mounts for them made. Just a carpet set to go then. Oh, and I've also had a front carpet set fitted under the bonnet along with a replacement cardboard blower cover as mine was missing. The car is now looking very stock and going very well. It is almost what I want from my 911. Roll on next year and project ITB.

Cheers

James

[Northy]

Have you thought of taking it to Wayne Schofield? He seems to be THE MAN for mapping.