EJ18 in a ‘69 standard

[joelzy]

Guys, I did the balljoints this weekend and it kicked my ass.
Lowers refused to come out and the arms were stuck too, probably because the bottom of the beam is bent up into them PO must have had the beam bottomed out
Ended up having to cut quite a bit and even broke my crowbar





This is the remains of the lower beam adjuster


Ordered some replacement parts to get this puppy back on track.

Also got the new alternator on and working, just need to figure out the idle/vacuum issue

[petew]

OUch.

[panel]

Things gunna ride like a new car when you're done with it.

[joelzy]

I sure hope so! haha
balljoints whooped me

Got the parts in and the bolt on the new adjuster is bigger than the original. Sooooo had to run to the hardware store and put together some parts for the lower adjuster. worked out ok for not but i'll eventually cut the new one i bought up and rebuild it as it should be on the beam.

Raised the front end up a bit and still a little confused as to how people have the rear ends so low on these without cutting the bumpstop contact arm off completely. This is with a temporary makeshift bumpstop that picked the rear up a tad but its in constant contact currently. I love the height of the rear but am not crazy about driving around with it sitting no the bumpstop.


Also, tried disconnecting the O2 sensor and sure enough, the idle went back to normal, it was high due to not being warmed up, but it was closer to normal and not pulsing like before. Not sure what that means yet but im still looking into it.

Barely got the other vehicles in the garage before this hit over the weekend friggin texas


luckily the bug took it pretty well, several new dings but she was never going to be a beauty queen.

[joelzy]

Swapped out the shifter bushing and rebuilt the coupler yesterday after the coupler came apart while driving recently. The bushing was toast
Works great now but my idle is still high even after warmup.


Cleaned:
-iacv
-tps
-maf

Any ideas?
Car will occasionally die if its idling for a while, idle will settle then go super low and die.



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[petew]

What about your crank angle sensor. Mine went bad. The car used to die inexplicably, then start again after cooling down.

[joelzy]

What about your crank angle sensor. Mine went bad. The car used to die inexplicably, then start again after cooling down.

Ill check it out,
Its weird, i got it to idle under 2k and it seemed rough, more shaking than expected but idling around 2k seems just right although i know its high. Well, unless the OBD sender is lying to me and what it is telling me is 2k is actually more of a normal rpm. I’ll have to take a vid and see what yall think.

When it does die its only during idle and you can start it right back up with a slightly longer crank.

The same reader is throwing codes for:
-Throttle position(i was adjusting to try finding a better idle)
-manifold pressure(no leaks found)
-idle air control
-fuel temp(not even sure where this sensor would be if on the motor, if not i dont have it)

Also threw on a spare fan and shroud i had leftover from my mk4 and man it made a difference. It pulled the coolant temp from 202-190 in maybe a minute



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[petew]

The thing with my CAS was the car kept throwing odd codes that weren't reality. One of them was the ICV, another was some other issue. I'd also be looking for a vacuum leak somewhere on the motor. Are there any nozzles on the motor that haven't been blocked off for carbon canisters and the like?

[joelzy]

ooohhh that sounds similar, I get at least a couple codes per run usually starts with fuel temp and IACV. Going to look at the JDM throttle body and see if it has the same sensors and maybe i can try those to see if they are any different before i start buying sensors.

We are talking about the Crank sensor below the alternator, correct? i'll pull and clean it just in case.
I looked and felt for open vacuums lines and cannot find any but if I'm going to check the crank sensor i will have to unbolt and lift the radiator out of the way so i will check again. Another thought i had was if the computer is resetting and having start over is causing weird idle. I have the ground cable on a cutoff so i am technically disconnecting the battery each time i turn that off for a few days. I'll try leaving that on because it it does feel like it gets better after driving it a few times in a day.
Thanks for the help Pete!

codes from the reader, wondering how accurate it is. looks like the factory fuel temp sensor is in the tank, is that correct?


early tails and big fan that fits pretty well with some trimming surprisingly.

If i can rebuild the rad support a little higher and more horizontal i can probably get this fan underneath it and draw air through again but its current pulling air out of the engine bay and honestly it seems to like it so maybe i need to work through something else where i duct air to the front of the rad and cut a hole in the decklid to get the air back out. TBD but she's running pretty cool for now

[joelzy]

I think i got it!!! Found a vacuum line that was a little worn and not really sealing. Just enough to screw with me. Seemed to settle the idle almost immediately but i still think the app is lying a little about the rpm, 2100 seems pretty perfect from sound. Video soon


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[petew]

Nice

[joelzy]

woohoo, running great, now to track down the blinker issue and resolve. Also, brake lights aren't working so i need to check the switch and wiring

update: got the brake lights working but blinker switch is toast methinks. One side worked fine and now neither do, also, the left blinker wire decided to get super hot and melt its insulation. Is this common? thinking i need a new turn signal switch and now a left blinker wire. BUT i did wire in the early tails which eliminate the reverse lights, leaving me a spare wire already ran... somewhere. Need to check a diagram but i can probably use that reverse light wire for(at least temporary) the left rear blinker once.
pic for the click, drove it to work today using hand signals for blinkers. Got a lot of looks haha

[surfbeetle]

The positive wire from the reverse lights join up together from each side and then run to the reverse switch on the nose cone of the transaxle. From there it runs to the coil.

[joelzy]

The positive wire from the reverse lights join up together from each side and then run to the reverse switch on the nose cone of the transaxle. From there it runs to the coil.

ahh thank you sir, so not gonna be able to use that. Might have to run a new wire

done messing with the turn signal for now. I have a 3-way switch thats getting hooked up as the blinker switch

update: turn signals are working with that 3-way switch. Also fixed the loose ground that was popping fuses.

[joelzy]

this thread is mickey mouse compared to joosep's over there but i reindexed the rear this weekend and it made all the difference in the world.
Only stripped 2 bolts and broke 1 in the process!
funny, i was looking at it and thinking it looked really high until i looked at a before pic and realized the difference wasn't all that noticeable.



car is still idling high and i don't know why but its running great otherwise, starting to think the VSS is not working correctly but i need to check crank pos sensor too. hopefully soon. Drove it to work again today to celebrate not chipping any teeth while cruising

update: VSS signal is not getting to my app so i think that is definitely my issue with the idle not settling down when it should. I have tried repositioning it to read better but don't think I'm getting a signal at all.