ashyers

John, I purchased the No Toil stuff on Amazon, if that’s what you’re thinking of using. Andy

KnifeySpoony, I've had good luck using No Toil Biodegradable filter oil and cleaner with my ITG filter. It's gentle to the filter and seems to work well (it's darn tacky). It also isn't as nasty to use and clean up as some of the other stuff out there. I clean the filter at ~4000mi intervals or once a year unless I do something that leads to ton of junk getting into it. You do need to let it sit overnight when you clean and re-oil the filter. FYI, foam filters degrade if exposed to the sun. If the foam is becoming fragile toss the filter. Andy

ChuckM, Did you have a chance to check the accuracy of your gauge? If it's working properly does the car get warm driving at freeway speeds when the fan is not necessary? Andy

ChuckM, Before you go too far down the rat hole, you may want to verify the readings on the gauge. If you have an IR thermometer that makes it pretty easy and you can check the flow through the rad too. Check to see if the rad's fins are brittle. When they get to that point the fins no longer pull heat from the tubes and you get a situation like you describe and the core is shot. Andy

Chuck M., When you say hot, how hot? I'd caution you against removing the T-stat. It reduces the local pressure in the block and head which can lead to steam pockets forming and overheating. In addition running an engine cold for excessive periods is bad for both efficiency and the rings. Have you pressure tested the both the system and the cap? For every 1psi of pressure in the system the boiling point will increase ~3deg F. Something as simple as a bad rad cap can lead to a bunch of headaches. Andy

Check your fuel pressure.

Glad to hear it's running well! I'm learning a bit here, which is kind of fun! I was able to open up the advanced features on your ECU's maps and it has MANY more goodies than the earlier versions. This includes idle control with ignition timing. This is something I have to do the old fashioned way with the 967. This system has a ton of adjustablity, if you're inclined to dig into it. FYI the target idle target speed is set at 1100 RPM (you nailed that) it may be adjusted for operating temp, but this has not been done. The system is currently set to adjust idle at throttle site 0 with a road speed of <5 MPH. From what I can tell it controls idle on the high side, once you exceed the target +500 RPM (1600 RPM) it pulls timing. Seems to me the trick would be to set the idle via airflow a bit on the high side at the proper location on the map and allow the ECU to smooth things out via timing. Even when you do this manually, without computer controls in the ignition maps, it works pretty darn well. Andy

jeffs, I'd take a very careful look at your coolant temp sensor and it's connector. If it's Bosch and you can find the P/N you can look up the temp vs resistance curve and check it out with an ohmmeter. If it's inexpensive it may be worth just swapping it out. Readings like you describe will cause havoc and may have killed your O2 sensor if the ECU kept dumping in fuel every time it was told the engine was at a very low temperature. Andy

jeffs, If that coolant sensor is the one the ECU is using I'm surprised the car didn't flood when it read -5F! You may want to check your harness if you have a couple of senders doing goofy stuff in sync. I assume you've picked up an MBE download cable. What can you look at in the stock restricted Caterham units? Andy

Just sent you a PM. I took second look at your maps and I think you're on target at 1100 RPM. There is a valley built into the map there, but I think you may be able improve the idle quality. I wouldn't worry too much about drill bit diameter or flow rates, they are used to get things close to target, you're there. Now you can do a bit of tuning to get what you'd like.

Glad to hear you're making progress. I think you'll have it dialed in soon. Andy

I wonder if the air bleeds are opened quite a bit leading to the high idle. It will be interpolating at 980 and if you look at the maps it will give an idea of how much. A few hundred rpm should not make a huge difference (I don’t have access to the maps now). Once you get things in sync I can help you get a nice stable idle with some small adjustments. Andy

Start your car and take look at the map site I described (TPS site 1.0, RPM site 980 RPM) on the ignition map while the map is live and see where you're landing. If it's not on that site when idling hot the TPS and throttle position need to be adjusted to get there. As far as the lambda, for the problem you describe it's going to be pretty useless. Your going to have to tune it the old fashioned way, just creep up to it and do A-B-A tests. Andy

Maps look reasonable. I'd suggest synchronizing the throttles and setting the idle at 980 RPM and throttle site 1.0. This looks like it was the intent of the person who initially mapped the car judging by the timing table. Then see how things are. If you're still getting a lean pop at snap throttle it's pretty easy do do some small changes to the fuel map that will only affect that area of use. Andy

"I have not checked if the throttles are synchronized. I can try and find some 6mm rod stock and check." I'm confused, what are you doing with the 6mm rod? (Edit: Just realized you must have roller throttle bodies. Is the roller one huge chunk or can you adjust the individual barrels?) I've had good luck with one of these buggers: I'm going to download the latest version of Easymap. My stuff runs on 5. Assuming that works I'll take a look at your maps. Andy

Have you synchronized the throttles and checked to see where the TPS setting is at idle. Since the map's using this setting as a reference a small change here can have significant results. May want to verify the fuel pressure is stable too. Assuming the above stuff is OK, if it's spitting back when snapping the throttle it may be a bit lean. You can try monkeying around with the accel pump function, but I've never had much success with this with a light car. Often if you play around with the base fuel map you can get a nice sharp response. Save the orig map, get the car up to temp. and then do some changes to the "surface" of the map that's used when you're snapping the throttle. You can likely get it working pretty well w/o even driving it, just don't go too rich that will lead to other issues. If you'd like you can send your fuel and ign maps my way and I'll take a look and see if there's anything I can suggest to help. Andy

https://www.sbdmotorsport.co.uk/app/uploads/2020/11/MBE9A4-PinoutIssue_F.pdf Looks to me like you're going to have to look at the maps and see how the various programmable functions are set up. I have an older MBE and the documentation in Easymap isn't too bad, but you have to dig a bit. What are you trying to catch while logging?

John, I thought they all had the alignment pins. The Ranger (2.3) and Transit (2.0) engines I have both do. It's weird how they seem to have common stock with different p/n's...UGH! I should have one in about a week and we can compare :). Andy

Sure looks like this one: 2L8Z-6019-AA https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-timing-cover-2l8z6019aa?c=Zz1lbmdpbmUmcz1lbmdpbmUtcGFydHMmbD0xJm49QXNzZW1ibGllcyBQYWdlJmE9Zm9yZCZvPWZvY3VzJnk9MjAwNCZ0PXp4MyZlPTItM2wtbDQtZ2Fz I may have to pick one up and see.

John, I'm curious about the front cover you're using. I still have the Ranger cover and at some point would like to replace it with a version w/o the fan pulley in the middle. Do you think the cover you're using will work on an older 2.3? If so do you have the p/n and source? Thanks! Andy

CarlB, If you take a photo I'm happy to compare to my '03 SV. Andy

Nice! I've had a '51 M37 for some years. It's as elemental as a 7, but as you say a bit heavier :). If you're looking at highway speeds you will need to deal with the transfer case. They don't enjoy RPM's much over 3000 RPM for extended periods, the heat gets to 'em. My cruising speed is 55 w/ 4:89 gears and max is ~ 60 on the governor. That's a bit less than 3000 RPM and the transfer case gets pretty toasty, but seems to do OK with MT90 in it. Have fun with it!! Andy

David, If you want to head over to the East Bay I'd be happy to do a leak down test. I still owe you for that fit test and ride some years back! I'm not familiar with the style valve seals the Kent motors use, but most are relatively easy to replace and inexpensive. Andy

David, If the car's been sitting for a while, you may have an oil ring that's sticking or the valve seals have turned to something akin to porcelain. Are all the plugs oily or just one? Andy

Glad to hear you have it fixed .