M79 TAB

[slowdude]

Update, and for anyone else who goes through this with a rover k series.

 

K series with stock flywheel. 20 degree ignition advance @ 180 degrees.

K series with lightweight flywheel, 12 degree ignition advance @ 151 degrees.

 

Timing dependent upon cams BUT this should help someone get into the right ballpark.

 

Up and running, need to burp the coolant system and then go drive it.

 

 

[yellowss7]

Good job.   I’m hoping to get my Rover K powered Caterham ready for the NJMP event.  Hope to see you there.  Tom

[slowdude]

2 hours ago, yellowss7 said:

Good job.   I’m hoping to get my Rover K powered Caterham ready for the NJMP event.  Hope to see you there.  Tom

Absolutely. Would love to compare notes etc, see exhausts. This engine sounds fantastic up high in the Rev range.

[Outbound]

How does the revs feel with the lightened flywheel vs the original?

[slowdude]

On 8/20/2024 at 11:15 PM, Outbound said:

How does the revs feel with the lightened flywheel vs the original?

Finally bled the coolant and adjusted the clutch.

 

Took it out for a 35 mile loop. Car accelerates much quicker, feels like it is faster (even though it probably isn't).

 

Engine braking is significantly more noticeable (think motorcycle levels of engine braking).

 

Flywheel does require some finer tuning. Car is lugging less in wierd Rev ranges (40mph, 4th gear, 1300 rpm), because I don't think the map is pushing fuel/timing based on throttle sensor). Instead of lugging, it sounds almost like a misfire. It's stumbling. Acceleration fixes it. 

 

Since I'm only in that Rev range because I want to brake in the clutch nice and easy, I don't think it's a problem to worry about.

 

If you're not on an unlocked ECU, I could see a new flywheel wreaking a bit of havoc with throttle load sites.

 

I'd definitely do a flywheel upgrade. It's significantly noticeable but you'd need to do some real fine tuning.

[slowdude]

Track day was eventful. Heater hose popped off and spewed everywhere. Thought it was on. Thankfully the car didnt overheat etc. 

 

As always @NSXguy is a saint and helped with this and also a clutch adjustment. Car was running great on the track for each session and engine pulled very, very hard. Riot in the high revs.

Took the car to the office the week after; still getting the wierd misfire after 20 minutes or so of driving. I'm seeing im losing coolant (overflow tank being low etc). Oil is clear, coolant tank is clear, no smoke or smell of burning.

So went down the rabbit hole of coolant leaks and issues via the MG rover forums here: LINKY
 

Since I touched the intake manifold when doing the clutch, It looks like I may have not put enough sealant around the intake by cylinder 1. I pulled the plugs and checked cylinder 1 vs cylinder 3. I can see some faint red residuent (red coolant?) by cylinder 1. Cylinder 3 has normal carbon build up. I'll need to revisit the intake manifold gasket and will most likely need a second set of hands to help out as I screwed it up before. Will try and get a leakdown in sometime in the next few weeks just to double check but given performance on the track etc, it looks like its an inlet manifold leak. I know I didnt put enough liquid gasket around the inlet manifold, looking back I should have put some more in. Cylinder 1 looks like it is missing a chunk but its just the photo quality being bad. New plugs and AFR gauge should fix fueling etc.

Des has also been on me to get the AFR set up for closed loop fueling; I went nuts and got an AEM programmable gauge, Will use it for water temp, AFR, etc. That required an OBD2 adapter for the ECU, which required additional power, so I went ahead and got creative.

@CBuff is an electrical nerd, so bouncing ideas off of him led to getting a separate fuse box with built in relays. I then went one step further and got some apiele switches for fairly cheap, then a sheet of thin aluminum off amazon for $8. I went and widened the horn hole and put a grommet in to prevent chafing (heh). Snaked some wires to test, as I need to re-arrange for the horn etc. plan is to mount the switches on the bulkhead above the E brake and see how it works out. Hoping to get wiring done up this weekend.

For anyone who is looking to wire an EU1/2 K Series harness to a wideband, I went through and did the following research based off of Andrew Revill's EU2 loom + the wideband manufacturer to get an idea of how to do my deutsch connectors. Posting the below as I couldnt really find this on the blatchat or various forums, so I hope its helpful.

 

wideband			car
color	purpose	pin	color	purpose
red	12v power with fuse to ignition	1	slate	positive VE
white	heater ground	2	light green slate	negative VE
green	signal into ECU pin 10	3	black	ground
brown	simulated narrow band	4	brown blue	MFRU relay to pin 10
black	sensor ground (ecu pin 29)
	in theory wiring from wideband to car
	wideband	car
	red power	12v ignition switch
	white	black
	green	brown blue
	brown	slate
	black	light green slate

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2024 by slowdude

[slowdude]

Long overdue update on this.

Relay junctions weren't delivering power to accessories correctly and draining the battery.

 

Pulled everything out and re wired a simple bus bar, with a simple power switch on/off for the power to this.

Wideband is connected, and ECU configured to read it properly.

Went to start the car and the battery is flat; starter wires are very brittle. Going to get a new battery (Banner Starting bull is 5 years old), and throw new power cables to starter. Hopefully this will fix it. 

I noticed the alternator ground bolt was loose. I am wondering if this may be the cause of the voltage issues with the misfire on the sensors.

 

I've ordered a backup EU2 engine loom in preparation for the above fixes not fixing everything. The car is 28 years old and has had 10 prior owners. Just trying to bring it back bit by bit. 

[slowdude]

Update again, after much searching and discussion with UK group chat.

 

One of the members pointed out my misfiring, loss of power etc could be driven by the master cutoff switch.

 

For giggles, I bought a new one. 

 

See the below video, but the relays in the original switch are lose and wiggling.

 

 

 

I have the vehicle on a tender and will hopefully get a start sometime this week.

 

If this is the cause of the issue I have been chasing for over a year, I will come back and update this post with key search terms for someone else who may be struggling with this.

 

 

[slowdude]

Slowly getting there.

 

Replaced wires and connectors on the starter. Got new battery in, and had to extend some wiring to fit the new battery.

 

Car primes and cranks. Next step is to check ecu for spark. Slowly getting there.

 

 

 

[slowdude]

She runs! (On 3 cyl). Pulled plug. It's lean. Rest are fine.

 

Pulled injector loom and checked continuity. 0.13-0.16 ohms, so they're good. 

 

Ordered a pin tool to test car loom.

 

Pulled injector, will try and clean it.

[CBuff]

Get it done. You are living up to your moniker far to accurately. Need a cohort on the streets to reduce my chances of being detained by the po po. 

[slowdude]

Slow dude, not slow car repair.

 

New injector on order to replace the lean plug. 

 

If anyone wants to come huff gas fumes in my garage for a week, you're welcome.