Sharkquest's Build

[Sharkquest]

I just moved over here from the Announcements section as it was getting long.

Anyway, I bought the car about 7 months ago and just 2 months ago started working on it.

I would like to attach some pics so that you can see what I'm working with. Someone took off the conquest badgeing and put on Technica and Starion badges on the rear. It's an 88 Black on black car. It had 0 interior besides the dash when I bought it, and I've been piecing good parts together to replace the rat damaged ones.

[Sharkquest]

If you guys saw my posts in the Announcements section, you're up to date.

Anyway, I went back to the car and it started on the first crank!? Smooth, and with 82 psi cold oil pressure.

Then it started running rougher, and making a rattling noise. Eventually it stalled. this occurred within a minute or so of starting it. It almost sounded like it was misfiring as well. Not nearly enough time to overheat anything. I'm wondering if it is the AFM device?

I'm kinda lost even with the FSM. I assume testing components would be in order next, but where to start!

Would rod knock be very quiet at startup and then gradually appear? It doesn't quite sound like what I've heard of SQ's on Youtube with rod knock. Also I'm pretty suspicious of the Power Steering pump making this noise, despite being full of fluid. I'll remove it from the belt and see if that changes anything tonight. Too hot to keep working this morning.

BTW any tips on inserting images?

[wrngwae]

Sounds like either a knock or balance shaft. Check the coolant temp sensor. It may not be adjusting your fuel as it warms up. Not the one for the gauge the other one. 

[Sharkquest]

I'm hoping it's the balance shaft, so I can remove it anyway right?

I came to the same conclusion on the temp sensor and sender. I'm replacing both. Already ordered off Rock auto for $20! I was surprised they were that cheap, Autozone wanted $80 for the Sensor for the ECU.

I'm thinking, once it's running, I'd like to get it home and do a proper build. Likely a 6g75. I hear the trans from the Hyundai Santafe will bolt up, and is rwd. Another option is the AR-5 trans out of an Isuzu...maybe. It'm iffy on that one. But the AR-5 I hear is an awesome trans.

[Sharkquest]

Woo, progress! So I had another no start situation. I went back to basics. I stuck a rag in the Mixer, and cranked it, came out wet with fuel. Then took the hot lead from teh coil and placed it on the tower, plenty of spark. So what went wrong? Ah...wiring. The crimp connector for my leading injector was a bit loose, I wiggled it and the motor stalled. A simple fix, and one that will get soldered properly when I get the car home; I hate butt-splices. Turns out the crappy fuel distribution was the cause of all the odd noises. So no rod knock, yay!

OK, onto the next problem, it seems to be getting hot. Like pegging the temp gauge and the motor stopping hot! Is there an internal program to the ECU that would cause it to shut off to prevent meltdown? I only ran the car a few minutes to see if the new temp sensor for my fans would work. My Thermal gun says 150 degrees for the thermostat housing, 160 on the head, and 140 on the block, when it stopped running. Only thing I can think of is a stuck closed thermostat. I had the rad cap off, and saw movement, but not what I usually look for. Looked more like what you'd expect to see if only a jiggle valve was allowing coolant to pass. Then again, if it's only at 160, the thermostat won't open anyway, no?

Am ordering a new thermostat anyway. Any recommendations on temp?

[FunkyPhil]

180-190F

[Sharkquest]

I drove the quest for the first time! It was really neat to see the car move under its own power for the first time in probably 10 years. I just toodled around the storage lot, but it was still amazing.

Anyway, the dang thing started overheating again, so I parked it. I've replaced the fluid, radiator sensor, and thermostat. The only other thing I can think of that would cause this is not having a water pump, i.e. pump failure. That's the next step.

Also, does anyone know the CORRECT part numbers for the intake thermosensor/sender? I bought 2 off rock auto, and they were the wrong thread, despite being the correct year and male prongs.

[wrngwae]

I don’t have a part number off hand but. Have you done a coolant check for exhaust gas? There is a kit that you can get to put on the radiator cap to check for blown head gasket or cracked head/block.

[Sharkquest]

Ok it's been a while, sorry guys. I finally got the car home, safely. Turns out the short was a problem in the main cooling fan! So I ran the sensor over to the auxillary, and it cools the engine fine. It was only a 2-3 ile drive. Of course mf AFM crapped out on me just as I pulled into the neighborhood, necessitating  'rev to 3k feather clutch, move 50 feet and repeat' procedure for a bit. Then it suddenly ran fine, and had ok power.

Anyway, I snagged a 2nd gen AFM off a 95 Montero, with the number 609, which says to me it's from a turbo eclipse? It's going to be replacing my stock afm. I just need to find the pinouts (what each wire does) for the Starion side, and then I can match them to the Montero/eclipse side with a little solder work. I looked in the FSM, but it doesn't actually say what anything does, just its color and location  ...multimeter would help here, to a point I think? I'm pretty sure the 2nd gen afm's from mitsu are all the same pinouts, just different color wires for different chassis. Correct me if I'm wrong here though.

[Sharkquest]

So...the later dsm MAF just basically plugs in, if you shave the sides of the SQ plug. I'll re-pin a DSM plug if I can ever find one. DSM's are pretty rare around here.

Anyway, I puled the steering box, got a rebuild kit, and am 90% of the way there, but I can't seem to figure how the hell to get the balls into the worm piston thing. I know a few go into the u-shaped tube first, but when do I start filling the rest of them in? It's quite hard with the distance between the access point and the screw itself, not to drop the balls.

I happened to find a 609 marked 2nd gen MAF. That's for later now. I think they will flow too much air and cause the car to run lean on stock computer/injectors, right? Also got a 3 inch GM MAF when I bought the car, but will need translator I think.

Ordered a new dizzy drive gear and whatever you all the gear that's on the end of the cam that drives the dizzy. My cam side one is shot! Little bits of it are missing. I think I need to pull the oil pan and see what's up.Also replaced the vacuum advance and the damaged dizzy pickup leads (they were practically burnt up inside the dizzy.  On the plus side the engine is nearly pristine under the valve cover. I think it was rebuilt before it sat.

[Sharkquest]

Update time!

I had the car running, I really did, honest. I even got 1/2 way around the block, when suddenly the car started heating up and I heard an odd water noise. Uhoh. I thought it was simply the seal between the timing cover and the block, you know the one that the water pump pushes the coolant through? So I replaced that, and lo and behold, milkshake returned. Then I pulled the head, and the headgasket looked great. wtf right? Well a little more investigation, some sort of sticky greenish oily stuff in the intake and I'm pretty sure the turbo oil/water seals failed.

Oh yeah and the head is cracked in at least 2 places right between the intake and exhaust valves. But hey the Jet valves looked great lol!

So It's time to get serious. I'm still putting the MSII together slowly. I'm often too tired after work for the sort of detail this requires and I DO NOT want to mess it up. But it's moving, I've got the Jim Stim 1/2 way done and am the point I can load the firmware into the MS.

I started making a manifold from 3/4 billet, and the I realized I can just cut the runners off the spare stocker I have, and use it as a template for the custom piece, yay!

So lastly, I guess I've got some questions for you more experienced guys/gals.

My goal is a legitimate 500 HP. Yes I know that's asking a lot. This isn't a 2jz...but anyway, I do want something fun. So here's the plan so far: Forged Arias pistons, E85 and custom rails for fuel, Use the Mighty Max dizzy and LS coils for ignition and injection timing, Rod/Main/Head Studs, .30 overbore (still stock 92 mm preliminary measurements), remove balance shafts (This is recommended against by Jack's Transmission who are big 4g63 guys, but this isn't  4g63 and I don't plan on 9k rpm), t3 manifold with appropriate turbo (to be determined), big intercooler with hard pipes to front facing manifold (shaved 1uz TB).

OK I think that's pretty reasonable plan so far, but I still want to know about these roller rockers I keep hearing about. I understand they'll work much better with a radical cam than a slipper type and the Mitsu cam runs out of breath around, what 5k rpm? I know I need an aftermarket cam, but I don't want to get some crap that's designed poorly. I also read that most roller rockers 1: don't work with a slipper cam, and 2: don't give proper valvetrain geometry on our rocker shafts. This cam thing is vexxing me, because it's a kind of a black art and most people don't want to share.

Thanks for any info!

[Sharkquest]

After talking to Randy at EMS, I found out that a new head, assembled is around $700! On top of that a forged rotating assembly, rods, ect ect...I think I'm going to dump the g54b, and go with a 4g64. I'm going to the yard to inspect a 1991 Mighty Max tomorrow. Hopefully the block and rotating bits are in good shape!

It just seems to make more sense, in terms of my HP goal (500 atw), to go with a better flowing DOHC head and a engine with a more aftermarket.

OK I know this has been asked before, but, Big port or Small port? The small looks like the short side radius is much better, but the big will work better with a larger than stock turbo, no?