Progress Thread Time For A Revival Of My '91 Gt

[J_Squared]

Finally back at it. Had to take a hiatus from the project, life just got too busy. I bought a few fittings and borrowed a gauge from work. Turns out my fuel pressure is sitting around 20 at idle and 30 at "full throttle," I just removed the vacuum from the pressure regulator. So off I go getting a filter and a regulator(just in case, I hate making multiple trips to the store). This definitely seems like a good reason for the lean codes that still plague me. Especially when they CEL comes on sooner during the drive if I load the motor more.

On a side note a friend of mine just bought a house and offered to let me keep the car in his new massive garage for the winter. So no more digging the beast out! Woohoo!

 

[J_Squared]

Well... That didn't seem to do it. Going to take it for a quick drive and see if the codes come back but replaced the filter, pressures the same. I replaced the regulator, pressures the same. Hoping I don't have to drop the tank, any other ideas for why my pressure would be low?

 

[A5literMan]

Fuel pump is my guess. With the car sitting so long corrosion inside the tank is likely also. Maybe you have a semi blocked fuel line? I would drop the tank. While that's being done...time for a bigger fuel pump especially if you plan on making enough power to eventually run 12's.

 

[J_Squared]

Hey all. It has been a long winter and so there was no progress with the car but I finally got to replacing the fuel pump. The fuel pressure is great now, 32-45 psi from idle to sans vacuum. I was stoked, it was time for some cruising with the nice weather. I finally went out last week when it was beautifully sunny and 70* I went for a short drive and I was pulling into my driveway and went to downshift, the motor stopped. I tried bump starting it with my momentum on my way down the driveway but it just locked up the tires. I rolled into my spot and the motor won't turn over. I haven't had time to jump into it yet but I have a few starting points via friends and family. Do any of you have any thoughts on what might have happened? I plan to dig into it this week and resolve wtf happened. Thanks all.

PS: Time for a motor upgrade maybe?! hah.

 

[A5literMan]

Yup sounds like new motor time.

 

[J_Squared]

Yeaaa..... Finally got to pulling and tearing down the motor over the past few weeks. I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

Gross.


Nothing obvious, other than one side is a little 'dryer' than the other. It had been a while since it ran, maybe that is why?


WTF is that?


No, seriously...


Ugh,


That ... is just not pretty


That's what that was.

Oh and there was this,

and then,

what it should've looked like(the hole anyway)


Overall I am not absolutely sure what it was that was the initial cause of the problem. All I can tell is that journal was HOT and was getting no oil. I don't know how to tell how, why or what the underlying issue was for it not getting oil, but lack of oil certainly f*cked things up down there. Does anyone have ideas what would have been the root cause? Have any of you seen this and figured out why? I am asking questions mostly so I can decide on if I keep the block(clean it up and all) and just get all new internals or just say screw it and get a short block+. Thanks all.

 

[squeak93]

Man that sucks. Did the oil pump take a dump?

 

[smkshw]

Woa....and i thought i had it bad!

 

[J_Squared]

I don't believe so. The pump is less than 2k miles old and the gauge was reading proper pressure.

 

[J_Squared]

Do any of you have experience with Coast High Performance? I was referred to them by a friend but would like to get some more opinions. I am especially looking into their short blocks.

 

[A5literMan]

They have a good reputation and have been doing it for a long time. I personally have not done business with them but I would. You can also check out FordStrokers.com. If looking for a shortblock stay away from D.S.S.

 

[rdharper02]

J,
I've been researching both Coast and FordStrokers. Both have a great reputation, but the gentlemen who owns FordStrokers (Woody I believe) seems to be all about his customers and passing knowledge. He's swamped, but still finds time to answer questions via phone or forum. I haven't spoken to him or purchased anything from him, but learned from my last expensive debacle (HP Turbo) that I'll spend a couple dollars more for the comfort of knowing the business takes pride in their product and their customer base. Just my 2 cents.

 

[J_Squared]

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely look more into both. I am still undecided which direction I will go, and more importantly how big of a budget. I will be sure to log it here for all to see. Thanks again.

 

[mikestang63]

If you can wait, I would go with Jim. CHP also builds quality engines. Ask for Mark.

 

[J_Squared]

Hey all. I am still here working on the car. It has been a while since I have made any sort of update but here goes. Only just a couple months ago I had the stock motor rebuilt to OEM specs. The motor was in decent shape, sans the spun bearing that seized the engine on me that fateful day nearly a year ago. The machine shop was able to hone, clean and dye pen the block and crank without doing any major work or replace anything. I had them do the assembly of the bottom end as after this latest incident I am not comfortable in doing it myself. This time I only put together the top end. Last week I finally had time to get over to the garage and get working. I mounted the flywheel, clutch, bell-housing and T-5 to the motor and lowered that sucker in. As of now, the engine, transmission and driveshaft are all installed and torqued down. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope to find some hours next week or this weekend to get it ready to break in. If you read this far, even if if you haven't, here are some pics for your troubles. Thanks for reading!

Bottom end so clean sitting on the engine stand.


Shiny shaved heads


Inspecting the clean bottom


Heads torqued


Just before torquing the lower intake.


Mocked up with Intake and Distributor, I obviously didn't leave these one for dropping it it.


T-5 all bolted and torqued and ready to drop in


Almost there


In!

 

[J_Squared]

She is alive and sounding very healthy, considering half the exhaust is still not attached (that might make it sound better tbh). There is some loping but I am certain its due to vacuum leaks. I intend on replacing and re-running them all, they've been patchy for a while now. I have a nice sound bit but it is in .mov format. Perhaps later.

 

[rstaylor25]

Glad you still have it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[J_Squared]

So she is back to her home stable after about a year's hiatus at my friends for the heavy lifting. There is one issues remaining, only one that I can tell anyway. There is a rather loud popping of popcorn like soundcoming from the intake(even occasiobnally at idle). After some reading it sounds like it is backfiring through the intake. I have done some of the steps to remedy it with limited success. The TPS was over 1V so I fixed that and it sits at 0.975V now. The cap/rotor and plug wires were in need of replacement reggardless, so I did that and it helped significantly but it still pops under load and low RPM. I know I need to check vacuum and intend on doing so with a gauge this weekend. At idle however it sounds perfect. all the exhaust is back on, no exhaust leaks. No major vacuum leaks, now that it wouldnt be drowned out by the exhaust, and it idles smooth as butter at ~700 rpm. After a quick drive around the block the CEL came on so I ran the codes.

KOEO:
33 - EGR, This hasnt been hooked up in years. And as far as Ive read that shouldnt cause any significant issues.
41 - Lean bank 1.
66 - MAF voltage below minimum.
91 - Lean bank 2.
96 - Fuel pump secondary circuit malfunction.

KOER:
41
91
33

I intend to ensure the MAF is ok by cleaning it and checking the terminals. but that sounds like it could be the issue all around. Causing the lean issues. Im confused by the fuel pump code. I just replaced it a year ago before the engine spun the bearing. So unless I missed something or that isnt directly related to the pump install, I am baffled.

As always, any comment, thoughts or input is appreciated. If anyone is interested in the sound I can post up a video in a little bit.

 

[rdharper02]

@J_Squared : Start with the fuel pump code, but the lean code is what would worry me. Whenever one side has a problem the other does not, I get cagey. She's worth of some time, so research the pump then the lean code. Just a thought, how old are the O2 sensors?

 

[J_Squared]

O2s are quite new, usage wise. I installed them in the past couple years. However I had lean issues before the bearing spun last year and couldn't solve the mystery as to why. I did the fuel pump, fuel filter, and installed a fuel pressure gauge and the pressures look good. ~40psi at idle and drops to roughly 30 under vacuum if memory serves me right. MAF has been recently cleaned and I tested it's voltages and they look good. Does anyone know what the minimum is that the code references? The lowest I saw was around 1VDC at idle and then it was smooth when I had the engine revs pick up. The air filter has also been recently changed. I checked for vacuum leaks again. Still nothing audible over the engine noise, and I sprayed some ether around the vacuum points with no effect. A vacuum issue sound unlikely. Either it is small or that isn't the issue. I'll read more up on the fuel pump code and report back any findings. I'm just glad I am this close. Thanks for the input.