Progress Thread Hoopty v2.0 - Back in action!

[hoopty5.0]

Waited all week for some stupid bearings for the alternator and its still squealing. Also seems to have stopped charging for some reason. So, instead of continuing to throw parts at it, I just ordered a new 3g off amazon for $100.

we bitch about Amazon taking over the world, but everything is cheap and next day. When you're trying to get your bucket of bolts back on the road, it's a great thing!

 

[hoopty5.0]

A lot happened this weekend. I guess I'll start from where I last updated - the alternator. I put the new one in and to my surprise, it was doing the same thing, with squealing so loud you couldn't stand to be near it. The only other thing that changed was the alternator bracket so I started looking pretty hard at that. After a lot of measuring and an outside opinion, I shaved an 1/8" off one of the spacers and that solved it.

After letting it run for a bit, it's still smoking. May be the same issue, may be bad valve seals, I dont know but it's going to stay like this for a bit. I'm not about to tear it down again, Just going to need to pay close attention to the oil level this time. It's not bad, but still noticeable.

Next, I was able to get the hood back on it. The 1/2" spacer and shaving the bolt down did the trick. So, I decided to go off on a drive and see if it would stay cool with the new contour fans. And... it didn't. I've always thought the front air deflector somehow pushed air up into the radiator like a scoop, but that is incorrect. So, my scoop I made a while back is worthless, if not adding to the problem. The air dam creates a low pressure zone behind the radiator that basically creates a suction.
Also, the car was running pretty steady in the 200° range so I'm going to try a 160 degree T-stat. If it works too well, Ill go back to a 180 and see what that does. But the ultimate goal here is to get it to run cool enough to get the AC on at all times. So, all this is on order:

Finally, here's a few shots from the cruise around yesterday. I think I did about 70 miles. Finally, the tune needs more work. I've been messing with the cranking, idle, and AFRs and it's better than its ever been but I need someone to drive the car so I can dial in AFRs on the road a little easier. That will be the last step, I think.

 

[a91what]

I know a guy that can help with that....

 

[hoopty5.0]

I know a guy that can help with that....

I've actually been enjoying messing with it. I played in the garage more today with the idle and got it a lot better. Overall, I'm very happy with the tune. But, as always, I appreciate the willingness to help.

Ideally, I get everything sorted and road trip it to Alabama in July to go see family. THAT will be epic and I really hope I can make it happen.

 

[Rdub6]

That’s a sweet looking notch @hoopty5.0
Good luck getting it all running well!

 

[hoopty5.0]

Yesterday, I had the car on the lift messing with the idle. I'd rev it, it would go back to idle like it should.

I got a wild hair and decided to drive it to work this morning, about 40 miles one way. It acted like it had never been tuned before. When you come to a stop and push the clutch in, it either dies or surges like crazy and may or may not die. Sometimes, it acts normal. Sometimes, it doesnt. Sometimes if its already idling, it will just randomly surge.

I brought my laptop I use for tuning and will get some logs on the way home. Damn its so frustrating.

 

[a91what]

Let me see the tune. If you do have a datalog of this issue send as well.
This can be a few things it could be your initial values table set incorrectly. I never suggest use last value.
The idle valve frequency should be set somewhere around 400. Your lowest idle speed should have an idle valve duty of somewhere between 25 and 35.
The idle valve is only part of it timing is the rest of it. If you're having a hard time often adjusting the timing table will will completely fix idle issues. You do not want a positive timing coefficient what I mean here is you don't want timing to increase with RPM in the idle range. You're gonna need to watch overrun as the engine comes back into the idle region idle region and in this overrun this area is going to be below and to the right of your stable idol. In this overrun area feel free to add 10ﾟ or so of timing this will stabilize stabilize the RPM drop returning to idle as you clutch in. You need to set one row lower than your idle speed and the timing table use use this as a catch the timing in this column it's column needs to be a few points higher.
If you still struggle after a few tries I just immediately used table switching itching and create one timing table for idle. Ignition table 3 Is then used for cruise wide open throttle eccetera.

 

[hoopty5.0]

Let me see the tune. If you do have a datalog of this issue send as well.
This can be a few things it could be your initial values table set incorrectly. I never suggest use last value.
The idle valve frequency should be set somewhere around 400. Your lowest idle speed should have an idle valve duty of somewhere between 25 and 35.
The idle valve is only part of it timing is the rest of it. If you're having a hard time often adjusting the timing table will will completely fix idle issues. You do not want a positive timing coefficient what I mean here is you don't want timing to increase with RPM in the idle range. You're gonna need to watch overrun as the engine comes back into the idle region idle region and in this overrun this area is going to be below and to the right of your stable idol. In this overrun area feel free to add 10ﾟ or so of timing this will stabilize stabilize the RPM drop returning to idle as you clutch in. You need to set one row lower than your idle speed and the timing table use use this as a catch the timing in this column it's column needs to be a few points higher.
If you still struggle after a few tries I just immediately used table switching itching and create one timing table for idle. Ignition table 3 Is then used for cruise wide open throttle eccetera.

I can run down to the car and grab the laptop. I just cant grasp why I could get it to work just fine in the shop at operating temperature but not on the road.
Also, I've done everything you said here, except the adaptive advance table is at +/-7 deg max so I will bump it to 10 and see if that helps.

 

[hoopty5.0]

Having trouble getting my dinosaur tuning laptop on the wireless network, so I took a photo of the timing tables. Are you saying that thee two red 19 deg cells can/should be lower than that in conjunction with the adaptive timing table, which can be as much as 10 degrees?

I added the 925 rpm column yesterday to add more resolution to the idle area. I have the VE table for the idle area all set to the same value so the AFR stays steady.

Edit* It was set on use last value. I changed it and set the values to where my IAC testing has been showing closed. Ill go down later and see how it did.
Also, I realized I goofed on setting the timing at the distributor. Ill have to fix that when I get home.

 

[a91what]

pull 2* out of that timing table from 100 kpa up, its fine for when the car is cool but once fully soaked thats a bit aggressive.

can you grab shots of the idle advance activation settings, and the closed loop idle settings.

 

[hoopty5.0]

@a91what - I just switched it to using the initial value table, so that's new. Also, the closed duty cycle is based on me testing it and that's the lowest threshold where no change happened

 

[a91what]

All your settings look reasonable to me.

 

[hoopty5.0]

All your settings look reasonable to me.

I did notice that it's less happy at or above 190 degrees. Hoping the thermostat and other mods this evening fix all that. I'll play with the timing more and see what it nets me. Thanks!

 

[hoopty5.0]

160 T-stat and air deflector was marginal help. Still running 200 down the freeway. I did some reading this morning and ended up sneaking out to the garage. I added a shield on the passenger side of the radiator to close in a gap and force air into the radiator. I also hacked my front bumper cover a little more than intended so it looks like Ill be buying one of those cobra inserts. Whoops.

Also, I'm going to dilute the coolant with distilled water and add some water wetter and see what all these changes net me. I'll be dumbfounded if none of this works.

 

[02 281 GT]

The flexible pieces Ford put around the radiators to direct airflow into them are definitely there for a reason.

 

[HotFox]

Just to eliminate the obvious did you pressure test the cooling system? Are you loosing any coolant? Thermostat in backwards? Correct rotation water pump.

 

[hoopty5.0]

Think I got 'er fixed. I created a separate thread so the info was more accessible. But we are running in the 170-180 range in the Texas heat. I am going to replace the bad AC line next and see how it likes that.

 

[hoopty5.0]

My plans to road trip the car this week have been thwarted by weather. There's enough things that make me nervous driving it all that way, Id rather not deal with torrential downpours as well, LOL

Also, still no AC, which may or may not have a lot to do with that decision! The hose has been ordered and will be here this week.

 

[hoopty5.0]

So, another dumb moment in the life of Collin.

I ordered the A/C line that has a hole in it. It's the one that goes from the condenser down along the frame rail to the firewall. I was talking to my buddy earlier (we work together and I called him about work stuff and naturally got off topic) about fixing my AC. Anyway, he asks if its still pressurized and I said kinda. Ended up throwing my auto parts store charge can on to check and it shows full charge. Fire the car up, turn the AC on and its blowing cold. Charge doesnt change much and seemingly wont take any more refrigerant.

Weird, right? I definitely saw bubbles coming out of the line. I will fix it, especially now that the hose has been ordered, but I assume the system had leaked down by now.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Put the can in warm water to raise its temp a bit and that should get it to flow a little more into the system.

You probably do have a leak. My guess is some of the oil is now sealing your leak but it will leak again.

Lots of ac shops will recover the 134 for free since they can sell it to a recycler. Evac it, fix the line, pull a nice vacuum and recharge.