Serious trouble V8

[Barrykearley]

But does it run.....

[Chillidoggy]

The sponge foam above the coolant radiator is to prevent air passing through the gap, not for noise reduction.

[MD355]

2 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

But does it run.....

Come on Barry, I was trying to build up some suspense...

But I understand that 5 months of waiting you are all eager to find out the results !! And voila !!

IT'S ALIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

This is my mechanic's assistant !! My mechanic was very satisfied by the results !! He said the engine operated much more smoothly than before !! Probably due to fixing the timing too... (Thank you guys for insisting to do ti the factory way !!)

He even took it for a drive !!

I am meeting up with him tomorrow morning to test drive the car and see how the engine operates...

[Barrykearley]

She’s alive 

[MD355]

1 hour ago, Chillidoggy said:

The sponge foam above the coolant radiator is to prevent air passing through the gap, not for noise reduction.

My mechanic said it is a very smart design... if you want to start a fire !!!! LOL (feel free to throw rocks at my mechanic... Hahaha)

[Sparky]

<seeks large rock>

[Barrykearley]

He does know that water boils at 100deg?? It’s really really difficult to start a fire with hot water and temperatures as low as that.

He really should worry more about the exhaust manifolds that glow orange and their proximity to the fuels tanks. But frankly that’s not a worry at all........

might be worth buying him a box of matches and some cardboard for Christmas 👍

 

[Chillidoggy]

I haven’t heard of a fire starting in that area of an Esprit before, as has been said, the temperatures are way too low. And I’m not going to throw rocks at your mechanic. You can do that if your engine blows up again!

[MD355]

A small issue we had was with the fuel gauge sending unit.. 

My old fuel gauge sending unit was very slow and seemed to show inaccurate readings.. I would fill it up and it would take 20 minutes to show the actual fuel level..

So I bought a new one and now with 1/3 fuel it shows 100% full , but the low fuel light is on !! Very weird !! Any ideas ?

[Barrykearley]

You’ve mixed up the wires on it 

[Jacques]

I agree with Ian, regarding that foam above the radiator. I renewed mine and with special heat resistant closed cell foam, partially to resist heat, partially to resist keeping water trapped for a prolonged period of time. I painted it black with high temp spray and glued it on with high temp spray glue.

Congrats on having fired it up again and I wish you many years of full enjoyment with your Esprit. Truly marvelous cars!

So, in the end, did you take preventative measures like for example Pancos Speed Shop did?

Kind regards,

jacques

[MD355]

5 hours ago, Jacques said:

 

So, in the end, did you take preventative measures like for example Pancos Speed Shop did?

Thank you for your wishes !!

The preventative measures I took were the scotch key which I applied to the timing belt pulley to avoid loosening itself and damaging the engine heads and valves

[andyblackman777]

I like the look of that oil hose fitting. 👍

I have a leaky one and this could save me having to replace the whole pipe. 

Anyone know the bore of the oils hose and the cooler thread size ??

andy

[v8GTmac1]

sounds healthy, congrats and did you end up welding a connection bung to the oil cooler?

[MD355]

5 hours ago, v8GTmac1 said:

sounds healthy, congrats and did you end up welding a connection bung to the oil cooler?

No, since there was existing thread on the oil cooler, my mechanic put a male-male adapter and made the connection..

An now some photos from my garage and the first driving impressions...

 

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by MD355

[MD355]

My mechanic gave me break in instructions for the rebuilt engine.. He said for the first 300 km drive the car up to 3000 rpm, for the next 300 km up to 3500 rpm and after that increase 500 rpm every 300 km...After a total of 1500 km we will change again oil & oil filter

He told me do NOT get stuck in traffic.. Drive at night or at times when there is not traffic..

The first thing I did was put fresh gasoline in the tank.. My mechanic ended up putting back the old fuel gauge indicator .. He couldn’t get the new one to work because he said there is only 1 way to connect the cables.. Nevermind, now it works fine..

I started driving home and at 2500 rpm 2-3 gear the car was a little relucant.. There seemed to be some intermittent cutting on the engine.. After a while it went away and the car drove fine.. Now it is raining..

No check engine light which is cool!! 
 

Only issue are 2 oil leaks.

One is from the oil lines going back to the engine see photo.. And the second seems to be from the transmission.. Even though we replaced the rings where the driveshafts connect to the differential it still leaks..

[MD355]

By the way, my mechanic disabled the two blow off valves that were installed by previous owner because he thinks they are leaking air.. He did not remove them.. He simply plugged the line that actuates them.. I understand the function of BOV : not to stall the turbines when coming off the gas pedal, and I think it also has a positive side effect in the fireworks department.. My understanding is that at high rpm if you release gas pedal, BOV blows air, and press on it again, the excess fuel gets dumped in the exhaust and you get nice explosions and flames at the back.. since now I cannot rev above 3000 rpm no point.. But once the engine is fine I will enable them again !! 😉

[cweeden]

Hi Makis,

I am very pleased to see you have the car up and running again, the drive shaft oil seals are a thorn in the side for all of us over the years. You will find many threads that discuss them and alternative experimental 2 seal approaches. Personally I think sometimes you get lucky and the seals work great and hold up for ages and other times they fail reasonably early on. Yours seem to be leaking very soon after replacement however which makes me wonder if any sealant was applied to the split pins when they were put back in and that the splits were at 180 degrees to each other. You may find that by re-seating the pins with sealant (after thoroughly cleaning away any oil) might sort it out. Your garage looks very interesting too, I have to confess I hadn't stopped to check out you list of cars when you post so that came as a pleasant surprise. 🙂

cheers

-Chris

[MD355]

Breaking in the V8 at max 3000 rpm..

Edited December 19, 2019 by MD355

[Giniw]

9 minutes ago, MD355 said:

at max 3000 rpm..

The rev counter shows 3200 RPM!!! 😛

Edited December 19, 2019 by Giniw

[MD355]

Shhh don’t tell my mechanic !!! 😉

P.S. I am playing calm and relaxing music on purpose to avoid getting the rush to spool those turbos and hit maximum rpm... and break the engine again !!! LOL

[v8GTmac1]

Ha 3k Rpm...... I’ve been a bad bad boy

[MD355]

44 minutes ago, v8GTmac1 said:

Ha 3k Rpm...... I’ve been a bad bad boy

I am following doctor’s... mechanic’s orders !! First 300 km - 3000 rpm, next 300 km - 3500 rpm and so on every 300 km plus 500 rpm !! And at 1500 km we get oil change !! Note : no stuck in traffic driving !!

How about you ? What did you do to your car ? 🙈

[drdoom]

Seems he has break-in theory that is well out of date. If engine built correctly, tuned right and systems functioning on-spec I'd expect the rings/liners to be broken in rather sooner than 1500 km. Bearings require no break-in, cams/tappets only if new or re-surfaced. Do not pussy-foot the engine load, get load on for a few seconds then lift in gear for several. Avoid both light cruising and high revs in the first several 100 km's, should be ready to go in short order.

Long-term break-in protocols were of an age when bores were not ideally round, finished roughly in order to burnish into harmony with the rings. I doubt the liners in any Lotus engine were ever significantly out of round, should not be finished rougher than is ideal for oil film retention, in my non-expert opinion.

Nice to read of your success, cheers!

[v8GTmac1]

 There is a handful of ways to break in the engine I will never know which is best I also reused the piston rings so I don’t know how much breaking in was needed. Not much I guess. Shifting at 4500 full beans. 

Edited December 20, 2019 by v8GTmac1