david-b's 95 Eagle Talon ESi-T Motor Build

Lookin great. Is sunday still 1st start up?

Thanks guys.

Hoping to start her up today. Headed there in about an hour to do the wiring and finish up the last of everything. She's already back down on all 4s and begging for me to come over :)

She's already back down on all 4s and begging for me to come over :)

.....now that just sounds dirty :grinno:

Sounds like a date!!!!

*crossing fingers*

AND SHE STARTS!!!

Got to the garage early today to work on her. Yesterday when I pressurized the fuel system, it started leaking at the rail. The rail I used was cracked, but I had JB welded it up and did a damn good job of it. Apparently not enough though. Thought that was going to be a process in it's self, to get the rail out and swap everything to a spare I had. Not too bad at all. Took out the hacked FPR off the leaky rail and installed in spare and injectors all swapped over. Took like 30min, not bad at all.

I filled her up with oil, sadly, she leaked at the oil pan. I have a crank scrapper with 2 gaskets in there and apparently it didnt seal right. For now, I took the crank scrapper out and just have the gasket. No leaks there now.

After more fuel leaks and a SS fitting that broke (WTF!), she was ready to go.

Jason and I went over the MSnS settings and everything was good, so went to start the car and had no luck. Battery was dead. Using jumpers and my parents car to jump and would crank, but not fire. I had no spark. After much testing, Jason recommended wiring up the coil back to the stock ECU, and she fired up.

The front motor mount is not installed yet in case I had more leaks so the motor had a good amount of movement in it. Also just sounded weird on top of a very rough idle. Also have exhaust leak somewhere at/around the manifold. I kept shutting her off as the roughness was making me nervous. Also had some minor leaks around, like the turbo feed line. I didn't rev her or anything. All I know, is that the garage was SMOKED up after she ran for a little bit. Foggy as all hell.

I didn't take too many pics today, but I got these 2.
Waiting on the driveway waiting to get started.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1101091303Medium.jpg

Jumping off Monte Carlo PLUS 2 battery jumpers. I should injest in an actual battery charger.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1101091508Medium.jpg

That's awesome man, that's really good news.

Yeah it runs!!

Made it out there today (wasn't supposed to) but made the time. After doing some minor fixes from yesterday, I started her up and she was still having some issues. It was night and had a light shining in the bay, and you can see the smoke rising up from it. Mad exhaust leaks. So I'm working on fixing those. Each fix I do, thing runs a little bit better. That manifold is a pain in the ass.

Also seems like I have leaks somewhere around the IM or throttle body. I can hear it, but was more focused on the exhaust.

Wanted to get video, but she's not video worthy yet.

And since everyone loves pics...
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1102092037aMedium.jpg

Looks badass man. Make sure to whip that manifold down before it heats up to keep fingerprints from burning in it.

what he said. A little brake parts cleaner and a shop rag wont hurt.

Did some work today. Was trying to get the FP down. At idle, the car would just spit fuel out the exhaust. Revving would smoke up the entire garage hardcore.

For some reason, at idle, the thing was reading about 100psi at idle. I thought the gauge wiring was bad or something and no matter what I did, it kept reading that, but doing a little bouncing. I lowered the SFMU a couple turns and got it down to 35psi at idle. Near perfect for now. However, AFR was still at 10.0-10.9. Can't get that shit to lean out at all. Idle is smoother and it revs up a lot smoother now. But still choppy and rough more than not.

So I was playing around with it with one of my buddies making some changes here and there and doing some light revving. I got a coolant leak at that damn thermostat now. It was smoking from the turbine on the turbo, and had some oil leaking off the oil return line. Was still ok though. And then, I revved some more another time around, and it made a noise, and got some more smoke. I immediatly cut it off. I have no idea what it was, but it didn't sound good. I had checked for oil a little earlier and it was decent amount still. Didn't check after the noise tho. I called it quits for the day. I'm going to go back Satuday and try to see what happened.

I hope FOR THE LOVE OF GOD that nothing is f-ed up. I will not be happy and will instantly part the car out. Don't believe me... wait til Saturday.

The only pic tonight was the cloudy garage
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1105091955aMedium.jpg

You cant part it out.....You wont!
And if you do, you're a dick.

So be. You have no idea how pissed I am right now. I don't even know what the problem is, but we'll see. This will be the end of my car days if... well you know.

If its blown i will sell you a 96 gst with a new trans a clutch. Primed and ready for paint. 3k you pick it up.

What are your thought on this noise/sound? What do you think could have broke?

Its probably nothing Dave. Glad to see you got FP straight. Sorry I couldnt talk last night I was in some hypnotist show and it was crazy loud. Try lowering the pressure down to 20psi since thats about where you want it anyways. If that doesn't lean it out we can pull some more fuel from MS.

Its probably nothing Dave. Glad to see you got FP straight. Sorry I couldnt talk last night I was in some hypnotist show and it was crazy loud. Try lowering the pressure down to 20psi since thats about where you want it anyways. If that doesn't lean it out we can pull some more fuel from MS.

Dude it's all good. I hate bugging you like that anyways, But I appreciate all the help.

See I would like to think that it was nothing, but it's hard not to. It shouldn't have done that.

Oh, SFMU got dropped 3 3/4 turns to get it to drop that low. Top bolt was a little loose, but seemed like a lot though.

Oh and the littel green box on the fuel map was never in the lower left. Granted I only got the coolant temp up to ~140* tops (was leaking by then), but it was about 4 or 5 boxes up and at the 1100-next rpm range

Next question... lets assume the worse and say a bearing spun or something like that. Is it safe to start the car? I'm going to check the oil level tomorrow and then I want to crank it up to see if the noise is still there. What would you guys do? The last thing I want to do is pull the head off if there's nothing wrong under the there.

Was the car in the 100kpa range? You did run a vac line to MS right?

I know I was texting you last nigh Jay but don't remember what it was about. I'm hungover pretty bad. Vac line was there from even before the swap... used MS to monitor boost. I'll recheck the line again though.

I'm headed to the garage to see what the noise is about. If everything is fine, I'll continue on. If noise is still there, I'll probably pull the pan and see what's going on in there. Then I'll take it step by step. Going to soccer game this evening so won't be there all day. Depending on the car, may pregame the pregame, and just be totally shit-faced literally all day. Wish me luck on this one.

I'll try to get a video of the noise at first start up as well.

It definately sounds like something is goin on with MS. the green box should be around 30-40kpa at idle and 1k rpms so it should be in the lower left boxes. Change one of the gauges in megatune to Engine map and check to see if its workin. I would just suck on the hose and see if its reading vac. if its working it may be set on the wrong sensor which will throw the reading off. That probably why your running so rich.

Car is not for sale or being parted out (at least not yet ;) )

Early morning... how I felt
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1107090924Medium.jpg


I drain all the oil and coolant from the car before I did anything. Checked for mixture (looks ok I guess) and coolant was good. I made some minor changes with some vac lines. Bought new MAP sensor and installed that. MS getting a much better reading with the new MAP now.

Got it started and NO NOISE. I checked everything over and was still running super rich. I pulled the filter off the turbo and realized that it wasn't spinning. If you look at the previous pics, the oil feed line basically has a 90* kink in it... which I think is starving the turbo of oil.

I pulled it off and got it all spinning again. Was wedged good. No play or anything.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1107091338aMedium.jpg

Installed back on... started it, and same issue. Locked right back up. So I'm going to get a new fitting so it feed line fits better. Hope that's the problem.

Video of start and rough idle (Non-spinnin Turbo)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/th_Startup.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/?action=view&current=Startup.flv)


VTEC!
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1107091031Medium.jpg

Also got the bed plate off old block and it's all good. So the old motor spun a rod bearing and blew a headgasket. RIP old 420a. Will be listed on Craigslist soon.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1107091507Medium.jpg

I hope it wasn't starved for oil, if so those bearings are probably toast by now. Im thinking there is another problems. I would take that turbo back apart and check out everything. Dont overtighten the nut on the compressor wheel or it can cause the turbo to not spin freely.

Sounds like pain and suffering... The DSM curse is twisting the blade again. Ooo the pain...

So your saying that once the turbo gets spinning it just stop dead once it gets lodge in there?

Ya it just stops spinning. After i got it back together i kept spinning the turbine and it was fine. No play or anything. I gave is a little tug here and there and it spun fine. I turn the car on and it stops. I broke it free by turning the shaft with a socket. Now spins fine again.
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Teleca Q7; Brew 3.1.5; U; en) 240X400 LGE VX9700

Didn't get to do much today. Got work to do. Just changed out plus (they were toasted and burnt with fuel. So got the regular plugs in there again. I have a small oil leak off the back of the valve cover so tried repairing with gasket sealer. Not sure why it's leaking there but until I have to pull the VC, it may have to wait.

Meanwhile I ordered a -4an 90* fitting for the oil feed line and new -10an for the drain (small leak, cheap fitting). I'm hoping that will fix the turbo problem. I really hope I don't have to rebuild it again, but I'll do what I have to. I also have to remember to prime it better next time.

I would probably take that turbo apart while you waiting on parts just to make sure everything is fine on the inside.

Sounds like pain and suffering... The DSM curse is twisting the blade again. Ooo the pain...

Funny thing is I still got a video of it running before you ever got one of yours ;) I win.

I'm thinking I may throw on the old T3 when the fitting comes in and may send off the new one to get rebuilt/balanced properly. Have to find some place to do that though.

That's not necessary dave. Put the old one back on and at least try to fix it before you pay someone else to do it. There isint much a turbo anyways so it shouldn't be hard to fix. Inspect everything and if it looks good put it back together with some oil and test it with an air hose.

Funny thing is I still got a video of it running before you ever got one of yours ;) I win.
I'm pretty sure I got mine running first... Remember that phone call I made with that noise in the background? Oh yeah... I was bout 30 minutes away from my camera and not making a special trip for it... Too bad it's all jacked up now for both of us...

I'm pretty sure I got mine running first... Remember that phone call I made with that noise in the background? Oh yeah... I was bout 30 minutes away from my camera and not making a special trip for it... Too bad it's all jacked up now for both of us...


@Jay - We'll see how it goes once that fitting comes in.
@Bri - You got it running first yes, but I had proof to everyone. And your startup was like 3 years after the build started. Mine was what, 2-3 months :)

I mentioned about swapping out the turbo because I plan on getting this on the street this weekend. She misses me being inside of her and I miss driving her.

There's a guy on tuners that has a good rep for doing a good job rebuilding turbos if you need to go that route. From what I've read he has a quick turnover rate if you need it done quick.

There's a guy on tuners that has a good rep for doing a good job rebuilding turbos if you need to go that route. From what I've read he has a quick turnover rate if you need it done quick.

I've seen that before but have no idea who it is. Do you know his name?

I actually added him as a mspace friend back when I was pricing turbo rebuilds. His name is Justin Whitesell. Go to my myspace link to add him if you want to ask him any questions. He responded quickly to me when I was asking him questions and he's pretty reasonable.

I have seen him on tuners before (though I couldnt find him if I needed to) and read some of his posts. He seems to be quite knowledgable, and people had good things to say about his work.

Yea he is deffinately the way to go for the rebuild. Actually Dave just email him and see what he says about your turbo. He has rebuilt plenty so Im sure he has seen this problem before.

From what I read on tuners, he's the guy you want to talk to.

Damn I don't have a myspace anymore so I can't message him. Anyone have his actual email address? Couldn't find him on Tuners from the quick search that I did.

Jusmx141 is his user name on tuners.

Went to the garage this evening. I love Summit Racing. Ordered fittings on Sunday, arrived today standard shipping.

I installed the 90* fitting on the oil feed and started her up to see if it would spin, and sure enough she's spinning strong now. Granted I didn't run her for too long since I was in the garage and was being smoked out like a bee's hive, but she spins.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1110092031aMedium.jpg

Installed panels and hood today. Have to trim, up the bumper more because the IC piping moved, so the old cuts don't match up anymore. PLUS, the hood has to be trimmed. Once of the braces sits right on top of the manifold causing it not to close all the way on the passenger side. Wasn't too happy about that, but not a big deal. Just going to grind down the one brace.

Then have a small coolant leak and not sure where... looks like its dripping by the back of the block, so picking her up this weekend and seeing where that's coming from. Maybe the drain plug isn't in all the way or something. And still running stupid rich.


Looking like a car again!
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/david-b/Motor%20Build/1110092031Medium.jpg

Awesome, I cant believe that was the problem. Your old feed must have been really bad.

With the manifold being so close to the hood will that burn the paint on the hood?

What paint? Unpainted CF hood. And the clear coat is already peeling all over. Looks like shit

With the manifold being so close to the hood will that burn the paint on the hood?

No it shouldn't, my hood get so hot you cant touch it in the middle and the paint is fine.

I always like driving in the rain since I turboed because as the rain was coming down (really obvious in downpours) the center where the turbo is at is just completely dry and steams when the rain hits hit. Love having people riding along and them saying "You're engine is smoking!" :lol:

I always wondered if it would effect the hood or not.

Got some work done today. Ordered an inline oil filter for the turbo just to play it safe and got that all installed. My plan was to drive the car around the block today, but that didn't happen. I did however, pull the car out of the garage and back in... so 20ft on the new motor :)

I lowered the FP down to about 27psi and continued playing with the fuel map to get the AFRs down. I got idle in about the 12-13afr range, which is much better than the 10s it was in before. So she's idling much better now but still not perfect obviously. As I was working on her, the t-stat housing decided to turn from a drip to a piss, so now coolant is spraying all over. So had to stop. Manifold was burning hot (yes I burnt myself) so stopped for the day. Tomorrow night I'm going back and going to mod up the manifold and fix the t-stat housing so it all fits better.


Here's a video from today of the idle
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=187794467704&saved#/video/video.php?v=187794467704&ref=mf

Glad you got it running better man. Are you workin on it anymore this week?

Tomorrow I'm stopping the coolant leaks... Only goal for tomorrow.

Where's is leaking from?

Where's is leaking from?

...As I was working on her, the t-stat housing decided to turn from a drip to a piss, so now coolant is spraying all over...

Reading is fundamental :icon16:

Reading is fundamental :icon16:

And we all know I skip 90% of the posts and go straight to the quick reply. lol...

You need to crank down that clamp yo.

What clamp?

What clamp?

Oh... Your not talking about where the line comes in on top are you?... How about just taking it apart and using a little RTV up in there?

No the hose is fine, although it rubs on the manifold, which is adding pressure on the T-Stat housing causing it to not really sit properly. I just have to dent in the manifold a little more to take off that pressure. I added a lot of gasket sealer in attempt to stop the drip, but the heat and pressure I guess was too much.

but the heat and pressure I guess was too much.
That's what she said...













:icon16:

Dave a big hammer will fix that manifold. We had to dent it pretty good to clear that bolt on the tstat

If it won't fit, use some spit!

If it won't fit, use some spit!

Lol, omg. That is so funny.....cause its true.