Jan's N/A Pulsar [pix + vidz 2013-03-23]

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:35 am

The intake manifold had to be replaced because the PCV elbow pipe was leaking at the intake manifold and that pipe is attached to the intake manifold by heat expansion so once it had come off I wasn't able to make it seal again. Fuel economy was getting very poor as a result. I also cleaned up the engine bay a bit at the same time.

I have tinted my rear windows, inspired by the How to tint your car episode of Mighty Car Mods.

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:08 am

Replaced the valve stem seals (using the method described in this article), turns out the old ones were rock hard. No wonder the engine was consuming oil, a liter per 1000 kilometers.

A slight bit of lubrication.

I wonder when these have been replaced last time?

I cleaned up the rocker rail and the rocker arms (lubricated them prior to installation):

Done.

I needed to readjust the valve clearances afterwards. The engine runs a lot smoother and stronger, replacing the valve stem seals made a heck of a difference! The engine doesn't smoke any longer except for a letting out a slight cloud at cold starts, and even that is now subsiding. Thank you E and Baz for your advice!

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:37 am

I made a video, you can compare it to this if you want to know how big a difference it made to replace the valve stem seals. The seals were leaking badly, and the E15 wasn't designed to combust oil.

Engine runs better each day and judging by the spark plugs it really does clean up on the inside now, burning away all the extra soot deposits that were caused by burning excessive amounts of oil.

Oh, and BTW, there's a small bonus at the end of the video.

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 2:13 am

Blew my head gasket the other day. I was accelerating WOT on the freeway and the engine started to lose power and jerk... I got worried and let off the gas pedal until I felt a stable speed so I could get off the freeway (would have stopped completely if the engine wouldn't have stabilized). I checked the oil, it's fine. But the coolant (which I had to check after coming home) was brown like coffee. And the spark plug on cylinder #3 had taken slight melting damage. So it seems not only was I blowing the head gasket, but I was also that close to blowing the engine. I just hope I haven't cracked the block in the process. At least the engine isn't smoking, just pressurizing the cooling system.

Anyway, I have richened up the mixture because it was most definitely leaning out and hence blew the head gasket. The engine is actually still running very well so I can drive to my parents' house at the countryside where I will be replacing the head gasket. The only big problems at this time are that idling is slightly rough at times, and that the coolant system gets extra pressure from the engine compression. Actually I'm very curious to see how cylinder #3 looks because this is the cylinder that has slight piston slap. Probably quite a bit of scarring on the cylinder wall.

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:26 am

Hello guys,
it's been a while since I last posted an update to my thread. A few things have happened lately:

In September, the old head gasket finally blew as you know. I took some time to replace it and clean up the engine on the inside a bit at the same time. The camshaft seal behind the camshaft pulley was leaking and it had soaked the cam belt with engine oil. Had to replace the cam belt. Also did both a coolant and an oil flush prior to taking the engine apart. And since I got faulty intake manifold gaskets, I bought new ones. The exhaust had to come off, so exhaust manifold gaskets also had to be replaced. I replaced the camshaft seal and the square-shaped gasket which goes between the camshaft cover and the cylinder head. Also replaced the battery because the old Bosch battery had started leaking.

And yes, unfortunately the head is cracked between the #3 spark plug hole and the exhaust port. I ignored it at the time because I didn't have time or money to look for a replacement at this time.

In late October, I bought a DynoMax Super Turbo muffler because my girlfriend was complaining about the droning exhaust noise. And I agree, the cannon muffler was too loud to be comfortable on the highway; you couldn't even hear the subwoofer. [:P]

And last month (January) I had to replace the camshaft. You'll see why when you see the photos. I used a method suggested by Damo and Evan. It involves putting a jack under the engine, taking off the front engine mount, detaching the right side engine mount from the body, and jacking up the engine until you can pull out the camshaft over the top of the right fender. Lately I was hearing a bearing noise from the area around the water pump and the cam belt tensioner. I replaced both the water pump and the tensioner. Turns out it wasn't the tensioner but the water pump that made noise. The water pump isn't a brand new one but it's got only 130000 k's on it and it's got a good bearing as opposed to the old water pump.

Jacking up the engine, removing bits and pieces:

Old camshaft:

New camshaft:

A few closeups of the old cam:

New rocker shaft and rocker arms, a less worn water pump and new cam belt tensioner installed:

Done!

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:34 am

I suspect the camshaft got unevenly worn down because the rocker shaft wasn't exactly aligned as it should be, it was a bit off and it may have caused bad lubrication, warping the #4 exhaust lobe as a result and wearing down all the other lobes. So it turns out that I was too much in a rush in August to finish off the valve stem seal replacement and didn't get the rocker shaft exactly aligned.

Oh, and BTW, the car passed MOT straight away on the first try, two days after the camshaft replacement!

It wouldn't have passed emissions with the worn down camshaft... thanks Damo and Evan! You saved me once again from having to put out a lot of money, sweat and tears!

Post by **tassuperkart** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:47 am

Awwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:25 am

A few days ago, I made a video of the engine running on the new cam (rocker arms are a bit tappy until I have time to readjust the clearances):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1dMYdJfhgY

Compare to this video, where I'm still running on the old camshaft. The chuff-chuff sound was very pronounced at idle, and the engine was backfiring quite a bit while revving up the engine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca2huqwlbzM

Exhaust note is noticeably sharper after replacing the cam. And no more chuff-chuff.

TurboZ.Dude · Post by **TurboZ.Dude** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:55 pm

I've had a couple of failures lately. The interior fan decided to start squealing my ears off so I had to replace it. And later the head gasket blew. Lucky as I was, the oil and coolant didn't suffer from the head gasket failure. Had to replace the breather filter because the cap decided to fall off the chrome one.

I suspect the head gasket blew because my head bolts turned out to be rusty and weakened... one of the front bolts was even a bit bent. Lucky I didn't snap any of the bolts! I replaced the bolts, had a couple of good head bolt sets in my closet.

Some photos and vids:

Old fan to the left, new to the right.

Head gasket blown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMREocegg0M
Head gasket replaced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwcv4HVs7Z4
Drive before & after replacing head gasket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djL3FPXMaQU
Taking a drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xql-N6gAJQ