Tham
-
Posts
97 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Posts posted by Tham
-
-
Thanks for the information.
I will probably get a normal low-speed one then.
The present starter has an occasional grinding sound for one or two seconds at the moment of start. They say this is due to the pinion gear sticking for a moment before retracting, due to age.
The electronic distributor used on these 4G13s has the ignition coil built in. Seems there is no ballast resistor. Not cheap too. The original one, made locally, costs M$450.
That's why older cars like the rear wheel drive KE70 are the cheapest and easiest to maintain.
-
Hello to all the good people here,
I last posted in this forum way back in 2013, from my records.
I was driving a KE70 from 1994 until 2010, after which I drove a Proton Saga, until now. This has the Mitsubishi 4G13, 1300 cc engine, overhead cam.
I still come back here because the people here are very knowledgeable and helpful.
My stock starter is still usable, though getting old, and I was thinking of keeping a spare.
These days, they have standard or normal starters, and "high speed" starters.
(I am not sure, but I think these high speed starters are also called "planetary gear reduction" starters.)
I am not sure which type the car came fitted with.
The standard type is usually rated at 600 watts.
The high speed types are usually rated at 1,200 watts.
Would that mean that, as the battery gets a little weaker with age, it might have trouble cranking these high speed starters ?
-
The timing has been retarded as low as I can.
It's not the timing, as mentioned. It's the hopeless petrol.
Lots of people having the same complaints as I am - dieseling after
switching off, knocking, etc., as I have explained.
It's definitely worse than the 92 octane petrol which was preceding it.
The yellowishness is from the manganese, I believe. If I had used full
strength, it would have turned reddish-orange.
What other better compounds do they have in octane boosters ?
-
Are those ''octane booster'' fuel additives safe to use ?
Do the manganese deposits from the MMT in them gum up the carburettor
and foul the plugs, as described here ?
http://users.imag.net/~lon.trea/TREATalk/Article04.htm
Sure enough, on taking out the plugs, the insulator tips have turned yellowish.
And I am adding in only half of that suggested on the bottle, or just half a bottle
every 60 liters.
The petrol in Malaysia is currently of questionable quality. Quoted as 95 octane,
but performance is sluggish, engine knocks easliy, and tends to run on after
switching off.
My mechanic agrees, saying that this current petrol is actually of worse quality
than the previous generation 92 octane, and seems to be more like 88 octane.
Maybe they have mixed in kerosene or something at the refinery.
-
Thanks for the good info.
I didn't realize that corrosion inhibitors wears out
rubber seals.
I've added just 500 ml of "Enoch" (a United Arab
Emirates brand) green coolant, which is 30%
ethylene glycol, to only the expansion tank,
none to the radiator, which has distilled water.
This works out just about 10% coolant : 90% water,
but maybe even this is too much.
I better drain it out and switch over to pure distilled
water before using any wetting agent.
-
Might anyone have some feedback on one of
these cooling system wetting additives ?
I'm hoping to help the radiator cool down more efficiently to
reduce the operating time of the thermostatically switched
electric fan, thereby improving its lifespan.
http://www.designengineering.com/category/catalog/thermal-chemicals/radiator-relief-16oz
http://justicebrothers.com/pages/products/products_carcare_radiator_additives.htm
I was thinking of adding Redline's "Water Wetter",
Justice Brother's "Radiator Cooler" or DEI's
"Radiator Relief", until I read in the links below
that wetting agents might soften gaskets and
water pump seals, leading to leaks or pump failure.
One guy mentions in the first link that he used to run
Dexcool with Water Wetter, until his pump went
out at 17,000 miles.
http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7116603
-
Thanks for the good info, Robert. Will keep them in mind.
Some of the cheap locally packed coolants in Malaysia are
selling in the supermarkets at M$ 5 (A$ 1.80) a can of
300 to 500 mls !
I will probably order Nulon's coolant here later.
http://www.nulon.com.au/products/Long_Life...trated_Coolant/
Could you elaborate on this further ? Thanks.
Nothing brings out coolant leaks quite like replacingrusty water with proper coolant too - I'd be prepared
to encounter a few and fix them.
Robert.
-
Thanks for the good information.
I agree that it is a law of diminishing returns if one uses
the expansion tank to replace the water, and it would take
countless refills to do that, and even then that would not
really replace all the old water. The drain plug or bottom
outlet hose still has to be used.
Yes, I guess the solvent contamination from the copper,
aluminium and cast iron would nullify the distilled water's
purity after days of constant circulation in the cooling system.
I'll just leave the water and coolant in the newer car as it is.
I'll probably replace the coolant a bit later.
The red Toyota "Long Life Coolant" is quite popular here, though
a little expensive. However, this has organic rust inhibitors, which
I've read is more for aluminium radiators and may be corrosive to
the lead solder used in copper radiators. This car still has a copper
radiator, rather than the aluminium types in most newer cars.
-
I finally sold off my beloved Corolla KE70 a couple
of weeks ago after 14 years of ownership, and have
borrowed my elder brother's 1997 Proton Saga to use
in the meantime.
It has the 1,298 cc Mitsubishi 4G13 SOHC engine. Pretty
much underpowered with heavy fuel consumption.
I'm thinking of replacing the water in the cooling system
with distilled water, since this tends to cause lesser scaling
and rust.
If possible, I would not want to unscrew the radiator's bottom
drain plug, nor pull out the bottom hose, to avoid possible
leaks later on.
Could it be done via several times via the expansion or
overflow plastic tank, which holds about one liter, with the
expansion/contraction over a few days of running exchanging
the water ?
The other option might be to suck out some coolant from the
top of the radiator, replace it with distilled water, run the engine
a bit, then repeat. That would be very tedious though, since
only about 300 ml or 10 fluid ounces could be replaced each
time !
Thanks to the good people here who have helped me maintain
the old faithful with much good information over the years.
-
In Malaysia, the popular modification by the mechanics here
to replace the Aisan is the stock Hitachi (I think DCH 340) as
used on the Datsun 120Y's A12 and Nissan Sunny 130Y's
E13 engines.
The KE70's Aisan is unpopular here as an unreliable and
uneconomical carburettor.
The Hitachi gives much improved economy and reliablity
at the expense of some power loss.
The Hitachi does have a reputation for some occasional
overflow problems, but a Sunny owner told me there is some
kind of finger-operated release valve inside the throat for that.
Nikkis are also prone to flooding, particularly that on the
Datsun 180K of the 1980s. I believe Nikki is a subsidiary of
Hitachi, as can be seen from some design similarities.
-
In Malaysia, the popular modification by the mechanics here is
to replace the Aisan is the stock Hitachi (I think DCH 340) as
used on the Datsun 120Y's A12 and Nissan Sunny 130Y's
E13 engines.
The KE70's Aisan is unpopular here as an unreliable and
uneconomical carburettor.
The Hitachi gives much improved economy and reliablity
at the expense of some power loss.
The Hitachi does have a reputation for some occasional
overflow problems, but a Sunny owner told me there is some
kind of finger-operated release valve inside the throat for that.
Nikkis are also prone to flooding, particularly that on the
Datsun 180K of the 1980s. I believe Nikki is a subsidiary of
Hitachi, as can be seen from some design similarities.
-
I've noted that since I switched over to an electronic ignition system
on my KE70's 4K, the engine runs much hotter than usual, presumably
due to a higher coil output voltage and hotter spark.
I had bought the distributor module with built-in ignitor, plus a
resistorless coil, from a salvage yard some time ago. I think it
was a stock unit on the 5K engine or the Starlet's 4K-E.
The coil does not use any external ballast resistor. I wonder if adding
back a ballast resistor in series to the coil's positive terminal, as with
a normal external resistor-type coil, might reduce the secondary
output voltage, a somewhat weaker spark, and thus help the engine
to run cooler.
-
Thank you for the info and advice, everyone. I've just bought
a gasket and see how it goes.
Those of you who still had leaks after replacing the gasket, is there
perhaps some nut tightening sequence which has to be followed,
like that for the cylinder head ?
The other type is an additive which softens the rubber in "hard" seals -ie low km but very old.
If the seal is worn out, it obviously won't fix the problem. This type of
additive will not do anything bad to your engine.
Robert.
I had thought that these products contained some kind of sealing
compound, which collected in and automatically helped to seal any
cracks or crannies in the engine block and gaskets, much like those
radiator seal products ?
-
My 4K's oil sump gasket is leaking moderately. It's
been leaking for years, mostly at the rear, but now
seems to have gone a bit worse.
I can see the left gasket corner and sides of the sump
wet with oil, The steering shaft area and the bottom rear
towards the gearbox and clutch cable area are aslo oily,
mostly from the fan blowing oil droplets rearwards, I guess.
The mechanic quoted me M$120 labour charges alone for
a gastket replacement,
I was wondering if dropping a bottle of one of those
"engine oil stop leak" additives, such as this, might
help ,or at least be a stop gap measure ?
http://www.abro.com/abro_product_view.php?...id=57&grp=0
I'm afraid that the sealing compound might get into
the wrong nooks and crannies and plug them up, or
clog up the oil filter and strainer, such as might happen
with a radiator stop-leak product clogging up water channels.
Are these products compatitible with standard viscosity
improver additives, such as this ?
http://www.abro.com/abro_product_view.php?...d=260&grp=0
Thanks very much.
-
There are two breather hoses that I would like
to find and keep as spares for my 4K. Can't seem
to find them on online auto parts stores.
Not exactly easy to find them in auto parts shops in
Malaysia or wreckers too, parts for a 30-year old car
getting really rare.
1. The PCV hose
2. The short L-shaped breather hose from the engine cover
top to the air filter. Located just in front of the PVC valve
but behind the oil filler cap.
One could cut some standard fuel/oil hoses and bend
them, but not really ideal.
The PCV hose had been replaced last year by the mechanic
last year or so, and he was lucky to find one made by a local
manufacturer, but I think that has been discontinued.
The original one had hardened like plastic !
These breather hoses don't exactly last long, with all the
oil, blowby and heat they have to face daily.
-
Do those of you who own the KE70 with the 4K engine,
find that the PCV valve tends to be a source of trouble,
particularly in an aging engine with loose rings/valve seals
and burning quite a bit of oil ?
Moreover, the 4K, even when new, tends to have quite a
lot of blowby.
My engine suddenly started to idle a bit rough today, and
I suspected the PCV valve was clogging up again. This had
happened on quite a few occasions before, with the mechanic
scratching his head after checking the plugs, distributor,
carburettor, fuel pump, once even suspecing a burnt valve
on the 3rd cylinder, before finally unplugging the PCV, plugged
its inlet with his thumb, causing the engine to idle normally again.
So I pulled out the valve from its grommet in the head cover,
sprayed some Philips contact cleaner, followed by silicon spray
into its inlet, shook it a few times, and plugged it back in.
Initially it didn't appear to work, but I guess the sprays took some
time to loosen the spring-activated valve inside, and finally it
idled normally again after some time.
-
-
I was wondering why you didn't get one with a built-in ignitor ?
That would have solved your problem, leaving only the coil.
Can you take it back and exchange it for one ?
-
Starlets of that era, particularly those with 4-KE engines,
such as the models in the US, have electronic distributors,
but these had the ignitor built in. I believe these are identical
to those fitted to 5Ks.
I have fitted one to my 4K.
I'm not sure if they had models with external ignitors for these cars.
The wrecker yard in Malaysia where I got it from also had ones
with external ignitors, but the owner told me he was reluctant
to sell me those because their electronic coils which they were
mounted on were hard to replace if they failed. Probably
different impedance.
Mine came with a Hanshin coil.
I forgot to buy a spare coil from him at that time which would
have cost just M$10. He no longer stocks them, and the last
time I passed by, he had moved his yard.
He said the coils for those built-in ignitors were more readily
available. I think any of those resistorless Hanshin electonic coils
or the Hitachi C1Z-500, which I can get in the spare parts shops here,
are usable. Costs around M$50 for new one.
-
Not sure of the supplies over there, but the current batch of
Bosch spark plugs imported into Malaysia are made in China
and pretty inferior quality.
I had just installed these plugs (W8DC) into my engine when I
received feedback from two sources, one a parts dealer who
heard it from a mechanic whom they suppled to regularly, the
other my usual auto airconditioner man, that the plugs broke apart
and left the lower threaded portion in their holes in the
cylinder head, when trying to replace them for customers.
In both cases, the plugs were Bosch, from China.
This was disastrous and necessitated the removal of the
cylinder head.
They also said the Chinese plugs had weaker sparks.
On hearing this, I looked at the packing which my plugs
came in, and saw the tiny words "Made In PRC" printed at
the bottom. Their China source was confirmed when I could
no longer find any "Made In Germany" etched in the middle
of the plug, as with the older German batches.
I quickly replaced them with local NGK ones.
-
An update on the OEM part number for the switch unit,
as informed by John of the Chinese manufacturer, Youngbooauto.com.
84310-12300 - RHD
84310-12333 - LHD
-
Can't remember where I downloaded this from, either
the Toymods forum or even this forum itself.
Here's the entire KE70 wiring. A bit blurry though, due
to the age of the hard copy, I believe. It's a universal diagram.
If you're right-hand drive, there's another batch of fuses
at the bottom panel, just to your right underneath the
dashboard and in front of your door.
I remember hearing from one wireman that this batch is
prone to shorts if water leaks in.
-
Name : Tham Wai Keong
Car : 1981 KE70, stock 4K ("DX" model)
Colour : Medium Blue (All kinda shades of blue, really,
especially can-sprayed ones !)
Number Plate : BBM 1981
Location : Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur
Owned Since : Mid-1994, second owner
Mobile : +6014-229 1339
-
Well, the wireman managed to install a separate switch
for the headlights.
There was a lack of space on the dashboard and the switch
was somewhat long and bulky, so he mounted it on the bottom
panel just to the right of the steering and below it.
He used one of those antique pull-pull switches. First pull
parking lights, second pull headlights, pretty long pulls, so
the knob extends about 3 inches fully.
I feel like I'm driving my late mum's 1950s vintage Austin of England !
High Speed Starter - Heavy on battery ?
in Car Electrical
Posted
Thanks again for the information and help.