Banjo

Hi Bayley, If your car has a "ballast" resistor attached next to the ignition coil, short it out with a piece of wire, from one terminal to the other. Try starting your car again. If it runs this time, when you let the key spring back, then your ballast resistor has burnt out, or gone open circuit, & will need replacing. If that fixes it, it is an easy fix. If it doesn't fix it, then give us a yell, & we'll try something else. Do not run this for anymore than a few seconds, as this technique may try to keep the starter motor turning, depending on how the wiring is currently connected. Cheers Banjo

Hi Aaron, When an engine is that olde, all sorts of mods or refurbs could have been carried out in the intervening years, with dished pistons, & maybe a flat head being fitted. However, if the engine is original, it could be a 4KU engine, which did have dished pistons as standard, & produced a bit more HP, than the more common 4KC engine. 4K-C 43 kW, 4K-U 55 kW. The 4KU is not commonly found now, so if you have got an original 4KU engine, hold onto it. I've run one in my KE30 for years now, & it has been a great engine. You can check out the difference of all the 4K engines at this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_K_engine#4K Cheers Banjo

Hi James, Are you advising the car runs great, when on the road, but just won't idle ? Did you put the spacer back in, between the mechanical pump flange & the block of the engine ? Did you replace the in-line fuel filter ? Have you disconnected the inlet pipe at the front of the carby, & then cranked/turned the engine over, & ensure fuel is coming out ? If there is plenty of fuel at this point, then the issue will most likely be in the carby. If there is no fuel delivery, or it is very poor, then the fault will be somewhere between the tank & the carby. First thing to do is narrow the possibilities down, & determine which part of the system, is at fault. Common faults are . . . . fuel line sucking air in, between tank & filter/pump. Carby inlet fine filter blocked. Idle circuit in the carby needs cleaning. Lets know what you find. Cheers Banjo

Well I finally found an in-tank EFI fuel pump, that is "slim enough", to fit down through the hole in the top of the KE fuel tank. The hole opening in the tank is 45mm; & the pump I received today, is just 38mm in dia. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/38mm-Fuel-Pump-for-Toyota-Rav4-Corolla-Camry-Echo-Hilux-Prado-Subaru-Impreza/332581529188 What's more, it used on several late model Toyota vehicles, like the Echo & Corolla. All I have to do is now plumb it all up ! It comes with all the fittings & filters etc, so is good value. Cheers Banjo

Had not come across this video previously, but spotted it, last night; strangely, when researching/Googling, fitting Toyota East West engines into rear wheel drive cars. ( perversely, this is exactly the opposite) ie: Fitting a rear wheel drive engine, into a front wheel drive car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4xmry2sn8M It is absolutely amazing what can be done, when "lack of money", is not a factor. It's like Project Binky on "Super Steroids". Wouldn't we all like to have a workshop like that ? Even their "lounge room", with the wall mounted body art, blew me away. Enjoy ! Cheers Banjo P.S. Perversely: "in a manner contrary to what is expected or accepted".

Noticed that Project Binky episode 31 is now out. Thought, WOW ! We are finally going to get to see the engine installed & fired up. In true Binky style, we still haven't got the Celica motor into the Mini yet. Looking at the size of it, with turbo & everything, I can't really see how it is all going to fit under the bonnet. Maybe they are going to fire it up in the Christmas episode, to provide us with a present ? ( I didn't suggest what year ) Cheers Banjo

I made a little stand up for the tank, last night, so the tank sits vertically, whilst I do the linearising procedure, for the fuel guage sender. It can then sit it near the "test engine" on its stand, whilst I play with the EFI setup, before mounting the tank in the KE30. I want to put a submergible hi pressure EFI pump inside the tank, but haven't chosen one as yet. My criteria are, that it must . . . . Be a commonly available unit. Be very reliable. Be quiet. Fit through the existing 45mm dia. hole in the top of the tank. (don't really want to open the tank up, if at all possible) Have a "sock" type inlet filter, attached to the bottom of the pump. Something like this . . . . Any suggestions, or recommendations of pumps you've used successfully, in similar situations ? Cheers Banjo

I've rarely come across a fuel guage & sender unit, that are highly accurate & linear, over the whole range. I've given up on them, although there are possible ways of linearising them. The European standard for these fuel tank sender units is . . . 0 ohms when empty to 190 ohms when full The American standard for these fuel tank sender units is . . . 240 ohms when empty to 30 ohms when full (they just had to be different & reverse the range) There are a few people on the internet complaining their guages are now indicating backwards, because they swapped sender units, & weren't aware of the complete difference. Even the American standard is not adhered to by all the American motor manufacturers. I found this list on a fuel tank repair company's website. Ford up to 1986 - 73-10 Ohms Ford 1987 & up - 16-158 Ohms GM up to 1964 - 0-30 Ohms GM 1965-1997 - 0-90 Ohms GM 1998 & up - 40-250 Ohms Mopar up to 1986 - 73-10 Ohms AMC 1950-1977 - 73-10 Ohms Autometer -240-33 Ohms is the most common however other ohm ranges are made Classic Instruments - 240-33 Ohms (excluding vehicle specific gauge kits which use factory ohm range) Dolphin - 0-90 Ohms Dakota Digital - Programmable to work with most Ohm range senders VDO - 10-180 Ohms I did find a company in the USA called Speedway Motors, that makes a little interface module that will match any guage, to any standard sender, & even reverse the guage's movement, if necessary. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Fuel-Level-Gauge-Sending-Unit-Interface-Module,66534.html The beauty of this sender I have depicted above, is that it has no moving parts, in contact with the fuel. The switches inside the enclosed & sealed S.S. tube appear to be fairly evenly spaced. However, that still does not result in a linear guage movement, as the tank's horizontal cross sectional area can change, depending on the shape of the tank. Now I found a Toyota Celica sender unit, some time back, that was almost the same design as the KE series sender units. It measured about 200 ohms approximately at one end, so I installed it, in another tank previously, & it didn't work too badly. Because this new "vertical" one I purchased, was about the same resistance as the Toyota one, I actually connected it up, to see how it read. It worked pretty good, but was in reverse. To use it, I would have had to cut the hole & mounting point in the "bottom" of the tank, and mount the sender upside down, for it to read correctly. That wasn't going to happen. The linearising process is slow process, pouring small measured units of water into the tank, but it should work well. Will show you the results, when I have completed it, in the next day of so. Although, I have decided to use a LED bargraph display, it should be possible to control the current to the original thermal operated meter movement, to linearise its response. P.S. If you have a fuel guage that won't get to full, there is a quick way, you can partially fix this. The fuel & temp guages in the KE series, do not operate on 12volts. They are supplied by either 7 - 8 Vdc from a little regulator, (on the rear of the dash console), that keeps the guages steady, irrespective of the cars 12V voltage system, which can vary over 11-14 Vdc nominally. However if your guage can't get to full, when the tank is full, you may be able to get it to read higher, by feeding the guages from 12 volts, rather than the regulators 7-8Vdc. I did this once for about a year, in one Rolla, & it worked quite well. Cheers Banjo

On the weekend, I tried the electrolysis technique; not on the tank interior, but on a very olde sickle, my wife picked up in a bunch of olde farm stuff, years ago. It was very hard crusted rust, probably 50-60 years old at least. I only stuck half of it in the water bath with some cheap washing soda added, (to make the liquid susceptible to electrical current flowing through it), so you can easily see the before & after results. The pics below indicate it works well, so the technique should not have any issues removing the "light" rust on the inside of my KE30 fuel tank. Haven't made up my mind whether to have the tank interior sealed professionally, or do it myself, with one of the proprietary products available for that purpose. Open to any suggestions or recommendations, regarding the sealing of the tanks inner surfaces. Cheers Banjo

This one is not a K Series motor, but bears out Altezzaclub's reference to "big balls". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj4yymmPCkU Just look at some of the comments below the video on Utube. I was going to add to the comments "Thailands answer to James Bond" Some are priceless Cheers Banjo

Some very innovative mods on these K Series motors. No water pump, COP tied to a bar with zip-ties. Very proud of their mods, & very classy finished goods. Well if you are ready for a laugh. There are those that fit car motors to water craft; then, there are those really crazy people that fit boat motors to cars ! I rest my case ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7MTKbBBCyc Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, It would be great if we could source a smaller CAS module. Let's see what we can find out there. Please have a look at this technical video from the Haltech guys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh4hxnfMfGA It discusses a problem, I have been experimenting with, by using the larger number of teeth on the flywheel ring gear, rather than a small toothed wheel attached to the crankshaft pulley. The problem they are trying to overcome, is the "flex" in toothed rubber timing belts, at high revolutions. The K series engines are to some extent free from this problem, as we have a chain & sprocket driving the camshaft. However, as we all know, you can get "slop" in the chain when they are old & stretch, or the oil pressure driven tensioner, doesn't perform as well, as it used to. There is however, a way to overcome it, by adding a second single pulse from the crankshaft, that produces two pulses per engine cycle, (in our 4 cylinder engines) & "AND" those 2 pulses with a "covering" pulse from the camshaft "Home" pulse, which results in a single "home" pulse per cycle, sychronised to the crankshaft, & not the camshaft. In that way any slight flex or slop, in the camshaft home signal is irrelevant, in terms of timing accuracy. All that is needed is for the camshaft pulse to be slightly longer, & overlap the crankshaft synch pulse. However, if you go waste spark, you can time everything off the crankshaft, if necessary, & not need any camshaft sensor at all. I know it sounds a bit complicated, but it really isn't that hard. I've tested it extensively, & am now just getting the pulse width & overlap fine tuned mechanically, so there is no need to actually adjust anything. The result is a very reliable & accurate synch or home reference signal. Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, The dizzy you purchased off ebay, is the best dizzy, for a Standard Rolla engine. It is not an olde "points type". It is an electronic type, with a reluctance sensor. It would be an absolute shame to hack it up. Someone on here, will certainly take it off your hands. It certainly would be neat to turn up a complete housing for a off-the-shelf CAS, with lid to suit. Bear in mind that the cases for the dizzies are of a cast aluminium/dicast construction. There is a bush/bearing pressed into the shaft extension, at the bottom. The base of the case is not very thick, as you will see, when you receive yours. They all have a little hole in the bottom, to drain away any engine oil, that makes it's way up into the body via the shaft. You can guage the depth of the base, by looking at this hole/s. (some have two holes) I would cut it off, just up the side wall a little, & then turn a body to suit, that could step out, like the Bosch dizzy body, to accommodate the larger diameter CAS. It might be an interesting exercise to find an existing CAS, with the smallest overall diameter. You could then use the smaller Denso dizzy body. I've got plenty of those you could have for free. Maybe someone reading this, has already discovered a CAS module with O.D. < 60mm, that could fit inside a Denso dizzy case ? Cheers Banjo.

Hi Stuart, I got that fuel level sensor off ebay. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/350mm-Marine-Water-Fuel-Sending-Unit-Boat-Truck-RV-Tank-Level-Sensor-0-190ohms/162421618044?epid=12013137635&hash=item25d115357c:g:f4oAAOSwi8VZTNBN Think I got it for about AUD 52.00 from China. Only took about 10 days. Well made, in stainless steel, & comes complete with rubber flange gasket & 5mm screws. The listings on ebay, depict them being available in a number of different lengths. Cheers Banjo

What sort of fuel sender did you install, in your tank, Si ? I've just about had those olde rheostat type ones. They are crude, wear away the resistance wire, until you get shorted turns. They are not very linear. Either the fuel guage creaps down from the top, & races when it gets near the bottom, or visa versa. I got hold of a vertical float type, where theoretically, nothing can go wrong, unless the float wears a hole in itself & sinks. (highly unlikely) It is 350mm long, & fits perfectly, in the Rolla vertical tank, such that the bottom of the shaft, is proud of the bottom of the tank. by about 3mm, with a 10mm spacer mounting block at the top. I can feed the signal into a micro, & linearize the output, by filling up the tank from empty with water initially; bit by bit, with a measured amount, & then work out the % capacity of the tank for each switched output of the float. I'll then switch a LED barograph, so that every bar has exactly the same "tank capacity %" between them. My kids Toyota Echo has a barograph fuel guage, with just 8 bars. This sensor has 14 off switched outputs, so I can have a fuel guage with 14 off LED bars. That should be plenty. Each bar would represent somewhere between 2.0 - 2.5 litres. I've tapped to tank all over, & the bottom is showing no signs of being any thinner that the top of the tank. P.S. Si, after you cleaned your tank, did you coat the inside bare metal, with any proprietary product, for that purpose ? Cheers Keith

Hi Geoff, I dragged out a few bits & pieces, so you can clearly tell whether the ebay dizzy you have purchased, is an equivalent to the small Denso one, or the larger Bosch one. The dizzy on the LHS is the Bosch one, with a CAS module inside. The middle housing is the Bosch one, without the CAS fitted. The far RHS housing is the smaller Denso one The bottom S.S. disk is suitable for the CAS module on the far LHS. The inside diameter dimension of the Bosch casing is 75 mm. The inside diameter dimension of the Denso casing is 60 mm. The outside diameter of the CAS module is 65 mm. The outside diameter of the S.S. slotted disk, is 50mm. This picture directly above indicates that the disk itself will fit inside the smaller 60mm I/S Denso casing. However, the CAS module O/S diameter dimension is 65mm, so you definitely need the larger Bosch dizzy housing. Hope this assists. Cheers Banjo

Hi Francisco, Simple enough to check if it is excessive advance after warm up, that is causing your starting issue. Next time it won't restart, just jump out & clamp the vacuum hose with a little "G" clamp, or something similar, & see if it makes any change to the restarting behaviour. Cheers Banjo

I'm just preparing for when I put my 5K EFI engine into the KE30, & want to have the "fuel system" all ready to go, once the engine is dropped in. Luckily, I have a spare fuel tank, that came out of my KE55, when it went to "Rolla Heaven". I'm preparing the tank, to have an in-tank high pressure pump, & a totally different fuel level sensor system, (hence additional opening at the other end of the tank top). The tank has been empty for several years, & has light rust on the inside of the tank, as seen in the photo above, through the filler opening. Here is another photo taken through the top opening. I've never had the need to clean the rust off the inside of a fuel tank, previously, so Googled it, & found there are numerous "acidic" ways of cleaning, involving various acids, & home made mixtures. However, there are descriptions of using an "electrolysis method", using the tank itself as the "cathode", & an anode of scrap ferrous metal suspended in a electrolytic solution, made up of water & bi-carbonate of soda. Just wondering, if any of you have cleaned rust out of your tank before, & have a proven method, you employed, or would recommend. Cheers Banjo

Hi Francisco, As you are still using the stock standard dizzy, with vacuum & centrifugal advance; where have you plumbed in the vacuum advance tubing, into your 4 x Bike carb induction setup ? Could that be effecting the initial advance at start up, after the engine has already warmed up / Cheers Banjo

Hummm ! I really don't think that it is the starter motor. To eliminate the starter motor as a culprit, or anything electrical in between, you could simply run a reasonably heavy wire, directly to the starter motor solenoid connection, & connect this to a heavy duty starter button or momentary switch, in the cabin, with the button fed from another wire directly to the battery positive, via an in-line fuse. Then just put the ignition switch in the run position, & push the button to start the engine. If the problem goes away, then the issue is in the ignition switch or starter relay. If it is still there, it may well be, as you have just described; an excess advance, after restarting the engine when it is up to temperature. What sort of ignition system, is currently controlling the engine ? P.S. Might be time for a new battery. 2-3 years is a pretty common life expectancy out of a new battery these days. 5 years, you are getting close to terminal. Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, That is a good price, but that particular part is the equivalent of the Denso 3K/4K dizzy, & will definitely not fit any of the optical CAS modules. The stainless steel disks, all these CAS modules use, are all about the same diameter approximately. Been there, done that ! You will definitely need a Bosch dizzy housing. Even with the Bosch dizzy, you need to cut a bit out of the wall, to get the connection to the module. I'll see if I can grab a S.S. disk & a 3K Denso dizzy body, out of the shed, later today, & take a picture for you. The only electronic module that is made specifically for the Denso dizzy, is the Accuspark module, but it is not a CAS; just a set of electronic "points". Cheers Banjo

Wow ! A heatshield might well assist. There are a couple of tight bends there, that would not lend the extractors to be too free flowing, I would think. Have you ever run it hard at night, then quickly pulled up, on a dark road, & lifted the bonnet, to see if there are any "red spots" visible on those extractor pipes ? I've never placed a temperature probe on a starter motor, to see how hot the body gets. If you can get hold of a cheap hand held electronic temperature guage, with a remote sensor on a lead, it might be well worth the effort. If you do place a heat shield there, it could provide you with before & after readings, to see how effective it is. Cheers Banjo

Had not come across that particular "pinching" type before. Brilliant ! Pete, at $ 229.00 per pair that is cheap, when compared to the Bahco ones, which are about 2.5 X that price. Came across a video, demo'ing their use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqpQZaXQ9YQ I think this guy is trying to raise some money, or solicit donations, so he can put some "topping on his garage floor ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, I'm almost certain that TAZ used the Bosch dizzy housing, looking at his picture. None of those Tridon CAS modules would fit in the 3K/4K Denso dizzies, which were much smaller. The CAS used was from a Nissan SR20 4 cylinder engine, which was very popular. The CAS gives you one or two signals, depending on the type of disk used. Some of the disks have many evenly spaced slots circled around the edge, plus a second single inner slot. The inner single slot tells the ECU where the crankshaft is in its 720 deg rotation. The outer slots are then counted from that point onwards, to time everything. There are some disks with only one circle of slots, but usually has 2 or 3 missing slots. The ECU detects the ",missing slots", & uses this as the reference point on the crankshaft. Most ECUs start counting from this point, & usually add the 2 or 3 missing slots to the count, to work out where the crankshaft is. You wouldn't need the "fuel pump" signal, as that information, is provided by the "missing teeth", or the single inner slot. If you are doing a machining course, it should be easy to fabricate a simple extension to the bottom end of the Bosch dizzy, to mount the stainless steel disk. P.S. If you purchase a SR20 CAS, it will probably not come with the plug for the external wiring. You'll have to source these on-line some where. eBay has a good selection. Send us a link to show which dizzy you purchased from ebay. Need to make sure it is the right one, before you go cutting it up. Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, Another option for you, would be to purchase a Tridon Crankshaft Position Sensor replacement module, & fit it to the Bosch dizzy housing, that were fitted to 4K engines. Tridon make a large range. SuperCheap Auto can order them in for you. Once you have the internal dimensions, of the gutted Bosch dizzy housing, you could then go through the Tridon options, based on size, to narrow it down. Typical Module Configuration You might like to look through this thread, which has taken a slightly different direction, to obtaining that perfect stable crankshaft positioning signal. https://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/74084-distributorless-5k-engine/#comments TAZ (Si) produced a Dizzy with a loverly spun aluminium cover a few years back, that I believe he might have fitted a Nissan CAS therein. Drop him a PM, & find out what he used. Cheers Banjo