Need to ease up oh the Weeties mate ;)

I think a lot of these rear main seals are more to do with the groove worn in the crankshaft rather than any sealing aound the outside edge on the block. So replacing the seal does almost nothing as a faintly worn seal stops sealing.

 

The 345K is suffering he same problem, and I think it might be blowby that is exacerbating it, a hone that doesn't match the chrome rings well. I know the crank had a groove worn in it...

 

What was the blue goo called for measuring piston/head clearance? That looks a great idea.

Looks like plasticine to me!

What was the blue goo called for measuring piston/head clearance? That looks a great idea.

 

snot35's on the money, just regular plasticine from a toy shop. WD40 srayed over it & the cylinder head stops it sticking, but it still makes a little mess.

 

Finally back where it belongs. Still have to connect everything other than engine mounts, but looking good for some fun this weekend.

 

It runs, it idles, carb-synch is good, air/fuels are good, timing is good & there are no leaks. Oil pressure's good, fuel pressure's good, my hearts BPM, not so much.

 

Oh how I've missed this sound.

 

 

Wanting to load the engine, my current passengers are an engine block, two gearboxes, a set of wheels/tyres & my toolbox. Haven't seen any smoke from anywhere yet, hopefully I'm getting it right this time. :)

Edited February 6, 201511 yr by carbonboy

Do a skid?

Do a skid?

 

I may have accidentally broken traction.....

 

Without being on a dyno yet & just going by the seat of the pants, mid-range torque is awesome. I'm being nice to the bearings & staying away from the top-end for a while, but all feels good. Especially after I pulled 5° of timing advance out of the ignition curve, did the carb-synch over again & reset the idle speed.

*** WARNING - BLATANT PLUG ***

 

 

 

(So...three guesses where I work...)

 

Have made it through the week of daily-duties with no major drama. Except for an annoying squealing noise around idle, like an E-series Falcon belt-squeal. Thought it was my drivebelt, removed drivebelt, ran engine, still there. Tried using a piece of tube & my ear to pinpoint the source, couldn't find it.

 

Then I removed the breather hose from the cam-cover. The noise stopped. My thoughts are that it's air being sucked in somewhere as that breather hose is connected to my intake manifold & under vacuum. I don't want to just open it up to atmosphere as that is also tied into my MAP sensor. Also my brake booster now that I think about it.... :hmm:

 

Going to use the weekend to suss this out.

Edited February 6, 201511 yr by carbonboy

Managed to suss out what the noise is, it's air being sucked into my engine. Removing the breather hose from the cam cover & blocking the end with my finger created a strong vacuum & the noise was gone. So, not the hoses/fittings.

 

Reconnected the hose to the cam cover, the noise comes back. Using a short tube to my ear, I've traced the sound to the dipstick tube/front main seal & at a guess, the rear main seal as well. Given that the noise only occurs at certain vacuum levels, it's the only conclusion I have.

 

 

 

Saving up some spare coin for some dyno-time, my butt-dyno says this version has more in it. Need to play with the idle mixtures as well.

Got the PCV valve in that line?? Working like it should?

 

Its meant to shut off at high vacuums so the crankcase doesn't get sucked dry... The blowby then goes into the airbox via the 2nd tube, and only when the manifold vac drops does the spring inside the PCV push the piston off its seat and let gases get sucked into the inlet manifold..

Got the PCV valve in that line?? Working like it should?

 

Its meant to shut off at high vacuums so the crankcase doesn't get sucked dry... The blowby then goes into the airbox via the 2nd tube, and only when the manifold vac drops does the spring inside the PCV push the piston off its seat and let gases get sucked into the inlet manifold..

 

From memory, the EFI setup doesn't have one, just an S-shaped hose that runs from the cam-cover to the plenum. Will double-check that after work tonight. Thinking that installing one might just be a good idea.

 

By second tube...I'm guessing you're referring to a K-motor setup?

Edited February 17, 201511 yr by carbonboy

True, I'd need to go and look at a 4AGE to check how they do it, but it must be the same idea.

 

The PCV valve controls the blowby getting sucked out of the motor and burnt, and when it is sucking there must be another way to air to get in to replace it.

 

The Altezza's 3SGE has the PCV heading off from the tappet cover to the inlet manifold on one cam box and the clean air going in the other. You can see the two hoses running beside one another in this photo.

I just double-checked, there is no PCV valve on a 4A-GE Bigport or the Smallport that's here as well. It's just the S-shaped hose, no valves. But what you're saying makes sense, at the moment the air is being sucked into my engine via the oil seals/dipstick. I need to find a way to let more air in to stop the squealing, but not so much that I lose the ability to use the MAP sensor that is tied into this same vacuum hose setup. I did connect my charcoal canister purge line to it (so fuel vapour get burnt as well as oil vapour) but that barely seemed to help at all.

 

In that photo, is the smaller diameter hose the one that carries the oil vapour to the intake & the larger one the fresh air return?

Nope, other way around. But the larger hose has a cover on it so its not as big as it looks.

 

That's the one with the PCV valve in it, so under low inlet vacuum vapour flows through it into the intake, and are replaced by fresh air coming in the long hose.

 

It shuts off at high inlet vacuum and the longer line takes the vapurs to the air cleaner box, where they make the MAF sensor all oily!

 

I suppose you don't need the double line and the PCV valve, so long as your crankcase vents into the air cleaner box to keep the RTA happy . Blowby will get burnt up and so long as the rings are in good condition the crankcase shouldn't over-pressurise and blow oil out the seals.

I still think you're onto something with a PCV valve of some description incorporated into my setup.

 

Umm...air-cleaner box...I'll get around to making one one day... :wink:

 

I suppose you don't need the double line and the PCV valve, so long as your crankcase vents into the air cleaner box to keep the RTA happy . Blowby will get burnt up and so long as the rings are in good condition the crankcase shouldn't over-pressurise and blow oil out the seals.

 

I like to think I'm keeping the environmentals happy. The vapour from the crankcase goes from the cam-cover to a catch-can, then directly to the intake runners themselves. I used to run it to the carburetor trumpets, but had issues with the oil destroying air filters & gunking up the carbs. That & it never seemed to vent all that well. I had the opposite problem of what I do now, with oil being forced out of all the things.

 

Then again, that was Version 1.0 with semi-glazed bores at that stage.....Urgh.

Edited February 17, 201511 yr by carbonboy