For the love of a tractor engine: The life and times of the 18R-G

[lilcrash]

But then your car would be full of aides and gayness.

Just because your injectors have power it doesn't mean that they work.

[river]

Hi,

Yeah please keep the 1g engine out of this thread. This thread is for a proper engine.

seeyuzz
river

[Zammo]

lol river.....

[Omegaman]

ok, i'll stick with the 18rgeu, only because i dont want to change threads.

[Wil8115]

hot wire your fuel pump just to eliminate it.
are you certain that the flapper door is opening at idle?(that'll trigger the circuit open relay)
but i agree, it definetly sounds like a fuel issue.

[river]

Hi,

If you keep it at throttle (ie not idle) does it still die? I could go back a page in the thread to see if you have done this, but the net at work is so slow it's quicker to ask again

Or, does it only die in idle?

seeyuzz
river

[RA35GT]

thanks guys , i'll have to wait till next week now to look at it again.
But on that fuel issue. I have a surge tank, so how would the car always start if the pumps weren't working.
it would finaly starve and just attempt to kick over....
injectors were pulsing ok, with the anoide light thinky on it.

im starting to hate this car.
the amount of time trying to sort this, i could've done a conversion to a 1gg.....

Not sure what you mean by how the car would start if the pumps weren't working?
Assuming it's wired as per factory, the fuel pumps will run when the key is in the start position and then once it has started the contacts in the afm should keep them running.

Disconnect the cold start injector plug and see if it starts, if it doesn't then maybe the computer doesn't have the coil trigger. If it does start need to work out why it's dying. Which means working out whether it is a fuel or ignition issue. The way it dies suggests fuel but you need to work out for sure.

You say fuel pressure is maintained and the noid lights continue flashing when it starts dying though? Could there be a restriction in the fuel lines? Where are you measuring fuel pressure? Does it have the factory fuel pressure regulator and is it plumbed correctly?

Is spark still good up to the point it dies also? (I use a timing light to see if it still sparks before the engine stops).

[JDM hachi]

ummmmm, are your fuel pumps, in particular, the one that feeds the surge tank sized correctly? where does your return line from the rail go, -back to the tank, or to the surge tank? surge tank could be running dry?

matty....

[Willofan]

Has anyone mentioned fuel pressure and the possibility that the regulator might not be maintaining pressure. An easy check to put a pressure guage on the rail to monitor pressure, this will help diagnose the reg and pumps. The air flow meter and TPS are also culprits for the symptoms described.

That's my shillings worth.

Good luck OmegaMan

[JustenGT8]

thanks guys , i'll have to wait till next week now to look at it again.
But on that fuel issue. I have a surge tank, so how would the car always start if the pumps weren't working.
it would finaly starve and just attempt to kick over....
injectors were pulsing ok, with the anoide light thinky on it.

im starting to hate this car.
the amount of time trying to sort this, i could've done a conversion to a 1gg.....

I didn't say the pumps weren't working?

On Ign, the ECU will start the pump and prime the system and then shut off the pump. When you go to start, the fuel system is pressurised, the injectors will fire for start and the engine will run....if the ECU doesn't then get a signal that the engine is running it will shut down....engine will continue to run on residual fuel pressure.

This is only one possibility and I have had a similar issue when starting another 18RGT (coincidentally) but with a Haltech. A few years back now but it was some Ign signal via a poor connection the ECU wasn't getting to complete the feedback loop ie it didn't know the engine was running. Mine only ran for a glorious 10-15 seconds though, not 30.

[jabbatron]

..........

[jabbatron]

..........

[timbosaurus]

The brown *sensor* is actually a switch. It's used to turn on the cold start injector, which is essentially redundant these days with programmable ECU's.

The other 2 sensors are indeed sensors, used just as jabbatron mentions above.

[jabbatron]

..........

[timbosaurus]

And I'll tell anyone who'll listen to go for a megasquirt on these old puppies. The only reason not too (and it's a valid reason!) is if you like the look or sound of the carbies, or you want to keep it somewhat oldschool/original.

There is no good reason to keep the factory ECU.

If you do the build yourself, you can fit a brand you ECU, with all new connectors, new wiring, new sealed fuse/relay block, all up and running on 90% stock sensors for around $600. Under $1000 if you want to re-locate the battery to the rear with a new sealed battery, new cables and isolator switch, and bulkhead passthru's.