But its a simple problem now. The line for the exhaust gasses still isn't hooked up. I can't find where it goes on the manifold though? Is it under the heat shield or further down the pipe? I want to drive this car at full power!!

 

There's a really thin hardline under the manifold, just below the big 3/4" port for the split air pipe. It'll split into a Y and go to banjo bolts on the front and rear of the underside of the lower intake manifold.

 

Sorry, I had meant where does it connect on the exhaust manifold, but looking at my OP, that isn't very clear.

 

There is a small diameter metal tube which connects to the main cat. It runs forward along the precats. It ends with a check valve connected to a rubber hose. Just before the check valve is a nipple. A rubber hose connects to this nipple and then to the supply line for the actuators. The attachment is from page 4 section 4B of the 85 FSM (page 183 of The pdf file).

 

I don't think my car has that still.

I think I'm going to wire them shut for the time being until I can get the racing beat setup.

Whats the best way to do this? Take off the actuators and turn the valves, then wrap wire around them so they don't move? I just want top end power

 

Nah, run some 1/8" copper tube from Home Depot, and put a 1/8 NPT threaded hole in your exhaust. Tap the hole, add a compression fitting, and run the tube forward for your aux ports.

If you want to disable them completely, just remove the actuators, slide them off the linkage, and manually turn the linkage whichever way you want to leave them.

 

I did the remove the actuators things after I thought about it for a couple mins. Took about 5 minutes to complete the job, and the only thing I noticed different is it idles about 300rpm lower, but nothing else seems effected.

 

Ok went and drove the car. I can't really tell any difference on low end power at all. Mid range (4-6krpm) is increased by a noticable amount. But I'm still not making ANY power above 6,000rpm. This is with the aux ports WIDE open. What else could be limiting my engine. Its got strong compression, and it runs great in general. I'm kind of at a loss here

 

The stock ignition design is weak. Try upgrading to a direct fire setup

 

I think 2nd gen coils will be my next mod. Do you think my cats could be clogged up? I think they are factory, so that's 25 year old cats.

 

Are you sure that you have the exhaust ports wide open? Are you sure they're not 180-deg out?

 

Exhaust ports?

You mean auxiliary ports? The bellcranks are both fully down, and as far as I know the sleeves were installed correctly. I put them in right, but I had the intake taken down again by a rotary mechanic, so I don't know if he put them in correctly.

Interesting note, I put both bellcranks down, and when I open the hood today, one of them was in the fully up position. I don't understand how that could happen unless it was installed 180* out.

 

Yeah, I meant aux ports rather than exhaust ports. You should have studs on the lower manifold that the actuators slip over, and you can tie a wire or zip-tie between the linkage and the inner stud to wire them fully open (assuming they're in the block right).

Have you decided not to tap a pressure line and keep the actuators?

 

I will, but for the moment I don't really have time to do anything.

 

Do you still have cats on the car? my car started to lose top end power when they started to get clogged up.

 

Yes it still has all the cats. So this summer/spring break, I'm going to do exhaust and ignition upgrades. I think I clogged them up after the thorough sea-foam treatment I gave it recently. Because I cleaned up the intake, fixed the aux ports (well sort of) and it seems like its actually SLOWER.

Also, there seems to be a considerable amount of vibration above 4500rpm. Bad motor mounts? Or an improperly running engine.

I also can't help but still smell fuel after I've been driving the car for a while. I'm 95% sure that its NOT the pulsation dampener, because there is no fuel drops or puddles or any indication of fuel around there. But the smell is fairly strong inside the car.

 

Is the fuel smell raw fuel by itself, or is the a whiff of exhaust mixed with it? A leaking PD may not show puddling, the fuel can be evaporating quickly. I also have an SE injector sitting on my desk that was sent out for cleaning/calibration. Specs are decent, but the is a tiny crack in the body that leaks fuel. Only indicators was a fuel smell and crud build up near the injectors.

 

I'm thinking it smells like fuel mixed with exhaust. And I do have a nasty leak right after my exhaust manifold, so that might be it.

 

You might check the grommet around the fuel pump power lead that passes through the floorpan just behind your seat. They're pressed in from underneath and often fall through, or are forgotten completely. Also, the car has two pulsation dampers, one on the fuel rail that causes fires, and one on the fuel pump that causes stinky smells. I'd short the test connector under the hood and get under the car with the fuel pump running to see if you're losing any fuel there.

 

Interesting Crit. I didn't know the pump had it's own PD. Most common source of exhaust in the cabin, other than the usual rusted out bins are the foam seals between the tailights and the body or the weatherstriping for the hatch glass.

 

I just thought of this. A few months ago my car ran out of fuel when I was driving it (my fuel gauge doesn't work and I forgot to reset my trip meter!)

Do you think its possible some sediment from the bottom of the tank is clogging the injectors? Any way to remedy this without taking them out? Do fuel injector cleaners (the ones you put in the tank) work at all?

 

It's more likely that running the tank empty partially clogged the intank fuel filter or the main fuel filter. Since the SE tanks have the sump cup, draining the tank won't clear debris out of the sump cup. If you don't have the air pump connected to the main cat and operational, then it's more likely a partially clogged main cat is killing your top end. I seriously doubt that the Seafoam treatment clogged the cat and the Seafoam has already helped clean the injectors.

If you want to get your SE running right, start with a fuel filter, then get the Aux ports working correctly. If you need help with the Aux ports, post pics of what you have now. I've run the Aux ports in my FC 3 different ways, stock, wired open and a pressure feed tube comeing off of the headers. I like the later the best. Now when the Aux ports open up, it feels like the secondarys opened up on a 4 barrel carb.

 

When I have time I think I'm going to hook them up to the air pump, either that or do it off the header. Is the main fuel filter in the engine bay? I think I'll replace that this weekend.

 

The fuel filter is immediately behind and above the fuel pump, on the inboard side of the driver's frame rail just behind and below the storage bin under the car. I've bought pumps from different places and they all work fine, but the Advance and Autozone FILTERS are total crap - they don't have the right thread in the feed end and don't have the same notches at the top to line up the steel tubing. I'd go ahead and order a fuel filter from Mazda or Mazdatrix/Atkins. Even though it's expensive, it's not much more than the knockoffs and it'll work.

On a total tangent, the Mazda fuel pump includes the pump, bracket, hardline, pulsation damper, and wiring. That's why they're so freaking expensive. The rear pulsation damper is also interchangable with the one on the fuel rail (not sure if they're the same part number, but they work) so even if you have a PD leak under the car, you can usually get it fixed without having to buy a $325 pump assembly from Mazda.

 

When you post a pic of what's left of your Aux actuators and get ready to hook them up, I'll post a link of how I did mine.