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I don't know who..if anyone..will remember me. I've got a 90 vert with a full S5 turbo drivetrain swap with the typical supporting mods. S4 LSD, RB turbo exhaust, moddified TID with an Apexi filter, Rtek chipped N370 (don't remember which chip I went with at the moment.) Upgraded secondary injectors, FD fuel pump, I waivered between a Taurus fan and 130 amp alt and clutch fan and FD alt. I put on the typical aftermarket gauges...boost gauge, wideband, coolant temp, oil temp.
I rebuilt the engine once and overheated it because I wired the Taurus fan incorrectly. What I thought was high speed actually reversed polarity and before I understood why my temp gauge was spiking it got hotter than I was comfy with. Rebuilt it a second time to replace coolant seals. Had good compression again but I believe I was fouling plugs. Engine would run great at first but as I put more miles on the rebuild you could hear the engine not running as cleanly. I thought it was just break in fouling but it kept happening 2k (IIRC) or so into break in. IIRC I had about 10-15psi difference between the front and rear rotors....I seem to remember reading that too much of a difference in compression can cause fouling??? If anyone can confirm this I'd appreciate some feedback and links where I can educate myself. I was also fighting a serious grounding issue that was eating Optima yellow top batteries. Had drain on the batteries that was killing the cells in them and destroyed 5 or so batteries (all replaced under warranty cause I knew the guy managing the parts store). 2k into the second rebuild I lost all compression on the front rotor. I wasn't wailing on the engine and as I remember it my air fuel ratio was a little rich at idle but never went lean.
I started having some real serious health issues shortly after blowing my engine. Health stuff has eaten up the last 3 yrs of my life. 1.5 yrs was my inept local surgeons trying to figure out what was wrong with me. The other 1.5 yrs was getting my *** to Cleveland Clinic and requiring some pretty grim and life changing surgeries...but at least knowing what was wrong. And knowing is half the battle!! Yo Joe...etc etc. So I spent a year of working part time cause thats all my health would allow for. I had surgeries in Spring of 2017 and Winter of 2017..with something like 6 small surgeries betwen those big surgeries. Sorry for the bummer details, but if I have to live through a low point you all can at least read about it :P The car has sat with the oil and coolant drained for the last 2+ yrs or so. By end of the month I'm pulling it out of storage and diving back into the car...FINALLY!!
In the next couple weeks I'm either pulling the engine and tearing it down and sending it off to be rebuilt. Or sending the whole car to St. Louis for a shop to do the work for me. I need to re-educate myself because I barely remember any of the details from when I was working on it. My intent before health problems was to ditch the Rtek and go with MS3. I'd still like to do that because I like the idea of putting a new engine wiring harness in and knowing it's all solid rather than relying on the old harness with unknown issues.
I smoked some wires on the driver side harness going to the engine fusebox on to the main relay and back to parts unknown. If I do the work myself I'll unwrap the driver side harness and trace back the damage. Either replace the whole harness (I've never pulled the dash and I hear it's a bitch) or repair it. I was also fighting a ground issue and plan on returning the car to as factory as possible. I'm ditching the sound system, ditching the security system and going back to clutch fan.
Pics of the car:
Thanks in advance for all the help I've needed in the past and will need in the future
07-17-18, 08:08 PM
After many years away I'm back
