$3 is pretty cheap.

 

so its a few bolts, slide it out of the way and swap out a PD and be done? replacing the gasket of course right?

 

About 5 on each side of the manifold.

Remove vacuum hoses, marking them along the way.

Remove primary fuel rail and replace PD.

Do all over again in reverse.

 

okay. i will get the parts in a few days and get it done. when i replace the gasket, will it need to be scraped off or anything? I have never done this before so I am planning ahead.

 

probably

 

Hi! I got the fuel injectors set: filters, upper& lower rubber, o-ring and end caps for $28 on EBay. I installed it in no time and it is a huge difference and bennefit to my 7th. Easy to do job and can follow instructions for Google videos. Good Luck, Javier

 

so no oil leaks thus far and an extremely slow antifreeze leak. about 1 drip every 4 days. im **** so im tracking everything.

 

Leaks from where?

I'm lost.

 

lol. got ahead of myself.

So far, the BAC is fine, the PD is getting replaced this week, along with the gasket. I will do the fuel filter too.

I was looking under her today, and using a cardboard box to see the drips, and i dont have any oil leaking. But i did find a 1 drip every 3 or 4 days leak from the radiator. tiny green drip along the left side of the radiator. Probably not a huge deal, I'm just OCD about this kind of thing.

 

Nah. It would be nice to find out where it's coming from but I wouldn't stress over it.

 

so for the fuel filter - you think i will need to be under the car? I can see it from the top and it seems easily accesible enough.

 

If you have the old clamps you might need to be under to have enough leverage to get the line off. It's a five minute ordeal though

 

awesome.

So my 7 will be sitting for 6 days before I change the PD - will she be mad for sitting for a few days?

 

i got the PD and fuel filter today. I will go do the fuel filter now and have to wait for the plenum to arrive and i can get the PD replaced.

 

got the fuel filter done. it was clogged like hell. I couldnt barely blow air/fuel through it. i bet it's factory or close to it. dam.

anyway - i went to screw the negative battery terminal back on and it umm... split while i was screwing it. I have no idea what to do about that. suggestions?

 

fixed the battery

runs alot smoother with the new fuel filter. the idle still drops a tad when i press the brake or put on electrical load - i will leave the final verdict for when i replace the PD - which leaks like crazy

 

um yeah. so i thought the starter was failing cause sometimes I would go to start it and nothing would happen. well, turns out, i fixed the battery clamp thing today and bam - she starts up solid. i'll be damned. maybe the starter is fine after all

 

Check it for trouble codes. You can make a LED code checker for about $3. It will double as a TPS adjustment indicator, if you choose to use the lights on/off method.

Check for closed loop operation. You can do this with a single LED checker, using the two center conductors on the green 6 pin check connector. The LED should flash about 8x per 10 secs at steady cruise (not idle).

The idle should go to about 3k rpms for 17 secs after start; this is the AWS (accelerated warm up system). You can defeat it by starting in gear with the clutch in, or giving it a blip on the throttle after it starts.

Once the AWS is done, the idle should drop to about 1500 rpm (if it is a cold start). If yours is coming down to about 2000, that suggests the thermowax & cold idle cam need to be adjusted.

Once at temperature, the idle should drop to 850 or so. If not, the idle adust screw is on the top of the throttle body, near where it joins the plenum.

Idle problems are also potential indicators of vacuum leaks, which seem to be a big deal on these cars. So if the idle is off, or cannot be adjusted down, or is erratic or rough, check it for vacuum leaks.

Adjust idle mixture.

Check timing and advance.

Check the TPS for resistance dropouts thoughout its travel, and then adjust it for 1k ohm at (fully warmed up) idle, or 1.0 volts at the ECU connector.

 

well, first the idle hits about 2600 then sits solid at 1400. what i notice in those numbers is they are just under what they should be

 

wait - we got sidetracked. Changing the fuel filter and PD are must's since the car wasnt taken care of.

the main reason for this thread was to deduce why, when im idling fine, when i do anything that puts a load on the engine, do the rpm's drop. press the brakes, turn on headlights or anything else that causes load and the rpm's simply drop. the car doesnt die, but it goes from a solid 750 to 600. strange. i am hoping the bad fuel leak from the PD is screwing up the fuel pressure enough to cause this.

 

i will be changing the PD tomorrow and from what i have been reading, it sounds like a vacuum leak. I have a buddy who has been a mechanic forever and said my symptoms sound like a classic vacuum leak.

 

Okay - something else i noticed was my battery connector to the post on the negative side is loose. I can pull it off and on, I am going to tighten it more - and probably break that connector. That might be contributing to the hard starts sometimes.

 

tightened it and it starts solid.

Now to figure out why the rpm's drop at idle when i press the brake or headlights go up. i thought it was due to a load being put on the engine, but the more i read about it the mroe it sounds like a vacuum leak since those are all on a vacuum line somewhere.

That sound plausible?

 

Okay. so any tips to get the VDI off? I have all the bolts out, and all the vacuum tubes off and marked. the throttle cable still goes along the back and it is either...

A - im really weak
B - the VDI is really heavy
C - there is a trick to it i am unaware of to get it lifted off.

Im really close to having the dam thing off and driving my dam car so im really dam open to any suggestions.

 

There is a large bolt just in front of the secondary fuel rail that you may have missed.

If all the bolts are out, I suggest grabbing the upper plenum and wiggling it loose with some hard jerks in between. You'll probably need someone else to grab the other side. It's a little heavy and it is awkward to get to.