Banjo

Wow that's a good site Pete ! Will book mark that. Never ceases to amaze me why manufacturers change the dimensions of automotive glass by just a mm or so, between models of the same series . The olde FJ Landcruiser with the simple flat windscreen glass, was a classic case. I've seen them fall out, because a slightly smaller windscreen was fitted, because the right one wasn't quickly available. Cheers Banjo

Hi Jake, As the alternator you changed the "brushes" on, has no internal regulator, whatever is causing the alternator to not charge the battery, could be the alternator, the external regulator, a fuse, or a fan belt, or maybe even wiring coming loose. Like last time, first you've go to check everything visually, & then work your way through each item/component that is part of the "charging circuit". If nothing is visually obvious, then, I'd take the alternator off again, & make sure the brushes aren't the culprit again. Cheers Banjo

Hi Madelaine, From your posts regarding your car back in July, in the Electrical Section, you thought you had a starter issue. I gather the new starter you purchased removed that issue, & the KE30 now starts OK, but won't start or run, unless you manually fill the carby bowl with fuel. You said previously, that the fuel pump was working, as it was delivering fuel to the carby inlet. (presumably when you disconnected the inlet pipe) If that is still the case, then the cause could well be, that the fuel can't enter the carby, because the very very fine fuel filter in the inlet to the carby is blocked. This filter is not visible, & many don't even know that it is there. You have to take the top/lid off the carby. Remove the float, & needle carefully, making sure not to lose the tiny spring. Then take a spanner, & remove the brass seat assembly. Once this is out, you can then see the filter, which looks like a very small sewing thimble in shape, attached to the brass seat assembly. Clean this thoroughly with carby & throttle cleaner, until it is perfectly clean, & offers no resistance when you blow through it. Cheers Banjo

No, I didn't enter. I'm just an avid spectator ! It's just a great atmosphere, & so well run. Everyone mingles, & you can walk through all the pits & talk to everyone about their pride & joys. Just have a look at the comments on their Facebook page. Everyone says I'm coming back next year. http://www.leyburnmotorsprints.com.au/ https://www.facebook.com/leyburnsprints/ The only things that "bang your doors" are the hay bales, if you drift too wide, or get up on two wheels. This year funds were being raised for the local school. $ 5.00 per ticket. Two draws with the winners getting a quick lap as a passenger of the circuit. The drivers really turn it on, and to see the faces of the winners, when they alight at the finish line is a sight to behold. A mixture of fear & joy that they are still alive ! This video was taken a few years ago. Think Mike was frightening a quick lap winner. Lots of competitors had their Go Pros on. Recommend the weekend to anyone ! Cheers Banjo

The "block drain" LittleRedSpirit is referring to above, is a long hexagon tube type fitting, on K series motors, screwed directly into the block, just below the water pump, at the very front of the engine. It has a bolt head at the end, which acts like a tap. My experience is that on many K series engines, you undo the bolt head, and little or no coolant comes out. If that is the case, it is usually easier to unscrew the whole long tubular fitting out of the block. This is almost the lowest point inside the block water jackets, so lots of scale & crud build up, down behind there. By unscrewing the whole assembly, you provide a bigger hole & opening, for the scale & rubbish to get flushed out. Cheers Banjo

New thermostat possibly required. Could be jammed open. Cheers Banjo

Did my annual pilgrimage to Leyburn at the weekend in my KE30. What a great weekend as always ! Beautiful weather on Sunday, & this event just gets better & better, & never disappoints. The track record was broken for the first time in quite a few years, & there was 209 entries, each getting in between 6-8 runs, over the 2 days. Shannons Show & Shine saw some beautiful exhibits. The racing got very fierce on Sunday afternoon, as the opportunities to lower one's times reduced. A few KE20 Rollas there. https://1drv.ms/f/s!AhTw-QJW1b_6h3-6fgN1V6Z6Yr86 A few pics here, if you'd like to take a look. Cheers Banjo

Hi Luke, Welcome aboard ! Good question. Really depends on the state of the inside of the engine. When these engines get old, they can have a lot of buildup in the water jackets. which really needs to be removed, for best thermal efficiency in removing heat. However, because the K series engines have a cast iron block & an aluminium head, they can suffer from electrolysis between dissimilar metals, so coolant leaks are not uncommon, to both the inside & outside of the engine. As well as that, as the aluminium gets old, it changes its composition, & breaks down, & corrodes more easily. A good automotive coolant, will help prevent this, but is not much good on an engine that already has got lots of crud & corrosion inside the water jackets. You could put a good cooling system flushing additive to the water, run it as per the instructions, then remove top & bottom hoses & thermostat, and wash all the loosened crud out of the engine. However, I've seen the results of this previously, with Welsh plugs all of a sudden becoming very thin & leaking, as all the crud on the back of them is really sealing as well. I recently stripped a 5K engine, I acquired, and in the strip down process removed all the Welsh plugs. On two of them, a light tap on the centre with a screwdriver, resulted in the screwdriver going right through. That's how thin they were. When old engines are reconditioned professionally, they usually have all Welsh plugs removed, & the whole block acid washed, then new "brass" Welsh plugs fitted, instead of the original pressed steel ones. The K series engines also have poor coolant circulation, at the rear of engine around no: 4 cylinder. This is primarily about the design of the engine, as coolant enters & leaves from the front of the engine. With less flow at the rear, crud builds up, and the results are not good in the long run. If a piston or rings are going to give you issues, it will quite often be number 4 cylinder. I've had a 3K & a 5K over the years, both have issues with no: 4 piston & rings. So it's up to you, & sometimes it is better to "let sleeping dogs lie", unless you want to take the risk of having to take the engine out and change welsh plugs, or maybe a head gasket. Others on here may have other suggestions, but mine would be to . . . . Remove top & bottom radiator hoses & flush the engine out with a hose, without adding a flushing agent before hand. Replace the thermostat & radiator cap. Refit hoses, if they are in good condition. Add a good automotive coolant. These actions will probably help, but are unlikely to result in any unwanted immediate leaks ! Cheers Banjo

One of the other reasons, I went away from using a modified distributor optical sensor, is the issue of oil fumes coming up the distributor shaft, which can put a film over the optical sensor, & eventually impede its performance, which could lead to miss firing. However, if anyone is considering having a go at modifying a K series Bosch dizzy, there are a number of Hall Effect modules for various dizzies, that could be used, in lieu of an optical sensors. Tridon supply a complete range which can be viewed at the following link. http://www.tridon.com.au/products/Tridon/35/482/ignition/2009/crank-and-cam-angle-sensors#1 Cheers Banjo

Thanks for the pics of your LS1 coils proposed mounting. Glad to see I'm not the only one you puts old mats on the garage floor to work on. Makes it much more comfortable, when you are down on your knees. (Also stops nuts & washers etc. rolling too far, when you drop them) I'm actually going to use my above CAS multi-tooth triggering system to test my E6K on the bench, this week, before installing in the car, as the E6K supports multi-tooth wheels. Mine happens to be 24 teeth, with 1 synchronising tooth. After reading your 5KTE KE55 build, I remember how hard it was to get the 4K Bosch dizzy shaft to join/line up to the adaptor for the CAS wheel, and have them exactly concentric. However, I will be using the Hall Effect sensors for crankshaft sensing when I put it in the KE30. The first time I ever used crankshaft triggering, I was amazed how steady the strobe light was on the timing markings. It didn't take me long to work out that there is a lot of "slop" between crankshaft & dizzy trigger point. Two (2) sprockets & chain at the front of the engine, & then the camshaft to dizzy shaft gearing. With crankshaft triggering all that is eliminated. Even if you do sequential direct firing of the spark plugs, & need a sych or a homing signal, which must be taken from the camshaft drive somewhere; there is no issue, as the synch or home pulse is not used to trigger. It just tells the ECU that the next trigger pulse must be directed to no: 1 cylinder, and can accommodate any slop without effecting the trigger angle at all. I have built a system that requires no home or synch pulse & is rock steady. It uses two rare earth magnets in the flywheel, the same as I described earlier in this thread, except one has the North pole facing the Hall Effect Sensor, & the other has the South pole facing the sensor. The Hall Effect sensor I use, has the ability to sense north & south poles & tell the difference. I get two independent triggers from the one sensor, which fire two GMH Commodore ignition coils, set up in a waste spark configuration. However, as good as this is, none of the commercial programmable ECUs accommodate this type of triggering set up, so hence, I move on to direct fire sequential using the COPs. I'll keep you posted, once my COPs arrive, & I fit them to the 5K with suitable supporting bracket. Cheers Banjo

Love the toast rack way of mounting the LS1s. I'd love to see a pic of whats under that spun aluminium pot lid on the dizzy ! I did something similar a couple of years ago. I think I used a coffee jar lid for the CAS cover. Is that the large Bosch dizzy case you are using, or maybe even the dizzy from a 7K, which is really big. I remember I had trouble trying to cram everything into the Bosch one. Cheers Banjo

Hi Jake, What voltage did you get with a multimeter across the battery terminals, with the engine running at say 2000 rpm ? Cheers Banjo

Have done a little more research & have come up with the Toyota CoP P/N 90919-02240, which was fitted to the Toyota 1NZFE & 2NZFE engines on the Echo & Yaris cars. I chose these CoPs, as they have built in ignitors, which are both dumb & smart at the same time. The dwell will continue, just as long as the trigger signal is present from the ECU, but will also produce a minimum dwell, irrespective of how short the trigger signal is. These CoPs have a single bolt hole which normally bolts up flush with the Echo / Yaris camshaft cover. My daughter has an 2004 Echo with a 1NZFE engine, so I "borrowed" a CoP from her car this morning, and set it up on a 4K head on the bench. There are several spare 10mm threaded bolt holes on the rocker cover, on the spark plug side, which could anchor a simple, solid, single, mounting plate, to hold all four CoPs. It would require just one bend in the mounting plate. I'll fashion a mounting plate from a piece of then thinner aluminium, & dummy it all up on the bench, to make sure it all works & fits fine. One of the advantages of this arrangement, besides doing away with spark plug leads, distributor cap, and existing coil, is that propped up in the air like that, they will not overheat, as there will plenty of air flow over them. Apparently, from my reading on the net, overheating CoPs, tucked under plastic covers, (which often restricts air flow), can result in damaged or failed CoP coils & ignitors. Although CoPs can be expensive, the 90919-02240 ones are relatively cheap. I've even seen them new on ebay for less than $ 30.00 ea. I'll post a picture here, once I dummy it all up. Cheers Banjo As explained in the section above all of the four will fire for as long as the duration of the activation ofal from the ECU. However they will also fire to minimum dwell time regardless of how short the signal is triggered, this minimum duration is hard wired and can't be altered.

Hi Jake, I always love stories with a good ending. Well done ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Jake, Oppphs ! You just broke the golden rule. When pulling something to bits, keep all the little bits together. After putting it back together, if there are any bits left, then make sure they are not essential. The rubber or nylon washer on the alternator battery terminal bolt is crucial. The bolt is at +ve (12V) battery potential. The case of the alternator is at -ve (GND/Chassis) potiental. The little nylon sleeve you can see in the picture above insulates the two from each other. However, if you connected the heavy battery lead, without the rubber washer, the terminal on the lead would short the bolt to the alternator frame; hence the smoking cable. You effectively placed a short across the battery terminals. This connection point is critical. Place the rubber washer first, then a flat washer, no bigger in dia. than the washer; then a nut which should only be tightened just enough to squeeze the rubber down a little. Then place another washer; the battery cable lug, another flat washer, a spring washer; and finally the second nut. Your little mishap should have not damaged anything electrical, other than the smoking cable. If you look carefully at the replacement alternator, you can clearly see the black rubber or nylon washer at its battery post connection. Let us know, when it is all back together & going well. Cheers Banjo

The alternator should be earthed or grounded by the fact that it is mechanically & electrically bolted to the engine block. Usually, there is no need or reason to run an earth strap from the alternator to the chassis or engine block.

Hi Jake, I'll need more info, or a sketch as to how you hooked it all up. I didn't realise the replacement RE55 regulator you have purchased was not made by the Chinese company that produces the alternator. The RE55 is a solid state Bosch regulator, designed for replacing faulty mechanic relay type external regulators. RE55 Solid State Regulator It should work well, with your original Bosch alternator, to which I gather you have fitted new bearings & brushes. There is probably a sketch on the internet showing how the RE55 is wired up. I gather it has an aluminium case, which is earthed & into which the solid state regulator is "potted". I believe as well as the case earth /ground/chassis connection, it just has 2 off spade terminals. Cheers Banjo

Hi Marius, Spot on ! When the ignition barrel switch is in the start position, the resistor is effectively shorted out, & power is temporarily connected to the +ve terminal of the coil, whilst the ignition key is in the "START" position.. A quick test would be to short the resistor out, which is adjacent to the coil, & see if the engine runs. If it does, then the resistor has gone open circuit & should be replaced. If it still doesn't start, then go looking for why power isn't getting to the end of the resistor that is NOT connected to the coil. Could be a fuse or wiring or ignition barrel issue. Let us know what you find. P.S. There is no danger in shorting the resistor out for short periods. Coil may get a little bit warmer, if run for long periods, but doubt that would be an issue in Norway, despite it currently being Summer there. Cheers Banjo

I just answered my own question, when I searched on RollaClub. It was Brodie in S.A. who used Honda CBR bike COPs on his K series engine. Yes most of the COPs, are long for spark plugs that are right down deep inside the tubes. The K series plugs just pop their heads out of the tubes, so to speak. The triggering is all worked out. I have two rare earth magnets 10mm dia. x 25mm long mounted in the flywheel, using two manufacturing jig holes that exist exactly 180 deg apart. I just bored the jig holes out to the appropriate diameter. The north poles face the back of the flywheel, & the Hall Effect pickup sensor is mounted in the plate between block & bell housing, right down at the bottom RHS of the engine, directly below the oil filter. The Home trigger, which only tells the ECU that the next pulse from the flywheel sensor is for No: 1 S.P. is mounted through the timing chain cover, with the magnet mounted into a hole drilled though the camshaft sprocket cast spoke. Have had that bit installed for some time, currently just driving the tacho, & all works well & is very reliable. Magnets are so strong, you can get away with a good size gap between magnet & sensor. Just need to get these COPs sorted & then I can take it for a good long run to Leyburn for the Sprints in a couple of weeks. http://www.leyburnmotorsprints.com.au/ Cheers Banjo

Got myself an olde Haltech E6K ECU which I'm going to hook up to the 5K engine I have on the engine test frame at present. I am just going to use the E6K for ignition control only. It has enough outputs to do direct sequential firing of the four spark plugs, so though I might put some COPs (coil over plug) on the 5K, doing away with the dizzy altogether. What brand of COP has anyone found suitable to use directly as is, or adapt to be useful on a K Series motor. It's all about mounting them. I think someone on RollaClub used a Honda one once successfully, but I can't remember who it was, or what model COP they used. Maybe a motor bike one ? Any suggestions appreciated. Cheers Banjo

Hi Jake, RHS directly behind the headlight is where mine was also. If you are going to mount the replacement one in the same position, (good idea), then hopefully the cable supplied with the new external regulator will be long enough to go down under the radiator, zip tied to the existing cable, to the alternator. We'll await you advice & photos, once you have the new regulator. What was the output "Amps" rating of the replacement Chinese alternator you have purchased ? Cheers Banjo

Hi Jake, Hopefully, the new regulator will come complete with a lead & 3 pin plug, to connect to the socket on the rear of your replacement alternator. The existing lead with the 2 pin can be done away with, including your old external regulator. It will depend on where your current external regulator is mounted in the engine bay, & whether the lead they supply with the new external regulator is long enough to reach the same mounting point of the existing regulator. I did this conversion a year or so ago, when I put a HiLux 85A alternator with internal regulator, to replace the original 3K 35-40A Denso alternator with external regulator, so will be able to guide you through this. Once you get your new regulator, post a picture of it, along with a picture of your existing regulator, & where it is mounted. We can then nut it out fairly easily, as any wiring changes will all be at the regulator only. Cheers Banjo

Hi Jake, Appears both your original & replacement alternator are both external regulator types. The terminology is slightly different with terminal markings, from the Bosch to the Chinese replacement one. Somewhere in your engine bay, is the original regulator, which should be best replaced with a new one, to suit the replacement alternator you have purchased. The common problems with these old alternators is that the brushes wear out, and reach the limits of the springs, pressing them against the slip rings. Check out the typical alternator terminal identification listings at this website. http://jasoceania.co.nz/sites/default/files/default_images/alternator Terminal identification guide.pdf D+ on your old alternator is the dash charging warning light. E on the replacement alternator is also the warning light. F or DF is the field winding, which goes to the regulator. B+ is the battery, which is the big terminal on your replacement alternator. Just make sure the new alternator will mount & line up, before committing to buying the regulator. The new matching regulator should have a lead on it that just plugs straight into the 3 terminal socket on the replacement alternator. Let us know how you go. Cheers Banjo

Early Corollas had alternators with an external voltage regulator, with the regulator box on the engine bay wall. Later Corollas had alternators, with the regulator built into the alternator itself. It sounds like your existing alternator may have an internal regulator, & the replacement one, you've bought has an external regulator. If you can take a picture of the terminal ends of the two alternators, we can probably work out what has happened. The early voltage regulators used a cycling relay, whereas the internal alternator regulators are solid state. Put some pics up, & we'll go from there. Cheers Banjo

How long ago did the EFI conversion get done ? Did you do it, or was it done by others ? Did this "power issue" occur directly after the EFI conversion, or was there a long period where it ran perfectly with EFI, without this "power" issue, & then it just appeared out of the blue. What fuel delivery system was there before you fitted the Walbro electric in-tank pump ? Why was there a need to change to the Walbro ? Did this "power issue" only occur straight after you did the Walbro in tank pump conversion ? Sometimes the back ground to these problems, can point you in the right direction, to what is the cause, & where to look. Cheers Banjo