Hey all i got a FJ20ET 1600 from sydney on the 4th of January 06 and ever since getting it home ive had nothing but problems...

I need some good advice from the pro's

The FJ ran sweet from newcatstle to adelaide but ever since returing home everythings breaking or playing up on me

*** now posting this its the 18th of Jan so its just over ten days since i got home, heres a list of whats happened...

* Split heater hose from block that was blocked off with a bolt n worm clamps, so me and a mate got new hose fixed that no probs... I dropped the coolant n flushed it n re-filled

* Started stuttering like it was runnin on 3 cylinders but on and off so we changed engine oil, plugs, pod, diff and gearbox oil. It still did it on and off...my dads mate whos been our mechanic for years said it was runnin rich and fouling plugs so he put new ones in there and said i should get the EMS tunned, i booked in and had to wait till last friday to get in so i was stuffing round with the leads and coil on thursday and decided to replace the coil with a old VL one i had that was the same... Problem fixed and i got it dynoed at the SA EMS dealer

* Although it had been fine on the way there the guy at BoostinOZ said he could smell battery acid from the boot mounted battery and he said volts were now low so i should check the alternator... I made it home with the car but when i got home i noticed that the belt was so lose and the wires on the back of the alternator were burnt through like shorted... further inspection showed the alternator was only attached at the adjustor and the lower bolts had sheered though... what the fck i cant win... i replaced the bolts tightened the belt and rewired it back up... Still losing volts

* During attemts to check voltage i had forgotten to put my bonnet pins in resulting in a 20km/h lift up absolutly bending my bonnet in half and severely damaging my cowl area on the 1600 **** lucky i had another bonnet but the arms were rooted and i was peaking cause its something i had always checked but the alterator was stressin me out

* Yesterday 2 mins from home i heard a rattling sound simular to the quick chain rattle i hear on start-up... this continued and wouldnt quieten when i pulled up home i lifted my bonnet and could feel the vibrations where the chain is at the front and the thing was so warm considering it had only driven 5 mins, i had let it warm up as i always do but i dont know what to think of this sound...Im afraid to turn it on

Please Help

Simon

Every time I drive my car I reckon I hear a new rattle coming out of my motor which is only 25K old. They are a noisy engine, but one particular sounds I've had problems with is the heat sheild on the exhaust manifold rattling loose. It sounds like the engine is knocking because it rattles under load. This probably isn't your problem but it's worth checking.

When you say the engine was really hot after just 5 mins, was it actually above running temp at all? I would only worry if it was getting hotter than running temp.

>* Started stuttering like it was runnin on 3 cylinders but on and off so we changed engine oil,
>plugs, pod, diff and gearbox oil. It still did it on and off...my dads mate whos been our
>mechanic for years said it was runnin rich and fouling plugs so he put new ones in there and said
>i should get the EMS tunned, i booked in and had to wait till last friday to get in so i was
>stuffing round with the leads and coil on thursday and decided to replace the coil with a old VL
>one i had that was the same... Problem fixed and i got it dynoed at the SA EMS dealer

I've had mine stutter a little when the leads were too close together (as in tied together to keep neat) so I've gone back to keeping them a little apart


>* Although it had been fine on the way there the guy at BoostinOZ said he could smell battery
>acid from the boot mounted battery and he said volts were now low so i should check the
>alternator... I made it home with the car but when i got home i noticed that the belt was so lose >and the wires on the back of the alternator were burnt through like shorted... further inspection
>showed the alternator was only attached at the adjustor and the lower bolts had sheered though...
>what the fck i cant win... i replaced the bolts tightened the belt and rewired it back up...
>Still losing volts

My alternator doesn't kick in until about 2500rpm, from cold start it runs on the battery until I can rev it over 2500rpm then the alternator kicks in and idles normal and has good voltage. I suspect the battery acid I get is because of this problem prior to the alt working.

>* Yesterday 2 mins from home i heard a rattling sound simular to the quick chain rattle i hear on
>start-up... this continued and wouldnt quieten when i pulled up home i lifted my bonnet and could
>feel the vibrations where the chain is at the front and the thing was so warm considering it had
>only driven 5 mins, i had let it warm up as i always do but i dont know what to think of this
>sound...Im afraid to turn it on

Is it rather loud? This could be the common FJ chain rattle problem where the tensioner doesn't move properly as it should on start up. If this happens turn the engine off straight away. A restart quite often kicks it into place. Changing the oil can help reduce of this happening (thicker oil?)


If you're not blowing smoke, dropping oil and using coolant then you are probably ok........

What did you think of BoostinOz? I have an EMS to go on mine but are yet to do it, I've heard both positive and negative feedback about BoostinOz, they're not cheap so I want to make sure I get a good job wherever I go.
What model EMS do you have?
Which part of Adelaide you in? Always looking for more Adelaide FJ owners.

Cheers,
FJ910

Sweet thanks for the replys i checked last night and no one had so i wasnt sure if id get any...

Um... Dave

Well it pretty much rattles all the time simular to a L series but this didnt give up and it had me worried cause it was like 4 times louder than the normal chain rattle i hear, i was thinkin a sticky tensioner or low oil pressure

The engine wasnt rebuilt before the guy put it in so im unsure of km's on this one, its been in the car since 1991 when it was engineered but he recons it had only done round 10k in that time cause he got a company car n only took it out so often... that was his reason for sellin although he was reluctant when the time came

Theres no big heat sheild just the little one that covers the hose join from turbo to cooler pipes but when hear a rattle while drivin my mates all tell it it aint detonation

The water temp is wired into the EMS and the 1600 dash and it was only half way but im concerned i guess bout oil temps cause theres no temp gauge or pressure gauge... i was just concerned cause the cover was so hot and the radiator had so much pressure in it

Um... Fj910

I read somethin on ere bout someones alternator only charging over 2500rpm but after jump starting the volts hold at bout 11.7v until i accelerate, brake, indicate then i can see the volts dropping on the EMS hand controller they get down to like 6-8v with out climbing so i dunno

As i said earlier the wires were melted on the back of the alternator so i may need to replace it if its fried something inside like the regulator also we just tried to rewire it n check the volts to see if it was still charging

What alternator is best to replace the hitachi internal regulator types..? u know with least mods required to wiring

The things not running bad or smoking but i was afraid it could be oil pressure or something worse

Dennis from BoostinOZ was good... i was gonna take it to Boostworx but decided to go the the EMS dealer here so he could check it over not just fiddle with it like some places do... mind u theres nothing wrong with Boostworx

I came back after the first hour so he had time to check it, and he recons it was runnin rich all through the range so he dropped the fuel levels for me to make it more economic... apparently the timing was ok. i was short on doe after all this other stuff so he said to come back when im cashed up and hed fully redo it for me, it was there for 3 hours n only cost $200 which isnt to expensive and alteast i know he knows the EMS's

Model...im unsure, im at work now with my other car so cant tell u yet

On the dyno it made 119kw on 8.5psi but he said it was losing boost from when it hit that dropping to 7psi, when i go back he said he will fix the settings and play with the boost controller

Im at Edwardstown what bout your self..? Im always keen to catch up with other datto owners let me know...

THE RATTLE IN THE MOTOR SOUNDS LIKE THE TIMING CHAIN GUIDE HAS SNAPPED. PULL THE PLATE OF AT THE FRONT OF THE MOTOR ( THE ONE THAT HAS FJ20 ON IT) AND LOOK JUST BELOW THE TENSIONER

and after you check the chain tensioners ... put an oil pressure gauge on it before you start the motor!!

is the 1600 blue?

Ok i opened up the FJ plate and looked inside it seems ok i cant see anything broken off it looks like the chain guide that sits on the tensioner is intact... warmed it up the other day and it was fine till the engine temp got to 80'deg then the chain rattle Started up

Could this be a streched or worn chain? of would it be oil related if its only doing it as the oil gets warm

The oil in it is what the previous owner used which is Castrol Magnatec 10w40... is this what i should be using? please let me know what you are all using cause this may be the problem...? and what oil Filter...?

Also today i got a 200B alternator, a Bosch with the integral regulator, bolted it up and it works it holds charge and can start on its own steam now... But the pully is slightly smaller so the belt cant be tightened enough should i try and put the larger FJ hitachi pully on it..? What alternators are other people using as replacements...? and what can i get a larger pully off that will slow down the speed...?

The 200B one is only a 40a model where as the FJ one was 1 70a so ill have to see how this goes when im driving with everything turned on

SD... its white but with blue engine bay was advertised on Ozdat i will get some pics up as soon as i work out how... also how do i go about fitting a oil pressure and oil temp gauges on a FJ whats the most practical way...?


Thanks heaps everyone for the help so far... Simon

try using a thicker oil ie 20w-50 or 20-w 60 10-40 is too thin in my opinion

Well i got the pully swapped on the 200B alternator for the larger FJ one and last night i fitted it, the belt now is tight and its charging by itself, now im concerned that the 200B one is only a 40a... i didnt see the volts go under 11.4v, but shouldnt it keep closer to 13v or 14v cause when i try and restart it its hard start on 11.4v

Also was runnin good n quiet till temp got to 70-80 degrees but the rattle started up again, i dropped the oil when i got home and put some 20w50 in her, now i havnt started it up since so ill let you's know how it goes with the thicker oil

Even though ive had probs the little dat flies... theres nothing like the look on peoples faces when they hear it boostin past em gotta love the FJ

Simon

Sorry but also what oil filter should i be using i think its got a small R145 or something will the larger L series ones be better...

WHAT TYPE OF CHAIN TENSIONER DO YOU HAVE ON IT. I HAD THE RATCHET (MAZDA) TYPE ON MINE AND EVERY ONE WAS TELLING ME TO PUT THE STANDARD (HYDRAULIC) ONE BACK ON. SO I DID,EVERY THING WAS FINE WHEN THE MOTOR WAS COLD BUT ONCE IT GOT WARM AND THE OIL THINNED OUT THERE WASNT ENOUGH PRESSURE TO KEEP THE CHAIN TIGHT. THE REST OF THE MOTOR HAD GOOD OIL PRESSURE. I TRIED EVERYTHING, 4 DIFFERENT GRADE OILS, BLOWING COMPRESSED AIR INTO THE HOLE. NOTHING WORKED. SO I JUST PUT THE RATCHET TYPE BACK ON AND HAVNT HAD A PROBLEM SINCE.

Im pretty sure its a stock one, i have a couple of the mazda ones here but no idea how to fit... i heard its hard cause if u drop it half the things gotta be pulled apart... does the base part need to be grinded cause i heard u gotta slightly change it?

Do i use the small mazda part or the larger fj chain guide?

Any one in SA wanna put it in for me... pref with experience? cause i know i only gonna stuff it worse

Its doing it from start up now so i aint been drivin it i took the inspection cover off n it looked like the tensioner was fully locked inside, i could see the thing rattling as the chain was hittin againtst it the noise sounds stuffed i hope it aint anything more serious

The Mazderati tensioner is not hard to fit.

You will have to try pretty hard to drop any of the parts down the front cover tho! If you do then you derserved it!

You have to do a bit of grinding of the body of the new tensioner to get it to fit into the machined area on the FJ head.
I also enlarged the drilling in the back of the new tensioner for the oil as the hole in the head only just lines up with the hole in the tensioner body.

Just cut out a gasket out of, say 0.5mm gasket paper to accurately match the back of the FJ tensioner and use this as a template for grinding the new Mazderati tensioner and checking that the oil hole lines up. They are mighty close so I modified mine just in case.
Youll see what I mean when you compare the two tensioners with your gasket. The oil hole in the head is probably about 1mm but there is (about) a 5mm shallow hole in the back of the tensioner so the tensioner can move around on its bolts when fitting and the oil will still get to where its needed. Its this larger shallow hole (about 4mm) in the back tensioner that I enlarged just to make sure it all lined up with the oil hole in the head.

You also need to remove that rubber block/heel thing off the end of the new tensioner piston. Remove the piston from the tensioner and just grind/cut off the rubber heel and punch off the small metal backing plate thats left there.
Be a bit careful here not to grind the **** out of the end of the piston itself which proitrudes from the metal backing plate and into the rubber itself.

Make sure you give the tensioner a good clean out before fitting it up. Dont forget to retract the tensioner completely and insert a length of wire into the front of the tensioner so it remains retracted while fitting it. Youll see how this works.

L8tr
E



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The older we get........the faster we used to be!

Hey i gave the tensioner thing a try on the weekend and it worked a treat the car made no noises from start up... and it was boostin hard...

E i must have been so close to deserving it... after 30 mins trying to get the frigger in and over 30 times the thing shot off and was sitting behind the chain bout to drop, i had my hand in the down the head and had to try n lift it with a flat head... another 20 mins later i managed to get the thing in perfectly

Stared up and it ran sweet not even a start up rattle



Drove perfect for bout 30 mins then started with the missfire problems again, i bought a new coil this time cause the other one was used so i thought this would fix it again but it didnt

Does this now all the time even on startup, but seems to kick into life for 10 min bursts ever once and a while and when it does it drives like the when i had fixed the tensioner quiet, smooth, builds boost and no missfire

So far ive replaced
-plugs multiple times
-leads
-external coil

Any ideas im now thinking it could be fuel related cause of how it kicks back into life

Is there any chance the ignition module is rooted its one of those bosch ones with the pn: ending in 008

They are $98 new so its not something i wanna rush out n buy, the guy at the shop said their a camira carby model part so im gonna try my luck at U-pull-it so hopefully i may find a couple

Has anyone on the forums had a simular problem

Thanks Simon

i have had the exact same symptoms twice ... miss and carry on, drop a cylinder, run awesome for a bit, pain in the arse ... one time it turned out my injector plugs werent on all the way ... and the other time was the module

hesitation and misfires can also come from your high tension leads earthing out on your engine or anything metal, therefore not getting good spark.
Check that the leads are clear of everything...

Ok got her runnin sweet now...

I remembered when i got it i noticed the rubber boots on the leads kept fallin off so i took them off...

So after checkin back on ere n readin a old hot4's that had a story bout leads... anyhow i put them back on and its runnin sweet im guessing it was just jumping spark to the head before it got to the plug...

Thanks guys for all your help so far ill keep u posted on the beast n how shes runnin

Simon

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