2.0l Pinto Efi Tuning

[Guest MacMustang]

Hey Guys,

 

After I got back from LeMans on Tue I booked a pre Sva MOT just to check if there were any major things wrong with the Hood. Went to change the battery and it wouldn't start. Took 2 hours to check through everything (spark, fuel & air) before I realised the fuel pump wasn't working. Unfortunately I'd disconnected the fuse by the battery... doh (that will be changed and the fuse holder soldered in).

 

Anyway, finally got the engine started but I noticed the spark plugs were really coke'd up and the engine whilst it idles is running really rich. I understand that the previous owner put the CAM belt on one tooth out. That's now been sorted but whilst it was one tooth out a mobile tuner changed the timing on the dizzy to be full retard/advanced. (btw, should I be worried about bent valves with cam belt 1 tooth out?)

 

I'd like to be able to tune it now or get a mobile tuner round but I don't know any good ones in the area (last one didn't know anything). Can anyone point me to a tuning guide for the Pinto EFI or recommend a good mobile tuner? Prefer to do it myself (cost) but if needs must...

 

Cheers,

 

Adam

[Guest mastarforth]

try this link

 

http://faq.ford77.ru/pdf/how_to_power_tune_Ford_SOHC.pdf

 

It takes a while to downlad but is worth it. alternatively you could buy a copy.

[Guest MacMustang]

try this link

 

http://faq.ford77.ru/pdf/how_to_power_tune_Ford_SOHC.pdf

 

It takes a while to downlad but is worth it. alternatively you could buy a copy.

 

Wow that certainly goes into detail. Need to get a timing light now... hope they're not too expensive

[Swan Jnr]

there was a comparison in last months practical classics, of everything from a 15 pound job to a 300 quid one. it may be worth getting. newsagents may still have a copy as i havent seen the new one yet, if not i can copy it for you, providing i can find it.

 

paul

[Guest MacMustang]

there was a comparison in last months practical classics, of everything from a 15 pound job to a 300 quid one. it may be worth getting. newsagents may still have a copy as i havent seen the new one yet, if not i can copy it for you, providing i can find it.

 

paul

Had a quick look in the local smiths but couldn't see a copy with the review in. If you find it I would really appreciate it.

[Guest MacMustang]

Hmm...

 

Spent the evening checking the timing according to the Haynes manual and everything looks about right. If the timing is out by even a little would it mean it would run really rich on idle?

 

The air filter the previous owner used doesn't look suitable and I'm worried that there was an air leak between the filter and MAF...

[Guest MacMustang]

I've spent another evening going through everything with the cambelt and distributor. The crank shaft timing marks line up when the crankshaft dot and arrow. I've bought a new distributor and rotary arm. I've lined up the distributor to HT lead #1 as best I can (there's no alignment marks on the distributor body). Yesterday I had fixed the baffle to reduce the noise and have now removed that.

 

I've checked for sparks and fuel but still can't get the engine to run. Occasionally it will fire and a couple of time I've had it catch and run for a few seconds but then it stops.

 

If anyone has any tips I'd really appreciate it.

[Guest a8dyc]

Hi,

 

I don't know a lot about engines and don't want to worrie you to much but i would get a compression tester on it just to make sure the valves are ok if the timing belt has been put on wrong!

I know some engines are 'safe' but 1 tooth out on others is not good.

 

Hope I'm wrong!!!!

 

Andy

[Guest MacMustang]

Hi,

 

I don't know a lot about engines and don't want to worrie you to much but i would get a compression tester on it just to make sure the valves are ok if the timing belt has been put on wrong!

I know some engines are 'safe' but 1 tooth out on others is not good.

 

Hope I'm wrong!!!!

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for the reply, I forgot to mention I checked the compression last night. I was also worried about the valves but every piston came up nicely.

 

It's a real head scratching problem. It has to be something obvious but don't know what

 

My distributor has a plug on for the advance timing by the ecu (not sure if it's bosch or another make). Does anyone know if there are any timing marks that I may have missed?

 

Adam

[steve in stockport]

Adam

 

from memory the timing for the efi pinto is either 6 or 8 degrees btdc, line the crank pulley marks up and turn the dizzy so the rotor arm is pointing at no. 1 lead to get you in the right area - this should be ok to get you going.

an air leak between the filter and the air flow meter wont affect the running, but one after it will cause problems, usually in terms of making it run lean.

 

if the plugs are sooted it would seem to be over fuelling at idle - check the plug is on the temp sender, and that the sender is working, on the inlet manifold between 2 and 3 cylinders as a fault here will make the ecu think the engine is still running cold and keep adding fuel as at start up

 

fuel pressure regulator may be worth looking at too

 

 

Steve

[Guest MacMustang]

Adam

 

from memory the timing for the efi pinto is either 6 or 8 degrees btdc, line the crank pulley marks up and turn the dizzy so the rotor arm is pointing at no. 1 lead to get you in the right area - this should be ok to get you going.

an air leak between the filter and the air flow meter wont affect the running, but one after it will cause problems, usually in terms of making it run lean.

 

if the plugs are sooted it would seem to be over fuelling at idle - check the plug is on the temp sender, and that the sender is working, on the inlet manifold between 2 and 3 cylinders as a fault here will make the ecu think the engine is still running cold and keep adding fuel as at start up

 

 

Steve

Hey Steve,

 

It was good meeting you in LeMans

 

Tonight I'm going to get a new CAM belt and spark plugs and give it a try. I'll check the temp sender but how do you tell if it is working?

 

I'd love to go down the route you did with the red top but my prirority is to get the pinto running and then SVA the vehicle. I've got a 24V V6 Cosworth engine that I'm contemplating putting in it. Only concern is that it would be too heavy!

 

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Adam

[steve in stockport]

not sure how to test them, I had a full spare injection set up so i had a selection of parts to swap if things went wonky, but fortunately they never did.

I presume they work on variable voltage/resistance and go either open or closed circuit when at the correct temp - not sure whether using a wire link in place of the switch would fool the ecu and/ or be safe in terms of not blowing it up.

 

Getting in touch with Grim, Timswait or Dan Beeston could be worth while as they all seem pretty knowledgable

 

I think the only spare i have left is a coolant temp sensor

 

one other thing to check is the vac pipe from the fuel reg to the plenum, thses can collapse or get crushed so the fuel pressure reg cant lower the pressure in the fuel rail

 

Steve

[Guest Space--ace]

Please excuse my english..... Maybe i haven´t understand the problem, too. But could it be the timing belt is wrong ? Have you mounted it new ? The rotary arm also must look to the mark. Not only the point on the arrow and the "nose" to the line on bdc. If this is wrong, it will fire totaly wrong. If the head is ORIGINAL and not modificated it shouldn´t be a problem with the one tooth. The pinto has enough place even the belt gets damaged without damaging the Head. If there is a modificated head mounted, it depends on the modifications.

[Guest timswait]

At what point did the engine stop running at all? In your first post it seems to be running albeit badly, and now you can't even get it to start. The first thing to do therefore needs to be to go back over the things you've done since it was running and undo them until it runs again, then change one thing at a time and try to improve it. Check your plug leads and then check them again. Its very easy when you're fiddling about taking them on and off to put them back in the wrong place on the distributor, make sure the right one goes to the right cylinder.

An air leak between the filter and the MAF will not cause problems, but an air leak between the MAF and the engine will (but this will cause it to run lean - unless it has been 'adjusted' to compensate for the leak in which case it may be variable in mixture, to rich in places, too lean in others). You say the filter appears unsuitable, what do you mean? If it's overly restrictive this may be a problem, try running it without one while you're testing, but do get round to fitting a new one before you start driving it around.

Check the resistance of the temp sensor, I don't know what the value should be, I've lost my Autodata CD which would have told me unfortunately. However if it reads open circuit or short circuit (ie no resistance or infinite resistance) then will be a problem. I doubt this would stop it running at all but it could cause your bad running earlier.

Try disconnecting the ECU (or unplugging the battery) for a few minutes and then reconnecting it. If you've been unplugging things while its been turned on it will think there's a fault and enter limp home mode. if you unplug it it should clear its memory and reset it.

I have heard that to get an engine like this where you don't know the timing started you should try gently turning the dizzy back and forth while someone else cranks it over. When it catches and runs then you can time it up properly with a strobe.

EDIT: That's also a good point space ace. If you've had the belt off then check all the timing marks (crankshaft, camshaft, dizzy drive sprocket) line up.

[Guest MacMustang]

Please excuse my english..... Maybe i haven´t understand the problem, too. But could it be the timing belt is wrong ? Have you mounted it new ? The rotary arm also must look to the mark. Not only the point on the arrow and the "nose" to the line on bdc. If this is wrong, it will fire totaly wrong. If the head is ORIGINAL and not modificated it shouldn´t be a problem with the one tooth. The pinto has enough place even the belt gets damaged without damaging the Head. If there is a modificated head mounted, it depends on the modifications.

I've checked the timing belt a couple of times now and when cylinder #1 at TDC (crank pully at 0) the arrow is maybe 2mm off the dot. Unfortynately this must be where the belt has stretched as moving it to the next tooth moves the dot more than 2mm the other side of the arrow. Head is original.

 

Last night I replaced the spark plugs and got it to fire and kind of idle but it didn't sound like it was firing on all cylinders. Trying to increase the revs made it die and eventually it died any way.