Maybe for you, but not for me. Life with a baby and two young kids keeps me occupied and out of the garage most of the time even on the weekends. I get my work done at night for the most part. I’m also not a seasoned mechanic, so I’d rather take my time to fully understand exactly what I’m doing than whip it together and find out I did it wrong or threw out something critical. The kit is relatively simple for what it is; I’m just also trying to figure out exactly what it allows me to eliminate and what I need to keep. Either way, I am working around the stuff I’m not sure about; I don’t just post a question and stop working until I get an answer.
Good approach.
Quick update. I’m off the Mobeck-related stuff for now while I take care of the cam cover gaskets, half moon seals, and rear banjo bolts. Got the intake manifolds and cam covers off tonight. Found that the half moon seal I heavily suspected of leaking has a bunch of sealant slathered onto the back of it and even kind of down onto the banjo bolt below. Maybe someone knew it was leaking but didn’t want to take it apart? Or more scandalously, the mechanic that swapped the engine just a few years ago for the previous owner saw the leak and slapped some sealant on to make it seem okay. Doesn’t matter really, just makes me wonder. Also found a couple of broken vacuum connections on the left side once I got the manifold off. Glad to be eliminating the need for those.
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[Restored the post above. Didn’t realize I could un-delete before.]
It’s fairly simple Troy, locate and remove all the equivalent stuff and their wiring:
ECU (trunk/boot)
Fuel relay and main relay (above radiator?)
Aux Fan relay
Air temp sensor (on air intake)
Water temp sensor
Lambda (O2) sensors wiring
Throttle position sensor
Ignition Amp and distributor
Coils
Injector connectors (you did already)
I would keep the Start Inhibit relay, it’s a good safety feature
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Any progress?
There has been a little progress! Just picking away at things as I can. I ordered the Wizard Cooling radiator and fan kit, so I’m waiting on that for a bit, but in the meantime I’m working on oil leaks, removing the air injection system (and blanking it off), and sourcing a GM alternator to put in place of the air pump as an upgrade over the stock alternator.
Since the last post, I cleaned off the valve cover gaskets (which took way too long) and upgraded the oil feed banjo bolts and half moon seals. As I mentioned before, the car was leaking a horrendous amount of oil, mainly from the back of the engine on the left side. I had it on a lift and could see the oil drip down from higher up on the engine but couldn’t see exactly where. I figured it was either the half moon seal or the banjo bolt. I guessed the latter since it was like a pressurized leak and not just some seepage somewhere. The previous owner claimed that it didn’t have that problem for him, and given the very limited mileage he put on the car after the engine replacement a few years ago, I think he might have been telling the truth or was just ignorant about the extent of the leak. Either way, SOMEBODY knew it was leaking, because at the back of the valve cover and down onto the banjo bolt, lots of black silicone sealant was smeared across the area in a vain attempt to seal it better.
Here is the old banjo bolt and its paper thin copper washers next to the upgraded piece from John-John (jag-improver on ebay):
And the new bolt installed:
I also cleaned up the valve covers a little bit. They were mostly just oily on the sides, and you can’t tell that from the pictures. Much cleaner now. Part of me wants to get them painted while I have them off, but they’re still in pretty good shape as they are and I’m not doing a drastic restoration of everything anyway.
Before:
After:
Next things I’m tackling include trying to get the crankshaft damper off to install the Mobeck trigger ring. I also have an oil leak on the front of the engine, and it’s been kind of hard for me to pinpoint, but the more I look at it, the more I wonder if it’s the front crankshaft seal and the oil is being flung around by the pulley as it spins. It only seems to leak while running, and the oil even shows up on the hood (bonnet) liner. I’m at work and don’t have a good example picture handy, but you can kind of see the oiliness around the area in this photo:
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I haven’t been following this closely, but this kit will need to be slightly re-engineered regarding the idle valve.
I used the same Bosch idle valve on my v12 project and if you look at the diameter of the idle valve throat and compare it to the old Jaguar wax controlled extra air valve, you’ll find the Bosch valve is much smaller than the idle valve it is replacing. This isn’t an issue until you have to start the car at near zero or sub-zero (centigrade) temperatures, when the amount of air required to crank the engine will exceed the amount of air a small idle valve like this can deliver. My solution was to use two such idle valves in parallel - one per bank and alter the opening parameters so the load was spread between them. To control them, I set up a couple of Darlingtons outside the ECU enclosure. I did that to stop any electrical interference from high current PWM devices interacting with the ECU. (My injectors and coilpacks are also wired to return their grounding signals outside the main ECU for the same reason so there can be no source of electrical noise within the controlling environment.)
Essentially what I’m saying is I doubt one Bosch idle valve is going to shift enough air for a 5.3litre engine to successfully crank at sub-zero temperatures. I couldn’t get it to work ten years ago when I did my kit and the laws of physics haven’t changed since then. This idle valve was designed to service a smaller engine than the one it is about to be put into. It’ll be fine 95% of the time, but I’d question whether it’ll be underspec’d for the same job on a cold winter’s day.
kind regards
Marek
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Contrary to what was expressed above, Hall effect sensors consume next to no current - just a few mA and that’s it. You do have to plan in advance though, as a Hall sensor needs 3 wires, whereas a VR sensor needs just the standard two wires so your loom has to accommodate that. The conditioning circuit at the ECU end will need to be different - a Hall sensor provides a digital on/off input based on the supplied voltage whereas a VR sensor generates a voltage pulse in proportion to wheel speed and this pulse exceeds supply voltage.
kind regards
Marek
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That all sounds like something @Mobeck might have input on. But considering he’s based in Norway, my guess is that his kit has taken subzero starting into consideration. Hopefully it works just fine, but I don’t really anticipate much subzero starting anyway. I won’t drive it in the winter unless it’s a reasonably nice day, and the car stays parked inside. I might never run into that issue even if it is a potential problem.
Troy,
Barring that the head gasket or the cam cover seals were leaking, there are two places that couldleak at the front, the front seal and the cam chain tensioner plug.
I suggest you change both regardless.
For the tensioner plug you can fab something yourself or buy a new original, or John-John sels a very good from aluminium.
As for the front seal, it’s very easy once you remove the pulley.
I found a Viton seal that fits and a separate seal as a dust cover, it worked fine.
I have an extra one I could sell, PM If you are interested.
The outermost seal as a dust shield sounds great but what allows it to live without some small trace of engine oil as a lube?
It works as any other double lip seal, it’s springless so not much force/friction, just enough to keep the dust out.
Thanks, Aristides!
I actually already installed the new tensioner plug from John-John, along with his half moon seals, banjo bolts, and throttle bushings. I thought that the chain tensioner plug would be the problem because I was seeing oil on the engine higher up than the crankshaft pulley. But now I think it’s because the oil was only really coming out from the front seal when running and the spinning crankshaft pulley was flinging it up higher. There is considerably more oil residue at or below the crankshaft pulley’s level, so I think the front seal is the real culprit.
I will PM you about the seal.
A while back I ditched the OEM AAV on my coupe HE 5.3L V12.
This is not quite a standard engine, it has an electric coolant pump and an aftermarket EFI system.
I tried one of those Bosch AAVs shown in this post, and made a PWM controller for it.
The controller had an input from a temperature sensor.
It did do the job of extra air for cold starts, but when driving the car it had a very subtle RPM hunting effect which I could feel but did not show up on the Rev counter: Very annoying.
It took me a while to find out why. The Bosch valve had the +ve connection to the battery +ve side in the engine compartment.
The -ve connection went to the PWM controller. While the PWM drive was constant at any temperature, slight variations in alternator output changed the opening of the valve, which translated as variations in RPM. I ditched the Bosch valve.
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Hi MarekH
I can report that this valve can easily deliver enough air to make the engine idle at 2000 rpm when hot.
Make it start in -10 degrees and Idle at 1300rpm and so on. No problems.
But making a map for coldstart and Idle is not so easy. 80% of idle control is ignition advance for better response.
And most people will not beleiwe how many % extra fuel you need at -10 degrees for starting, its incredibly much.
Also the valve has to be controlled at the right Hz and modulation to have correct 0-100% function, witch I am shure you did correct.
Also the throttle plates must be adjusted correctly, not fully closed as they then can stick shut when all that vacum suck them into the throttle bore. They need to be adjusted as std spec explained in the installation manual.
But none of this will be done by a dyno road tuner, they spend 4 hours and make a map that works for the printout. Then you have some weeks woth drivability, coldstart and idle adjustments after that. I still do adjustments to the idle map as more and more people use the kit in different enviorment around the world.
This kit is first of all developed for std cars with std engines, and plug and play installation witch can be done by anyone. If I get special requests for larger engines and different setups it is ofcorse discussed and adapted to their need. But it is not anything I let everybody get insight into.
Its great to see Troy make this tread, then I can observe and see what he find difficoult or maybe misunderstand, then I can adjust my installation manual or kit layout acordingly.
I just let him continue without too much comments from me.
Best regard
Ole Mobeck
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That’s good to hear.
I found my idle valve was very nearly 100% open at 4’c and struggled at sub-zero temperatures. Having non-standard camshafts which are “difficult” below 2000rpm without a large dose of ignition advance may have influenced this. Also, if some of your customers bore out their blocks excessively past 6 litres, then this may be something to keep in the back of your mind for future reference.
kind regards
Marek
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It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last update, and even though I haven’t made a ton of progress in that time, I thought I’d give a little update. We had my grandfather’s estate sale on the 22nd, and I was busy with prep for that and then cleanup, going through the stuff that’s leftover, and all the rest.
I received my Wizard Cooling radiator and fan setup last week. It looks great. Of course, I’ll wait until the end to install it, but at least it’s on hand.
Now the question: which coolant should I use? I’ve considered switching to Evanscool waterless coolant, but that’s a lot of money, especially when you factor in the prep fluid to switch to it and get all the water out of the system. Or I could do Dexcool, which is supposed to be better for aluminum engines. Or stick with the standard coolant. Thoughts?
I’m currently waiting on my new GM CS130 alternator and a 33mm socket to ship. I’ll need the latter for removing the crankshaft damper. Once that’s off, I also need to replace the front crankshaft seal. Aristides proposed using a single-lip Viton seal and a second seal placed backwards as a dust cover. His thread about his own installation is linked in his message above. I haven’t decided whether I’m going that route or trying to keep it standard. Going with Viton is tempting though.
Evidence of the oil leak:
Apart from that, I’ve mainly just tried to clean up some dirt and grime out of the engine bay. Not going for pristine cleanliness here, but I might as well work on it while I’ve got so much stuff out of the way. More to do.
Next update should come when I’ve got the crankshaft damper off. I’m eager to get past the disassembly stage and finally start putting it all together!
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If you do go with the Viton seal, make sure you read the instructions, I believe theres a quite specific procedure for the first start up.
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About 10 years ago Troy I put in Wizard alum radiator and did the Evans conversion. I liked the bit about non-corrosive and higher boiling point.
If you put in Evans be aware that it has a low viscosity and you will be chasing seeps and weeps. I didn’t ever see any big difference in my coolant Temps . I changed back to the good old standard 2 year stuff about a year ago.
My recommendation is just go with 2 year stuff
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