robm

Check the cam timing. One belt might be out by a tooth or so. Rob.

I was just about to add that old Hondas used a similar Hitachi distributor as the Datsun and Subaru. The advance might be different, but any vacuum advance is better than none at all. It makes a huge difference to fuel consumption. The older Haynes manuals sometimes had the distributor specs, if you are curious about what you are getting.

A slight correction to 88rx's post: Don't set the flywheel at 0, set it in the middle of the 3 marks about 90 deg. around from 0.... The 0 is for ignition timing. The 3 marks are for cam timing. Rob.

Double check your cam timing. It is easy to slip a tooth when installing the belts. It will idle fine, but be more gutless than usual. If you actually had to adjust your ignition timing to get it to 20 deg BTDC, I would look at the driver's side particularly hard. If properly done, new belts do not affect ignition timing.

Depends on which model you have. 1/4 way up sounds about right for a Loyale. I get concerned when my NA SPFI Loyale starts to hit 1/3.

I am not positive, but I believe the black and yellow connectors are for connecting a diagnostic device to the ECU. Not required, and the device was proprietary, so good luck trying to find one. I think you are right about the banjo bolt device on the oil filter, it is for a cooler. Not sure if it is stock or aftermarket. Maybe clean it up, and look for a maker's mark? A very neat idea, in any case. If it had thermostatic control, it might improve the longevity of the engine, which have notoriously sensitive cooling systems.

Passenger side of the radiator?? What is a heater fan relay doing there? Do you mean the heater core? I have an intermittent relay that is beginning to get me annoyed. I understood it is under the dash somewhere, but all I see under there looks like a cross between a copper mine and an oil well (masses of copper wire covered in plastic insulation....) Rob.

Armorall IS evil - when used on motorcycle seats. Thank God for turn signal stalks.....

I came across an interesting article on this topic: http://www.acl.co.nz/Tech/Torque%20To%20Yield%20Headbolts.pdf Are the EJ's using "stretch" bolts? However, I can't see why it won't work on EA's, as long as the stress in the bolt stays below the elastic limit.

One is supposed to chase the threads, clean the bolts, and lubricate everything when torquing head bolts. That should reduce variability of torque vs. compression force generated by the bolt, which is what we are really trying to achieve. Having thought about it, I agree that torquing by angle has its points. The question is if the tightening by that angle stretches the bolt (elastically) enough to give the required force, or too much. This is a function of thread pitch, bolt diameter and length, and material. Should be fairly easy to calculate. Too much will stretch head bolts permanently (beyond yield, into plastic flow). Too little will allow headgasket leaks, and break headbolts by fatigue. How much difference is there between the headbolts of the EJ and EA82's?

Insulation should do the job. Or reroute the fuel line. Gasohol may be the cause, as well. Is there ETOH in your fuel down under? Rob.

I would think that torquing head bolts is a function of the bolt, the head design and the gasket design. I would be leery of adapting a new procedure to old bolts, heads and gaskets. Just out of curiosity, Gloyale, have you checked the head bolt torque subsequent to tightening them with the EJ procedure?

Insulate your fuel lines? Maybe that cheap blue foam pipe insulation could be used? You should have something similar in Australia. Seems a strange thing to get, given the high pressure put out by the pump. It is an SPFI, right? Are you using gasohol? Try a different fuel source, with no ethanol, if so. I almost wish I had that problem. It is -10 C here again, or still, I can't remember when it wasn't. And I am heading inland in a few days, where it is still -30. Block heater and battery warmer country. Rob.

Were you trying to start it in the cold, with old summer gas? Summer gas has fewer light, volatile components, and if it is old, they will have all evaporated, making it hard to start the car. Starter fluid acts as the light component, to get the car started in the cold. Try new gas, and see if that helps. Rob.

Actually, I think it goes on the negative side, between the points and the coil. It is points, isn't it? I'm just guessing here, from what is "normal". Rob.

The best way to check is to just roll the engine through a few revolutions, and make sure that all the marks line up for both belts, both cams, every time. Running the engine won't tell you much. One cam can be one tooth out, and it will still sound like it is running quite well. It is not until you notice it is running hot, slow(er than normal) and sucking gas that you realize it isn't right. So, back to paragraph 1: turn the engine over and check, check, check. There is no magic technique for keeping everything lined up, except practice. After you have done it a bit, it will get easier. Keeping it in gear with the handbrake on helps keep the crank in one place. Once you are reasonably experienced, and the belt covers are removed, it is possible to change belts without removing the radiator. Good luck. Rob.

Uberoo's suggestion is not too likely. If the head bolts stretched enough to allow that big chunk to slide from one cylinder to the other, the head would have been found lying on the road. It most likely came in through the intake port.

The idea was to get low emissions, not more power, so the air temperature was controlled very tightly, and the mixture set very lean. Cold air into that situation will make it run really lean... No doubt the warm air also helps with vaporization of the fuel. And carb icing just can't happen, unlike with cruder systems.

Yes, that is the way it works. My sister's mid-80's Honda stopped working well. I traced it to the flapper door linkage and bearings failing. New linkage, etc., and it was perfect again. The mid-80's carbed vehicles were really fussy. Earlier ones just needed warm air to prevent carb icing, but the later ones needed it to get the mixture correct.

Twice now, the defrost blower has suddenly stopped working. This is not a resistor issue, I have dealt with that one a few times. The blower suddenly goes from working on all speeds to not working on any speed. This is on a 1993 Loyale 4WD, 280,000 km. The first time, I poked and pulled a few fuses. All were good. When I tried the blower again, it worked. The second time was a lot scarier. It failed while I was 20 miles from home in a blizzard, and had to crawl the last bit with the windshield wipers scraping over the ice. This is NOT a safe way to drive, given the road is so snowy I can hardly see where it is when the view is clear. Poking the fuses didn't work this time. I got out the Haynes, pulled off the panel to access the blower, and was ready to start probing with the DMM and it started working again. Very strange. The Haynes schematic is not very good, as it covers vehicles with A/C, and I don't have A/C, so the diagram has lots of very confusing extra stuff on it. Is there a blower motor relay on my car? If so, I wonder if it could be the heat affecting it? Maybe it gets hot and stops working. Where is the blower motor relay? I hate intermittents that fix themselves.... Thanks, Rob.

The 155's will be lower in load rating than the original tires. IF you go for them, keep them at maximum pressure listed on the tire, don't load the car to the max, and don't try to rally it! I am using 155/80's for snow tires on my Loyale. Mostly because I cannot obtain 165/80's, the recommended size. 175/70's are a reasonable substitute, but they are wide, which I don't like in a snow tire, and smaller in diameter. They do have a similar load rating. The 155/80's have about the same diameter as the 175/70's, but a lower load rating. As a result, I am doing as I suggest above, running them at max. pressure, and the car lightly loaded. January to March last winter, so far so good. They go on the car tomorrow, as it just started snowing around here.

These warm up fast. If the HG is bad, it can show up at the wierdest times, in stop and go traffic, stopped at a light, or at WOT up a hill. Look for the temperature gauge fluctuating. If it is nice and stable, and about 1/4 - 1/3, it is working right. It might rise slowly if you run at WOT up hill for awhile, or try to see how fast the car will go, but the gauge shouldn't move fast once it is warmed up. Look for the level in the rad, too.

Places to look for oil leaks: Cam covers Front seal ( hidden behind timing belt covers) Cam seals (ditto) Oil oump seal (ditto) Oil pan gasket Most of these are pretty easy to fix. New rad could be because of overheating problems, which took out head gaskets. Look for oily stuff in the coolant, steam in the exhaust (when thoroughly warmed up), coolant smell in the exhaust.

I would be more worried about what your coolant was doing, rather than your oil. A blown head gasket can leak between water and oil, from cylinder pressure to water jacket, or from water, oil, or cylinder pressure to the outside. In my experience, they rarely exhibit more than one of these problems at a time - unless it is REALLY blown, and then you wouldn't be in any doubt. Since yours overheated and spewed coolant all over, and hasn't shown any further tendency to milkshake the oil, I would be most worried about cylinder pressure to water jacket. If it starts to overheat and bubble coolant out of the overflow, then your head gaskets are probably shot. Check your coolant for bubbles, or try one of those kits for finding exhaust gases in coolant. If it hasn't overheated since you found out how to turn on the fan, you might have gotten very lucky... Good luck.

The moon is only abut 239,000 miles away on average. You have about 24000 miles to go...