Fried ECU

[idosubaru]

Great. Look forward to that first test drive report. Well done tracking this down.  Very interesting how intermittent the gas tank debris was. 

I have a feeling sheared and stripped bolts would greet us folks in rust prone areas if we messed with gas tanks.  And we wouldn’t want to be torching tight spots next to a gas tank!

[idosubaru]

Don’t forget to review the fuel pump sock, fuel filter, as well as fuel pressure regulator and injectors (if they can clog) to ensure all lines from tank to engine are clean. 

[davepak]

1 hour ago, idosubaru said:

Great. Look forward to that first test drive report. Well done tracking this down.  Very interesting how intermittent the gas tank debris was. 

I have a feeling sheared and stripped bolts would greet us folks in rust prone areas if we messed with gas tanks.  And we wouldn’t want to be torching tight spots next to a gas tank!

I agree with you! 

The tank has been sitting filled with soapy water for about 2 hours. I'll cut an opening wide enough to have proper access to this suction structure and ensure no debris or dirt is left inside before putting it back together. 

In the meantime I painted the rear differential crossmember. Cleaned the differential, checked all fuel lines, brake lines and verify the operation of the two-way valve for the evaporation lines. 

I'll verify the gear oil level of the differential as well. 

Later on I'll put body filler on the quarter panel's dent. 

Next week hopefully I'll get fresh paint and clear coat for the paint job of that dent. 

[davepak]

1 hour ago, idosubaru said:

Don’t forget to review the fuel pump sock, fuel filter, as well as fuel pressure regulator and injectors (if they can clog) to ensure all lines from tank to engine are clean. 

Top tip @idosubaru!

All done. Even the evaporation venting lines from the canister 

[davepak]

12 hours ago, DaveT said:

Yeah, that angle and stuff effecting the engine running sounds really suspicious.   How does the pump get the fuel out of the tank on this version?   Could the pickup tune have a crack or other failure  that let's it suck air at certain angles  / under heavy acceleration? 

 

Re the sheild - normal sheild practice is that only one end is grounded.   You don't want current flowing in the sheild,  it is only supposed to absorb the unwanted signal.

I'll address this pick up line today once I cut open the tank 

[davepak]

1 hour ago, el_freddo said:

Isn’t an XT tank the same as an L series EFI tank? I always thought the Vortex/XT4 were all based on the L series chassis/floor pan design with the changes being the body construction and styling. 

I don’t know the availability of the L series/Leone’s over your way @davepak. 

And certainly in this case, an EJ conversion would not solve this issue as it would do the same thing! 

Very lucky you didn’t burn through all the fuel pumps you tried out. 

Now, what about putting that turbo back on? Go on, you know you want to for that extra reliability factor!   

Cheers 

Bennie

Hahaha the thought is enticing. But I remember seeing how unreliable (to me) the turbo's cooling lines were. It was water cooled and oiled cooled... I don't know.. Plus, it's a "toy turbo" not a pressure boost that'll make me go faster to do some grocery shopping hahaha 

About the tank.. I'll salvage this one. It suffered being abandoned for who knows how long building up rust and debris. I know I could get a second hand one from the guy at the junkyard.. But no need at this time 

[davepak]

Clooged beyond recognition 

[davepak]

So the tank its on its way to be welded and sealed after the most laborious wash and cleaning I've done to a tank. 5 washes actually. 

I cleaned and reconditioned the inner filter of the suction structure, leaving not even a speck of dirt. 

The first picture speaks by itself. It was rusty mud in there. The inner filter's metal screen was clogged with super small particles. 

I have a busy week coming along! 

Edited January 31, 2021 by davepak

[88SubGL]

Nice job cleaning that tank. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tank that bad. It ought to run great now. It looks like your perseverance  is going to pay  off.

[davepak]

So the tank was welded and sealed back. 

I finished the repair of the dent and its ready for primer and paint. A busy day but quite rewarding! 

[davepak]

Just now, 88SubGL said:

Nice job cleaning that tank. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tank that bad. It ought to run great now. It looks like your perseverance  is going to pay  off.

Thanks a lot @88SubGL

Reviewing some tank cleaning videos.. The presentator addresses dirty tanks. And they looked so clean to me when compared to my car's tank. I can see how the fuel system was overwhelmed with this amount of clogging! 

[el_freddo]

Fingers crossed that this is the end of your issues mate! 

Cheers 

Bennie

[davepak]

It lives!

I took it for a ride and definetely noticed a change in behavior! There is still some old fuel in it so I think the minor sputtering will be there until it burns it all.

It fired up right away! No whinig of the pump.

All other systems are ok (except the steering rack's leaks) maybe another time..

I took a pic quickly during the test drive. 

And I also made an appointment for the periodical inspection. I'll work on fine tuning and painting the rear quarter panel.

I'll post the updates!

Edited February 2, 2021 by davepak
content added

[davepak]

It's official: it's alive and street legal. 

It passed the periodical inspection with flying colours and minor marks. (oil wetness, corrosion in chassis.. Etc) 

It behaved well despite old fuel in the tank that I know has still some contamination. It climbed up the hills weakly at first but then it improved. 

I know now it needs to be used! 

Thank you all for the support @idosubaru @Rampage @88SubGL @el_freddo  @1 Lucky Texan and the rest of the members who gave me ideas and help.

My conclusion goes down to that clogged tank, and a chain of misfortunes for such a rare car where no one would understand its proper operation. 

I will:

Burn up all the remaining fuel and clean the fuel filter or replace it again if needed. 

Place an injector treatment for good measure. 

Have a hydraulics hose made for the steering rack and address the leaking. (it's not the engine, it's the steering rack) 

I'd probably work on the body and continue a paint job detailing  and polishing. 

Fix the radio console so I can finally play some old tunes while going about town. 

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by davepak
Content added

[el_freddo]

Power steering lines and basically anything in the drivetrain is interchangeable with the same era of Leone and L series. So those PS line could be found second hand. But new units would be mint and you’ll know it’s good. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[idosubaru]

Enjoy the drivable XT!

I guess you’ve already diagnosed it but the power steering rack side shaft seals are usually the cause of leaks. 

[davepak]

On 2/5/2021 at 5:41 PM, el_freddo said:

Power steering lines and basically anything in the drivetrain is interchangeable with the same era of Leone and L series. So those PS line could be found second hand. But new units would be mint and you’ll know it’s good. 

Cheers 

Bennie

Thanks Bennie!

Yesterday I got one of those pipes. It was the high pressure line from the steering pump into the rack. I couldn't fit it 2 years ago, and I almost couldn't yesterday it took me about 3 hours of fiddling .  This will take care of the major leak on the steering system

[davepak]

On 2/5/2021 at 11:40 PM, idosubaru said:

Enjoy the drivable XT!

I guess you’ve already diagnosed it but the power steering rack side shaft seals are usually the cause of leaks. 

There was a major leak from the high pressure "hose" as I had placed one 2 years ago. I couldn't fit the actual pipe on its thread. Until yesterday after 3h of fiddling and a junkyard piece. I've got the gasket set for the rack but I might wait a bit. The repair is a bit pricey and removing the steering assembly is a nightmare! 

[idosubaru]

Good. Yeah the rack rebuild looks like a nightmare. I would like to do it as I have a few irreplaceable XT6 racks I’d like to seal up. But I’ve avoided it so far, disassembly looks miserable. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by idosubaru

[davepak]

2 hours ago, idosubaru said:

Good. Yeah the rack rebuild looks like a nightmare. I would like to do it as I have a few irreplaceable XT6 racks I’d like to seal up. But I’ve avoided it so far, disassembly looks miserable. 

Same here. The rack on the car now is a pulled one in "good condition" as per the guy from the junkyard...but I know it leaks from the side seals ( the first one he gave me was seriously worse) there is a shop specialized in rebuilding them..so I guess on my next vacation I'll have it done. The original rack is sitting there so I can use it and have some motivation by then..  to put it back on its horrendously tight nest ! Maybe by then I can get a set of new injectors and a pair of angel eyes headlights.

On the remaining vacation days I might work on the sunroof. The handle is broken and nowhere to find one. Planning to have it made out of a steel plate at a shop..

Then paint the roof and change the weather rubber strip..

What about your XT6, do you drive it around?

[idosubaru]

8 hours ago, davepak said:

 there is a shop specialized in rebuilding them.

What about your XT6, do you drive it around?

Would you be able to tell me about this shop?  Like could I mail them a rack to rebuild for an XT6?  

Yes, I've been daily driving XT's since 1992....(good grief that sounds terrible).  My current one I lifted in the late fall and it needs some tweaks, but I'm not too worried about driving it with the amount of salt they've got all over the roads right now. 

[davepak]

34 minutes ago, idosubaru said:

Would you be able to tell me about this shop?  Like could I mail them a rack to rebuild for an XT6?  

Yes, I've been daily driving XT's since 1992....(good grief that sounds terrible).  My current one I lifted in the late fall and it needs some tweaks, but I'm not too worried about driving it with the amount of salt they've got all over the roads right now. 

Oh man about that shop... Im down here in San Jose... Costa Rica! That's why sometimes getting spare parts is not as easy or I have to wait for 2 weeks when I order something from the US (Like the actual fried ECUs I got) They quoted me about 200 usd for the repair of the rack... I wish I can do it myself but there are a couple of special tools to get it apart. I think with the placement of the high pressure pipe the other day, the most significant leak is addressed until next time.

But thinking about it, there must be many shops like this over there in the US, and if you mail them the gasket and seal kit also, they should be able to leave it as good as new.

Dave 

 

[idosubaru]

2 hours ago, davepak said:

Oh man about that shop... Im down here in San Jose... Costa Rica! That's why sometimes getting spare parts is not as easy or I have to wait for 2 weeks when I order something from the US (Like the actual fried ECUs I got) They quoted me about 200 usd for the repair of the rack... I wish I can do it myself but there are a couple of special tools to get it apart. I think with the placement of the high pressure pipe the other day, the most significant leak is addressed until next time.

But thinking about it, there must be many shops like this over there in the US, and if you mail them the gasket and seal kit also, they should be able to leave it as good as new.

Dave 

 

Thanks, I knew you were in no mans land sometimes, so I'm not surprised.  I've never heard of shops doing it here, most are large scale operations which pose a few speed bumps but yeah I'm sure some place out there has done it. 

[davepak]

4 hours ago, idosubaru said:

Thanks, I knew you were in no mans land sometimes, so I'm not surprised.  I've never heard of shops doing it here, most are large scale operations which pose a few speed bumps but yeah I'm sure some place out there has done it. 

 

You know I've seen a video of a Russian guy servicing a Koyo steering rack, and its not that difficult. The main thing I see is to have the special tool to extract the inner shaft plus the tricky placement of an inner circlip..I'm going to do a test drive and see if the leak has really improved. Because it might have been that temporary fix I made. I used a compressed air coupling (for the thread ) and a clamp on a hose. It sure leaked a lot from there and maybe it dripped down to the boots making it look a lot worse..

[idosubaru]

Thanks. I try to avoid videos so I probably wouldn’t have found that. I’ve looked up rack rebuild write ups.  The best one is a good early generation legacy specific write up a guy did that would be very similar, if not essentially identical to, the xt6.

XT racks can be bought remanned for like $80 on eBay or rockAuto sometimes. I bought one a year or two ago. Worked fine but I’d rather have a resealed OEM XT6 rack.