KL-ZE Swap Randomly Dying

[CaffeineTripp]

Upon further inspection by doing a compression check on all the cylinders; all reading 175+. I'd say that's a healthy engine. No hissing or bubbling coming from the coolant caps, no hissing, or at least a very slight hissing (probably due to the tester seal) from the crankcase.

I figure that because there's no milky residue in the coolant or the oil, not even in the little amount of oil I drained from the pan, everything should be fine. My guess is the oil that's leaking from the pan combined, over time, with the slight coolant leak from a frost plug on the rear of the engine. Both dripped down to the lowest point of the oil pan and gave a false positive for a head gasket failure.

On the plus side, I don't have to replace the head gaskets and spend a fortune on that.

[davmac]

Good to see you did some further testing. I've replaced head gaskets with the engine in the car and it is a lot of work. I would have simply done a coolant pressure test to see if the coolant system held pressure over time. You can rent / borrow a coolant pressure tester from some parts stores. An inexpensive combustion gas test kit from NAPA will confirm presence of combustion gases in the coolant and confirms head gasket failure.

Unfortunately I'm guessing you still have not found the source of random stalling.

[CaffeineTripp]

Haven't found the random stalling yet, it has appeared to have gotten a little worse. I can't do a cooling pressure test, because there are already external leaks, so the test won't show anything. I'll have to nab a combustion chamber gas test kit from O'Reilly's.

The exhaust still has the sweet smell, and looks like it's pouring out white smoke, but no catalytic to help filter anything, not that it would filter much to begin with.

This is one hell of an annoying engine swap.

[Daninski]

The exhaust still has the sweet smell, and looks like it's pouring out white smoke, but no catalytic to help filter anything, not that it would filter much to begin with.

This 'ususally' means a leaking head gasket. Did you have the heads checked when you replaced the gaskets?

[CaffeineTripp]

Haven't removed the heads yet. I believe our plan is going to be to remove the engine entirely, bring the heads to a machine shop to get port, polished, and gasket matched along with decked for flatness. Use MLS head gaskets and ARP bolts and put it all back together. I don't know what this kid was doing when he 'rebuilt' the engine, but he didn't do a very good job. On the plus side, he did most of the wallet work.

Anyway, it'll be a fun winter project, hopefully. I'll still truck on with figuring out the dying, but I'm not to keen on buying the Neutral Switch just yet.

[CaffeineTripp]

After taking a hiatus on it and cleaning up the garage a little, I got back into it, double checked all the wiring and put it where it should be for the ignition according to the diagrams. Previously I had just fixed the wiring and put it back to how it was originally. Apparently I should have been a little more conscious of how poorly a job the PO did.

Figured I might take a look at other options as well that would contribute to a kill while driving. Check the Crankshaft Position sensor. Came out to 100 Ohms more that what was rated. Yep, definitely, bad. After removing the sensor I found this





I would say that the CPS is officially bad as there is bare wire showing all over. It had enough connectivity to start the engine, but possibly not enough to keep it running because the wires would jostle between correct resistance reading and way off. Definitely a symptom. I'm going to go ahead and replace the sensor, of course, rather than attempting a fix on a part that may be bad. We'll see if this helps overall.

Also, I ended up checking the clutch switch and the safety switch from inside the vehicle. The PO hooked up an aftermarket alarm system, badly of course, and cut one of the wires to the clutch safety switch (the large white switch mounted towards the firewall, if it is actually the clutch safety switch). Reattached it and tested both switches on the clutch arm out, one in one out and vice versa. No change there.

So far I've ruled out Ignition Wiring for HEI mod, Interior Clutch Switch and Clutch/Netural Switch, and Ignition Switch. There's really not much left to test on the vehicle besides replacing the CPS or the Positive Battery Cable.

[SuperK]

my KL had the CPS sheared in half. It still ran, but sounded and drove like it was running on 5 cylinders. It'll still work without the sensor, but poorly.

[CaffeineTripp]

my KL had the CPS sheared in half. It still ran, but sounded and drove like it was running on 5 cylinders. It'll still work without the sensor, but poorly.

I did check that as well with the sensor unplugged, engine ran the same as with it plugged in. Replaced the sensor anyway because might as well get one less problem. Vehicle still sputtered and shut down. I noticed that the throttle cable has been getting a little sticky, I'll have to remove it and lubricate it as it would be much easier to do outside of the vehicle. What a PITA that's going to be to release the clips.

To help the car along though, and maybe this is part of the problem that was coupled with the rest; I found a longer M5 x .8 bolt and some nuts to create a throttle plate stop. I have the idle at 1,100, which for now isn't too bad and I'll get back to adjusting it later. The engine did not turn off! For once, it idled for 10+ minutes on it's own power without have to keep it alive by using the pedal. Should have guessed earlier that it might be something as simple as this, though I find it to be a much better idea to fix all the little things that were wrong with the vehicle to begin with. And there's more shoddy wiring to be taken care of.

Still though, considering this is somewhat of a Frankenstein build, is there anything else that I should be looking for?

[davmac]

I'm glad you got this to idle on its own, but think what you did is use the throttle plate stop to keep the throttle slightly opened (= your foot lightly pressing on the accelerator pedal). Either the air passage that is controlled by the idle screw is mucked up. Or possibly the original owner combined a KLDE throttle body with a KLZE Idle Air Controller (IAC). Combining TB and IAC sometimes requires some holes added to the underside of the TB.

I can explain and post some pics re: throttle body IAC combos when you get to the point you want a proper 650 rpm idle. First clean your TB.

FYI if you want to do some research:
KLDE will also be referred to as being KL03. The KLDE throttle body and IAC either KL01 or KL02.
The KLZE will also be referred to as KL31. The KLZE throttle body and IAC either KL30 or KL31 (curved neck is KL47 and KL68). These other numbers are stamped on the engine or the part and can be confusing - but if you know this you can search for info both ways.

[CaffeineTripp]

I'm glad you got this to idle on its own, but think what you did is use the throttle plate stop to keep the throttle slightly opened (= your foot lightly pressing on the accelerator pedal). Either the air passage that is controlled by the idle screw is mucked up. Or possibly the original owner combined a KLDE throttle body with a KLZE Idle Air Controller (IAC). Combining TB and IAC sometimes requires some holes added to the underside of the TB.

Oh most definitely, this was just the quick fix so far. I'd rather mask the symptom at the moment and have the vehicle be driveable as a backup.

I can explain and post some pics re: throttle body IAC combos when you get to the point you want a proper 650 rpm idle. First clean your TB.

That would be nice to have for the combinations as the Chilton's does nothing for providing the different variations, that and it's a bit hard to come up with them all even when using the search function on any site. I've already cleaned the throttle body out.

FYI if you want to do some research:
KLDE will also be referred to as being KL03. The KLDE throttle body and IAC either KL01 or KL02.
The KLZE will also be referred to as KL31. The KLZE throttle body and IAC either KL30 or KL31 (curved neck is KL47 and KL68). These other numbers are stamped on the engine or the part and can be confusing - but if you know this you can search for info both ways.

Part number variants I didn't know which would be which, but I'll find out. I believe that the TB was KL30.

[CaffeineTripp]

Alright, getting closer, but now it's time to replace the Throttle Position Sensor Connector; the wires are awful. I could only find a connector at two outlets; AutoZone and RockAuto. Both are about fifty bucks. Yeah, that's a bit expensive. Tried crossing the part number as well, even through Mazda, but couldn't come up with an aftermarket other than 1P1221 or 599. OEM number is 5019924AA.

So, instead of shelling out the money for a new one at this point, anyone have a spare? Will post to WTB as well.