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troubleshooting problems.

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:28 pm
by inthetwisties
What's up guys, first post here lol.
I've always wanted to pick up an ae, I finally traded a 240 shell for one.
The kid I got it from lied about a bunch of **** about the car so I'm tryin to get it running well.
I am a complete newbie to rollas and their motors, but I've got a decent mechanical background (always learning of course.)
Well, the car, from what I know is a 4age. It's got a few Japanese stickers on the valve cover lol. Once I find where its stamped ill let you know for sure.

It's got a full msd ignition, dual sidedraft weber 40's, full exhaust, and springs. (That's all I was told.)
For starters, I need a starter lol.
But when I bumpstarted it, it ran decent. But I noticed some problems.
It idles high...Idk how how because the tach doesn't work, but j would guess around 2k.
When I get in it...wot...and let off of the throttle, the throttle will stick.
I've read that could be due to a lean condition, or a ripped diaphragm in the carb. This is my first carbed car so bare with me.

This isn't my dd, so I don't care for it to be down a while to fix it right.
I've slowly been getting into drifting over the past few years so that's the direction the car is going in.

Thanks for any help ahead of time!

Re: troubleshooting problems.

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:41 pm
by allencr
inthetwisties wrote:...the throttle will stick. I've read that could be due to a lean condition, or a ripped diaphragm in the carb.


I don't think that you could read that anywhere except a ridiculously bad post on the WWW.
Linkage or linkage or linkage, that's it.

Re: troubleshooting problems.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 5:42 pm
by carbd7age
Fixin the tach is easy. You need a tach adapter MSD part number 8920 will do the job.

Re: troubleshooting problems.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:00 pm
by Red
Starters:
Well, the starter on a 4AGE needs a heat shield, the "normal" starter for a 4AC does not have one and does not have the hole tapped in it to install one, and if you put on the wrong starter, without the heat shield? Right, it will burn out. So make sure you get the right one.
Which is part of having a 4AGE, which was stock with the AE88 GT-S, not the base models. You might want to find out if you have a base model with a transplant, or a GT-S with engine mods.

Personally, I've always figured if something was heavily modded and isn't running 100%, you have to suspect all the work that was done might not be right. Carbs are best tuned with the help of a manual, and a "major overhaul kit" to replace the consumable parts in them. And also, taken off the car and soaked in Gumout every five years or so, when they need a major rebuild anyhow. So you might want to start with a manual, and think about pulling them to make sure they are set to spec and clean.

Ditto for the MSD, make sure of how it is supposed to be installed, and then find out whether it IS installed that way, with proper wiring and no shortucts. Don't assume anything was done properly--if the PO was the kind of guy who took care of business, it would be running 100%.

The good news is that they're sweet cars when they are running right, and there's not a lot of complicated stuff that can go wrong. You should be able to still get a factory manual from any dealer, and that's a good way to go over the entire car and check out all the rest.

Re: troubleshooting problems.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:14 pm
by inthetwisties
Allencr:
Sorry about that, I should have put a little more thought into that rather than going right off of hear/say. I'm assuming a rich conditon would more likely cause the throttle to stick. I pulled my header today to put in a new starter and the #4 cylinder smells of straight unburned gas.
The MSD was wired completely wrong, however. I rewired it per MSD instructions and am getting strong spark on all 4 plugs now so hopefully that will cure a the running rich problem.
I will post a picture of the linkage later today, it is homemade and I'm doubtful (after having to rewire the msd) that it was made correctly.

Carbd7age:
Yea, Once I read the MSD instructions, I realized that there was no adapter coming off of the msd lol...I have already ordered it.

Red:
Alright, the starter def. had a heat shield on it when I took it off.
I completely agree, I came into this expecting for a majority of the modifications to be installed wrong (as one should for any modified car).
I have rewired the MSD and simplified the engine bay a good amount. I'm going to see how she runs later today and if it is still running rich I intend on pulling the carbs and rebuilding them, for sure.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Re: troubleshooting problems.

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 2:19 pm
by inthetwisties
Well, got new plugs, wires, etc.
Put a fpr on there and went to fire it up....nothing.
It cranks and tries to hit, but nothing. It will backfire and smoke out of the carbs now which I'm assuming is an ignition timing issue. Going to get a new timing belt tomorrow and set timing and set the ignition timing as well to see if it'll clear some things up.