924Board.org

[Quick Draw]

Hey everybody. On all the other boards I've been on, I've always learned to introduce myself, so here I am. I've been a Toyota truck and rockcrawling enthusiast for quite some time. Now that I'm a bit older, I'm less enthused about driving around a monster for every errand. Although the looks around town are fun:



I recently picked up a '77 924 non-running from a friend off of one of the Toyota boards. The plan is not to have a race car, but to have a cool, sleek, and efficient daily driver/dating car. I think the 924 fits the bill great. For those that say they are so slow, I tell them I'm used to rolling a 37" tire with a 85 hp 2.2L 4 cyl. ANYTHING is better than that. :lol

Anyway, the mechanical workings of an old Jap truck are quite different from a cutting edge (at the time) German car. So I will be around quite a bit trying to absorb information, especially until I get this car going.

This situation with the car is this:
3 years ago the headgasket blew. The owner pulled the motor, and sent it away to a local European import garage for complete rebuild. The motor was the bolted back in and (sort of) plumbed. The owner being the alcoholic doper that he was sold the car to my friend before it ever ran again. My friend, being a big VW enthusiast had 6 other cars and 2 Toyota trucks to attend to and didn't have the time to make it happen. So now I have to figure out why this brand new motor isn't running. I'm going through all the basics of fuel, compression, spark, etc. Right now I believe its mostly a timing problem. I flushed the tank and it has fresh gas, brand new plugs and wires. Feels like good compression. I think the cam timing is off as well as the ignition. I'll be looking for any information on timing that I can. Although, if you can link me something good, I would great appreciate it.

Anyway, I'll be seeing you guys around.

[Khal]

Welcome to The 'Board

[Scorpio]

Welcome aboard Quickdraw.... Do ytou have a haynes manual? a definate must buy.

Initial recommendations are

1)Check youre getting spark on all four cylinders

2)Double check compression using a compression tester (valves may not have been adjusted properly)

3) Check valve clearance is to spec if not adjust

4)Is the fuel pump running?...if not check fuel pump relay.

5) Perform a fuelflow test out of injectors...If AF wasnt touched..ide say keep it that way for now

6) Turn crank till pointer on oil pump points to mark on crank pulley (this is TDC for an unmolested ie most crankshafts).... Adust valve timing by turning cam gear so that indent at rear(facing back of the car) of cam gear alligns with pointer on camcover (when engine is at TDC) put timing belt on at this position....

7)Adjust timing by spinning dizzy while using a timing light through hole in bellhousing

Think thats a good start...

and nice 4wd!!

p.s There are quite a few 924 owners with very very fast cars...
_________________
1979 NA
MS1..EFI..
GARRETT T25 TURBO
BILSTEIN SHOCKS
GT BASED CUSTOM BODYKIT

Brisbane , Australia
Think mean think fast
all youll see is
my Porsches Arse!!!

[Quick Draw]

Thanks for the welcomes.

I have not purchased a Haynes manual yet, but I plan to if that's the one you recommend. I haven't been the biggest fan of Haynes in the past, but I suppose it depends on which model vehicle.

I just educated myself on the injection system this morning and found some things I need to fix. Anybody know where I might find intake and air box parts? The rubber on the tubes is cracked and broken, and half the air box is missing. Obviously since the injection system relies on vacuum pressure to allow fuel to the injectors, this needs to be air tight, so I'm not so confident about my current fix with hose clamps, electrical tape, and RTV sealant though I suppose its better than it was.

Thanks for the tips. That should get me started.

[Scorpio]

note...CIS hates vacuum leaks
Try
www.autohausaz.com
or
dcautomotive.com
_________________
1979 NA
MS1..EFI..
GARRETT T25 TURBO
BILSTEIN SHOCKS
GT BASED CUSTOM BODYKIT

Brisbane , Australia
Think mean think fast
all youll see is
my Porsches Arse!!!

[Slam]

Welcome to the board!

And duct tape has got it all over electrical tape...
_________________
'84 944 - kid blew motor
'83 944 - resting comfortably. For 12 years
'87 944 - sideswiped by trucker
'80 924 - gone
'78 924 - gone
'77 924 - rusting comfortably

[Quick Draw]

The good news:

I got her running!

The bad news:

It overheated...

I'm not sure how much damage was done. I'm a bit worried... My temp gauge said it was fine and I believed it until the car stalled. I towed it back home, but won't be able to tear into it for another week or so. I plan to check compression and change the oil (look for coolant, metal shavings, etc... ) to begin with. If those things check out, then I can move on to why it overheated. This may have been a preexisting condition since it supposedly had a fresh headgasket.

I say supposedly because it seems several things about the car have been a lie. The motor wasn't pulled and rebuilt. Somebody slapped a new head on it...poorly... I was told the car was "Euro Spec", meaning it had the more powerful motor. According to the VIN, its a California car. I was told an OEM starter was just put in it along with a new battery. The battery barely holds a charge and the starter is a cheap reman Autozone starter. Its been like this over and over again while working on this car. I'm still not concerned considering I paid almost nothing for the car. But it is annoying.

So now on to possible reasons why it overheated. For one, I couldn't get the car to run AT ALL at the correct timing. Somebody please tell me why? So I set it more advanced where it seemed to run fine. Also, as much as I've tried to seal the intake, it may still be leaking, which I would assume would lean the mixture. I did initially find a coolant leak which I repaired, but it made me think the rest of the system may not be up to par. I assume the water pump and thermostat are working to an extent since it managed to boil quite a bit of coolant. Anyway these are the things I will be looking into the next time I working on the "toofah" Maybe somebody can tell me where I went horribly wrong?

One more good news piece:

I got to finish driving this canyon before I had the overheating problem
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rist+canyon+80512&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.313287,79.013672&ie=UTF8&ll=40.634147,-105.223188&spn=0.032112,0.077162&z=14

What a blast! This will be a great car if I can get it running right. I've never driven something that cornered like that!

[Scorpio]

[Smoothie]

The 924 uses a slightly unusual thermostat - it looks like a "regular" one, but has an extra disc at bottom. The disc is needed to properly route coolant through the radiator. Without it, flow is direct from the head, through the water pump, into the block, then back to the head with little if any flow through the radiator. See Haynes Pg.59 for a diagram of the flow. -And make sure you have the correct type of thermostat.

Another possibility (someone with more 924 head gasket experience would have to verify (I'm on the same one that was in my car when I bought it in '92)), but if it's possible to install the head gasket upside-down or backwards, some passage/s may be blocked. This might account for no flow past the temperature sensor, and an inaccurate gauge reading. I've also heard(read) that if the cooling system is not bled correctly, you can be left with a pocket of air at the temp sensor, resulting in a low reading.
Checking the thermostat, and coolant system bleeding are easier of course, so do them first..
_________________
"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."


'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox

[dpw928]

Running the ignition too advanced can also cause it to run hot.

Dennis
_________________
81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black