11-14-2016, 03:19 PM
Wow, you’ve written so much I’m overwhelmed. Thanks for your concern! I’ll try to answer all your questions and instructions here. (you don't need to convert to metric; we're old and still use inches, degrees Fahrenheit, etc. Everything except km.
"when was car a good daily driver, ?"
- About 16 months ago. My daughter was driving it daily. It started losing power and kept getting worse, then wouldn’t start. We were advised to change the cap, rotor and wires so we did. After that it started and idled OK but the engine would stop after ½ block. Then a backyard mechanic looked at it without success (don't know what he did and can't reach him!) and then it sat for 11 months before we started trying to figure out what was wrong with it.
"are your new spark plugs gapped at .028""
- Yes. New and gapped .028”
"Is the fuel filter new? and clean?"
- No, we haven’t looked at it yet. My husband has been too busy fixing our other cars (old Subarus) to jack it up and climb under. I’m sure it needs a new one, since we’ve driven it for 30k km since we bought it, and never looked. No tune-up at all.
"Sure enough, the ring on the inboard side of the diaphragm snaps in an out, but only about 1/16". So I guess it needs cleaning.
its bad EGR,"
- Do you mean the EGR needs replacing, or just that we need to clean it and see if it’s OK?
"1: new thermostat if the top hose never gets HOT, hot is 180f, 192f and 195F, (the three correct stat to buy, never 160f, ever or fails HARD.
is 180F ok, or is 82C better for you... they are same.
Will buy thermostat
"2: put in a new fuel filter. (do the fuel depressurize step first, ask how or read my pump or injector page.
Will do
"3: spark tests when it stalls. and if sparks ok stalled , unscrew a spark plug at the stall and look at the tip, (behold, whats up here)
the spark tips talk to you, they do , wet in fuel, dry, black with carbon, oil soaked, green antifreeze on tips,(or your color you use? of the many)
Will do
"4: map hoses clean, means end to end, and nipples clear too.
Will have to look at how to check this
"5: cat melted, (does car still have a CAT? Yikes, I don’t know! Will look.) the melted test, can be done 1 tools, (vacuum gauge ) and 2 methods.
method one is vacuum tests. type cat tests here.
method 2 ,same tool is 02 sensor pulled, measure back pressure, at the 02 bung fitting at 2500 rpm.
"6: is you take your timing light, and check spark timing spark timing way retared ( off scale far right) that is CAM BELT slipped, 60k service points skipped
Timing light on #1 says ignition timing is 10 degrees BTDC. (Should be 8 degrees but we had so much trouble getting it to run at all due to other problems, we’re afraid to tamper with success.)
"so how many miles are on this belt"
- Probably 120k km. Engine was pulled from a damaged car and just bolted in, with 105 k km on it. Since then we’ve driven about 15k km –> 120 k km total on engine. The mechanic who swapped it put in a new manifold and O2 sensor but there’s no cam belt on his invoice.
"got a light? Yes
if timings off, the cam belt slipped."
- Question: If it’s started to slip could the compression still be 130 psi, and could it be running smoothly at 10o BTDC?
"is this car 2door."
- Yes, sorry, 2door. Will remove left tail light and check ground screw and connector/pink wires
"…a stalled engine, i check spark timing, to see if the cam is lost its time at the MOMENT (stalled)"
- So, as soon as it stalls we need to
o Check for spark;
o look at spark plug tips for flooding;
o check spark timing?
o Anything else?
I want to get it running, but my husband doesn't have as much affection for it as I do, and I may not be able to get him to take the time to do all this. He's never worked on fuel-injected engines (neither have I) and gets quickly discouraged because he doesn't understand them. (Neither do I, except from what I've learned from your website and the Vitara FSM.) Snow and cold are expected to start on Wednesday, so my pet Tracker may sit until spring.
"when was car a good daily driver, ?"
- About 16 months ago. My daughter was driving it daily. It started losing power and kept getting worse, then wouldn’t start. We were advised to change the cap, rotor and wires so we did. After that it started and idled OK but the engine would stop after ½ block. Then a backyard mechanic looked at it without success (don't know what he did and can't reach him!) and then it sat for 11 months before we started trying to figure out what was wrong with it.
"are your new spark plugs gapped at .028""
- Yes. New and gapped .028”
"Is the fuel filter new? and clean?"
- No, we haven’t looked at it yet. My husband has been too busy fixing our other cars (old Subarus) to jack it up and climb under. I’m sure it needs a new one, since we’ve driven it for 30k km since we bought it, and never looked. No tune-up at all.
"Sure enough, the ring on the inboard side of the diaphragm snaps in an out, but only about 1/16". So I guess it needs cleaning.
its bad EGR,"
- Do you mean the EGR needs replacing, or just that we need to clean it and see if it’s OK?
"1: new thermostat if the top hose never gets HOT, hot is 180f, 192f and 195F, (the three correct stat to buy, never 160f, ever or fails HARD.
is 180F ok, or is 82C better for you... they are same.
Will buy thermostat
"2: put in a new fuel filter. (do the fuel depressurize step first, ask how or read my pump or injector page.
Will do
"3: spark tests when it stalls. and if sparks ok stalled , unscrew a spark plug at the stall and look at the tip, (behold, whats up here)
the spark tips talk to you, they do , wet in fuel, dry, black with carbon, oil soaked, green antifreeze on tips,(or your color you use? of the many)
Will do
"4: map hoses clean, means end to end, and nipples clear too.
Will have to look at how to check this
"5: cat melted, (does car still have a CAT? Yikes, I don’t know! Will look.) the melted test, can be done 1 tools, (vacuum gauge ) and 2 methods.
method one is vacuum tests. type cat tests here.
method 2 ,same tool is 02 sensor pulled, measure back pressure, at the 02 bung fitting at 2500 rpm.
"6: is you take your timing light, and check spark timing spark timing way retared ( off scale far right) that is CAM BELT slipped, 60k service points skipped
Timing light on #1 says ignition timing is 10 degrees BTDC. (Should be 8 degrees but we had so much trouble getting it to run at all due to other problems, we’re afraid to tamper with success.)
"so how many miles are on this belt"
- Probably 120k km. Engine was pulled from a damaged car and just bolted in, with 105 k km on it. Since then we’ve driven about 15k km –> 120 k km total on engine. The mechanic who swapped it put in a new manifold and O2 sensor but there’s no cam belt on his invoice.
"got a light? Yes
if timings off, the cam belt slipped."
- Question: If it’s started to slip could the compression still be 130 psi, and could it be running smoothly at 10o BTDC?
"is this car 2door."
- Yes, sorry, 2door. Will remove left tail light and check ground screw and connector/pink wires
"…a stalled engine, i check spark timing, to see if the cam is lost its time at the MOMENT (stalled)"
- So, as soon as it stalls we need to
o Check for spark;
o look at spark plug tips for flooding;
o check spark timing?
o Anything else?
I want to get it running, but my husband doesn't have as much affection for it as I do, and I may not be able to get him to take the time to do all this. He's never worked on fuel-injected engines (neither have I) and gets quickly discouraged because he doesn't understand them. (Neither do I, except from what I've learned from your website and the Vitara FSM.) Snow and cold are expected to start on Wednesday, so my pet Tracker may sit until spring.