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So, tonight after working 12 hours the wireless router was still on the fritz so I did a hard reset to factory specs. Took a while to get the extender talking to it but now I have web access at the shop.
This evening I had a red letter event. The damn fan is out, on the floor and I think I figured out it's problem.
First, a pic of the car resting in pieces... With the hood lift shocks out of the way the hood will raise to almost vertical without stressing the hinges. I used a combination of bungie cords and self locking rope to hold it in place. Even an aluminum hood hurts when it falls on you.
With the top of the core support out of the way there's a decent amount of room to work on the engine. The hardest part was dealing with the inner cooler pump that's mounted to the fan. The spring clip for the hose was positioned wrong for me to grab it so I unbolted the pump and left it in the car.
I'm trying to get everything out of the way so I can do a supercharger service (replace the oil) and do an overall inspection / freshening up of the engine. God only knows when the spark plugs were last changed or the air filters. The PO said he was chasing a coil pack problem that turned into plugged cats and 'forgot' to put the drivers side coil cover back on.
Since I got the fan out I wanted to check the control board for issues hoping to find a fried chip set. The back plate of the fan is held on with black silicone (seriously). Took about a minute to cut it away and pop the lid off. I also removed the securing tabs for the three sets of chips to get a better view. Everything looks good so I was kind of let down and decided to do a resistance check on the control wiring. The green wire ohm'd out fine, the white one, not so much.
And this my friends is road rash from where the PO had removed the front belly pan and hadn't secured the wiring correctly. When I got it everything was zip tied in place. However, note the white and blue wire that's had the conductor ground away. I sincerely hope this is why my fan is running wide open. If so, it's $500 less to get it on the road.
Finally a shot of the broken fitting on the expansion tank. I think it was broken for a while as it would flex back, but not forward when I was trying to take it apart. The broken one is up by the bleeder screw.
So, tomorrow I'm going to get the water pump, some plugs, filters, oil and coolant and see what I get accomplished. I have a landscape trailer that I need to finish welding once I get some gas and the power steering box failed in my truck so it's going to be another long day. More to come.
OK, yesterday was a wash. I did manage to pick up some spark plugs and a new Italian Saleri brand water pump at NAPA. This morning I glued the fan cover back on and am working on the wiring now while waiting for it to stop raining. The back cover does have some 'fingers' that grab the housing to help hold it in place.
I'm enjoying reading this epic thread. It's like an old-fashioned radio series, with a cliffhanger ending to keep you tuned in next week. Thanks for the fun read and education. I've learned to not try this at home!
Thanks for the kind word guys. Today has been interesting, installing a new steering box in my '71 F-350 in the mud, then welding some piano hinges onto a landscape trailer. That led to welding up some unwanted holes in an aluminum boat and I'm about whooped. I still have some electrical connections to make on a mid 70's IH 656 that has a 1st gen Cummins swap versus the old gasser and I can finally get back to the XKR. It's waiting patiently...
One of the nicest things about this forum is when run down I can go back in time and see what others have done for parts etc. I've been subscribing to those threads for viewing once I get that far. Tons of great ideas and a good resource.
OK, spent some time this evening and found several birds nest of grass and other crap in the cooling radiators. Tried blowing it out with compressed air but not much came out. Thinking shop vac on blow mode. Any tips?
Also decided to pop the belts off. Blower belt tensioner moved fine, accessory drive, not so much. Sprayed it down and moved on to the accessing the coil packs without getting too far. Fan is finished and set aside until reassembly.
This may have been a good candidate for the Chip Foose show "overhaulin". Would be interesting to see what some of these car builders would do with it. Just sayin.
Hours, not really beyond what I post up throughout the day. I have about $100 in fuel, eats and tolls and a day of my life to go get it, half a day to get it off the trailer. Tons of time just looking at it and doing research on the web. Throughout a project I probably spend 10 minute thinking about something for every minute of actual time on the car, mostly day dreaming throughout the work day or at night thinking about the easiest way to do things. I work on huge complex printing presses for a living so the XKR is relaxing.
Since I'm so used to working on old junk I expect every fastener and hose to fight so I'm patient. Most of the coolant hoses were fused to the metal and required a couple minutes of twisting with good pliers to break them free without tearing the outer sheath. Same with the connectors, lots of time figuring out how to get them apart without undue damage. Other than the push pin zip ties that hold the wiring I've been pretty lucky.
This may have been a good candidate for the Chip Foose show "overhaulin". Would be interesting to see what some of these car builders would do with it. Just sayin.
I don't care for those shows, they are too fake / produced. I liked the old Monster Garage show that Jessie James had on the Discovery channel before the OCC farce and the current Roadkill series on YouTube from the guys who make Hot Rod magazine. Much more down to Earth, realistic with bumps, bruises and dumb stuff all laid out for show. That's entertainment you can learn from and sadly not in demand by the Candy Crush masses.
OK, on to the car.
Fan wiring fixed. Soldered a length of 16 gauge and heat shrink'd it in place. Taped the cover back and zip tied it to the fan.
Dead plant life. I also blew a ton of sand out too, thought Jersey was all swamp. Probably going to pull the radiator before putting it back together to give it a proper cleaning.
Finding the sand gives me cause for concern. Any other evidence of possible salt water damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012? Or do you think it's from sand being spread on icy roads?
I don't think so. They live in a hilly area that was old farm land. Mostly looked like crap that would get tossed up into the nose while tailgating which seemed to be a state pastime up there. I also realized some of the stone chips on the side of the car are from grass clippings blasted in place. Guess they didn't move it when they mowed. Weird...
In other news I took the OEM wheels over to a friendly tire shop and got the old rubber off. They can also marry the orphan TPS sensor to the car so no more light. Found out LKQ junk yard parts has a wheel finisher in town so I'm hoping to contact them Monday and see if they will do a walk in customer vs. farming it out from a yard. Looks like it'll be over a grand for new rubber and whatever straightening the front adds up to plus powder coating. Hoping to be rolling on new looking wheels for under $1800 and I plan on selling the OZ wheels to recoup some of it.
... Looks like it'll be over a grand for new rubber ...
Unless you plan to track your XKR and insist on the best Michelins, you should be able to get a good set of 4 street tires for your OEM 19" staggered Jupiter wheels for well under $1,000, particularly if you go with All Season instead of UHP Summer. I've got staggered 20" Hankook Ventus V12 Evos on my XKR and staggered 20" Continental DWS06 on my XJ and have been very pleased with both. Check out the prices and reviews, and be sure to watch for coupons and rebates, on these websites:
Discount Tire has retail stores and they'll meet their own Discount Tire Direct internet prices as well as Tire Rack's prices. Another good source is Costco, but their selection is limited.
Yeah, been on tire racks site most of the day. Looking at these for a pickup in Delaware (no tax, no shipping cost). We went right by them to get the car and there's a Cabelas at the same exit. I joked with the kid that I'd run the car up and have an appointment with a local shop to swap them out, bungie cord the hatch shut on 4 monster tires would be interesting.
I'm going to try and run the ones that are on the OZ wheels for now. They look pretty good but I feel worry for the fronts since they are splayed onto the 10" rims.
In other news, the water pump has been installed.
The manual says you can't avoid making a mess and they are right, the pump is lowest on the block. There might be block drains but I didn't feel the need to fight them too. waiting for the floor to dry some before popping the front cooling stuff loose to remove the radiator. One tip / trick I used was to lift the back of the car once the pump was out. This will allow more coolant to drain which means it won't seep into you gaskets and leak.
In my case I used Permatex Ultra RTV because the Italian water pump came with paper gaskets which sucked in spite of being in a book to flatten them since purchase. I also spent about an hour sanding an honest 1/16" of rust out of the inside of the water pump pulley. I guess water just sits in there a it was a mess. Blasted it with some copper colored hammer paint since it was handy and I hope to never see it again. Tried to get the belts off to wash the coolant off but ran out of steam trying to fight them around the oil filter. PITA. Accessory tensioner is moving freely now after soaking on Kroil overnight. Tensioner bearings felt good too. Little movement but they were quiet so that sleeping dog is being left alone.
I think I'll pop the coil packs out before wrapping it up for the night.
Uh oh... Plugs are galled into the heads. I'm pissed. I know enough that I didn't turn them far. Currently soaking in Aero kroil. If that doesn't work it'll be 50% acetone 50% ATF mix. At least I have time to let the juice do it's stuff. If it doesn't, I'll heat cycle it a couple times and try again if the valve cover will let them come out. #8 got stuck in the lip. Coils came out dry so at least no leaking valve cover gasket to deal with until I pull them to apply heat...
Still, how hard is it to put anti seize on the plugs? Did I say I'm pissed?
So, shifted gears and put the fan back in after using a long flue bristle brush to clean between the fan and condenser. Sand and grass.
Next up is access the blower oil level. Looks like a headache. Fan literally fell into place, now I just hope it works. State of the engine. Waiting on the juice to do it's thing.
03-22-2017, 10:01 PM
