Problems with secondaries...

[sillystring]

I've owned this SHO for about a year now. I've always thought that it lacked for acceleration. I could hear the secondaries open but felt little afterward. Was thinking that maybe after driving around for who knows how long with bad o2 sensors had warped the cats.
Then yesterday I tried to blip the throttle from under the hood until the secondaries opened. Being an ATX the rev limiter won't let me. So I tried opening them manually. The rear bank worked fine but the front was bound up big time. Mmmmmm-k.

So this afternoon I pull the bundle-o-snakes and remove front runner assy.
It was the darnedest thing. The shafts were all bound up with **** even after I had cleaned them a few months ago when I re-gasketed the upper engine. Just spraying carb cleaner was not going to fix this.
I twiddled with the things until it became obvious that I would need to remove the butterflys and pull the shafts out to give it all a really good cleaning. I oiled the shafts and put it all back together. It now works well on the bench. I will put the intake back together tomorrow and hopefully experience the whole SHO.

Wondering if anybody else has ever had this happen...

 

[SASHO91]

Um... you might want to put some locktite on the screws for the butterflies... as i have heard of them coming loose...

also, IIRC, they should open on the atx.... well atleast my friends does.. IIRC...

but, with you now having them operating correctly now, yes, you should have some fun....
there is probaly a reason why they got all gunked up... maybe from the last time you cleaned them, all of the gunk didnt get out, and it built up there and dried...

 

[sillystring]

Um... you might want to put some locktite on the screws for the butterflies... as i have heard of them coming loose...

Yep. I did that and re-peened the screw ends with a sharp chisel.

also, IIRC, they should open on the atx.... well atleast my friends does.. IIRC...

It seems like just when they are about to open the rev limiter starts cutting out cylinders. That's why I got curious as the rears were at least trying to open while fronts were not.

 

[SASHO91]

 

[sillystring]

Still haven't put it together yet. Figured with that much apart, I might as well put a cam seal in as oil leak has gotten pretty bad and my home made diaper blew off months ago.
It was pretty straight forward with the intakes off. Was able to get old seal off without much damage to aluminum and none to cam. I managed to drop one of the cam sensor impeller screws down through the engine. Took me an hour to find it. Put car on jack stands, looked and looked and had given up figuring that I would have to get a new one. When I slid myself out from under the car I grabbed the right front wheel and spun it and the screw fell on the floor. Must have been caught in the CV boot.
The seal was in horrible shape. Cracked and split in about 8 places. My friend works for a NAPA store and had gotten me a seal which turned out to be the wrong one. :shakehead Their listing is for the wrong seal.
Luckily I was able to locate a Timken seal right down the street from me at an Advance store. Now I need to come up with something that will drive seal in properly. Looks like 2" PVC pipe might work. Might finish the job Sunday.

 

[sillystring]

Hey, it works!!!
What a difference both secondaries makes.
Now I gotta burn off all that oil and carb cleaner from the cats.
Will flog it more tomorrow.

 

[sillystring]

OK so after driving the car for a week I can safely say that the oil leak is worse than ever. It is for sure coming out of the cam seal area.

I put a new cam sensor seal in. A Timken brand. It was a bit different that the one I took out. The one I took out was installed flat side out so I installed the new one the same way but the new one is not coated with plastic. It is all metal except the seal itself. I did use a very thin coat of RTV on the outside of the seal. I visually inspected it with a mirror and also used a dental pick to feel for indentations or grooves where I could not see. The cam was not scratched at all.

On top of all this the car quit on me for the first time since I bought it a year ago. It just quit while sitting at a light. All the lights in the dash lit and when I tried to start it the tach needle hesitated to work for about 3 to 5 seconds and then it popped up and the car lit. Check engine light glowed for about 15 seconds while running and then went out and it has been running fine since. Did not replace cam sensor while doing seal. Have not extracted codes if any yet. The car is starting to get to me and I am considering parking it for winter early or trading it in on a used Evolution 8.

Any ideas?

 

[nc89sho]

OK so after driving the car for a week I can safely say that the oil leak is worse than ever. It is for sure coming out of the cam seal area.

I put a new cam sensor seal in. A Timken brand. It was a bit different that the one I took out. The one I took out was installed flat side out so I installed the new one the same way but the new one is not coated with plastic. It is all metal except the seal itself. I did use a very thin coat of RTV on the outside of the seal. I visually inspected it with a mirror and also used a dental pick to feel for indentations or grooves where I could not see. The cam was not scratched at all.

On top of all this the car quit on me for the first time since I bought it a year ago. It just quit while sitting at a light. All the lights in the dash lit and when I tried to start it the tach needle hesitated to work for about 3 to 5 seconds and then it popped up and the car lit. Check engine light glowed for about 15 seconds while running and then went out and it has been running fine since. Did not replace cam sensor while doing seal. Have not extracted codes if any yet. The car is starting to get to me and I am considering parking it for winter early or trading it in on a used Evolution 8.

Any ideas?

ok.. the stalling problem sounds like the early signs of a bad crankshaft position sensor.

the leak could be the seal not being seated all the way. really easy to leave that one cocked a bit sideways. hard to press it in straight.