Datsun 240z with L20ET
- L20A
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:50 pm
- cars: 1984 Nissan 300ZX Targa Rally Car
- Location: Adelaide
- Contact:
Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
Hey All,
Thought I'd update where Antus left off with this one and with any luck I can keep you posted as this project evolves!
Firstly, as Antus said we set out to obtain a good L28 motor from a 280ZX which they are pretty common still so it didn't take too long... Although not a turbo car the motor had all the right bits to be a turbo engine (F54 block and a P90 head for those playing at home). Antus and I looked the motor over before buying it including compression testing and a good once over and getting it running which is more than the last engine. I then drove the car for 3 months so we knew it was good this time.
Once the engine was out of the car we stripped it down and inspected everything we could, replaced the water pump and checked out the chain tensioner and everything else that could be checked. Then back together with fresh gaskets where we could and out with that pesky dizzy.
Then it was time to bolt the manifold and all the bits back on including the crank angle sensor that can be seen clearly hanging at the front of the engine below. All of the bits from the L20A were swapped over and the injectors were upgraded to a set that should flow enough however we didn't do the maths (note to self, always confirm what you put in before putting them in!)
While it was out I coated the engine bay matte black so that I could see if anything leaked and we also cleaned the engine for the same reason... Next it was a nights work to get it back in and ready to go. Everything slotted in nicely
Once it was all ready to go it was time to hit the track! It was a great day with high hopes that we'd get more than two laps before we have a failure. Antus in his Subaru and one of our other mates came out with his Skyline to make it a full house. The Zed was looking good at this point. All the hard work had paid off and the car was ready to rock!
Then disaster struck... in three's. Ofcourse. We got the car off the trailer, hooked up the laptop, started logging and the laptop said it was all good, no errors and was running like a top. We got to the form up area with the laptop logging away, no problems so far... feeling confident... We got the car on the track, feeling great! All the hard work payed off the Zed was finally alive! It was pulling well and felt strong, I was short shifting to get a feel for the car but then.... I only managed two laps before I noticed that the temperature guage was climbing more than expected... then the check engine light came on.... crap, back to the pits to get Antus to check it out.
Game Over. After checking the logs and running it in the pits with the thermos' going solid it was spotted that it was leaning out! Badly, so badly that as soon as I hit boost the injectors that we had spec'd up (or thought we had) for the job were going straight to 100% duty cycle and ofcourse, no fuel + turbo was going to equal bang so we shut it down. Quickly!
So, time to limp onto the trailer and get bigger injectors for the next run... nothing blew up, mechanically the engine was good and the Delco gear did exactly what it should. The check engine came on at the right point and the thermos kicked in and nothing blew up. So as much as it sucked it was also a win
Oh and the third thing I hear you ask? When we went to move the car to the trailer the brakes were jammed on. Yep, just to add insult to injury the 'reconditioned' master that I was using had decided that exact moment was when it was going to jam on. That was my three failures so with nothing permanently dead we got it on the trailer and headed home.
Anyway, it was great learning experience and the car is almost sorted. The new XR6T injectors are in now (thanks Antus for just having them lying around!), the new NVRAM has arrived (thanks Jayme) and is fitted and we are ready for the next track day so once there is some spare time we'll be out there again.... This time it will make more than two laps! Really... we will
Thanks again to Antus and Bartron (With the 300ZX) for all the leg work and late nights drinking beer, I mean working on the Zed with me
Thought I'd update where Antus left off with this one and with any luck I can keep you posted as this project evolves!
Firstly, as Antus said we set out to obtain a good L28 motor from a 280ZX which they are pretty common still so it didn't take too long... Although not a turbo car the motor had all the right bits to be a turbo engine (F54 block and a P90 head for those playing at home). Antus and I looked the motor over before buying it including compression testing and a good once over and getting it running which is more than the last engine. I then drove the car for 3 months so we knew it was good this time.
Once the engine was out of the car we stripped it down and inspected everything we could, replaced the water pump and checked out the chain tensioner and everything else that could be checked. Then back together with fresh gaskets where we could and out with that pesky dizzy.
Then it was time to bolt the manifold and all the bits back on including the crank angle sensor that can be seen clearly hanging at the front of the engine below. All of the bits from the L20A were swapped over and the injectors were upgraded to a set that should flow enough however we didn't do the maths (note to self, always confirm what you put in before putting them in!)
While it was out I coated the engine bay matte black so that I could see if anything leaked and we also cleaned the engine for the same reason... Next it was a nights work to get it back in and ready to go. Everything slotted in nicely
Once it was all ready to go it was time to hit the track! It was a great day with high hopes that we'd get more than two laps before we have a failure. Antus in his Subaru and one of our other mates came out with his Skyline to make it a full house. The Zed was looking good at this point. All the hard work had paid off and the car was ready to rock!
Then disaster struck... in three's. Ofcourse. We got the car off the trailer, hooked up the laptop, started logging and the laptop said it was all good, no errors and was running like a top. We got to the form up area with the laptop logging away, no problems so far... feeling confident... We got the car on the track, feeling great! All the hard work payed off the Zed was finally alive! It was pulling well and felt strong, I was short shifting to get a feel for the car but then.... I only managed two laps before I noticed that the temperature guage was climbing more than expected... then the check engine light came on.... crap, back to the pits to get Antus to check it out.
Game Over. After checking the logs and running it in the pits with the thermos' going solid it was spotted that it was leaning out! Badly, so badly that as soon as I hit boost the injectors that we had spec'd up (or thought we had) for the job were going straight to 100% duty cycle and ofcourse, no fuel + turbo was going to equal bang so we shut it down. Quickly!
So, time to limp onto the trailer and get bigger injectors for the next run... nothing blew up, mechanically the engine was good and the Delco gear did exactly what it should. The check engine came on at the right point and the thermos kicked in and nothing blew up. So as much as it sucked it was also a win
Oh and the third thing I hear you ask? When we went to move the car to the trailer the brakes were jammed on. Yep, just to add insult to injury the 'reconditioned' master that I was using had decided that exact moment was when it was going to jam on. That was my three failures so with nothing permanently dead we got it on the trailer and headed home.
Anyway, it was great learning experience and the car is almost sorted. The new XR6T injectors are in now (thanks Antus for just having them lying around!), the new NVRAM has arrived (thanks Jayme) and is fitted and we are ready for the next track day so once there is some spare time we'll be out there again.... This time it will make more than two laps! Really... we will
Thanks again to Antus and Bartron (With the 300ZX) for all the leg work and late nights drinking beer, I mean working on the Zed with me
http://www.garageofawesome.com.au
Come visit us for car related rants, artilces, events, classic cars for sale or even drop us a line and chat Delco EFI
Come visit us for car related rants, artilces, events, classic cars for sale or even drop us a line and chat Delco EFI
Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
great work! keen to see how it performs with the bigger injectors.
dont know if you need to thank me for the nvram. it wasnt me
dont know if you need to thank me for the nvram. it wasnt me
- L20A
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:50 pm
- cars: 1984 Nissan 300ZX Targa Rally Car
- Location: Adelaide
- Contact:
Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
Ha ha! It was late and I was tired but I'm sure you've helped out in there somewhere
http://www.garageofawesome.com.au
Come visit us for car related rants, artilces, events, classic cars for sale or even drop us a line and chat Delco EFI
Come visit us for car related rants, artilces, events, classic cars for sale or even drop us a line and chat Delco EFI
- Holden202T
- Posts: 10311
- Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:05 pm
- Location: Tenambit, NSW
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Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
nice write up Ross, and good to see its coming along nicely! as you know I love my straight 6's so I'm digging this thread
No matter what the question is, the answer is always more horsepower!
Just starting out? Have a read of the getting started guide
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Basic tuning of a delco ECM with $12P thread
Advanced tuning of a delco ECM with $12P thread
- VL400
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Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
Good to hear there has been an update to this car! Sounds like you still had some fun still, next time hopefully can get some tuning done with larger injectors.
When reading that the brakes jammed on was thinking handbrake on after some runs with hot brakes. But a master cyl failing is Better then than on the track I guess.
When reading that the brakes jammed on was thinking handbrake on after some runs with hot brakes. But a master cyl failing is Better then than on the track I guess.
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Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
Unfortunately these L series engines are notorious for head gasket problems. I would advise if it happens again (odds are it will) look into it closely to see how they have worked on the problem eg gasket type studs etc. Great project though and nice to see the car with same family running gear. Keeps it almost original.
- L20A
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:50 pm
- cars: 1984 Nissan 300ZX Targa Rally Car
- Location: Adelaide
- Contact:
Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
@Charlescrown I hear you, I've had a few 260Z over the years and they pretty much all had head gasket issues. I've got a MLS gasket to go into the L28 engine that I'm building up so that should solve that problem!
@Holden202T I hear you there
@VL400 It was a very confusing failure... I'm still not 100% sure what it was as the master still looks good and works for a few minutes fine before locking on. I'm heading to my local brake place when I have a chance to ask them if they know what I'm missing! Hopefully a simple fix...
Update from last night is that the new Delco unit is in with a USB port on it ready for some logging so we'll see how those injectors go very soon!
Thanks for the support guys, I'll keep you updated....
@Holden202T I hear you there
@VL400 It was a very confusing failure... I'm still not 100% sure what it was as the master still looks good and works for a few minutes fine before locking on. I'm heading to my local brake place when I have a chance to ask them if they know what I'm missing! Hopefully a simple fix...
Update from last night is that the new Delco unit is in with a USB port on it ready for some logging so we'll see how those injectors go very soon!
Thanks for the support guys, I'll keep you updated....
http://www.garageofawesome.com.au
Come visit us for car related rants, artilces, events, classic cars for sale or even drop us a line and chat Delco EFI
Come visit us for car related rants, artilces, events, classic cars for sale or even drop us a line and chat Delco EFI
- Holden202T
- Posts: 10311
- Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:05 pm
- Location: Tenambit, NSW
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Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
It's not the brake booster is it ?? Had this issue with one in an old Holden years ago, would lock on, bleed the pressure out and everything was ok for a few brakes then would lock back on, apparently booster failure!! I just replaced it so never found out why!!
No matter what the question is, the answer is always more horsepower!
Just starting out? Have a read of the getting started guide
Basic tuning of a delco ECM with $12P thread
Advanced tuning of a delco ECM with $12P thread
Just starting out? Have a read of the getting started guide
Basic tuning of a delco ECM with $12P thread
Advanced tuning of a delco ECM with $12P thread
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Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
for the brake problem try the push rod length, i've had it happen before worked fine but then a bit of heat soak and the brakes would lock on, ACL can make a 2mm copper gasket for the L (my mates just been through a head gasket problem with 17psi and o ringed block on a L28)
Mick
Mick
Re: Datsun 240z with L20ET
That happens when the reaction disc falls out of the centre (can only happen when the master is removed or it breaks), worst case scenario the booster needs disassembly to get it out...!Holden202T wrote:It's not the brake booster is it ?? Had this issue with one in an old Holden years ago, would lock on, bleed the pressure out and everything was ok for a few brakes then would lock back on, apparently booster failure!! I just replaced it so never found out why!!