Re: Elan S4 rebuild - my story chapter 2
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:51 am
I'm fighting off a bad cold & sore throat and feeling achy and on top of that its a bit chilly this morning in my garage. Fire up the propane heater, take two Tylenol and get motivated as I want to get the twin cam running today. Armed with a number of insights from forum members (Thank You) I show Drew the comments and we decide to tackle a methodical plan of going through each area that could be causing the twin cam not to run.
I removed the valve cover and confirmed that the cam timing was correct (it was) with each cylinder at TDC. We also confirmed that this really was a new rebuild on the engine as the entire head, cams, head bolts and chain were all very clean and not worn.
Then we double checked the spark plug wires from the distributor and the location at each plug. Hand cranked the engine to line up the timing marks on the pulley and the timing chain cover. Ensured we were at 12 degrees TDC. Confirmed the spark plugs were gapped properly as well as the points. Turned the engine over to see spark at the plugs and at the points. All good.
We must have spent10 minutes turning the engine over and making slight adjustments to the distributor when the starter motor started pouring out smoke. Immediately disconnected the battery terminal and checked all the wiring. Pulled the starter motor, which was hot as the dickens. Funny, it looked brand new. Traced all the wiring and confirmed that everything was intact. Strange. Wonder what caused that? We checked the solenoid and thought it might have gone bad. I had a spare so we installed it. The starter motor had cooled off, we put 12 volts to it and it ran so we reinstalled it. Tried to start the car, the ignition switch would not turn the starter on, but the button on the bottom of the solenoid did. The starter motor started smoking right away. Battery disconnect again.
Now we were wondering if there were wiring problems behind the dash. Unbolted the dash, removed the crash pad, dropped the steering column and pulled the dash out as far as possible. The wiring seemed in fairly good condition besides the double brown wires connected to the ignition switch, one of them had clearly melted and after looking at the wiring diagram determined it was for the electric window motors.
Figured the starter motor had gone bad (how we don't know, anybody have a new starter motor burn up?) so we installed another started motor I had from my S1 and cranked away.
The rear weber carb kept getting small backfires but the engine would never fully run. It acted like it wanted to but just wouldn't start. Pulled the plugs and changed them to NGK BPR7EIX (there were Champion N7YC in the engine). Gapped all the plugs, pulled the distributor and checked the gap, closely inspected the distributor and everything was as it should be. Reinstalled everything. Turned the engine over. Nothing.
We pulled the webers from the intake manifold. Found the first problem, one of the metal spacers didn't have the round rubber gasket in it. Sucking too much air. While the carbs were off, we inspected the intake valves to insure they were seating and nothing was bent. It all looked brand new. Just to make sure it wasn't the carbs, I had another set of webers from a twin cam that I knew ran well (just smoked a bit of oil) so we swapped out the carbs and reinstalled them.
Rechecked all the wiring again, and guess what.......two of the plug wires were mismarked and needed to be switched. Turned over the engine and it started on the second try and ran like a top. ARGH! Six hours of labor, one burned our starter motor, swapping carbs and the engine is running like a top. Drew and I looked at each other in bewilderment. How did we mess that up so many times?
Spent some time tuning the carbs until the engine purred like a cat. Sounds great!
Well, the original weber carbs needed to be rebuilt anyway as they had been sitting for a long time so now that we have them off the car that will be next. Then we will tackle a few other electrical gremlins like no tach, why the ignition switch won't turn over the engine (probably a faulty relay), replace the melted brown window motor wire, test the window motors and who knows what ever else.
And the crash pad and dash needed to come out anyway because we have to install a new windshield and moldings.
Boy am I still feeling dumb about the crossed wires ! I took two more Tylenol and went to bed.
I removed the valve cover and confirmed that the cam timing was correct (it was) with each cylinder at TDC. We also confirmed that this really was a new rebuild on the engine as the entire head, cams, head bolts and chain were all very clean and not worn.
Then we double checked the spark plug wires from the distributor and the location at each plug. Hand cranked the engine to line up the timing marks on the pulley and the timing chain cover. Ensured we were at 12 degrees TDC. Confirmed the spark plugs were gapped properly as well as the points. Turned the engine over to see spark at the plugs and at the points. All good.
We must have spent10 minutes turning the engine over and making slight adjustments to the distributor when the starter motor started pouring out smoke. Immediately disconnected the battery terminal and checked all the wiring. Pulled the starter motor, which was hot as the dickens. Funny, it looked brand new. Traced all the wiring and confirmed that everything was intact. Strange. Wonder what caused that? We checked the solenoid and thought it might have gone bad. I had a spare so we installed it. The starter motor had cooled off, we put 12 volts to it and it ran so we reinstalled it. Tried to start the car, the ignition switch would not turn the starter on, but the button on the bottom of the solenoid did. The starter motor started smoking right away. Battery disconnect again.
Now we were wondering if there were wiring problems behind the dash. Unbolted the dash, removed the crash pad, dropped the steering column and pulled the dash out as far as possible. The wiring seemed in fairly good condition besides the double brown wires connected to the ignition switch, one of them had clearly melted and after looking at the wiring diagram determined it was for the electric window motors.
Figured the starter motor had gone bad (how we don't know, anybody have a new starter motor burn up?) so we installed another started motor I had from my S1 and cranked away.
The rear weber carb kept getting small backfires but the engine would never fully run. It acted like it wanted to but just wouldn't start. Pulled the plugs and changed them to NGK BPR7EIX (there were Champion N7YC in the engine). Gapped all the plugs, pulled the distributor and checked the gap, closely inspected the distributor and everything was as it should be. Reinstalled everything. Turned the engine over. Nothing.
We pulled the webers from the intake manifold. Found the first problem, one of the metal spacers didn't have the round rubber gasket in it. Sucking too much air. While the carbs were off, we inspected the intake valves to insure they were seating and nothing was bent. It all looked brand new. Just to make sure it wasn't the carbs, I had another set of webers from a twin cam that I knew ran well (just smoked a bit of oil) so we swapped out the carbs and reinstalled them.
Rechecked all the wiring again, and guess what.......two of the plug wires were mismarked and needed to be switched. Turned over the engine and it started on the second try and ran like a top. ARGH! Six hours of labor, one burned our starter motor, swapping carbs and the engine is running like a top. Drew and I looked at each other in bewilderment. How did we mess that up so many times?
Spent some time tuning the carbs until the engine purred like a cat. Sounds great!
Well, the original weber carbs needed to be rebuilt anyway as they had been sitting for a long time so now that we have them off the car that will be next. Then we will tackle a few other electrical gremlins like no tach, why the ignition switch won't turn over the engine (probably a faulty relay), replace the melted brown window motor wire, test the window motors and who knows what ever else.
And the crash pad and dash needed to come out anyway because we have to install a new windshield and moldings.
Boy am I still feeling dumb about the crossed wires ! I took two more Tylenol and went to bed.