EGR bypass in a Chevy Trailblazer today, 2WD with manual gearbox and 2.5 engine. A hose and clamps to bypass the cooler, then removed, with blanking plates around the EGR valve body which couldn't be took apart because of the signal input required by the ECU. Turbocharger spools up quicker now.

Keeping a Fiat Strada on the road

I've worked on a Fiat Strada for the first time yesterday. A nice little bakkie, as the locals refer to pickups in South Africa. Unfortunately we didn't have this one in the Philippines, but is a good 3/4-tonner which is slightly bigger than second-hand Japanese multicabs but more comfortable and stable, which would be a desirable feature to cope with hilly roads. The 1.7TD engine with 70hp feels more responsive than its power could suggest, and is related to the 1.3 naturally-aspirated which was available in the Fiat Uno once assembled in the Philippines.

Replacing and hooking up the glowplugs of the old Hilux was a must today, and now it fires up quickly. An upgrade to Cummins-styled grid-heater is not discarded, because it's deemed more reliable and longer-lasting.

This time the job could be performed quickly. The 4JB1 ended inside a '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee that originally had a 318cid V8. The automatic gearbox was too slippy, not deemed worth to keep, got replaced by a manual out of a rolled-over Isuzu Rodeo. There is still some wiring work left to be done, but it's gonna be arranged with signal converters that will allow the stock OBD-II controllers to give input for the electronics. Even the ABS brakes are fully-operational, but the vacuum booster was bypassed and now is gone.

It had been a long time ago since I've driven a Toyota Hilux with the 2L engine. I used to like the L-series Toyota engines because they fare well using waste cooking oil as fuel. Glowplugs on the one I driven were not hooked up, so cold start-up required some sort of lighting fluid to pre-heat it. I was scared as hell, but it worked.

Dismantling an old skidsteer tractor last night I got a good surprise to find out it had a 4JB1. This little jewel of the Japanese crown might find its way into a Jeep as usual, but this time a Grand Cherokee instead of a Wrangler.

EGR bypass in a Corolla with the 2.0D-4D turbodiesel, not related to the old 2C. Just bypassed the cooling fluid lines and blanked the valve body, but didn't delete it. Had to clean the intake manifold which had lots of soot deposits starting to clog. A water+meth injection is still considered to come, and might still keep NOx in standard levels or even reduce them more than the EGR could ever do. Plus, the combustion will get enhanced not just due to the absence of EGR but because of the water+meth too.

Finally figured out to get functional gauges for the Explorer. Replaced the mechanism of all the gauges with mechanical ones, just retained the original gauges for appearance with the current setup behind it. The fuel level was the hardest to figure out, but a mechanical level meter out of a rusty old tractor was the best solution readily available.

repowering a Ford Explorer again after a long time

Been replacing the engine and gearbox of a '97 Ford Explorer in order to run on diesel. Last time I did it was in '07 with an older model. This time a Kia J2 engine was chosen, out of a Kia K2700 alongside the starter and powe steering pump mounting brackets. The alternator came out of a Toyota Hiace. Initial plans were to retain the automatic gearbox, but due to electronic controls input required for it to work properly it was soon pulled out of the project and been replaced by a 4-speed manual transmission which had been laying around the garage of the house of the rig's owner, from a Chevrolet Ranger 2500, which was probably the source for the brake master-cylinder too, since the OEM vacuum-assisted from the Explorer wouldn't receive any vacuum input from the diesel engine. A different pedal assembly to accomodate the clutch was still easier than messing with the electronics of the automatic transmission, and the non-assisted master-cylinder is still lighter than the OEM, and doesn't either decrease reliability of the brakes or take power from the engine as an auxiliary vacuum pump would. The only problem was the anti-lock feature, which couldn't work anymore without the electronic input, but this problem was solved replacing all those sensors with some hydraulic pressure relief valves I bought in China. Positively, being the RHD version of the Explorer which was aimed at Australia, United Kingdom and South Africa, with a central console holding a parking brake lever and the shifter instead of using the pedal-actuated parking brake and steering-mounted shifter from the LHD, it was easier to assemble the manual shifter. It runs, but the instrument cluster needs to be converted for mechanical input, and a new assembly is required for the aircon compressor.

Change of plans, dealing with the electronic gearbox controllers was never so close to the ease I were expecting, altough the torque converter stall is the biggest problem. Might get a manual gearbox swapped along the J2 into the Explorer. This is not so bad at all, because reliability will be enhanced due to the absence of electronics to keep it running. The control knobs for the glowplugs and the killer pin are now bolted to the dashboard, to be definitely hooked up once the engine and the new gearbox are there. Well, the gearbox will not be exactly a brand new unit. The most probable unit will be a 4-speed already laying around because we did not bring the 5-speed from the Kia K2700 donor truck.

On a sidenote, almost got wounded while disassembling the aircon pipes, the R134 gas is dangerous and can lead to freezing burns. People, be very careful when dealing with aircons.