Build/activities thread: 1989 Raider, 2010 Sequoia, and my other stuff.

[irish44j]

With new coil, distributor/cap, fuel pump and primer switch.....STILL hard starting, and worse now that it's really cold. So I guess the next thing on the checklist from the symptoms is injectors (since it still seems like they're leaking causing too rich mix in the cylinder until it clears out). If that doesn't work, will troubleshoot further. So, ordered up some injectors. But then we had this "big" snowstorm (got about 10", which is paralysis in this area). So it was cold and snowy and I spent two days shoveling, snow blowing, etc. I did get the Raider out in the snow for a bit, nothing difficult at this depth but it did fine, and of course too, a few snow pics...it was only about 5" at the time, between two bands, so pretty wimpy looking lol.

And I jury-rigged the hitch with a strap and towed my snowblower across the neighborhood to do my in-laws' driveway and sidewalk, which worked out fine but got some odd looks from people I drove by who were shoveling or whatever...

Oh, and tonight the injectors made it here...

Supposed to be cold AF for the next week or two, and the garage is double-occupied, so we'll see if I want to do the injectors and freeze my butt off (spoiler: if you read this thread, you know I'll just do it anyways because I have no patience...)

 

[irish44j]

So yeah, it got cold...

Not doing this stuff outside with the cold expected to go on for a couple weeks, so had to do some vehicle rearranging. The rallycar is out of action at the moment (fuel pump) and that side of the garage has an overhead rack that's too low to fit the Raider, so the Porsche had to come out and brave the weather. It had been sitting for a month and the battery was totally dead (gotta chase a drain, I guess....) to the point my jump pack wouldn't start it. So had to push it out manually and jump it off the Raider and then move it to the Raider's usual parking spot. Then to get the Raider into the garage I once again had to air down the tires to about 15psi (the roof boxes clear by about 1/2" that way lol). But all switched up...

a bit snug in here, though the Raider is so short in length there's actually about 6 feet of space in front of it (the Porsche is actually LONGER)

So, got into the engine, taking stuff apart and pulled the intake manifold to get to the fuel rail. Two of my plug wires separated the spark plug, so guess I'll be replacing those with some better ones. I pulled the plugs and they all look normal other than one that had the threads suspiciously wet and gassy-smelling, so hopefully this whole injector swap is the correct track to fix the hard starting. I'll put in new plugs while I'm there.

The old injectors. I honestly can't recall if I got these new/refurb when I first did this build. I guess I could look back in the thread but that seems like a lot of work for no reason.

Interestingly, the new ones have a thicker nozzle and more of a "fan" spray pattern. Unsure what that means...they both have the same part number on the casing, so who knows. The new ones fit just fine though.

So, shiny stuff in. I'm also replacing the FPR while I'm there, since it's pretty cheap and hard to access if that turns out to be the problem.

It also gave me the opportunity to check other stuff. I had noticed a small amount of coolant-like residue near the thermostat housing, and turns out both bolts for it had loosened up a bit so tightened them down. Also the bracket for the oil dipstick was way loose so cranked that bolt down as well (it's HARD to access with the engine in the vehicle, incidentally). And checked all my hard-to-access hose clamps for the heater hoses and such. Also found this:

This is one of the three plugs that go into the coolant block/thermostat area. I forget which of them is the ECU coolant temp, gauge, etc. I wonder how long this ground wire for it has been broken and if it has any negative effects. Anyhow, I spliced in some new wire and it's fixed now.

So as I wait for the new plugs/wires/IM gaskets to come in, a few other things. I got a larger medical pouch for the molle panel on the "door" in the back that fits my medkit and some additional items I want to add into there. Also did a bit of rearranging of some of the other molle stuff to make things easier to access.

I've also been looking for better cooking gear. I'm not much of a chef, but the pots/pans/utensils I have are mostly just crap leftover from the house kitchen or wal-mart, and the stove is just the cheapo Ozark Trail one form walmart. It' works, but it's cheap-feeling, rattly, and pretty low output in terms of BTUs. So I did some research and decided on a Camp Chef Everest, based on what I've read on the forums being a good one for a good price. I was about to buy it online but decided to check FB Marketplace real quick and it turned out someone about 20 minutes from me had one listed and available BRAND NEW for half the Amazon price. Apparently she got it for camping but never used it because it was too big to fit in their camper (??). Well, it's not too big for the little Raider, so I ran out and scooped it up tonight. Definitely bigger than the Ozark one, but not too huge. Also feels very nicely built and I like the lid lockdowns that double as locks for the wind wings. Naturally, it has a different input thread for the gas line than the Ozark one, so my regulated line for my 5lb tank doesn't fit :/ Why can't these companies just use a standard fitting already??? Talking to you Jetboil and Camp Chef lol...

Dog approves

Also searching for some better nesting pots/pans, utensils, and such. I don't like how my cooking kit packs out - badly-fitting stuff and not very good stuff taking up too much space. So we'll fix that going forward.....