1998 Evolution V GSR: Classroom

[Tim_M]

Weekend fun:

Finishing up installing the Autometer gauges...oil pressure and AFR for start up...manifold pressure and oil temperature for later...her workspace:



Loves that solder...got quite proficient after 18 odd connections!...all with heat shrink:



New dash panel install after tidying up all the wires...old one has holes drilled - quite reasonable in cost from UAE! These cars just snap apart and back together - love it!:



Installing. Note previous owner installed a fog light...not sure why...not a requirement in Germany, but it is in UK...hmm:



Ready for engine start:



It runs...idles smoothly at 850 rpm with just over 1.0 lambda (~15 to 1 AFR)...





Not so fast...oil pressure appears about 100 psi low!

We drained the oil and swapped in an OEM filter...no change on the pressure. Autometer pressure senders have been erroneous before (this one moved and followed engine rpm so...), but there is a good chance we didn't prepare the replacement block for the deleted balance shafts. IE massive internal oil leak. So new bearings, a few gaskets, and replacement balance shaft bearings are on order. Plan of action is to remove the engine and verify the cause...and swap all the bearings for good measure - hopefully 5 minutes of run time didn't scratch the crank! The supervisor takes full responsibility...

The positives - no dash lights including ABS, AYC, Check Engine, etc. Even moved thru the gears into 3rd... So all is installed correctly and we know we can do it without missing any more parts! I expect once parts arrive, we can turn this in a day or two assuming no damage.

[Loren]

1. Re: Fog Lights. "Required"??? As if you're not doing a bunch of things on this car that aren't required? Maybe the PO just wanted more lighting or thought fog lights were cool?

2. Oil pressure 100 PSI too low? Huh? Does your oil pressure even go up to 100 psi? It shouldn't. Most stop at 80 or 100 psi. Oil pressure at idle should be around 10-30 psi, no? How could it even BE 100 PSI too low at idle? So confused, I am.

[Loren]

BTW, congrats on getting the beast started!

[Solar]

It’s alive ! Congrats

I’m also a little confused on minus 100 psi oil pressure ? The only oil gauge I saw was a temp gauge ? Was the valve train making a lot of noise ?

[Native]

All right! You and your assistant did it!
Bummer about the oil pressure ( ? ) and the extra work to fix it, but it's still very cool!

[Tim_M]

Appreciate the comments...

The Assistant did the deed too. Never had started a car...came right to life with the 3 inch 'fart' pipe purring. Not sure she knew what she did.

Oil Pressure: the quick research on the 4G63 seems to show cold oil pressure 100+ psi is common. I expected that on this new engine set up with slightly on the tight side of clearances. As it warms, idle should be in the 20-30's. We never got over 12.5 so ~100 off. Oil pressure is a function of 'leaks' within the system...an uncovered oil hole due to a missing balance shaft 'race' would result in a pressure drop that we are seeing. Hopefully, no damage to the crank...we have new bearings going in no matter what.

Bummer, but quite happy we may not have to do a bunch of wire/system trouble shooting with a failed AYC or ABS lights with sensors that aren't available any more and currently seized within the uprights. I will be surprise we don't eventually have some dash lights once we get it on the road.

Fog (rear) light: most folks don't do it voluntarily. Only country I'm aware is UK...so wonder if the car came into UK first and then moved to Germany. We used nearly the same switch wiring setup in the Subaru during out tour there.

Again, some goodness - seeing it come alive. It is always satisfying to hear its music. Believe this is my 8th 'birth.'

[Loren]

Okay, yeah, flat out COLD oil pressure... yeah.

I think if you had 12 psi, and you were just idling, you didn't hurt anything. Most "oil lights" come on at 6-7 psi.

Crap, Euro rear fog light. I was thinking US front fog lights.

[Tim_M]

Another order from a month ago showed up from Japan:



Replace missing plastic and fasteners on the front inner fenders. Miss one of these and the stuff starts to fall apart it seems...still very reasonable on cost - just glad they are available new.

Still waiting for all the important parts...

[Solar]

Fun ! Its kind of enjoyable when you search for NOS parts and actually find it and get it delivered. As I'm sure you know a lot of 30 year old plus Japanese cars are becoming popular with collectors and enthusiasts. Manufactures are starting to uncover NOS that was crated up and put in the corner high up on the shelf, theres a Nissan parts dealer in Washington that has found a bunch of parts for 280zx and 300zx and 240sx here in the states and Japan that were thought to be gone forever. I just ordered a gas door/trunk release cable, windshield reveal molding, and EGR valve that were no where to be found a year ago. Of course they want a premium for them, but its basically my last chance to find them. Even the EGR valve wasn't available in the aftermarket parts market, all I could find were used ones.

[Tim_M]

Brian: glad you scored the tough bits to complete your project! Can really put closure on the build. Very surprisingly, we haven't had hardly any non-available parts. I'm quite surprised, but Evo 5 wasn't sold in huge numbers and many of the parts spread over many years. Have you won any more shop rags?

Another box showed up tonight from the states:



New pressure sender, balancer bearings (which we will install 180 degrees out to block the oil passage, and set of rod bearings. The main bearings are still enroute along with oil pan related gaskets (OEM order).

[Solar]

Thats good to hear that parts are still available for your Mitsu, they probably used a lot of the same parts spread across other models ? Haven't won anymore shop rags, though haven't taken it to any shows since then either. Though every time I do take it out, I get a lot of interest and some actual decent offers that make me think about it for a bit, but still not ready to part with it yet. Are you planning on bringing your EVO state side ? If you do, I'm sure you will encounter the same enthusiasm from US/JDM guys.

Looks like you have another nice size project in front of you again, are you going to make the dead line before the crusher ?

[Tim_M]

Brian: you are correct...lots of interchangeability (and aftermarket support). Definitely planning to bring the car back to the states...the assistant is looking forward learning to drive in it! The RHD will be fun... We are awaiting an extension request...didn't think they offer anything past a year, but we will see... Little bit of a challenge now since I have two major projects on-going..."Camaro at 157 mph on the Ring does smoke/oil show". MTF.

Assistant installing the new parts...battery j-hooks replacing the original stripped models:



New turn signal housing due to damaged 'pins' to the light to seat properly:



My jerry-rigged intermediate shaft puller...used to separate the trans and transfer case. Takes quite a bit of force to overcome the small c-clip...and I don't own a slide hammer. It worked!



Trans is out...again:



Engine ready to be plucked...have to wait until after the Halloween activities:

[Tim_M]

A quick yank tonight and on the engine stand in 30 mins.



Fortunately, the assistant was still smiles at the task...hopefully we can get it reassembled ricky tick!



Many times easier muscling a 250 pound chunk than an American V8 at 550+ pounds!

[Tim_M]

Did a quick tear down to the oil pump plate...something missing!:



No bearing race whatsoever! The hole on the right of the boss leads directly to the beginning of the main oil galley - massive oil pressure bleed off!

Prior to bearing race install (hole is purposely misaligned:



Installed:



Unfortunately, I see enough sparklees in the oil pan that we need to pull the bearings/crank and hope we didn't do too much damage...(less than 5 mins run time)

[Native]

Dagnabbit!

[Tim_M]

That is one way to describe it...we'd be driving it instead of a 78 HP Jazz right now if we had studied the block a bit more...oh well, final responsibility lies in the assembler (or in this case the supervisor).

[Solar]

Man, sorry to hear about the glitter in the oil. Glad to see you're doing a main bearing swap, do you think the rod bearings are okay or are you replacing them too ? I'm guessing you took a good look at the camshafts too.

Trying to wrap my head around the oil race issue. I'm guessing the previous owner removed the bearing race and never replaced it ? Why does the new race have a hole in it if its not to be aligned with the hole in the oil pump plate ? I wonder if that hole is to get oil to the bearing ? Are you sure that the oil pressure issue isn't because the race was missing and oil was bypassing through the missing oil race opening ? Just curious

[Loren]

You missed the part where that bearing is for the balance shaft. They've removed the balance shaft. So, no bearing left an open hole, which sapped oil pressure. Putting the bearing in place NOT lined up with the oil hole effectively blocks that unused oil hole, restoring oil pressure. Un-engineering at its finest!

[Tim_M]

Brian: Loren is correct. Although Mitsubishi offered the balance shaft delete on several models of the 4G63 (just not this one) and we used the factory parts...but we missed the missing bearing shell 'blocker'. Now we know!

We have not pulled the cams, but will as you hint they run in the aluminum head directly. Hopefully they are ok.

Obviously, this was worst case...no oil pressure on a new engine...ugh. Now all the bits to do damage...

We flushed 12 quarts thru the engine (3 quarts fresh oil fill, running the oil pump, draining the pan, pulling the pan, and brake-cleaning it clean - reinstalling for another 3 quart session). No more floaties...next to examine the bearings...



Unfortunately, the #5 main bearing (last one to get oil) has some finger nail catching grooves - not terrible, but I'm not a machinist. So out it came and try to take it to the machine shop for a look see - hopefully just a minor polish...or a new crank.



Number 1 main bearing shell - showed the most wear, but the crank journal was fine:



The rod bearings didn't look too worse for wear (get oil after the mains) surprisingly. The rod bearings are only $30 total. The mains are OEM Mitsubishi and run $185 a set...which we are still waiting on. The snow is coming so not looking good for us.

[Solar]

You missed the part where that bearing is for the balance shaft. They've removed the balance shaft. So, no bearing left an open hole, which sapped oil pressure. Putting the bearing in place NOT lined up with the oil hole effectively blocks that unused oil hole, restoring oil pressure. Un-engineering at its finest!

Ahhh, I did miss that, makes sense, thanks.

Tim, sorry to see you have to tear the bottom end back down, though taking the crank to the machine shop is probably a good idea regardless of what you found. Better safe than sorry I guess.