1993 Quad4 GTZ: Project WTF
Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 8:31 am
Where to start... I bought my current 1993 GTZ in Wisconsin. The engine was removed and mostly disassembled but the seller claimed it was all there. I got the car back to Tennessee and began to work on it. I found many things that were not consistent with a 1993 GTZ. The axles didn't have ABS teeth, the intermediate shaft was for a pre-92 car, the fuel rail was for a pre-92 car, the intake was wrong for a 1993 (and much more). Apparently, I was sold a 1993 GTZ with a bunch of parts from some other Quad4. The car also came with a 'rebuilt' cylinder head.
After spending a large sum of money on rebuilding the engine (new timing set, oil pump, machine work), I put everything together and back in the car. I was happy to hear the engine fire up almost immediately. My excitement was cut short when I noticed that there was no oil pressure registering on the gauge. Apparently, there is an oil gallery bolt that needed to be put back in the block to prevent the oil from pumping directly back into the oil pan... After pulling the pan off and reinstalling the bolt, I now had oil pressure - and a bit less bearing material...
After sorting the oil pressure issue out, I noticed the car would still not idle. I checked everything - The IAC, TPS, vacuum connections, everything. I even picked up another intake manifold, TB and a whole bunch of other parts and through them on just to make sure everything was in working order - The idle issue never changed. The car would run, but it would jump between 2500-3000rpm at idle.
In addition to my idling problem, the car lacked the expected Quad4 power. It didn't want to rev past 4500rpm and just didn't have much get-up-and-go. Because the car came with an unusable (in this application) fuel rail, I had to find a replacement before I could get it started initially. I wound up finding a rail from a SOHC Quad and bolted it on. FYI - They will bolt on, but don't fit quite right. I assumed that my power issue was because I was using SOHC injectors. I eventually picked up some HO injectors and installed them. To my surprise, the power problem was still there. I drove the car around a bit just to put some miles on it, but honestly, wasn't having much fun. One day, less than a mile from my house, the car began pouring white smoke from the tail pipes. I know what you're thinking - Quad4 Head Gasket - but (a) this was an enormous amount of white smoke too much to be a simple HG, (b) the engine has head studs and less than 400 miles on it.
Things started making sense... The rebuilt cylinder head looked clean and freshly rebuilt, but looked to have had massive repair work done to it. I'm guessing that there is an internal crack on the head that is causing not only my idling issue, but this smoking issue as well.
At this point, this GTZ has earned it's title: Project WTF
Last night, I decided to pull the engine - I'll tear it apart to see if I can find out exactly what the problem is/was and see if I can't get it figured out.... on a plus side, last night was the first time I've gotten to use my new shop space for a large project - I can't even describe how nice it is to have adequate space to work and a place to properly store and organize tools!
I had apparently started a small thread here: http://www.beretta.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13704
I will update this thread, not the other.
...more to come...
After spending a large sum of money on rebuilding the engine (new timing set, oil pump, machine work), I put everything together and back in the car. I was happy to hear the engine fire up almost immediately. My excitement was cut short when I noticed that there was no oil pressure registering on the gauge. Apparently, there is an oil gallery bolt that needed to be put back in the block to prevent the oil from pumping directly back into the oil pan... After pulling the pan off and reinstalling the bolt, I now had oil pressure - and a bit less bearing material...
After sorting the oil pressure issue out, I noticed the car would still not idle. I checked everything - The IAC, TPS, vacuum connections, everything. I even picked up another intake manifold, TB and a whole bunch of other parts and through them on just to make sure everything was in working order - The idle issue never changed. The car would run, but it would jump between 2500-3000rpm at idle.
In addition to my idling problem, the car lacked the expected Quad4 power. It didn't want to rev past 4500rpm and just didn't have much get-up-and-go. Because the car came with an unusable (in this application) fuel rail, I had to find a replacement before I could get it started initially. I wound up finding a rail from a SOHC Quad and bolted it on. FYI - They will bolt on, but don't fit quite right. I assumed that my power issue was because I was using SOHC injectors. I eventually picked up some HO injectors and installed them. To my surprise, the power problem was still there. I drove the car around a bit just to put some miles on it, but honestly, wasn't having much fun. One day, less than a mile from my house, the car began pouring white smoke from the tail pipes. I know what you're thinking - Quad4 Head Gasket - but (a) this was an enormous amount of white smoke too much to be a simple HG, (b) the engine has head studs and less than 400 miles on it.
Things started making sense... The rebuilt cylinder head looked clean and freshly rebuilt, but looked to have had massive repair work done to it. I'm guessing that there is an internal crack on the head that is causing not only my idling issue, but this smoking issue as well.
At this point, this GTZ has earned it's title: Project WTF
Last night, I decided to pull the engine - I'll tear it apart to see if I can find out exactly what the problem is/was and see if I can't get it figured out.... on a plus side, last night was the first time I've gotten to use my new shop space for a large project - I can't even describe how nice it is to have adequate space to work and a place to properly store and organize tools!
I had apparently started a small thread here: http://www.beretta.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13704
I will update this thread, not the other.
...more to come...