Help! Save an almost divorced VS 5L ute..

[Inj.Director]

Hey there everyone,

Well as the title says I am on the brink of divorcing my VS so the time has come for me to call out to all of you intelligent peers and ask for mechanical/electrical/human help...
My much loved 96' VS 5L manual ute has finally been put together after many years waiting for the time but I am having a few issues. Below I will give some details of the car, what the issue is and what the end goal is. If you can please help out with some info etc. I/we would be ever so appreciative,

The plan/end goal -

1. Get it running and reliable.
2. Have a tune done and dyno it to get a baseline for future works.
3. License it here in QLD as its currently under WA license.
4. Final project works being but not limited to - Fix paint issues or wrap it, dress up the engine bay etc. and finally one Harrop top mount charger with intercooler.

Current issue -

• First start with new plugs it runs perfect but you can smell its rich.
• After 5mins you can hear it very slightly missing and it gradually gets worse and worse until it sounds like its on 5 cylinders and your eyes start burning from the rich condition.
• When its first started and driven it seems ok at idle but it noticeably struggles to take off. At this stage It has a general lack of power across the board. After only a quick lap of the block its missing like crazy and struggle to get up the driveway.
• I have sorted the fuel out so that seems good, I have swapped over from MSD to standard ignition and coil, checked firing order and set base timing a million times (with 5&6 bridged), replaced the following sensors with new - TPS, IAC, coolant temp for ECU, coolant temp for gauge, intake air temp, MAP sensor and O2 sensor (had to lengthen this as it was too short but did a résistance check pre and post and all good).
• All the while no codes coming up with either the engine light check or with my Vident iLink400AU.

Here is some data I saved on the last scan.
Engine Speed 753 RPM

Desired Idle 750 RPM

ECT Sensor Volts 2.60 V

Eng Coolant Temperature 74 °C

IAT Sensor Volts 1.05 V

IAT 86 °C

Map Voltage 3.52 V

Map 76 kPa

Baro. Pressure 112 kPa

TPS Voltage 0.63 V

TPS Angle 0 %

02 Ready Yes

Fueling Mode Open Loop

O2 Sensor Signal 1021 mV

02 Cross Counts 0

Inj. Pulse Time 3 mS

Injector Voltage 0 V

St Fuel Trim 0 %

Lt Fuel Trim 0 %

Left Cell 4

Lt Fuel Learn Disable

Air/Fuel Ratio 14.0 :1

02 Sensor Status Rich

Battery Voltage 12.3 V

Reference Volts 0 V

Fuel Pump Status On

Idle RPM Varint. 5 Units

Crank Switch Cranking

cam Signal Missing

Inj. A FDBK Open

Inj. B FDBK Open

Secel Fuel Cutoff Off

LAC Position 77 Steps

Spark Mode Est

Spark Advance 0 °BTDC

Knock Signal No

Knock Retard 0

TCC Solenoid Off

Vehicle Speed 0 Km/h

A/C Request Off

A/C Clutch Off

Engine Fan

Eng Crank Time 0.9 Sec

Time From Start 0:0:0

PROM I.D. 1838.0


Works/Mods -
•Fresh rebuilt stock 304.
•Heads are stock but rebuilt.
•282 Comp Cam
•New clutch etc.
•Serviced standard injectors.
•3” single stainless Manta exhaust extractors back with high flow cat.
•New O2 sensor
•ProComp 1200cfm 4barrel billet throttle body, with standard tps and I think a VT iac with the large diameter pintle.
•Standard ignition and Bosh coil (have MSD 6AL ignition and MSD Blaster coil pn8252 in the car but not hooked up as it was part of a process of elimination)
•Brand new complete standard distributor (I have a MSD pro billet pn8589 distributor to go in but unsure if i can run it due to hall effects).
-10.5mm Eagle leads
•New spark plugs.
-New external fuel pump (modified internal pump/sender unit) with pre and post filters as well as non return valves. Fuel line has an adjustable regulator with gauge Pre rail and a second pressure gauge post rail. This is set at 42psi.

Hopefully with this info I can get a few of you gurus thoughts and a possible attack plan.
Shout out if I have missed any info you would need.

Thanks heaps and ill cross me fingers.

 

[Immortality]

Fuel rail pressure should be 43psi with no vacuum. At idle with full manifold vacuum it should drop down to under 40psi.

Do you have cam specs? Did you check the cam timing? Have you done a compression test?

Try advancing the distributor base timing to 12 or 14°BTDC and see if it makes a difference.

 

[ephect]

Has it had a tune, I couldn't see it listed. O2 sensor and mode is in open loop, check if it turns to **** after closed loop, then monitor o2 values.

Also what do the plugs look like after a few laps around the block.

 

[Forcedvp]

Yeah. Over a 1000mv on o2 sensor means she's very Rich and probably fouling plugs.Should be around half that(550-650mv) at idle. 0 deg BTDC, should be 10 deg BTDC for starters.

 

[ephect]

Yeah. Over a 1000mv on o2 sensor means she's very Rich and probably fouling plugs. 0 deg BTDC, should be 10 deg BTDC for starters.

True but it's in open loop so no idea if the O2 are working in closed loop and if the values are ok.

Sounds like it's turning to **** before it can heat up enough to get that data.

 

[Immortality]

Does it have a new harmonic balancer?

If not you may need to confirm the balancer timing mark is correct, these are well known for spinning balancers when they get old.

Also, you only need one regulator fitted after the fuel rail before the return line.

 

[Immortality]

True but it's in open loop so no idea if the O2 are working in closed loop and if the values are ok.

Sounds like it's turning to **** before it can heat up enough to get that data.

Fairly sure these idle in open loop regardless.

 

[Inj.Director]

Fuel rail pressure should be 43psi with no vacuum. At idle with full manifold vacuum it should drop down to under 40psi.

Do you have cam specs? Did you check the cam timing? Have you done a compression test?

Try advancing the distributor base timing to 12 or 14°BTDC and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks for the reply bud,

So the fuel pressure is around the 42-44 mark and does drop off down to around 30 by memory.

The Cam specs are -
Grind# KH-230/3101/KH-230/3101 H110.
Part# 282-000-5
Old Crane# 884301
Cam installed at 105deg intake centre line Duration @ 0.050, Intake 230 Ext 230, Lob lift= In 0.3101 ext 0.3101, lob separation 110.
I have attached a photo but no I haven't checked its timing yet because its old been rebuilt recently by Chris Mills Performance in Perth so assuming it would be correct.

Compression test results are-
1- 135 2- 130
3- 132 4- 135
5- 135 6- 134
7- 136 8- 136

I will give the timing a crack.

 

[Inj.Director]

Has it had a tune, I couldn't see it listed. O2 sensor and mode is in open loop, check if it turns to **** after closed loop, then monitor o2 values.

Also what do the plugs look like after a few laps around the block.

No tune only had a chip in it when I got it and it is light blue with a sticker with "VS V8 MAN T5 STAGE 4"
O2 sensor starts off in closed loop then finally goes to open loop but then just fluctuates between the both.
Plugs are what you would want to see but not consistent, they range from good but wet, mildly carboned and dry, mildly carboned and wet.

 

[Immortality]

I'm going to say that is your problem. That is too much cam for a stock motor which shows in the very low compression readings.

It's going to need a lot if initial timing because it's going to burn really lazy at idle because of the low stock compression ratio. One possible solution is to advance the cam timing so it closes the intake valve a bit sooner, you'll improve low rpm but cost a bit of high rpm performance.