Thursday, January 26, 2012

Dennis' Reflection

1. Choose one aspect and describe the procedure and what you needed to do it (manuals)?

The aspect that i chose was the last big project i completed, which was the isntallation and configuration of the tachometer module sensor. Originally it's meant for adjusting the pulse from the speedometer in the dash to the pulses in the transmission, to give the appropriate reading of speed on the dash; otherwise without it, you could be going 50 km/hr physically, but the speedometer reads 25km/hr or 75 km/hr, ect. with peters installation the gasolene speedometer gear from the gas tranny, and installing it to the diesel tranny, that resolved the speedometer issue, but the Tachometer simply reads nothing at the moment, so we will be using it for that.
after reading through the instruction booklet for the module, there's a few things i've noticed we needed to do to connect the the wires and make it work. on the module itself, there are wire inlets (or ports) to connect various wires to, such as power, ground, different pre-set pulse settings, and a custom one were you can adjust precisely the amount of pulses necessary. along with that there are switches that indicate different sensitivity levels (high and low) of the pulses. lastly there is an up and down button, meant to be used to adjust the pulses
so let me elaborate on the pulses. for each number on the tachometer, (1-7 usually), it means 1000-7000 RPM, or rotations per minute. what needs to happen is the module has to take in 1 pulse for every RPM, so at an idle of 800 RPM, the module needs to read 800 pulses per minute (PPM), to read 800 RPM on the tachometer on the dash board.

Steps
1) splice a wire that provide 12 volts of power when the key is in the ON position, to be connected in the 'POWER' port of the module
2)Next, find an appropriate ground on the engine (in this case, we shared our ground eyelet with another ground) and connect to the 'GROUND' port of the module
3) we have 3 tachometer wires, TACH (sensor ground), TACH#1(from the engine), and TACH #2(from under tachometer in the dash).
4)connect TACH to SENSOR GROUND port of the module
5) Connect TACH #1 to the 2000 PPM INPUT (lowest pre-set) port of the Module
6) Connect Tach #2 to the OUTPUT port of the module

Now that all connections are made, with the vehicle turned on, the sensor read about 3100 RPM at the tachometer in the dash, at idle. which means right now the 700-800 RPM of the physical engine is giving triple amount of PPM to the module, which can be seen on TACH in the dash.

Configuration adjust steps
1) Holding the UP button while the vehicle is in the off position, then turning it on, brings up a RED light which indicates it is now in 'COURSE ADJUST MODE', which means i can adjust the PPM by clicking either the UP switch and DOWN switch.
2) since the PPM is triple the amount to high, i tested by clikcing the down button '50' times to see were it drops
3) turning off and on the engine takes the module out of COURSE ADJUST MODE, allowing us to see the current RPM at idle. it dropped down about 1000 RPM.
4) so after turning the vehicle on and off multiple times and adjusting accordingly, we set the PPM to match the idle RPM at around mid 800 RPM. as we add put pressure on the accelerator, the Tachometer rises consistently with the physical engine RPM,
5) success !
6) the last step is installing the module to the fire wall, resizing the wires and placing them in the most convenient location so that they wont get tampered with or be in the way of anything while the vehicle is in motion.


What did i Learn from the conversion? what was the most challenging, and why?

So first I want to say that I've truly expanded my knowledge in automotive mechanics, the various steps, procedures and hardships it involves, as well as the various components indirectly involved: such as learning about green technology, learning how to work with others to name a few. During this semester, I've learned how to read manuals by knowing what is necessary to read and how to find it. I've learned things that you cant learn in books such as the 'feel' for moving, installing, un-installing and creating parts for a vehicle, from the simplest methods of tightening bolts to the max then just 'a little extra', to more complicated procedures such as welding, grinding, and bending parts. the most challenging aspect of the conversion was not being able to find resources on making things work. everything is logical; you need to do something?, find some resources, instructions, manuals, ect, then apply. but when those resources don't exist or are hard to find, it makes things a lot more challenging. more specifically, the wiring diagram for the TCM just didnt exist within our reach. after a lot of research and contacting, we couldn't find a way to match wires from the transmission to TCM, so we had to figure out alternatives and take initiative in getting it done the best way possible.
Overall, I don't see much we could have improved on. Maybe just a few things here or there, like organization to allow ease of each process after another. everything else went very well and we pretty much got it all done.
I've always been very interesting in learning in depth the aspects of automotive. I love cars and the Industry, and through the inspiration of taking this coarse and learning what's involved, I've considered to take on the field of automotive in post secondary school, sometime in the future. what a fun a great experience this conversion has been!

-Dennis

The aspects Dennis did

-Remove front grill and headlights
-plasma cut front cross member frame
-un-install AC, power steering, and Vacuum lines
-disconnect all necessary wires leading from the engine
assist in lifting engine/tranny out
-removal of gas tank and shield
-cleaning gas tank, and taking out the fuel pump
-removing fuel pump component, replaced with a simple hose
-installing steel lines to coil around fuel pump piece, for coolant
-installing makeshift fuel pump into a new fuel tank.
Wiring
-using tons of research and volt meter testing; locating and identifying
all necessary wiring from the GAS engine, and DIESEL engine, to be matched
accordingly, for the diesel engine in the previous gas trooper.
install engine in the trooper: Have engine Generally in place under the hood
-install gas tank back in place
-install rubber coolant lines from coolant hoses under the hood down under the vehicle to the gas tank, attached to the makeshift gas pump unit
-install departure and return fuel lines from functioning diesel fuel pump under the hood, to the fuel tank, attaching to the makeshift fuel pump unit.
-install electric heater wires all along the the hoses that lead from under the hood to the gas tank.
-bundle and insulate coolant/fuel lines, then tie strap to vehicle securely
Under the Hood
- Connection and testing of a few wires from engine to vehicle
-Installation of brand new Radiator, along with meticulous hose cutting and positioning to appropriate coolant lines
-installation of AC unit (new filter)
WIRING 2.0
-during all this, doing research on attempting to find wiring diagrams to match all the wires leading from the transmission attached to the Diesel engine to the TCM. after plenty of looking and attempts, there was no luck, so we were left with an alternative; not using the TCM, and manually changing gears.
-locate and identify the solenoids and their code for each gear change ( 2 solenoids, gears 1-4).
-attaching them to light switches for testing of each gear in the parking lot
-locating and identifying lock-up switch, and also tested with a light switch
-purchase of a solenoid shifter, leading to installing on the centre console of the vehicle (cutting plastic to fit appropriately)
-installation of lock-up switch, to the centre console
-re installation of the centre console
TACHOMETER
-tachometer wiring doesn't work, so with the purchase of a third party speedometer sensor, we created a makeshift tachometer sensor.
-following code instruction from the manual and using various existing wires under the hood (3 tach wires, 1 ground and 1 12v power); adjusted pulse of the engine, to tach sensor to tachometer to match.
-installing of tach sensor against fire wall
-labelling of all wire connections
-bundling and organizing wires under the hood.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Jonathan's Reflection

1. Choose one aspect and descride the procedure and what you need to do it (manuals)?

The aspect I'm going to choose is the timing belt. Because the 3.1 TD was only sold on the east it was hard to find the proper method if changing the timing belt. We had a manual saying the basic repairs but no timing belt. My teacher was looking on a blog that said a pretty good method of doing it, also belt tension values and torque values. From this blog we worked out how to do it. For the things we didn't know I problem solved and did it.

Step 1
- remove all of the drive belt

Step 2
- remove the four bolts that hold the crankshaft pulley and use a rubber hammer to remove the pulley

Step 3
- remove the timing belt shield

Step 4
- take a socket wrench and turn the crankshaft so the key lines up with TDC timing mark

Step 5
- Aline the camshaft pulley and the injection pulley by putting a bolt through the alinement holes on both of the pulleys to make sure that they stay at TDC position

Step 6
- make a mark with a marker on the camshaft side and injection pump side of the belt

Step 7
- loosen the tenison pulley and remove the timing belt

Step 8
- transfer the marking to the new timing belt. MAKE SURE YOU LINE UP THE MARKINGS PERFECTLY!!

Step 9
- place the new timing belt into position and line up the markings

Step 10
- using a scale put a 9kg load on the timing belt using the tensioning arm to the transfer the load. Torque the tension pulley to 76Nm.

Step 11
- remove the alinement bolts from the injection and cam pulley. Rotate the engine 45 degrees anti clockwise and ensure all the slack is on the tensioner side.

Step 12
- return the engine to TDC and ensure that the bolt go into the alinement holes.

What did you learn from the conversion? What was challenging? And why?

I would like to say that this project was very enjoy able and fun. Also me and my classmates had a great teacher to learn from! Some parts of the project were very challenging. Like getting the engine in the right position. I would say my problem solving skills have grown during this project. I learn many thing like how to read wiring diagrams, welding, developing more of a feel for automotive work, wiring circuits and etc to many thing to say. Some challenging things were not having my proper manuals I over came this by problems solving and trial and error. I would do it again if a could.

The aspects Jonathan did

- removed and installed starter motor
- removed and installed new heater hoses
- rewired alternator and starter
- installed coolant heater (block heater)
- installed vacuum system
- removed and installed new timing belt
- modified left and right engine mounts
- modified gear selector rod
- removed and installed new radio
- removed and installed new glow plugs
- installed glow plug wiring system
- helped install new exhaust system with classmates
- installed new temperature gauge
- removed transmission cross member
- installed engine bay Hood with Peter
- helped cut and remove radiator cross member bar
- installed new oil filter
- helped Dennis configure tachometer module
- removed old radiator
- cut radiator protection cover
- adjusted engine to fit in the right position
- removed and installed new engine belts
- removed and installed interior dash panel
- also other little things

Temperture Gauge

One of the last things I did on the Isuzu trooper was the temperature gauge. I tried to figure out the stock temperature gauge with the wiring diagrams we had but, the diagrams were unlcear where the wires went. The stock temperature gauge wasn't working. We tried everything we could to get it working. My teacher went and got a dash mountable temperature gauge. The after market gauge came with its own temperature sensor. On the new temperature gauge there were three terminals +,- and S (temperature sensor signal wire). I ran wires through the firewall and connected them to the ground, sensor module , and 12 volt positive source. When I was wiring the radio in I found two wires which were alumination and dimmer. I connect the wires to the light for the temperature gauge so that when you turn the lights on the gauge lights up.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Peter's Reflection

1. Choose one aspect and descride the procedure and what you need to do it (manuals)?

I want talk about the wiring the shifting indicator light . In the begging Our Engine was bought in Japan and all wire aren't the same to connect to the TCM(Trasmission control module) The TCM are working fine but only the biggest problem was that wiring . Untill we finish all the Conversion and deal with it . In first time dennis didi some reasrch and I did some as well. The fact is this problem wont be big deal for this car owner don , Because He know the shifting position. We do this for Past the safety Road test.

Step.1 Use the research data for the TCM wiring and understand what is what.
Step.2 In order to let the gear run in the correet Speed I take the Speed sensor From the old Gas engine Transmission , And reconnect on the New diesel Transmission ,
I did a mistake to connect in the wrong place and make on reaction on the dash board . Well I fix itafter.
Step.3 Find the connection on the TCM of the shfting indicator light wire
Step.4 I have to cut them and rewiring on the Mole wire (wire for the let the light working)
Step.5 And have patience to test the each wire are connect in the right way ,there are 9
in total and time them is 81 paten for the
Connection every single wire has to use the electranic Meter the test are there having Ev connection.
Step.6 Find it and wring it than , we shift the gear and test and ajust it untill all lights work properly on dash
Same happen on the back up light dosen't work,i did it too


What did i Learn from the conversion? what was the most challenging, and why? For many people they first time think about build or Conversion a Car must be very interesting and the answer
is yes!! Very ,If only you have the patience to deal with the problem, Nothing is unbeatble In fact When I facing
Some really hard trouble I allmost thout I can't but will teacher and classmate together to conquer it team work all
way help it alot. Like I like working alone on anything except the wring, So I allmost did every other bit of the car and work hard
on it and untill the end of the term ,the task are running out for us ,Car all most done,No choice for job then .I have to face the wring
Thankfuly Don tell me alot knowlege about this work And we working together and finish it .at that time is all most the final exam
and even after that still come to school every day for extra working . And the last of the last day I finish the A/C problem
By the Don's words The Car has finally finished

I just feel so difrennt at the end ,I was very happy ,3boy and I teacher can done some thing unexpected . And we done it
it . Look back what I did ,I just feel pride . I Believe I'm the guy has Longset time working on the welding machine and cutting tool
All these experience all so valueble for me working in the future This project Give me so much happy and experience and
knowlege . once life chance to having this project and I can 100% saying '' I'm not wasting in here and I enjoy in very much !! ''

The aspects of the Conversion Peter did

This is what I done in 2011. For the ISUZU diesel conversion project,
- Remove /reinstall the front grill
- Remove /reinstall the Front Light
- Cut the Front engine Bar
- Remove Front & rear drive shaft
- Remove fuel tank & disconnect fuel line
- Disconnect transmission connectors & linkages
- Remove transfer case shifter
- Remove the complete Exhaust system (the bolt of the Exhaust are very tight So we used OXY/ACET torch)
- Disconnect the starter motor wire & alternator wire
- All Four Wheels Disk Brakes roter and shose Replace
- Fix front wheel join point bearing
- Replace rubber cover For the drive axle
- Replace the Rear Drum brake
- Remove the Oil pan and Fix the damage point and Reglue it back on
- Making a New Braket for oil filter
- Recut the power steering tube
- Connect alot tube and wire some with clamped
- Rebuild the Front engine Bar bracket
- Replace some Broken light bulb
- Reinstall the Fuel tank and Reposition the fuel pipe
- making new exhaust tip
- Reinstall the Shift nob
- Reinstall the speed senser for transmission
- ReInstall the Hood
- Reconnect the Wire the make backup light work
- Find the drive indcator light make it work
- Reconnect the wire For Let the A/C working properly
- cleaning the air intake

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Transmission gear selector rod ajustments



When I went to go to comment the rod to

the transmission and the shifter I realized the rod was to short.

On the spot where the rod

connects there was a piece of the old rod I removed it and welded it to the rod to extend it. I adjusted the length the cut off the old connection piece. I placed it in the right position and finished by placing coder pins through the holes.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Transmission Shifting Alternative

So, more or less, we are out of luck on finding a wiring diagram for the TCM of this vehicle. after looked over the interenet, through blogs and forums, and even having peter contact dealers in japan with a translator, still no hope.

so we've decided to take an alternate route.

what we will do is use the 2 shifting solenoids that determine the gear position, and splice them into a 'manual switch' type method. its almost like a manual transmission, were u change the gears yourself, but using an automatic transmission.

to test to see if it even works, we got some light switches and used wire to splice onto each solenoid. there are 4 solenoids in total: 2 for swithcing gears, 1 for the lock up, and the other for line pressure?. we attached the first 3 to light switches that are positioned convinetl in the center consol of the trooper.

so technically what happens is, when both the switches are ON and/or OFF in a certain pattern, it determines the gear it switches to. this is a chart with the proper sequence for the trooper.

SWITCH 1 SWITCH 2 GEAR
ON OFF 1st
ON ON 2nd
OFF ON 3rd
OFF OFF 4th

after further testing, if everything goes well, we will purchase a shifter knob with all the gears (it looks like a real stick shifter) instead of using the light switches to change gears.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Front engine bar repeair



When we want to pull the engine out. We diceded to cut the Front enginr bar to clear the way and let engine inside. Now in order to let the hood to close we have to install back it again. And if we choose the Welding than it will stay stronger but can't be remove again . So I make and new Bracket for it. On both side. I cut some strong metal and cut the shape fit the bar and drill holes on it one bracket 6 holes makeit very tight.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Vacuum system

We had no vacuum canister so we got one. The vacuum canister was rusty and old it came from a junk yard. I Sanded the canister and used a metal epoxy to fill in the holes on the canister. The epoxy hardends in 5 minutes. Then I painted the vacuum canister black. Well it was dry I figured out how to mount it. I used All Round wire. I attached a hose to the vacuum pump and one going to the break power booster.

For testing I attached all the hoses to the canister. We started the engine and the vacuum Gage said it had 15 inches of vacuum. We shut off the engine and the vacuum in the canister disappeared. We realized that the canister had a one way value. I change the hoses and attached the canister beside of the car battery.

Passenger side engine mount changes


The driverside mount is in. Next I did the passenger side mount. The changes I made to the passenger side mount were close to the changes I made on the other mount. The different changes were that we had to put in a spacer to

lift up the enigne. After the mount was drilled and welded we put in the place. One of the holes in the mount was in the wrong place. I drill another hole. Put the bolts in place and torture them by feel.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Ignition Problems

So now that everything is in place, we've had a few troubles starting and stopping the engine.

To start it, using the ignition key wasn't working. for some reason, the wire isnt receiving a proper connection, but weve decided to figure it out later, as the larger issue at hand is stopping the engine.

With the key in the ON position, we took a direct connection from starter to the battery to start the engine. it turns on fine. but then once we put the key in the OFF position, the engine kept running, leaving use to block the airway to stop the engine.

It's strange that it wasnt working, so we got a Volt meter to check voltage. with the key in the ON position, it receives the 12volt reading, which is the needed amount to start. once in the OFF position, it received 1.3- 1.6 volts, instead of zero. The wire is getting a voltage from somewhere else, which is enough, we assume, to keep the engine running and ignition pumping fuel.

so for an alternative route, we used a 12v relay switch. The relay would have an internal switch that turns on, to allow power to ignition, when there is 12v or more form the battery. when there is less ( under 12v, so that includes the random 1.3 volts) the switch would shut off, leaving zero Volts to the ignition wire to the pump, shutting off the engine. once the wires were in their positions and grounded, as well as some volt meter tests, it looked promising.

we 'hotwire' started the engine again, letting it run for a bit, but once the key was put in the OFF position, the engine kept running. the ignition was still getting power and we couldnt figure out why or how.

we removed the relay switch, since that didnt work out and we looked for other possiblities.

the ignition wire is connected to the PCM which has other wires leading to many parts of the engines/tranny, and it could be grabbing some volts from there. i removed the center council trim of the trooper, and unplugged the 3 connectors from the PCM. after another ON/OFF runthrough, still no luck stopping the engine, leading us to unplug the wires for a shutoff

We tried using a restitor to shave off the volts, still giving enough volts to start, but not enough to keep it going, although that method didnt work out either, mostly because the resistor that we used wasn't strong enough.


This is a minor problem we came across in this conversion, and if only we knew some smimple answers, it would have been easily bypassed, but with some further investigating, we'll figure it out. stay posted!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Air Conditioning Installed

So Now with the Rad in, its time to move onto the Air condition.


We purchased a new filter for the AC. after carefully replacing the filter, making sure not to damage the steel lines or the AC condensor, we then put it in place. the coorisponding hoses were then put into position, but we will have them crimped (at an AC shop) professionaly to the fitting.

Radiator and Hoses complete

so now that all he hoses are in position, its time to line up the radiator.

fresh out of the box, the gasoline model rad needed some adjustment. at the bottom, we needed to switch the steel line (inverse for diesel) so we simply switched it around. it worked out perfectly :).

to make sure the radiator is lined up were its needed, we tac welded the hood cross support that was cut off back in place. the rubber from the old Rad was used at the bottom of the new one, to be aligned properly. . now that the Radiator is in, we tested the connections.

For the bottom connection of the rad, we used the old hose left over from the gas engine to fit to the coolant heater. for the top, leading from a large Rad fitting to the smaller thermo housing fitting was a bit more complicated. Don went out and found the perfect hose peice thats has just enough length to reach, and it has the right size for both ends.

now that the rad is in place, we put both the fan blade and shroud in at the same time. since the engine is leaning more toward the passenger side, even though the fan shroud was cut to compensate the lack of space, we needed to cut some more so the blade wouldn't scrape against it. too bad the engine is leaning quite off, but its easier to cut some plastic than to do major adjustment again to the motor mounts, although in reality, its not too bad overall.

So now all the connections are made, i topped it up with coolant (50% coolant, 50% water). and once the engine starts circulating the coolant, we will fill up some more.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Repiar the Oil pan


















The pan it's self is not damage by the rust or dust . Befor the engine was shipped to here . The whole engine was just sit on the oil pan for a Long time and the wight of the diesel engines wight damage the oil pan. after we install the engine on mount, the pan was hinting the front driveshaft and make a hole on the edge, So I graiding the damage part to smooth and put special pad inside,To field the gap of the hole,

After the pad was dry and I put a blue color glue gasket to make there no space between engine and pan.

Fuel/coolant systems complete

For the last couple weeks ive been working on both the fuel and electric systems of the trooper. now that the fuel tank is comeplete, were getting closer to putting things back on the trooper

We fed 2 rubber hose fuel lines (one coming in to fuel pump and one out). and followed a path along the frame under the vehicle, on the passenger side. we fed another rubber hose for the coolant and followed the same path.

Peter and I lifted the tank, and put it in place, along with connecting all the coorisponding hoses to their connection, clamping them in securley.

our main idea was to keep the coolant very warm, keeping the fuel thin, so to assist the coolant hose to maintain its heat, we ran an electrical heater strip along the hose, then electrical taped it tight, leading the pronged plug end to be under the hood. afterwards, we used 'noodle' foam type insulation to wrap around the 2 fuel lines + coolant line, to further prevent heatloss.

once all the lines from the tank to the hood were insulated and tie strapped securely to the vehicle, there needed to be some adjusment under the hood for the hoses. to run the fuel and coolant lines together as much as possible to keep in the heat, we traced the fuel lines and one of the coolant lines (red hose) behind the engine against the firewall.

the plastic connector that connects the coolant hose (running under the vehicle) and the hose running from the heater was in an awkawrd position ( facing down and too low) so after much specualtion, we used connected an extra hose to make it longer. this increases the chance of a coolant leak (with more connetions and all) but i guess thats what happens when things are overlooked in the early stages of installation. hey it happens.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Driverside engine mount changes

In that past week I have started to modify the engine mounts. Don my teacher teached me how to weld. Before we started this project I had not idea how to weld. I cut two pieces of angle iron which I welded to the driverside engine mount. I marked and drilled holes for

the bolts that mount the mount to the frame of the Trooper. The holes were all most lined up

perfectly so I made and holes bigger by cutting them larger with the plasma cutter. To g

et the modified mount in I had to pushed the engine to the left to place the mount. My teacher helped me to place the engine mount bolts because the bolts are in awkward positio

ns. The diverside mount is fully in place.

Engine adjustmant

The engine is in place but after we put the in place we realized that the engine and transmission were to far back. For the driveshafts to line up with the differentials the engine needed to be moved 1 1/2 inches forward. We flipped the transmission mount which gained 1 inch forward. To gain the remainder 1/2 inch we are going to modify the engine mounts. With the engine and transmission forward the transmission cross-member fits in place. Also the engine is to close to the driver side the the vehicle so we are going to move it 2 inches closer to the passenger side. The engine mounts well have to be cut and welded to fit in place. When the engine in moved forward it will no longer be hitting the firewall. This process will take a long time and will require lots of problem solving.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Engine placement tweaks

So once the engine was in, we needed a few tweaks in order for everything to fit right.

once the engine mounts were roughly aligned, we realized that we left the coolant hoses jammed in behind the engine, squished. this prevented the engine mount holes from aligning so after lifting the engine a bit, and taking those lines out, we attempted to align the engine mount yet again for the bolts to fit it.

another problem appeared. the clamp holding the exhaust piece in place was stuck, not allowing the engine to go further in for the bolts to line up, so John temporarily removed that, and finally the holes aligned.

so once I placed the bolts on, everything seemed OK on the engine side, but now the transmission and transfer case were leaning on an angle toward the passenger side, about 6 or more inches, so the next task is to figure out how to align it straight. whether it be installing the cross member underneath while prying the tranny into place, so its constantly under tension, or somehow adjusting the position of the engine, for it all to be aligned properly.

ill keep you posted

Thursday, November 3, 2011

engine is in!

We successfully got the engine and transmission into place today!  It was a tight squeeze and unfortunately we damaged the oil pan as it slide against the front axle.  Good thing it is easy to remove and we can weld it to repair or replace if necessary.  Pictures and details to follow soon!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Engine Coolant Heater (block heater)


The 3.1t Diesel didn't come with a block heater. My teacher got a coolant heater that pumps heated coolant through the hoses into the top of the engine. On the hoses i put T's that go to the fuel tank which is at the back of the vehicle. The coolant heats the biodiesel in cold winter conditions. A coolant heater is very similar to a block heater. The thing is that the block heater heats the oil pan and the coolant heater well heats the coolant. The coolant heater pumps heated coolant up (the flow of the coolant). I made a mounting bracket out of 16 gage steel. I pre-drilled holes and mounted it with 4 self-taping screws. I bolted the mounting bracket for the coolant heater with two bolts. The are
pictures of the process and of the finished product.

Replace Rear Disc/Drum Brake

Because the rear brake are worn out . So in oder to Pass the vehical safety test. I have to Replace the Rear Brake it's have drum and disk both in one parts, To stopping when car is driving. disk will do the jobs ,and when the car is paking drum are do the jobs, the brake are have diffrent system. and the Parking Brake wire are seize up so I have to take off the whole cable out ,To Replace a New one

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Fuel tank (continued)


So after the wiring work, i've gotten back to the fuel system.

now that the pump is removed and replaced with a hose,thenextstepistoinstallanin-tankcoolant heater loop. Hot coolant is being looped to reach inside of thetank right near around the fuel
hose, to keep the bio-diesel thin, so it runs easier.Steel hosing is twisted in ovals with an entrance and exit end. So the next step to install it in the tank, was to cut 2 holes on top of the cover, and then carefully solder around the steel lines, creating a seal. the steel line is tie-strapped rightnear the hose to ensure its fixed in the tank as well as staying close to the hose.
Once the engine is in, we will connect coolant hoses to the lines, which will also be bundled into a larger insulated hose with the bio-diesel fuel line, so that the fuel stays thin all the way
through the lines.

i wanted to connect the fuel fitting to the tank but the company gave us the wrong nuts (too small), so were waiting to find more special bolts to connect. (the original bolts are too rusted and damaged)


Venting for the tank is needed so that as fuel level lowers, air is pulled in, so that suction doesn't occur in the tank, which could create problem in not allowing fuel to flow. A diagram shows us that the venting system isn't needed for 'general export' diesel tanks: it just doesn't display any. but we thought it'd be good to have one, especialy since we could with the given venting peice on the gas model tank. I had to figure a way to attach a hose, so that air enters but doesn't escape. i found a filter piece that allows air in one way but not out from the vacuum canister from the trooper. i attached a hose to the venting lines, to the piece,to another house, which i will later have ti-strapped in the most convenient spot under the vehicle.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Engine Maintenance, Alternator and Starter Rewiring


The Battery terminal leads needed replacing on the diesel engine. We used the terminal leads from the gas engine because they are in better condition. I attached the positive terminal wire to the starter motor. I had to crimp a new eyelet. On the alternator the wiring got hard. The electrical plug the connects to the alternator was different on the diesel engines alternator. I found some wiring diagrams and i problem solved and eventually figured out which wire was which. I labeled the wiring and sodded the wires and put shrink rap in them to protect the wires. There is a picture to the right that shows the finished wiring.

Replace Front brakes and bearing

The front brake are so damage and rust. So
we decide to Replace it. Not thing was hard to me. New rotor and New shoes.













After we done the Brakes, we found the Bearings need to clean too. I take out the bearing on the axis inside the whole space was full with the grease. I take out and wash it. than I put the new and clean grease in it.









Use the Grease packing tool to filed the grease in bearing with out any spce in the bearing in it.  And Remove the old damaged oil seal reinstall a New one and just hammer in carefully bake.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Engine Maintenance Heater Hoses


On the 3.1t diesel engine most of the coolant hoses were cracked and had unwanted stuff in the hoses. Some of the hoses were in positions that were hard to replace them. I replace almost all the heater and coolant hoses
around the engine

. I had to cut and fit the hoses to perfectly fit in their proper positions. One of the hoses had a
one way valve. I cleaned the valve out and put it in place with the new hoses. There are some pictures of some of the hoses i replaced.

work is progressing!

We've been working so hard in the shop that we've fallen behind in our posts!  Each of the 3 guys have been very busy with different tasks related to the conversion or repair project. Time for an update!

Dennis has spent the past week studying wiring diagrams to figure out how to match the electrical components of the diesel engine systems to the electrical wiring of the vehicle.  A conversion process that requires step by step patience and attention to detail.  It's not an easy job to decipher wiring diagrams and match it to the components on the vehicle. Well done Dennis!

Peter completed the conversion of the power steering hoses and reservoir and has been working this week on replacing the front brakes with new components and servicing the wheel bearings and axles.  Meticulous cleaning  and fitting of components and gobs of grease in the right places makes for a job well done!  Good work Peter!

Jonathan took on  the task of engine maintenance, which involved replacing the timing belt, accessory belts, glow plugs, replacing heater hoses and rewiring the alternator and starter cables.  Following the correct procedure to disassemble the components and replace the belts, and then reassemble everything according to procedures, required careful reading and interpretation of the service manual for details on how to do the job right.  And sometimes no information was available, so he had to problem solve on his own.  Excellent work Jonathan!


The engine on the left is the gas engine we removed, the engine on the right is the diesel engine.  We hope to be ready to install the diesel within the next week.  A little more to go on wiring diagrams... :)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Electrical system (Engine)

It's..well, complicated :).

figuring out the porper connections that need to be transfered from the gas engine to the diesel is, as one might think, quite the handful. but a simple method of 'breaking it down' to looking at each component and wire individually at a time, is a very important in working the most effectively

So for the electrical system, the general summery of what to do is to match various wires from the gas to the needed ones for diesels. the diesel connections that are needed are listed below (taken from a trusted forum in which someone had done a conversion or transfer using the same diesel engine).

Glow plug rail:
The Glow plug rail will be inputed imore in depth in another post, since we will make our own cuircuit for it.

Starter
The start system was done by john, usuing similar wiring from the gas engine to be attached to the rebuilt starter.

air conditioning
air condition was the most straight forward. i found the single wire on both the diesel and gas.

12V to Injection pump
The injection pump is a mini 'engine' in itself. its quite complex, but in the late stage of wiring, don found a wiring diagram of which components connect to where. the tach-ometer wire is here as well.

REV counter
tachometer incorpirated in injection pump wiring

Oil-Light and Gauge
Both of these were found attached to the engine

Temp from Plug on Thermo Housing
Temp
Temp
Temp from plug on Thermo Housing
Temp: Note this is teed in on same wire to Ignition pump.

The above 5 'temp' listings are all connected to the 'thermo housing'. we will identify the function of each when connected to the trooper so we can test and check to see which work with the corresponding function of each wire.



What we've done is, after identifying the wires, is snipped them with a decent amount of length from the gas, and we will solder the wires from the diesel to the cut wires with plug fittings from the gas engine. we want it to be easy to plug and unplug the wires still, instead of permanently soldering directly from the engine to the car.



stay posted for more on 'Electrical system (transmission)'

Friday, October 14, 2011

Engine Maintenance Timing Belt

Earlier in a post i said i was going to change the timing belt. I change it and I'm going to share with you the steps on changing the timing belt on the 3.1t Diesel engine.

Step 1
Remove the crankshaft pulley and the timing belt shield

Step 2
Turn the crankshaft so the key lines up with the TDC timing mark

Step 3
Aline the camshaft pulley and the Injection pulley but putting a bolt through the alinement hole on both of the pulleys to mark sure that they stay at their TDC position.

Step 4
Mark the timing belt on the injection pump and camshaft pulley.
Step 5
You are now ready to remove the old timing belt loosen the tension pulley and remove the old timing belt

Step 6
Transfer the marking to the new timing belt. MAKE SURE YOU LINE UP THE MARKS PERFECTLY!!

Step 7
Place the new timing belt into position and line up the marking.

Step 8
using a scale put a 9kg load on the timing belts using the tensioning arm to transfer the load
.
torque the tension pulley to 76Nm. Remove the alinement bolts from the injection and cam
pulley. Rotate the engine 45 dgrees anti clockwise and ensure all the slack is on the tensioner
side.

Step 9
Return the engine to TDC the ensure that the bolts go into the alinement holes





Thursday, October 13, 2011

Engine Maintenance Starter Motor

The Starter Motor is a the motor that turns over the engine so you want it to work. I removed the starter motor and my teacher "Don" sent the starter motor to be rebuilt. One of the connections was different because we are using the battery positive cable from the gas engine. The rebuilt starter came in and i put grease on the starter motor gear and placed the motor in the right position. There is a picture showing the rebuilt starter motor in place.

Friday, October 7, 2011

air conditioning

In order to re-assemble the air conditioning, the hoses from the compressor had to be re-fitted and relocated, because the compressor is on the opposite side of the diesel engine.  The compressor connector ends were taken to a local a/c shop where they were welded and crimped with new hose (see picture).  Extra hose was used so they are long enough to later be reconnected to the a/c condenser and a/c evaporator.  The original condenser and evaporator can be reused by re-fitting the lines. The receiver/dryer will be replaced before the system is recharged after installation is complete.

Relocation the Power steering pomp contianer



Today, I removed the Power steering pomp contianer ,and put it on a New location .
First I take off the contianer from the braket ,Than I removed the Base braket .
And Find a now place to set in the right front of the car , I drill 3 holes on the Front and make a new braket for the 3 holes adjust the position,

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Engine Maintenance - Glow Plugs



The 3.1 turbo diesel has about 100,000 km so we decided to check the glow plugs, better to check well the engine is not in the trooper, much easier. The glow plugs are under the inter-cooler so I removed the inter-cooler. the inter-cool was attached by four bolts and two air hoses. There is a picture showing the inter-cooler being removed. I checked the glow plugs for their resistance with a volt meter. The resistance should be around 1.3 to 1.5 ohms. All of the glow plugs were in that area. To be safe we ordered new glow plugs from the United Kingdom. When they come I well replace them.
Jonathan

Monday, October 3, 2011

Engine Maintenance Belts

Early this week we decided to do so engine maintenance on the the engine. I removed the engine fan so that I could check the condition of the belts. There are two belts that are the same length. After talking with my teacher we decided to remove and replace them. I released the tension on the two belts. The Alternator moves to titan or release the belts. The belts were removed. We are ordering new belts soon.




I removed the timing belt inspection cover to take a look at the condition of the timing belt.  We decided to change the timing belt. So I remove the crankshaft pulley and removed the plastic shield that protects the time belt and pulleys. The service manual would have the information on replacing the time belt but we don't have the manual. Via internet search we found a write on a form how to do replace it. Below there are some picture of the process.





Friday, September 30, 2011

Fuel tank changes

Ealier in the week, i observed the variouse compenents of the fuek tank.
After disassembly, we we tried to find the best way bring the tank into good condition.
A quote from a shop to coat the overly rusted tank, and replacing the steel vent line seemed the best way to go.
But after further research, don found an auto recycler from the southern states that could provide the same gas model fuel tank of the isuzu trooper, and in good condition with almost no rust, for lower cost.

When the tank arrived yesterday, i removed all the ripped off lines and clamps, prepairing it for new ones.

i needed to find a way to remove the pump its self and find a new method to retrofit it into a pickup, as the diesel engine does not require a pump.

When i removed the pump from its bracket, the steel lines it was attached too floated about 5 inches from the base, so we got a rubber fuel line, in place of the pump, and cut it to float about an inch from the base of the tank so left over debris and heavy gunk would not be sucked from the botton. After a clamping and simple tiestrap fitment, the retrofitment is complete.

The tank is being reassembled and will be connected in a later stage of the diesel conversion.

Oct 5th edit:

Continued on preperation for fuel tank. I got under the car and removed the 2 fuel lines. The vent line was left in place just in case it would be needed, but if it wont be neccisary, it will be removed aswell.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Engine and Transmission Removal

Its time to remove the Engine!

So we started out with placing chains with bolts around the engine in the most convenient spots for it to be lifted out.

after connecting the chain to the engine crane, we started to lift an inch or 2 and checked if
there are any connections left. We disconnected some small ground wires and the positive battery terminal wire.

after lifting some more, the engine was lifting the trooper itself. the transmission was lifting
the car because the angle was too shallow,so Don got under the vehicle with the hydraulic jack lift to adjust the transmission height appropriately as the engine was being lifted from the front.

the largest problem we got into was the oil pan being stuck against the drive-shaft. with some tweaking, lifting and lowering, nudging and the help of a crowbar, we had enough clearance. Don lowered the transmission in the back and I kept lifting the crane while peter pulled the
crane back, so the engine could be pulled up and out.

it's so rewarding to see the front of the car without the engine, all the various components seperated, we have a broader view now on that we can see the space were working with for installing the diesel engine.

Under the hood - almost ready to remove engine/tranny!

Today we lowered the trooper from the hoist, back on the floor.

We removed various components to prepare for the removal of the engine.

-We removed bolts from the motor mounts
-The frame cross member was removed, and we used the floor jack to support the tranny.
-Both the the air conditioning lines and power steering lines were disconnected
-Disconnected all the vacuum lines and electrical connections
* We made sure all the lines and electrical connections were labeled with tape/marker as well as saved to identify for when we reassemble and be retrofitted with new connections for the diesel engine *

Under chassis parts

First we lift the trooper(BIG HORN) on electric lift.
Amd we Remove the
- Front & rear drive shaft
- fuel tank & disconnect fuel line
- Disconnect transmission connectors & linkages
- Remove transfer case shifter
- Remove the complete Exhaust system (the bolt of the Exhaust are very tight So we used OXY/ACET torch)
-Disconnect the starter motor wire & alternator wire

Plasma cutting the frame to allow engine removal

Today we decided that the best method to remove the engine and transmission out the front of the isuzu as a whole.

-In order to lift and remove the engine and transmission, the cross member support for the radiator must be removed to have enough clearance.

-After further inspection and discussion, Peter's idea was the greatest, which is to remove the cross member support was with the plasma cutter, at the most convenient spot for both enough clearance for the engine/transmission and ability to replace the cross member

-It would be easier to cut the cross member and replace with either re-welding or bolding steel plates, rather than separating and transmission, which would involve removing the engine from the top and transmission from the bottom of the vehicle

Remove radiator etc

Today we continued to remove the front end parts of the trooper:

-A/C condenser
-Fan & shroud
- radiator system
-Hood

* unfortunately we broke one hood mount bolt & windshield washer connector.  we'll have to fix that later!




Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Front grill parts

In the first day we removed the:

-front grill
-front headlights
-skid plate (a metal plate cover under the engine for portect the engine)
-Front bumper
- drained the engine & cooling oil


Monday, September 26, 2011

Introduction to our gas to diesel conversion project

Welcome to Rockway Tech's blog for our first ever diesel conversion project!  The vehicle of choice is a 1994 Isuzu Trooper 4X4 with a 3.2L V6 gas engine with auto. transmission.  The plan is to remove the gas engine and install a 3.1L diesel (4JG2) engine and auto. transmission in its place.  A group of 3 students and their teacher will perform the transplant in the fall semester of 2011.  The projected finish date is December 2011.


To begin the conversion, we needed to educate ourselves on what we were undertaking.  We researched the vehicle and engine information of both the gas and diesel engines.  We acquired an online manual for the original gas engine model of the 1994 Isuzu Trooper.  We also found an excellent PDF file manual online 4JG2 diesel engine Trooper.  The first few days were spent educating ourselves to understand the conversion process and the changes we would need to make to get the 4JG2 to fit in our Trooper.

The picture of the Trooper was taken after some work was already done.