I don't believe it...!

[Simon]

...the time came on Wednesday afternoon to see if I could get the engine to start.

So having completed all the essential wiring I plugged in the ECU, put some fuel in the tank, and after about 20 seconds of cranking the motor coughed and spluttered into life!! I really wasn't expecting it to start quite so easily - but I'm pleased that it did!

The motor sounds really sweet and I just hope that the exhaust isn't too loud for the SVA...

I'll have to take a look into the idle speed though as the motor didn't want to idle much below 1000rpm (I think I'll be carefully reviewing Patrick and Richards website as I seem to remember they had a similar problem).

Simon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marlin_bmw_cabrio

[peterux]

Well done, Simon, it's a great feeling when you get the engine going after all the work of putting it back together.

I think Patrick and Richard discovered that their Rev counter was reading incorrectly, but i'm sure one of them will be along soon to comment.............

[Patrick]

Well done! Our M20 spluttered a little and sprang to life on the first start as well.

High idle can be a number of things, the main issue is vacuum leaks. Check the brake servo ours was leaking badly, it started idling smoothly after fixing that. The second thing to check is the idle control valve clean it out with carb cleaner. Third thing to check is the throttle position sensor. With the engine off open the throttle a little bit and listen for a click, that is the TPS clicking off idle. I've got a good guide for testing and adjusting the TPS but I need to find it first

Finally yup the marlin supplied rev counter is out, we've checked it with a gas tester that has an RPM checker on it, not 100% confirmed it yet as Richard has a very precise light based rpm reader but not had a chance to try it yet. We'll be sending the gauge off to be adjusted once we confirm exactly how far out it is at a given RPM

[Simon]

Good news - I let the engine run alot longer today to get it fully up to temperature and to let the ECU re-learn the idle settings. The car is idling alot better now and will happily idle at about 700-800rpm when hot. I think I'll also give the injectors an ultrasonic clean some time soon as I'm sure they could do with it.

I've taken some video of it running (fingers crossed that it has uploaded okay)

Thanks again for the congratulations and sound advice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVBHG37wSug

[peterux]

Ooooh, that's a nice sounding exhaust note!

Can I ask what rear silencer you are using as it sounds very tasty,

thanks

Peter

[Simon]

Peter

The rear silencer was an E-bay purchase so I dont have many details other than the following:

3" SPEEDTEK RACING UNIVERSAL TWIN UPSWEPT STAINLESS STEEL EXHAUST.

INLET: 61mm

OUTLET: 75mm

SIZE: 230mm(W) x 127mm(H) x 635mm(L)

Hope this helps!

[Patrick]

sounds very good quieter than mine I think - are you using the BMW center box under the car? I've been think about adding a pair of extra smaller mufflers under the car to mine so its not quite so SVA unfriendly!

[PJC]

Simon

Congratulations !


I must tell that over here in the Netherlands I could hear the nice low exhaust tones singing.

Peter-Jan

[Simon]

Patrick

Yes I've used the standard 5 series centre muffler which I think must help reduce the noise levels.

Simon