Cottees' 1987 Sigma GN GSR Super Edition

[A112H]

Does it run smooth over 1200rpm or still a bit rough?
Does it smooth out with more revs, ie whats it like at 4000rpm?

[Cottees]

Smooth-ish over 1,200 rpm. I accidentally revved it too hard when I had the car in drive, and the trans was slipping. I didn't see what the RPM was, but it would have been getting pretty high, and it was smooth.

[A112H]

Really sounds like an air leak to me mate. Especially if it is gaining air after the throttle body, because the ecu takes its reading from the afm and tps and bases this info on the amount of fuel to deliver, if it makes air after that it will lean out, as you rev it the engine will be able to use the extra air and that will then smooth it out..
When it is running just have a really good "feel" around all intake piping and get in there a try to get your ear on every joint and gasket.
Try taking the plugs out, give them a bloody good clean, put them back in and run the engine as long as you can on the lowest revs possable. Pull the plugs out again and the colour will let you know if it is running rich, normal or lean.
They will show a nice tan or light grey colour if running a normal air fuel mixture, if it is running rich it will go black or dark grey from excesive carbon from running to cold in the cylinder and if running lean it will go white as it will run to hot in the cylinder.
Keep us updated and good luck

[Cottees]

Tried another intake. It seems to be a little better, but still no go. I'll have to take out the elbow to double check for leaks. Also will have to look at the vacuum hose for the brake booster.

Also, after running the car, it does smell like it has been running rich.

[A112H]

You are a braver man than me, once the 63 is in the Galant it will be handed over to an auto elec to sort out the wiring

[Superscan811]

Just checking but you have connected or blocked off these 2 vacuum ports?



Cheers.

[Cottees]

Just checking but you have connected or blocked off these 2 vacuum ports?

Both of them are connected to something.
Left: That is connected to the brake booster.
Right: That is connected to the rocker cover.

[Cottees]

Was just reading that some of the low idle problems I am having could be cause of a crappy torque converter. Then it got me remembering that when I got the Sigma, the carbie was adjusted to idle high, and when I adjusted it to idle lower, it would run rough. I'll still make sure there is no vacuum leaks, but will also put more trans fluid into the transmission, and see if that improves things. If it is the torque converter, I might have to source a manual transmission sooner than I thought.

[Cottees]

What the intake is going to look like. I just need to make some brackets to make it a bit more secure, and maybe an air box for the filter.

[Cottees]

Researching intercoolers again, and looking again at trying to use a water-air intercooler to try and cut down on the wide piping going through the front of the car. I looked at the Subaru stock intercooler and thought about putting it above the rocker cover between the turbo and plenum. After seeing the actual size in these following photos, and the placement in these photos, it looks like a good place to put it.

[duanepurcell1]

hey m8 i have another auto box if ya want it free im just around the corner the box is in good working order

[Cottees]

hey m8 i have another auto box if ya want it free im just around the corner the box is in good working order

Thanks. I am going to try giving the transmission a service, and see how that goes. I might also try converting to a manual transmission. I might have to stick with an auto for now, so I might take you up on your offer. I'll let you know though.

[A112H]

I don't see how a torque convertor can cause these problems? I think swapping the trans will be a waste of time, I would still be looking for electrical and air leaks. IMHO

[leoca]

i agree^^^^^^^^.

After fixing my starion i had a similar problem...you did say it is running rich???..as said that means when its idling you're getting BLACK smoke out you're exhaust pipe....idles like #rap and wants to stall.

This is what I had wrong and the problem was that I had the EGR valve vacuum lines connected up all wrong .
Now I appreciate that the Magna and the Starion are a little different, but you may have to back track to the vaccuum line diagram for the Magna ...I know I kept the little black valve thingi when I put the TR loom and injection on my 2.6 ...I will show you a photo.
Hard to believe it made such a difference but it did!
jc

[leoca]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Heres the photo of that mate

Its the little black bottle you see still mounted on the mount that comes off the firewall of a Magna and it that has:
1.2 vacuum lines to it...one goes to the inlet near the throttle body, the other to your charcoal canister,
2.an electrical connection ...i.e.the TR/S loom plugs into it, I think its 2 wires.

Have you done this ?.thought it may help

[Cottees]

I don't see how a torque convertor can cause these problems?

It was just something I was reading on the AussieMagna forums. Someone was having similar issues, and it ended up being a faulty torque converter.

After fixing my starion i had a similar problem...you did say it is running rich???..as said that means when its idling you're getting BLACK smoke out you're exhaust pipe....idles like #rap and wants to stall.

I think it has started to run ok, not rich. I will check again though. Even when running rough, it isn't blowing black smoke.

Its the little black bottle you see still mounted on the mount that comes off the firewall of a Magna and it that has:

I have the charcoal canister connected. It has 3 hose connections, and they are connected up just like they are in a Magna. The middle one is blocked off, one comes from the petrol tank, one goes to the purge valve, and then goes to the throttle body.

I would still be looking for electrical and air leaks.

Yeah, I am trying to test everything I can, even entertaining the notion that the torque converter would be causing it. I would rather not change the transmission till I can get a narrow body manual.

I should have Saturday and Sunday off, so I should be able to do more testing, and making sure the 'elbow' is not leaking then. There is a real Magna here at the moment that I might be able to attach the elbow to, and see if it has any issues.

[Cottees]

I often theorised that the Sigma's engine bay was painted white. Theory confirmed!


Looks SO much better when it is clean.

[75wagon]

Ah, nothing like a clean engine bay.
Now the hard part, lets see if you can make the rest of the car look like that?

Dave...

[Cottees]

I resealed the intake elbow, and put in more trans fluid. Seems to be running better now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myr7Wm0ER-0

I took the Sigma for a drive up and down the drive way again. This time, it wasn't the transmission that was slipping

[Cottees]

Crawled under the car to adjust the trans control linkage to be able to select 'P' properly, without it trying to reverse. It looks like that the control linkage is missing some rubber bushes, and hence has too much slack to be able to move the trans into 'P'.

The circled part should have rubber bushes on it.

[Cottees]

Had a good trip to U-Pull-It. Found a near mint GN that was the same colour as mine.


This is it afterwards.


Got some good parts to make the Sigma look and work even better.


Got an un-cracked dash, cassette radio, another set of wheel nuts for the pepper pots, fuel sender from a Magna Elite, etc.


The fenders I got are virtually rust free. There is some minor surface rust, but it doesn't have holes like the current ones.


It was a pain getting the whole lot out of U-Pull-It. I ended up scratching the panels a bit. This is the worst part. Wont be hard to fix, and is still better than my current panels.

[A112H]

Good score on the parts mate, well done. Whats the deal with the wheel nuts for PP's? Why can't you use normal mag nuts?

[Cottees]

Whats the deal with the wheel nuts for PP's? Why can't you use normal mag nuts?

They are normal mag nuts. Got them off the same Sigma I got the other parts from.

[Cottees]

Just rung Transport SA, and everything is all good to get the car registered ASAP. So I am hoping to get it registered on the 27th of Oct. Also going to get a new set of number plates since if I am going to all this effort to make the Sigma look nice, I don't want to have bent number plates attached. So I now have given myself 1 week to get everything finished.

[Cottees]

The old fender is looking pretty bad



Some damage. Looks like it hit a gutter or something and bent some parts under the bumper.



Let the cleaning, begin!

[Cottees]

And I almost forgot! I also got a brand new set of Starion front brake pads (DB291).

[duanepurcell1]

m8 i knew to day when i went to check that gn today that you were the one who striped it i was goin for that crash pad but you beat me too it i also bought another gj 2 days ago 180k on the clock and runs like a dream i know own 3 siggys 2xgj and 1x gk im lookin into putting a vr4 in to one of them i have the motor and wolf 3d ecu and handheld control will be a long journey

[Cottees]

M8 i knew to day when i went to check that gn today that you were the one who striped it i was goin for that crash pad but you beat me too it

My Sigma is pretty neat, but has some small faults. But a couple of the bad points was holes in the fenders, and a huge crack down the centre of the crash pad. When I go to U-Pull-It, I go down each row and look at each cars. I saw the white GN from the next row, and bee lined it straight to it. It is hard to find rust free fenders and un-cracked crash pads, so I had to grab it while I was there.

[TVM006]

CONGRATS DUDE!

[Cottees]