Back home

My Evo1 is now back home, it's been the best part of a year since the car's newly rebuilt engine failed.

As described before, the rebuilt engine lasted 200 miles before it lost oil pressure and power, and started smoking badly.

I transported the car back to the rebuilders, where we removed the engine again and Steve set about repairing it.

I still don't really know what caused the failure, when I installed the engine it started first turn of the key, and it ran quite well for a while. Then it started not to want to fire up, and when it did it wouldn't idle.

I noticed the oil had gone black, and the oil pressure wasn't very good, the car hadn't turned a wheel yet.

A new temp sensor and idle valve helped a bit, but the car was plagued with unrelated problems. New water hoses failed, oil leaked from faulty fittings, the car wasn't happy at all and was now getting difficult to start.

The Evo's resting place for

the last 6 months.

I needed to get it out of there

A new idle valve was ordered from AECar, and returned. I thought it wasn't working, so Eddie sent another, a report on that here

Our John using Lanciatrek to diagnose sensor problems on the Evo, the car would only idle with a home made drilled idle screw allowing air into the throttle body.

Every sensor was replaced with a new item,

this is the new inlet manifold air temp sensor.

Old oil cooler refitted, cleaned yes,

but Tanc says that's not enough

With the help of Lanciatrek we got the car running well enough to get an mot, and to go for a spring 2020 run out to the Derbyshire dales. It was the most depressing drive I've ever been on, the car with its rebuilt engine gradually losing power, and becoming

a public nuisance with its smoke.

The gradual deterioration of the motor meant I didn't try and drive the car home. I was afraid of causing further damage, so I left the car in Cheshire and got a lift home. I asked my friend Neil to pick the car up on his Transit and deliver it to the rebuilders.

With the Evo back in the workshop I removed the engine, I wasn't confident allowing anyone else to mess with the car.

Steve stripped the engine again in his workshop, I was able to observe and I saw the crankshaft and bearings to be scoured and worn, the oil was black and there was gritty sediment in the sump. I had refitted the car's original oil cooler, after it had been flushed with paraffin and steam cleaned inside, then hung on a nail for a month to drain.

Tanc didn't rebuild this engine, but he was helpful with advice after the event. Tanc will not guarantee a rebuilt engine if the owner refits the original oil cooler, due to swarf being washed into the new engine, this might have been a reason for the failure.

The new crankshaft and bearings from Eddie were not the most expensive, and the crank had no markings on like the original.

It was sourced in Italy, but I've failed in finding where it was actually made.

The crank seemed to have given up the fight quickly, scouring easily. I'm very aware of components being made in less careful areas of the world, and different standards of hardening. The block was supposed to have been cleaned before rebuilding, but there were orifices which were missed, like the piston oiling sprays, and balancer shaft oil ways, careful inspection of these was

suggested by Tanc.

I had wanted a standard engine, rebuilt to a high quality. I replaced parts that probably would have been ok, one of these items was the crankshaft. The original in the engine was a bit worn, but within tolerance. So with new the crank I had bought being well shagged, Steve suggested I had the original ground and retreated.

The hardening process increases the size of the crank journals, so the crank can be machined, hardened, and then polished down to the correct dimensions, this is a long and careful operation, but it means I was able to re-use the known quality Fiat crank, which is good. Steve took the Evo's crankshaft and sent it to Blackpool for treatment. Steve sourced bearings from one of his suppliers, again with a named brand.

I ordered a bunch of new parts from Tanc, including a new oil cooler. After line boring for new balancer shaft bearings, and a light cylinder bore dressing, Steve sent the stripped block away for ultrasonic cleaning,

Tanc's advice was, as always, comprehensive. I remembered most of it, but there's nothing Integrale-wise that Tanc hasn't seen, and fixed. Tanc once advised me that erratic oil pressure on another newly rebuilt engine, was due to a loose

oil pick up pipe, he was correct.

Tanc also explained that a large batch of Integrale camshafts were supplied to Fiat with a substandard hardened finish. The coating degrades and wears off leaving a black abrasive mixture in the engine oil. This damages the journals etc., and leaves a black sludge in the sump just like mine. I had bought a pair of Tanc's own cams for this rebuild, Tanc patiently explained that his cams would not fail in this way.

In the middle of this operation two Covid lockdowns happened, Steve eventually managed to get the engine reassembled, and he fitted it into

the Evo. He called me in to socially distance fit the ancillaries and

wire the unit up.

The engine started well, Steve had a remote oil pressure gauge fitted and this swung round to over 100psi, there was a bit of panic as the men thought the new oil pump's pressure relief valve had stuck. I called Tanc later to complain, he politely explained the valve opened at 8bar, which is 120psi, so we were in the clear.

I could do no more, but due to still unsolved overfueling I had decided to get the car transported home, Neil's Transit had major problems of its own, so I was able to use Alan, who is a very experienced octogenarian

breakdown man with his trailer and Hilux.

So my Evo is back home. I've borrowed the ecu from another Evo1,

and I'll start eliminating the reasons for the over rich fuel mixture.

The Evo has been off the road for the best part of 2 years now, a straightforward engine rebuild became a major problem,

the problems aren't over yet.

However, I am not alone. I've just heard from Barry, who's freshly

skimmed cylinder head now leaks from his unskimmed block.

We'll keep up with Barry's report, his beautifully presented

Delta must now come to bits again.