351C EFI, its alive!

[Thomas Tornblom <Thomas.Tornblom@Hax.SE>]

Well, they day came when I felt that this will be a good day to start it up for 
the first time.

I went over some of the electrical stuff one last time before attaching the EEC, 
which probably was a good thing. I noticed that I had forgot to connect the HEGO 
ground wire.

Connected the battery, carefully, listening for suspect pops and crackles, but 
nothing alarming happened. Verified that all supply voltages were in place, that 
some of the sensors ACT and ECT had reasonable resistance for the temp and that 
the relay I connected for the HEGO heaters worked.

I disconnected the battery and connected the EEC to the harness. Once again 
carefully connected the battery, still no smoke ;-)

I pulled the fuse for the fuel pump and switched the ignition on. Got a yellow 
light (I'm using the "heater" lamp as the check engine lamp), the fuel pump 
relay klicked once, and then again about two seconds later. Looking good!

Read out the error codes from the EEC:

31 (EVP below minimum voltage) I have no EGR, ignore
67 (neutral switch open) Not connected, ignore
81 (secondary air injection diverter) not connected, ignore
82 (secondary air injection bypass) not connected, ignore
85 (canister purge) not connected, ignore. I will eventually connect this.
84 (EVR) Still no EGR, ignore
95 (fuel pump failure) likely due to the removed fuse.

Nothing alarming here.

I filled the cooling system, and noticed I had a leak around the thermostat :-(
Drain, remove the tube, clean, new gasket and some Permatex. Filled cooling 
system again, now tight ;-)

Connected the timing light, switched the ignition on, turned the key to start, 
motor turns over, no start. Checks the timing light, doesn't flash. Smell of 
fuel.

Verifies the signals at the TFI (distributor), all OK. Verifies the signals at 
the coil, all OK. What? I bought a new coil yesterday! Pulled out the old coil 
and used some lab cables to connect it. Removed the fuel pump fuse to avoid 
flooding the engine. Turned to start, varoom, its alive! Dies when it runs out 
of fuel.

I see now that one of the spade connectors in the new coil is bent and doesn't 
make contact with the connector. Fixes this, inserts the fuel pump fuse and 
starts it up. Starts immediately :-) and dies... New start, stretches for the 
throttle and give it some gas to keep it running.

Warms up enough to idle properly. Removes the SPOUT plug and adjusts base timing 
to 10 degrees. Tighten the dist and insert the plug again. I now see a small 
leak in the water neck where the pipe is welded to the neck :-(. I also see a 
small leak between the left head and the block at the rear, arghh. Laziness is 
punished immediately. I pulled the right head as I saw that there had been a 
leak but didn't pull the right head. Oh well, I guess that will be enough work 
to do while I wait for the throttle cable.

Three small mpegs that proves it is alive:

www.detomaso.nu/~thomast/efi/MVC-208W.MPG
www.detomaso.nu/~thomast/efi/MVC-209W.MPG
www.detomaso.nu/~thomast/efi/MVC-210W.MPG

Thomas