My 427 SOHC Build..... Finally the time has come!

[cobracammer]

There is a tech at FAST named Adam.  He was pretty good.  Also you can ask me anything and I will try and help.  Pretty good system 

[newfalconowner]

thanx,, once I get it around the block one night this week and I have some questions I will ask you... I have a recent video in my post on the fe adapter/tunnel ram post

[jayb]

Hmmm, how bad is the oil leak?  Remember that the cork valve cover gaskets tend to compress after some hot/cold cycles, and will start to leak at the back corners.  Try tightening the valve cover bolts; if they are loose, that is likely your problem.  I think I had to tighten up the valve cover bolts at least once during the dyno session.

Also the SOHC has that oil drainback hole at the back of the heads.  If I recall correctly the Pond block doesn't kick out there as far as the factory SOHC blocks so there's a bunch of sealer smeared at the back of the head in that location, to cover the hole.  That could have started leaking. 

Run your finger along the lower rear corner of each valve cover/head interface, and see if you get oil on it.  You can do the same thing at the back of the head, towards the bottom, to check the oil drainback passage.  My guess is that it will be in one of those two places.

Glad to hear that you are getting the issues worked out!

[WConley]

Jay - you read my mind!  I was thinking lower back corners of the valve covers as well.  Worth a shot Jason!

[cobracammer]

Hi Jay,

Good thinking  :0)  I will definitely check that!  I ran my hand along the back of the intake manifold (I remember when I had my 68 Mustang, I had a leak back there too), but it was Dry.  I didn't think to check the back of each head/ valve cover.  Its actually a pretty consistent leak.  Maybe 1 drop per minute.  I guess if it were an oil galley on the back of the block, it would have leaked on the Dyno, so Its probably not and thus something simple like the valve covers.  I will definitely check when I get home!!!  Thanks again to everyone!!!  Super exciting.

[cobracammer]

Great news!  Just as the suggestions......suggested, tightening the valve covers stopped the oil leak.  Just like me to over-react...

Interesting, maybe the valve cover oil leak was sort of a mini vacuum leak too?  I had to reset the throttle blades and recalibrated the TPS.  After tightening the valve cover, the car started and idled at 500 to 600 rpm.  Unsure, but either way, all starts, idles, drives, and no leaks!

Thanks again for suggestions.  This saturday, i am going to recheck valve cover bolts again, and exhaust manifold bolts too!  I remember someone had suggested that too after a few heat cycles.

[jayb]

FYI, SCE has just released a new set of valve cover gaskets for the SOHC.  They are some kind of cork/rubber combination.  I have the first set on my engine right now, and sure enough, they do not seem to compress like the normal cork valve cover gaskets, and I'll bet they will hold the bolt tension longer.  I will find out as I go along.  You can thank Marc (Turbo hunter on the forum) for this, his brother Ryan owns SCE and made the new gaskets happen.

[cobracammer]

Oh Awesome!  Yes, please keep me posted.  I may pick up a set as well!

[cobracammer]

Here is another interesting tidbit.  OK the FAST EZ EFI I have is the first gen. one.  In doing a little reading, the first gen EFI's were not good at differentiating between cold starts and conditions when warmed up.  The handheld itself has you wait for the car to warm up before adjusting the idle screws that adjust the throttle blades.  When doing this, you are looking at the hand held in order to get the slide bar into the target range.  After doing all of this 9and the car already being at operating temp), the car runs beautifully and idles near perfect.

Now the next day......  You go out to the car and start it, and suddenly the RPS are way too low and it goes lower and lower until it stalls.  If you start it cold and keep on the throttle until its warm, then its back to running perfectly.

In comes this:  http://www.dragzine.com/news/a-fast-ez-efi-full-color-handheld-upgrade-that-youll-want-to-do/

Apparently this was a huge problem with all the people who bought the EZefi early on.  I just piced up this new handheld (*and software update).  The biggest improvement is that they now let you adjust the Cold start fuel setting, and a few other things.  It seems that letting you adjust the cold start fuel setting allows you to push the start button and it will run as its supposed to until it gets warmed up... then switch over to the original settings automatically........  GOOD TO KNOW!

I will let you all know how it goes.  Also its a touch screen display (color) with Gauges so I can mount it like a GPS and have a TACH again and monitor other functions.  The old handheld (as you have seen) is not nice or able to mount.

[mbrunson427]

We need nasty burnout videos and drag track wheels-up pics! What the heck! 

[newfalconowner]

let me know how the new handheld works.. I have that cold start problem with mine as well.. I cant really afford one but something to look into

Rick

[cjshaker]

500-600 rpms seems a bit low, especially for a stick car. The EFI may allow it to idle down that low, but personally I think I'd like it a bit higher to keep plenty of oil through the engine. Jay knows these engine better than me though, maybe he'll chime in about that?

[cobracammer]

Hey Doug.  Yeah, this is the "Glitch" with the first gen. FAST ECU.  The newer versions have a cold start setting to keep your RPM's up until the engine is warm.  The original versions (Which I have one), does not have this setting, so when you set your EFI parameters during the initial setup, they are based off of a fully warmed up engine.

This new handheld (which they call an upgrade kit) allows you to adjust a few more items.  One is Fuel during cranking, the other is Cold start fuel, and there are a few others.  The new handheld will allow me to set it so that during a cold start, it gets a little more fuel to stay running at a higher RPM.  Then when the engine is warm, it switches over to the original settings.  I posted the article below.  I am anxious to see how this works because it seems that many people with the first gen FAST system all have the same issues  :0)

http://www.dragzine.com/news/a-fast-ez-efi-full-color-handheld-upgrade-that-youll-want-to-do/

[cobracammer]

OK.  Its that time again!.....  Yet another gremlin!  So I have come across this situation where I use the handheld to set up a new tune on the ecu.  After the car is up to temp, I get it perfect.  AF ratio at 13.5 roughly.  IAC between 15 to 20, etc  etc.  Then the next day, when I start the car, it seems as though it doesn't remember the tune and doesn't run well until its back up to temp.

So reading back over Jay's emails during the build, I came across a time where he mentioned that the car idles well on the dyno and was producing vacuum of between 9" and 11".

Then going through the FAST tech forum support page, it states that 10" of vacuum is basically a minimum to have the ecu perform correctly.......  Then there was a small sentence that got me.......  Due to the fact that these self learning ecu's need a minimum of vacuum, power assist brakes are not recommended.......  And I have power assist brakes!  I am guessing since the engine only produces basically the minimum vacuum sealed up, as soon as I reconnected the power assist brakes, the ecu doesn't have the minimum amount of vacuum to run correctly.......  Thoughts?  Anything?

It seems to make sense.  The article mentioned that the reason the ecu uses vacuum, is because its inversely related to engine load.  Suppose to have higher vacuum at idle (at which point the ecu lessens fuel)....  as vacuum decreases/ engine load increases....  it adds fuel!....  This is why at idle, the car always smells like fuel!

Basically, I think the car wont stop without the vacuum assist (as is)....  but hooked up, the car doesn't have high enough vacuum for the ecu to work correctly.

I'd love to hear anyones thoughts....  Thanks as always in advance  :0)

[WConley]

Jason -

Where are you picking off your vacuum signal?  Is the same port being used for the brake booster line?  If so, you're getting lots of artificial movement in the vacuum signal.

You want a vacuum signal far away from that booster.  Maybe a spot on the manifold near the plenum under the front throttle body?  Is there a plug there you can use?