1.3 Motronic Up-Grade & 2.7i How To

[mooseheadm5]

The hardest part would not be keeping the valves in place. The hardest part is pulling the rocker shafts, then finding a valve spring compressor that can actually do the valves from the top. The gasket set and head bolts are not that much, and a timing belt and tensioner are less than $50, so you'll have the money soon enough. PM me if you need an i computer. Good luck.

[884door]

You do not have to drill squat in a super eta head. It already has a 7 bearing cam since it is an i head, the only difference is the cam profile and the dual springs. However, you cannot (easily) replace the springs without pulling the head, which is fine since your head gasket is probably old and could stand to be replaced.

Yea I was presuming it'd be hard/impossible to keep the valves in place while replacing springs.

I've had a complete I top end sitting around for months and now I'm really itchin to put it on. Just need to come up with some money for gaskets and an ecu first. Oh and I figure it's probably worthwhile to replace the timing belt while I have the motor all ripped apart anyway.

[mooseheadm5]

You do not have to drill squat in a super eta head. It already has a 7 bearing cam since it is an i head, the only difference is the cam profile and the dual springs. However, you cannot (easily) replace the springs without pulling the head, which is fine since your head gasket is probably old and could stand to be replaced.

[dashboardmonkey]

This is probably a really dumb question but is there anyway to put an I cam and valve springs in a Super ETA without pulling the head off the engine? I'm really doubting it but it'd sure be nice.

you are going to have to drill oil passage holes in the cam bearins and remove valve springs. If you can keep the cylinder pressuized you can swap valve spring one pressurized cylinder at a time. And you would have to make sure you get ALL the aluminum shavings out of the head from the drilling.
Drilling the holes is easy, I did this to an eta head not too long ago.

[884door]

This is probably a really dumb question but is there anyway to put an I cam and valve springs in a Super ETA without pulling the head off the engine? I'm really doubting it but it'd sure be nice.

[mooseheadm5]

I was posting without yet having read your response. It would not run at all if you swapped the position sensors.
Your idling/tip in problem may be due to a binding AFM or could be a TPS or ICV problem.

[rcfanatic]

I'll have to check that later this week. Seems like if they were accidentally swapped it would run a lot rougher, if at all? I was thinking it might be a TPS/ICV issue

[mooseheadm5]

Silly question, did you try swapping the crankshaft and plug wire sensor plugs? This is a common screw up since the plugs can be connected to the wrong sensors accidentally.

[rcfanatic]

Turns out the problem was due to the shielding on one of the crank position sensors. It was slightly exposed and grounding. Now that I have the car back and running it seems to accelerate quite a bit faster, which was a nice surprise. My only gripe is that when accelerating slowly from a stop, the engine will drop to about 250 rpm for a moment when I first open the throttle, which occasionally causes the car to stall out. If I open the throttle a lot straight from an idle, it won't do that. It idles at 750 rpm, which is lower than what it was before (1000), but from what I've read 750 is correct.

[mooseheadm5]

I know that it effects fuel injection. I told you to forget about the check light for now, as it probably has nothing to do with your car not running. Did YOU check that wiring? Your mechanic could have done something wrong, it happens. I am assuming it is still at his shop? If it is then he ought to know how to diagnose no start. If no fuel or spark, then check powers, grounds, jump out main and fuel pump relays, check crank position sensor signal while cranking, etc. I am a BMW mechanic and have done multiple engine swaps, and have not had a problem with one not starting. If you or he do not know how to properly diagnose it, you should find a spare ECU if that is what you think the problem is and try a swap testa

[rcfanatic]

I spoke to my mechanic, and he had already connected the driveaway protection :( Also, fyi he said it only affects fuel injection. Just getting a little desperate because I've been out of a car for awhile now and it's my dd. Anyway, thanks again for the feedback

[rcfanatic]

Ahh, of course it would keep it from starting. duh, thanks!

[mooseheadm5]

OK, now we are getting somewhere. THe "Check" light has absolutely nothing to do with the ECU, so forget about it for now.
That plug I am talking about can exactly cause the injection and ignition to stop working. That green wire I am referring to is for coded driveaway protection. Without it hooked up, the car will never start. Go look for those plugs and get back. If they are not hooked up, you will never start your car again! I might like to add, again, that they may not plug directly into each other because of the different engine and body harness years, so you may need to make jumpers to test it out. This coded driveaway protection, BTW, is the one wire I did not know about when I did my first engine swap 14 years ago (M30B34 W/ Motronic into E12 530i) and I have never forgotten about it since.

[rcfanatic]

Sorry for the confusion. The car hasn't run since the parts have been swapped. The light that doesn't come on is the blinking Check light that requires you to check brakes etc. I have a feeling I was sold a dead ECU, because it's getting power to all of the pins and doing absolutely nothing. It seems like the additional plug you are referring to wouldn't cause the ignition, injection, and check light to stop working. could be wrong though

[mooseheadm5]

The 89 harness is a proper match for the ECU, but there is an additional plug on that harness that feeds through a few signals like the coded driveaway protection for the OBC and the tach signal, and a couple of others. Your 86 body harness may not plug directly into this, so you may not have plugged it in at all. I know this because my old boss did the e-i swap with a late harness on his 86, and some stuff did not work without rewiring. This is not a problem if you use an 86 engine harness, but that doesn't help you now. Look for a plug near your ECU that is not plugged into anything. There will be 3 or four wires. I am pretty sure there will be a green and a black, and mayhbe a yellow and something else, but I don't have the diagram in front of me. You need to find both the male and female plugs and match up some wire colors, and maybe make your own mating plugs.
EDIT:
I looked at your earlier posts and noted that you had already gotten this running previously. If you have joined these wires without the proper plug, then you may just have poor connections. I believe that one of them is the check engine light and I know one is for the tach and one is for the coded driveaway protection. You mentioned that the Check light is not blinking- do you mean the check engine light or the light that is supposed to blink for you to check the brake lights, etc.?
RE-EDIT:
Did you have this combination working ever or did you just do the swap and now it does not work. I am a little confused.