I'm finally back in the same town as my car and able to put a little more money into it again.



Thing is, I'd like to get it running reliably and attempt driving it around this winter.



It's not plated. The emissions sheet wasn't legit and for good reason, trying to get it passed hasn't been a fruitful effort.



In Ontario, if I remember right, cars older than 20 years are exempt from the testing? So, in 2 and a half years, emissions won't matter, so I really don't care about it anymore.



What I'm looking at though, is the reliability that removing the turbo from the 10AE might offer. The engine is getting weaker, it has about 150 kms I belive and I have no knowledge of if it has been redone at any point during its life. It has a fuel pump switch that you have to flick on each start up and flick off each shut off. Long and short of it is, it's old.



Would removing the turbo offer any help in keeping it healthy till the time when I can look into a 13b or even 20b swap?

 

what's the history of that 'fuel pump switch'? I'm assuming that you didn't install that, and it sounds like a bit of a problem if you have to flip it every time you start or stop the car.



I don't see why you'd be having a problem with testing if you were running a stock engine with a few reasonable mods.



to me, that 'fuel switch' just raises a few flags

 

People have some funny misconceptions about turbos. There's nothing inherently "bad" about having a turbo on an engine. Pulling the turbo off an engine that was designed to have one would result in a really weak engine that would be a pain in the *** to drive. If the car has issues and you need to drive it anyway, just don't put the throttle to the floor. Take it easy. Identify and fix the problems.



Most people install fuel pump cutoff switches when the injectors get so dirty that they leak gas into the engine during short stops and then the engine floods when you go to restart it. Used to happen to mine all the time. I didn't install a cutoff switch. I pulled the injectors, sent them out to be cleaned, and put them back in. No more hot restart problem.



Is the car currently driveable? What kinds of problems are you having?

 

i dont think removing the turbo would really help that much. old engines die from dumb stuff, overheating, lack of oil etc. na's seem to live longer, but they usually die from a burst hose or something.



so this is a little backwards



if you want to keep the engine, replace all the water hoses, and the thermostat. while you're in there find the vacuum leak (intake gasket, lower injector seals....), and maybe have the injectors cleaned.



if you dont care abotu the engine, just look everything over, if theres something tired/sketchy replace it, but then just drive it and save up for a new engine.

 

sorry to burst your bubble..in regards to the 20 year exemption rule in Ontario, it has been changed.



cars with model years 87 and prior are NOW exempt. and 87 model year car will do it's last e-test in 2006. for cars 88 and newer....they all got the ULTIMATE bitchslap by the driveclean legislation(myself included because mine is an 88)



the new laws regarding e-test exemption says that 88 and new model cars will continue to be e-tested like normal, exemption will no longer go by that 20 year rule...only 87 and older cars are exempt.



if you don't believe me, feel free to look up the driveclean site and take a read; you'll see that what i just said is true..so if you have an 88-91 FC; you won't be too happy to hear that.

 

!!!!



This is my bubble... O

This is my burst bubble... >.<



Since this is news, I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet. I'll have to think about it. As it stands, I was referred to a guy who can "make it pass" anyway. Since it's so hard to pass it as is.



About the fuel pump cut off switch though... it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just because the injectors are bad. Sometimes if I'm not even paying attention, I'll miss the timing and have to recrank which is hella embarassing if I'm out in a place where I KNOW someone's eying the car, cause it's such a sexy thing.



It'd be nice to solve that by just cleaning them out. Would that cut off switch have to be removed? Or, would the clean injectors just not let anything into the engine if the car isn't running? Meaning... I could just leave the switch "on" all the time?



Thanks for the replies, and for clearing up my turbo misconception. All the people I've talked to about it have always said something along the lines of, "Yea, it's because it's turbo." so... I thought that might have been a problem.

 

Assuming that nothing else has been done to the fuel pump wiring, Yes, you could just leave it on all the time. Then, the fuel pump would see voltage whenever the key is in the "on" position.



From a performance/reliability standpoint though, it might be better to remove the switch. The fuel pump wiring is often mentioned as an item that should be re-done anyway. Leaving an unused switch in the line could increase resistance (especially as it ages and the contacts oxidize) and reduce voltage to the pump.

 

its easy to make these pass, all you need is a good air pump, air control valve, and main cat...