Fighting Through It
One issue at a time…
Front of the exhaust in, above a rust-treated front crossmember:
Megumi’s EGR valve and solenoid assembly swapped over:
I deleted the EGR pipe and bypassed the coolant lines, just like with Megumi.
Got the new fuel pump in. Some differences between the new and old pumps:
The old one was working fine, so this was preventative.
The fuel tank went on without too much drama, although I did have to undo the right strap to attach the heat shield, since I forgot it goes under the strap.
Got the filler pipe assembly all cleaned up and installed. I used some handy-dandy 3M weatherstrips on the filler plate back:
Got the rest of the exhaust and the subframe on and hitched up:
Struts and brakes on:
A big victory on Saturday was the parking brake bracket nuts came off, all 3 of them. They were totally rounded and disintegrated, but my rounded nut socket, a wire brush on the threads and copious amounts of heat, and they all came off.
No pics, but the intake manifold went back on OK. I decided to swap over Megumi’s fuel rail and injectors, and discovered that the ’94 rear injector rail connector assembly has a different plug, so I had to swap that over.
The lower fuel filter hose put up a fight, but I got it off in the end. Swapped over the bracket also.
I finally got everything buttoned up, and went to start it, and it wouldn’t turn over. Battery was good, so I figured it must be the starter. Fortunately, it’s right on the front of the engine, so I was able to pull Megumi’s off and get it on Nori in about 25 minutes.
And then…he started! Ran really well, actually. I drove him around the neighborhood a bit, and he felt 500% better than down in Florida. Tracked straight, smooth and good pickup.
Got a code 16 and 41. For the 41, I’ll just swap over Megumi’s VRIS solenoid. For 16, I may have hooked up the EGR solenoid assembly wrong. Will investigate.
The other issue is the brakes. He unfortunately has ABS, which just gets in the way and overcomplicates everything. After the test drive, the right front and left rear discs were warm to the touch, where the other 2 were cold. Will have to look into that also.
Still, I was encouraged after an exhausting week and a half.
