hey. hope sumbody can help. fitted a cam to my xr3i an i got a prob. done everything as by the book as i could but when i started it up the revs shot stright to 3500 rpm without me touching the throttle, also the handbrake light on the dash is kinda pulsing as is the rev counter, cant think of what this might be. i dont wana start it and leave it just incase i cause some serious damage. please help.
p.s its the cvh efi engine in a 1990 escort xr3i. cheers.

 

What did you disconnect/remove when you did the cam?

 

from what i can remember; the tps plug, iscv plug, fuel line to the fuel rail, the milti plug for the injectors. thats the only electrical connections i can think of. i decided to let it rev to run in the cam but it started misfiring badly then evetually died an now wont start. well fed up.

 

I've just finished doing the same job on the same engine 30 mins ago!

I think one of two things has happened, - a vacuum hose has been left off the inlet manifold and this is letting air past the throttle body. Alternatively something is holding the throttle partially open, - did you refit the accelerator cable bracket correctly? If so make sure that the accelerator cable is correctly threaded around the quadrant on the throttle housing.

Cheers
Mark

 

checked everything i could think of an all seems ok, i did take the manifold off the head an i also removed the throttle body from the manifold. i cleaned up both surfaces b4 putting the manifold back on an put a new gasket in. is it poss that ive got the timing wrong on the cam? ive set it to basic tdc but the instructions with the cam say the timing is to be set at 115 degrees. ive no idea how to set it up to this and im assuming id need proper equipment and cant do it myself at home.

 

The cam timing is not adjustable without a vernier pulley. Have you got one?

It won't be the cam timing that is making it idle too fast. It needs air/fuel in order to run and something is letting air in which is allowing it to idle so fast. I don't know why you removed the throttle body and inlet manifold as this is not necessary, but if these aren't sealed up properly that could cause this problem.

Have you looked at the throttle butterfly to make sure that it is fully shut at idle? Is the acceraltor cable badly adjusted and hodling it open.

It will be something like this. You will just have to keep looking until you find it...

 

yea i got a vernier pulley, i dont actually remember why i removed the throttle body, amature mistake i guess goint to have to re-check everything all over again. joy.

 

update:
tested the ignition and fuel today. ive got a spark at the plugs so no probs there. i took the fuel line off the fuel rail to check the pressure, turned the ignition on to prime the pump and nothing came out. done this twice more and fuel started to come out, not under much pressure at all, just dribbling out. no wizard on fuel pressure but i thought the fuel going into the fuel rail would be under a fair bit of pressure? ie the fuel would spray out quickly rather than just dribble out. so im thinking either the pumps gone or ive got a blockage or a kink in the line preventing proper pressure build up. what u think? thanks for the replys so far peeps, appreciate it

 

Well the fuel pressure definately isn't right. It wouldn't cause the 3000RPM idling but it is certainly what made it die. It should spurt out of that hose.

Does the pump sound "normal" when it primes? Does it make any strange noises?

The only pipe you could have a kink in realistically is the black pipe from the filter to the fuel rail, but I assume you've checked this...

It could be that the fuel filter has got totally blocked, but this is unlikely as it would block over time not instantly. You could test the pressure before the fuel filter and see if it is any better.

This is probably a pump related problem in some way...

By the way I would be careful undoing any fuel unions completely and turning the ignition. If the pump decides to work it will completely soak the engine bay and anything in the vicinity with fuel...

 

the pump defo does not sound normal to me, normally its a kinda low and slow (if that makes any sense ) but now its a high pitched noise ans fast (bet this makes no sense what so ever )

thats the one i checked, i did worry i was going to damage it when i was taking it off. im going to start tracing it back tomorow. ie take the fuel filter off and see how it goes from there.

thanks for the concern mate had a friend holding the fuel line into a bucket to catch any fuel. proper bodge but u gota work with what u got.
thanks for the reply mate

 

If the pump sounds like that it almost certainly means it's running dry. I hate to ask but are you sure that the car didn't run out of petrol while you were running the cam in?

It would explain the high pitch pump noise and the lack of fuel coming out. Come to think of it it's one of the only things that could explain it unless the small fuel hose inside the tank has split.

 

got half a tank mate. i took the fuel filter off today and turned the ignition on to see what came out the pipe. fuel came out but it was just dribbling out, not under much pressure at all. so am pretty sure its the pump. anybody know how much a new pump would cost? i know they're in tank jobbies so am guessing expensive and hard to fit.

 

They aren't that expensive, now would be a good time to uprate iof your going to be tuning the engine. Im pretty sure £90ish will get you an uprated item.

Fitting isn't that hard at all, a little fiddly in a couple of areas but generally easy - however........you also have the added weight of 20 odd litres of petrol

I would get the tank off berfore buying a pump though, could be the rubber damper from the pump split