Too cheap not to buy: Another AW11 build

Yes, AFM was in spec. I am 99% sure it is timing as I loosened the distributor last night and advanced the timing as much as could be done and it now has a fast idle and will rev on throttle inputs. Not great, but much better ,so definitely timing. Quick check with a timing light was not showing it firing on the timing marks, so pulled the distributor this morning and cleaned everything up. Will set the engine to TDC over lunch and reinstall and see if I can get the static timing to factory 10 BTDC with the diag box jumpered. So looks like someone messed with it as it is not even close right now.  Should have it running today and can then figure out what else it needs.

In reply to dherr (Forum Supporter) :

When was the timing belt last replaced? Is it possible one of the cams is off?

God only knows, I am pulling the cam cover top to set TDC and will look to see if the belt looks fresh. That will be the next thing to check once I get the ignition timing correct.

So I set the distributor correctly and adjusted the static timing and it is running nicely now. Burped the cooling system and still need to figure out a few things, but looking good. Car runs well, shifts nicely and brakes and clutch are all working as they should. So far so good, I'll probably get this registered so I can drive it more and see what it needs to be reliable. Charge light is on, so may need an alternator, so that is probably the next thing to check. 

Seems like these eat regulators. I can't remember if they're internal or external.

Excellent work massaging it back to health.

Well further down the rabbit hole..... swapped the alternator this morning. Went well and started the car and all lights were off, so definitely was the alternator. Apparently you get the brake, engine cooling fan and charge light on at the same time when the regulator blows. So swapped it out and all was good. Or was it? The engine was making a bad mechanical sound, looked at the alternator now that the belt was on tight and I could rotate the front crank pulley, that is a very bad sign. So over lunch removed the belt and sure enough, the front crank pulley is chipped and it mangled the key. Not sure  how this happens but now it looks like I'll be doing the timing kit, with a new belt, waterpump tensioner and a used crank pulley and new key. The crank sprocket for the timing belt seems fine. I'll just have to carefully remove the key and remove the timing gear and hopefully the slot in the crank is not too mangled. Picture below shows how bad it was mangled.

Looks like what happened was the crank pulley broke and then was slipping. 

Lots of cleaning to do, but should be good once this done. Got a guy on the FB AW11 list sending me a good pulley and I ordered a timing belt set today. The only thing I may still need is the gear on the crank, won't know until I get the timing belt off and remove the gear.

Seeing this pulley explains a lot of things. The previous owner had replaced the belts, and did the fuel pump, but my guess is the pulley broke and they tried to set the timing and messed it up. Cam timing is fine, but you can't set the ignition timing with the pulley moving around. Pretty sure I can get the key cut down without messing up the crank so I can get the timing gear off. 

so all the trouble was due to a busted crank pulley, wow.  Also, what do these pulleys have to do with the ignition timing?  Isn't the dizzy run off the cam?

In reply to lxnm :

Ignition timing marks are on the pulley. Inaccurate marks = inaccurate timing.

Nasty looking failure there, though it looks like you're on it.

I chased my tail on my vW G60 motor for years until I finally discovered that the crank keyway on the crank pulley had play in it.  Replaced that and the motor ran great.

Yes, it definitely is not the first thing you check. Reading up on it, it is apparently not too common, but does happen on these engines. I'll have all the parts next week and get this all put back together and can move on to the next problem. 

Still waiting on the parts to arrive, but did mount new tires on the MR2 Spyder wheels and mounted them on the car, look pretty good on this old AW11.

I noticed that the shocks are pretty shot on this car, so that will probably be the next thing to fix once the engine is sorted. Then I have to decide what to do with her. Car is 100% original and super solid, so probably won't go crazy on this one. Couple of the lugs were bad, so probably just do the suspension bushings if I have to pull the hubs to replace the lugs. The only trim issue are the c-pillars trims are broken, common issue with these cars.

Grrr! Crank keyways stupid pulleys, etc.

At it looks like your crank is okay. Loctiteable at worst, it seems. Party on.