hi all im new to this site so be gentle

ive purchased an old st185 with a snapped cam belt (took a gamble)
but thinking it was just a simple task, i was wrong.
when i had a look the exhaust cam was seized solid on no1 and no3 cam caps thats what snapped the belt
so i removed the caps and surpriseing they wernt too bad so i cleaned them up refitted new belt and waterpump and she fired up.



i had her running on tick over for 20 mins or so and all seemed well so i removed the rocker just to inspect and re torque if needed and the exhaust camshaft was dry as a bone!! inlet cams was oily but not overly?

so now im trying to find why theres an oil starvation to the exhaust cam.

so far ive changed the oil removed the sump to check for debris and it was clean, even strainer!
oil light goes off instantly when started so i dont suspect oil pump?
i did start her momenterly with no oil and light stayed on!(flick of the key just to test!). i havent tried new oil filter yet but cant see that doing it?maybe?

i will apprecate any advise as im tearing my hair out. im on the verge of a baseball bat attack for satisforcation and then breaking the rest

please excuse spelling im a little dyslexic

regards matt

As oil is getting at least upto the head where pressure switch is i would suggest that the head has some blocked holes.... or pressure is high enough to get light to turn out ( not a lot a few psi iirc ) but not enough to provide enough to feed head...?

First thoughts would be someone has fitted a head gasket round the wrong way leaving the oilway blocked, however as above I would expect that to leave zero oil and would show a warning light and both cams dry.

Only other thought other than poor pressure would be a blocked oilway within the head, although this may not bode well for the rest of the engine if foreign matter has got in there.

If you have a pressure gauge available, see what pressure you have at the sensor point as a first indication of where to start looking. (obviously don't run the engine for long)

In case you haven't found a copy, download the workshop manual.

http://www.cdd.co.uk/stuff/90ST185.pdf

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

Thank you for ur reply. Since my last post i have found something.
I removed the relief valve bolt from the oil cooler and the valve was stuck open.
Am i right to believe that the valve is there to relieve excessive pressure back to the sump so if its stuck open it wont push oil to the top of the head unless at high rpms?
Regards matt

I think there have been failures of this valve in the past that have resulted in damaged/destroyed engines.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

Hi,

be carefull cam and/or caps are possible damaged after that, i would consider to buy a second hand head.....

greetz

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KEEP COOL UNDER PRESSURE

street legal?.....perhaps in tschibuti

thanks for all your replys i will let you know the results.

it was the relief valve that caused the problem, what happened was the car has not been serviced for a long time(no history) and the oil filter had started to come apart inside and drop bits of carbon stuff in to the valve and it got wedged and held the valve open.

its now all back together and sounding sweet as a nut which is suprising.
took her for a blast and she held out well. i did thrash the *bleep* off her as well!!

so this is a little lesson serviceing is important.

my next problem is i think its missing a few horses?
seems a little slow well not slow but didnt give me the wow factor...?
ive never driven one of theses but i would have thought it would have pinned me back in the seat??

any advice or tune ups would be great

thanks again

These engines have a high capacity oil pump so you seem to be able to get away with badly worn bearings running fine. The givaway is if you hear a bit of big end rattle for a second or 2 when starting cold before the pressure gets up. If you get this then consider removing the sump (not a huge task) and replacing the bearing shells.

As far as lack of power, double check cam timing and check/set ignition timing.
Ignition timing should be 10 degrees before at idle with E1 & TE1 linked in the diagnostic port. A common mistake is to set the timing without the link leaving it quite a few degrees retarded.
Also check for fault codes on the ECU:

http://www.gt4dc.co.uk/info/howto/ecu/e ... _codes.htm

_________________
If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

all timing seemed to be fine.
i looked into boost problems and came up with a few isues.

in standard format ins boosting 6psi or so.
so i put a boost controller on it (bearing and spring type)
and blocked off the vsv.

wow when it hits boost its a rocket but it hits fuel cut.
so i dial it down. but at the point i dont get fuel cut its at 6ish psi again so twist it back up by a smidge and overboost and fuel cut again.
but there is no middle point and it doesnt seem right.

im thinking of trying a weaker spring in the controller and seeing if that will give me a wider range.

i did at one point get it boosting at about 1bar and i was fast but the pressure wasnt constant 1bar so it eventually hit fuel cut.

i could up fuel cut but i want to find the fault not bypass it and also if i up fuel cut will it be doing the same but at a higher boost? dont want to damage it.

the controller is like £12 on ebay i know its cheep but it should be fit for purpousits only a simple valve

oh and no rattles or knocks on startup even at minus temperatures theses mornings

Did you check for fault codes, as the ECU will run a safe map and cut boost if a fault is present. The boost can be over-ridden with an external controller, but the ECU will still be running incorrect map which may cause damage at high boost.

The 185 has a number of weak links you need to be aware of when increasing boost above standard.

1. The head gasket is a paper type and is prone to blowing at anything above standard boost. Solution is to fit a metal head gasket (standard ST205 one works).

2. The top mount air-air intercooler is rubbish, often called the interwarmer. If you plan to run higher boost than standard consider front mount intercooler, CS type chargecooler and/or water injection. Ignoring this will lead to detonation / broken pistons.

3. ST185 injector size / fuel pump capacity limit the horsepower without the mixture going weak & melting pistons. The standard turbo may run out of puff before this point but not 100% sure.

4. Once all the above have been sorted, the next limiting factor is pistons. The general concensus seems to be that 1.2BAR boost is about the safe limit if you have above mods. Beyond that, you're probably looking at needing forged pistons.

_________________
If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

thanks for all that but im not trying to increase boost im trying to get it back to normal.

there is no fault codes stored unless it hits fuel cut at 12psi and then code 34 is produced.
a quick reset and all as well untill the next time.

when it was boosting at 9psi it was feeling really good
but i cant get it to stay there. it will generly be under or over. with standard set up it will boost ok ish when working on torque and slow gear change but if ur ringing its neck it may as well be a normally asperated 2ltr its crap.

im just looking to find out why its slow and not looking at making it quicker/faster than stock.

does any one know what stock boost is ment to be as im getting around 6psi and only assuming its ment to be arround 9psi

many thanks to nibbles for helping me on this one

Hi,

stock boost is 0,5bar or 7,2PSI

iirc the ST185 uses a 1st gear low boost mode, the others know more an can help you better i think

how high are your boost up and downs?

greetz

_________________
KEEP COOL UNDER PRESSURE

street legal?.....perhaps in tschibuti

1st and second are reduced boost on 185, 1st only for 205. You will need to have the TVSV solenoid connected to get standard boost control, otherwised it will just run actuator boost (6psi).

Sounds to me like your aftermarket boost controller is faulty or plumbed in wrong.

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.