Geo Metro convertible / Kubota diesel engine conversion (driving!)

[kimer6]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

If the problem is just the injector nozzles you could give Liqui Moly Diesel Purge a shot. Lots of people run it straight at the fuel filter in TDIs to clean sooted injectors.

You can buy it from a TDI community trusted vendor.

Thank you...for 9 bucks I'll give it a try. Can't hurt to test it.....maybe I'll stumble onto another use! Like the time I was using Berryman B-12 Chemtool on motorbike carbs and got some on the wart I had on my finger for 30+ years. I scraped it and it was bleeding. When the B-12 hit it, I almost launched like the Space Shuttle it hurt so bad. Ha ha, wart removed forever!

[can8v]

Kim,
Great job, hats off to you. I am wondering if you have any preliminary fuel economy data for this arrangement yet.
Jason

[kimer6]

Thanks much! But something has gone awfully wrong and one cylinder is dead. It was black smoking terribly the other day and tonight I changed a suspect injector, took it for a ride and knock knock crack crack crack....to top it off the headlight fuse blew (nothing new here, I can't find the short though) on a dark road 2 miles from home. We will see. I have a spare non running engine to rob parts from.

In 100 miles so far it used 1/8 tank of fuel down from the 3/4 mark. It also idled about 5 hours on a quart of fuel while I got the temp sensor and cooling fan circuit figuerd out. It was sucking out of a half full plastic jug so I knew how much was in there. I will also set this up so I have a calibrated gallon fuel jug hung up inside the car and see how many miles it takes to drain.

I can't wait to test it but it has to be running right first!

I flushed out the gas tank several times and hope I did not get any lingering gas in the system. I hear that it is no good for the pump. injectors, engine. Maybe I worry too much and I replaced the wrong injector...

[bbjsw10]

I hope it is nothing serious.

[kimer6]

...That makes 2 of us......!!!!! I'll find out in the morning.

[Johnny Mullet]

The headlight issue may be down at the fusebox where the wiring connector melts.

[kimer6]

Would this be the same inaccessable fuse box that melted the terminal to the fuel pump relay 200 miles from home? Why would the headlights go out when I was doing 50mph in a hard turn on a country road with no street lights, no gaurd rails and a 75 foot dropoff on the right? How come I'm an EcoModding "Lurker " when a more suitable description would be window peeper/trenchcoat flasher? I'm stumped.

[Jetta90GL]

I'm not sure how similar a kubota pump is to a VW pump, but I modified my governor on my Jetta. It gave me full throttle control through the entire rpm range. There is a write up on it over at the VW GTD forums

[elhigh]

Awesome.

I've seen a guy who tucked a single-cylinder Changfa diesel into a Metro. 10 romping stomping horsepower, WOOHOO! It tops out at about 50mph and has one end of the engine sticking out through a hole in the hood, but it just goes to show that 200hp isn't necessary if you're just trying to get somewhere.

[kimer6]

Originally Posted by Jetta90GL

I'm not sure how similar a kubota pump is to a VW pump, but I modified my governor on my Jetta. It gave me full throttle control through the entire rpm range. There is a write up on it over at the VW GTD forums

Thanks for the info....now whose dumb idea was it to put a tractor engine in a car? I kind of knew the Kubota governor was not suited to road use. After looking at the cutaways you sent, I see that the VW pump has variable injection timing. I can't find a drawing for Kubota. But the governor/pump is part of the engine casting and there is almost no chance of replacing it with an automotive pump. Kubota timing is adjusted by shims. I don't think it has speed sensitive timing. Like Briggs&Stratton has fixed spark timing. OK for a lawnmower.....