PICS! Econo Car conversion to Kubota Diesel. 1997 Geo Metro, Kubota D1005 3 cylinder

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by kimer6

The governor will take some getting used to. Just when you are ready to shift the power cuts back. It was annoying for the first mile. Then I played the game....foot to the floor in neutral, slowly put it in first, go through the gears normally without ever taking your foot off the gas. With the clutch in and foot to the floor, it just won't rev any more.
Put it in first gear and go...it revs to the governor setting and just stays there. Its weird. You'll see.

Not sure if turbocharging this engine would help at all, but maybe. Anyway, are you willing to get a different setting to the governor to make it more road-friendly?

[planejob]

Ok, folks. Major news.

First of all, NOTHING happened for almost 3 weeks. I traveled for work.

Then today I went to Napa Auto Parts in Wylie Texas and Jeremy, an awesome guy there at the store, helped me find an o-ring with a 65mm OD. It took some time, but he sourced it from some parts pack and sold it to me for an all too reasonable price.

I came home and installed it on the oil filter block off plate - that plate we spent like 3 pages talking about because I couldn't figure out how to plumb it. It didn't leak. (Now, there's a long story here about this damn plate leaking and me shaving .125 off of it using a ... belt sander... so that the o-ring could engage in the new position, and the destruction of the o-ring, but I'll spare you.)

That leads me to the coolant system. The Kubota water pump has a plug on it that threaded and has a plug in it. I drained about half a gallon of coolant out of the bottom of the radiator and then pulled the plug out of the water pump. I took it up to the same Napa (hey, they are good, why stop now) and they helped me source the fan switch I desired. It happens to be a GM part, but it screws directly in to the water pump and turns the fan on at 205*F and off at 195*F. I got it home, it fit perfectly. It still needs to be wired up, but the plumbing is done.

I fired up the engine, I'm still using the three foot long jumper wire to go from the starter to the positive terminal of the battery. I let it run for a few minutes to confirm that there were no oil leaks and no coolant leaks - none!

After another few minutes the top radiator hose and fittings went from room temp to HOT in about 5 seconds - the thermostat opened! that's a good sign.

I shut it off and did a last trip around to check all of the nuts and bolts, and then tried to account for all of my wrenches, etc.

It drives. Driving with the governor is cool - Just do what's known in racingg circles a "flat foot shifting", that is, you never lift the gas pedal, and just clutch and shift. It works brilliantly.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Anyway, are you willing to get a different setting to the governor to make it more road-friendly?

I'm now researching this as my next move, Rooster. In third gear, flat out, I found myself going 30 to 32 mph indicated.

So the cool thing: going up hill results in it maintaining speed by increasingg fueling which means it rolls coal. Not like a 16 year old in a truck with a confederate flag rolling coal, but it noticeably blows smoke. There is no smoke at normal speeds.

Hey, so that brings up the exhaust. Right now, it blows directly forward, right out through the radiator support. No, not through the radiator. I've got a muffler that came with it, but it doesn't fit in the package. I guess I'll have to take this over to the muffler shop and see how bad it's going to hurt to have a pipe put out the rear. Or maybe I'll just cut a hole in the radiator support and hood and run it straight up using the original muffer?

My wife agreed to take some video, so let me get out there and see if we can make a movie for you crazy kids.

[planejob]

https://youtu.be/_5cTk5PIzss




This is my tribute to Kimer:


See:

[kimer6]

Awesome. Thank you for the tribute, too!.
I needed to redirect the governor springs to pull harder against the flyballs. That gave me 3800 rpm wide open with no load. Stock it only went up to 2200 rpm maximum. I also took a shim out of the injector plate to advance the timing a few degrees. It has more diesel clatter now.

A side note....accidentally drop the governor spring and it disappears forever into rotating parts. Its a real pain to find and fish out. I think I reconnected the existing spring further up the governor arm to get more rpm. There was an extra hole there as I recall. Maybe something to do with setting the governor to work with 1800 rpm or 3600 rpm for 4 pole or 2 pole generator operation.

The Kubota injection timing is fixed. Not good, like a lawn mower engine. Automotive governors have actual fuel advance cams to make it more drivable. I wish this did but it was tolerable at the time. I got 63mph maximum in 5th on the flat. The flat foot shifting was a trip! 35 to 50mph was doable all day in mild rolling hills.

There is a protected screw in the front of the governor that limits the fuel rack travel. Back it out too much and it will roll coal like a tractor puller. I was thinking about bypassing the governor altogether and connect the throttle linkage directly to the fuel rack. That would allow 3800 rpm+ shifts and allow fuel to be directly proportional to gas pedal position. In the stock setup, the fuel rack is connected by a weak spring to the governor arm which has another strong spring connected to your throttle linkage. Right now, the governor tries to add maximum fuel at low rpms as it was made for a generator. The stock governor ''droop'' band is very narrow. When it senses load demand (step on the gas slightly) it goes to maximum fuel rack stroke and smokes. This is why I wanted to bypass the flyballs and run a direct proportional movement from the accelerator linkage...from idle to foot-to-the-floor wide open should be fuel rack at idle to fuel rack wide open. No springs or governor arms to diddle with. I am sure that would make it feel more like a gasoline engine with carb.

I never got further than that. My registration expired 3 weeks later and the State of Kalifornia would not renew it as it was no longer an original gas engine. I have a brand new IHI turbo for it as well. More air into the engine means less coal. I found a guy who was able to get the State to OK his VW diesel Rabbit powered Geo Tracker with great difficulty. They are very strict now.

Great job, well done! You got the most frustrating parts done....

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by planejob

So the cool thing: going up hill results in it maintaining speed by increasingg fueling which means it rolls coal.

One more reason to get a turbo

[kimer6]

My boat has a 6.5 Chevy turbo diesel in it. I saw some black smoke when the waste gate arm jammed open when it caught on the heat shield. I could hear that something was wrong with the exhaust note. A quick bend with a Crescent wrench put the turbo whine right back where it belongs....right out the 27'' long exhaust pipe.

[planejob]

Drove it around a bit more today, gave the neighbors some rides.

I started sorting the wiring. The stock harness just has WAY too many wires. I don't recall if I mentioned it or not but I acquired the GM Factory Service Manual for a 1997 Metro from eBay. The wiring diagrams within that book are AMAZING. they tell you the wire color, the connector, the routing, everything. It will take a long time to get the wiring harness sorted out and pared down to the essentials, but it is doable.

So, lot's of pressure from my wife to get rid of it - anybody want to come trailer it away? I'll trade for a titled Miata (with body damage/rust is fine) as long as it's manual and runs... there's another project in the works that she doesn't know about!

[kimer6]

I have a supercharged Olds 3.8 V-6 in my garage. That came very close to being installed mid engine in my Diesel Metro. It still may happen one day.

As far as a wife.... Mine put the WHY in whyffe. She left me for another woman. No surprise here....its California. I am now a MWWAPC . Man With Welder And Plasma Cutter.

[planejob]

I'd like to have a plasma cutter...

[bikeprof]

Followed this write up from the beginning to the now, may not be finished !?!?

Pleasure reading about what abilities we 'modders have to make things pair up.

Great on the now condition of your GE-O!
Hope that it makes it to a "good home"...
(It'd be mine but for some hurdles at present :-( )