Figuring out the wiring

March 1st, 2011

Pulled the engine harness from the donor car today

Engine harness

Yeah, that’s all, only the injector/coil harness still on the engine has been left out of the pic. It connects to the big round connector on the right, JUST below the colorful relays.

Conveniently, these cars have separate looms for just about everything, just like the Thema. Getting the ECU connector through the firewall hole was the most difficult part, actually, mostly because of tough insulation on the inside. Cutting some of that away would have made it much easier. It’s also very difficult to unplug the switch valve at the charcoal canister, without removing either the canister itself or the fender. I chose to simply pull the whole canister.

This harness basically contains the Motronic engine management with all relevant relays and sensors, main feeds and three fuses.

Only three plugs connect to other parts of the car.

First one, on the left, is the main feed, single big red wire, goes to the secondary distribution block for permanent 12V.

Second one, on the right in the pic above, contains a few more basics.

  • Black-Purple: From ECU to AC relay
  • Gray: Fuel pump from relay (to fusebox, then to pump)
  • Blue: 12V ignition switched.

Both are just below the wiper mechanism, in the “leaves compartment”…

Third connector is bigger, a 14-pin connector. Fortunately only holds 9 wires in my case. It connects the engine harness to the dash loom, inside the car. It is located at the passenger side kickpanel (for LHD).

Note: some of these need further verification.

  • White-red: To anti-theft (immobilizer) computer under the drivers seat.
  • Black-red: For automatic transmission. No pin in the dash side, donor car is a manual.
  • Purple: To AC/Infocenter. Probably AC idle-up.
  • Gray-black: Engine ground, used by immobilizer ECU.

Other side…

  • Orange-black: Info center, probably check engine light.
  • Gray: To AC pressure switch. Need to look into AC wiring.
  • Blue: Speed signal from instrument cluster to engine ECU.
  • Yellow-green: Undocumented. No pin in the dash side, so no worries.
  • Brown-yellow: Tach from ECU to cluster, 3 pulses per revolution.

That leaves a total of eleven wires across all three connectors, most of which non-essential.

Engine related functions not in this harness are:

  • Most dash sensors like oil pressure, coolant temperature, speed sensor.
  • Alternator.
  • Starter.
  • AC / Fan controls.

Fortunately most of that is pretty generic. I think I can use the Croma chassis harness for that, with only minor modification.

One thing I will need to swap over from the Croma engine to the Kappa engine is the coolant temperature sensor (the one for the dash). The Thema/Croma check panels use a separate thermoswitch that is integrated into the NTC sensor, both halves grounded through the casing threads. Kappas on the other hand use a plain NTC, not grounded to its case. Same plug, entirely different sensor!

I may need a small section of dash loom from the Kappa, for the immobilizer circuitry. I’ve already mostly picked it out, though the Croma immobilizer could be exactly the same type, so I might not even need it.

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Engine out

February 14th, 2011

Well, it put up a bit of a fight, especially the downpipes and the AC pump didn’t really want to come off. After cursing the designers for a bit, I finally managed to disconnect everything.

Some scrap cardboard worked well as a gutter, to drain the power steering without getting messy all over the subframe and everything else underneath.

Draining the power steering

With the coolers and the AC pump tied out of the way, it was time to lower the whole front subframe and drivetrain assembly out of the car.

Subframe on the floor

Lowered. A lot.

Dropped something?

Update Feb 21: Hardly rocket science, but I lifted the body just high enough to push it back a few feet on a trolley jack, off the engine. Then I moved the engine and subframe aside for further disassembly and inspection later on.

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Tearing into the parts car

February 8th, 2011

I’m beginning to think I’m doing this car a favor, by putting it out of its misery.

Kludge++

I thought I’d seen my share of kludges, but this one had me stumped. I remember the test drive: I actually drove it like this, for a number of miles… ouch. Yes, that nut is missing, and so is the rod end stud. Probably sheared, then bodged to hold together. I think this was relying on the taper fit more than those clamps though.

There, I fixed it.

Also note the centering ring ground off, and then the hub nut looking like it’s been rounded off by a wrench. All because I’m guessing they didn’t have the proper socket for the job. Wow… I really don’t know what to say.

Hub nut other side.

Except maybe they did a slightly better job on the other side. Again without the proper socket, but this time they only ruined the nut, not the hub flange…

Scratch that – they DID ruin the hub flange on that side as well. By cross-threading an odd mixture of different wheel bolts into it.

On a more positive note: it has a perfectly working viscous LSD. Sweet!

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Progress… well, not really.

February 7th, 2011

Got a lot done the last few weeks… cleaned out the garage a bit (which basically involved creating an extra attic floor for parts storage…), passed APK (annual safety/emissions) for the Alfa, readied the BMW for sale and spent this weekend helping a friend finally make some progess with his Volvo. After all those things, I finally feel I have the time to start the engine swap.

So I tried to push the Kappa out of its parking spot and into the garage. Well, two men pushing couldn’t break loose its seized brakes, so I put the intake back together and started it up, to move it under its own power.

Donor car in the garage.

Now finally the engine swap can start…

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Bought an engine

June 11th, 2010

With the original engine disabled by a dead crank angle sensor, I didn’t want to waste time fixing it. Instead I thought it would be wise to move forward and get the final engine in there. After all, getting that engine swap approved and licensed should be easier while the rest of the car is still completely original anyway.

So today, I decided to buy the parts car I’d had my eye on for a while. I didn’t buy it before, because I felt it was a bit expensive for the shed it is. However, I was unable to find a complete engine any cheaper, and that would almost always be with incomplete wiring.

So this is it. Never mind the missing wheel ; that’s limp home mode upon the trailer owner’s advice after a flat tire.

There’s not a single straight panel on the entire car. The interior looks like a bunch of Gorillas lived in it for a while, and then someone made half an attempt to fix the damage. It could also have something to do with violently ripping out some stereo equipment. One does not normally cut huge holes in the metal part of the parcel shelf either. Or keep this kind of crap in their car:

Warning lights galore, but none from the engine, and the engine itself seems fine besides a large exhaust leak. Oh well, maybe I’ll reclaim some of the cost in parts sales, though it’s proving a bit difficult to find *any* salable parts in this car… despite the crate full of extra parts junk I found in the boot.

This, however, is the part I wanted…

3.0 24V Lancia V6, a slightly more torque biased version of the Alfa 24V V6. The Lancia version of the plenum carries a twin plate throttle, as opposed to the large single plate throttle on the Alfa version. I haven’t found any other important differences yet. I’m thinking I could trim the large ugly coil cover near the top, making the fuel rail visible just like on the Alfa version.

I took a few first steps to remove the engine and wiring ; removed the alarm/immobilizer and aftermarket cruise control, returning the Kappa’s wiring loom to factory standard. That and factory wiring diagrams should make it easy to reduce the Kappa wiring loom to the essentials, hopefully making it easy to graft into a Croma.

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Vee Six Engine

May 29th, 2010

Having kept an eye on the classifieds for quite a while, I’ve test driven a number of different engine candidates for this project. I already knew I liked the 4-cylinder Lampredi turbo, I used to have that in the Thema.

With only 1995cc it does lean heavily on its turbocharger to make serious power, but it can handle the punishment: some versions ran over 16 psi boost straight from the factory. 20-25psi on nothing more than a re-map is not uncommon. Unfortunately it does not have hydraulic lifters, so running on LPG would mean a re-shim every some thousand miles.

Then there’s the 5-cylinder turbo. It’s also a two litre, only newer, with hydraulic lifters and variable valve timing. There’s a 2.4 litre version, naturally aspirated only, but 2.4 turbo builds have been done.

I test drove a 2.4. It’s a smooth engine, maybe TOO smooth. Somewhat boring, not very impressive. Response is typical. It does have a good powerband, but not as wide as you might expect from variable valve timing. It all seems adequate, but doesn’t really hit a nerve. The turbo would be faster, but not sound any better or take more advantage of the variable cam timing. The extra cylinder makes for a longer block that fills out the engine bay completely, making it that bit harder to work on. All in all, I was less than excited.

Then there’s the Arese/Busso V6, originally from Alfa Romeo. In times when other makers hide their ugly engines under large slabs of plastic, Alfa ignored them all and made the new 24V version another work of art. As a petrolhead, how can you not love six shiny tubes in a row, visible coil covers with bright red writing on them, and a stylish plenum to match?

It has all the right accessories too. The 24V version has hydraulic lifters, piston cooling jets and coil on plug ignition. A wide power band is available, without having to resort to the complexity and reliability issues of variable valve timing. Being a 60 degree V6, with the heads offset towards the valley in addition, it’s a right space saver, as far as V6 engines go. Unfortunately, the only factory turbo version is a 12 valve, but that can be fixed.

Lancia borrowed this V6 for the last few years of Thema (12V), and for the Kappa and Thesis luxury cars (24V). It’s also found its way into the Fiat Croma, albeit only in 2.5 12V guise. Lancia versions have matte black tubes, which is not as disappointing as it sounds. Just more subtle. I do dislike the large rectangular coil cover on the Lancia 24V , but for the Lancia Thema theme it would still be nice to have “LANCIA” logos everywhere.

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Thema Schlachtfest

May 13th, 2010

Schlachtfest is German for “slaughter festival”, look it up if you like. It’s also used in automotive context, where a parts car is dissected by a group of people, and just about every part is put to good use somewhere.

Today’s victim was a friend’s somewhat rusty late model (type 3) Thema Turbo. Its engine had already been removed. My goal for today was to pick up as many Thema-specific interior, exterior and trim bits as possible. Meanwhile, another Thema forum member removed a number of side panels and trim needed to fix his accident damaged Thema V6.

At the end of the day, this is what’s left.

The same owner also had THIS little treasure for me:

Of course this somewhat rare item does not come cheap, but it’s definitely worth it. The LX dash I mentioned in the “Inspiration” post last month, is definitely the one to have, for a project like this. Note that it isn’t easy to install either. The 8.32 / LX dash wiring is quite different from other versions. But again: I think it’s worth it.

With the cream leather seats I already had, the cream roof lining and cream carpet I removed from the parts car today, and the black LX dash with matching black door panels, a different but nice interior for my project is starting to come together.

So the last half hour of the day was spent trying to cram that huge pile of parts into my car without damaging anything (ESPECIALLY that prized wood and leather dash!). I almost forgot to leave room for myself in there, but managed to fit it all in. Funny how an “empty” car can explode into a pile of parts that won’t even fit inside a car anymore!

Yes, there’s a bumper, radiator support with headlights and two front fenders in there, as well as the whole dash, five door panels, roof lining and much more.

Big “Thank You” goes out to Maarten-Jan for helping me out, by putting together a package of almost all the parts I needed in one go. That could’ve taken months to find piece by piece, or I would have needed to get a parts car of my own. I still need to go back and get the bonnet and climate control system. Maybe the wiper mechanism, B-pillar trims and some other little bits and pieces as well.

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Oops

April 29th, 2010

Slight setback… stranded.

Slight hiccup on a roundabout, then died completely, a few hundred feet down the road. Had to get towed home.

Diagnosis: dead crank angle sensor. Oh well, I was going to swap the engine out anyway.

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Caught me a cow

April 27th, 2010

Should’ve washed herself a bit more often though.

That’s what eight years in a barn did to her.

Cleaned up pretty well though.

This interior was a factory option (standard on v6) for the Fiat Croma. For my plans it’s easier to use Croma seats because the Thema back seat has no headrests. They are mounted to the fixed metal parcel shelf instead. The Croma, being a 5-door, has a thin removeable parcel shelf, so the headrests are installed in the seatback. Apart from that, Croma and Thema interiors are completely interchangeable!

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Inspiration

April 26th, 2010

Visited a Lancia Thema Register meeting today, for inspiration. Hoping to find a silver type three to see how that would look, but I wasn’t that lucky.

Still, quite a large number of these rare cars were present.

Of over 20 cars present, about half were of the rare 8.32 variety, a unique marriage between a transverse Ferrari V8 and a family sedan. The LX version takes its brilliant dash from the 8.32, only with white digits instead of yellow. That is the dash I want, for my project…

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