1988 Isuzu I-Mark Turbo

One last thing to do before I put the engine in. I wanted to change my sway bar bushings while I still had easy access. Removed and painted. New bushing vs old Installed!

I know it is a sin to install a new engine into a dirty bay, but I was getting impatient. I'll pull the motor one day when I do the paint and make it look awesome, but righ now I just want to get it going

Turns out the engine mount that Rock Auto said would fit a turbo car was for the carby model and is an inch too short. So, I'll have to press out the middle and put it in the old motor mount.

It sucked to be instantly delayed. But at least it is a little bit closer.

-Motor mounts that rock auto said would fit were for a carby I-Mark. -Lost a motor mount bolt, so this required a trip to the junk yard -Power steering pump pulley is different, so I had to use the Storm one, which required a different fitting. So I had to fab new lines. -CV axel was not in all the way and dumped a quart of royal purple on the floor. -Turbo is clocked 1 bolt off. (it is at 12 o clock rather than 2.) I had to remove everything to pull the turbo back out. -Couldn't find the two clips that hold the shifter linkage.

I mocked up the top mount intercooler with old porsche BOV. I was worried that it might hit the hood.

I also fabbed up a new battery tray, and brackets for said tray. Next up is random electrical, power steering lines, vacuum hoses, and distributor rebuild. I also want to find a home for my oil separator.

I had a starting issue. The car will run with carb cleaner sprayed into it, so it was clearly a fuel delivery issue. Since the fuel pump was the original problem with the car, I started there. I found no problem. My next concern was the injectors. I hoped and prayed that I didn't screw up the wiring and fry the computer or something. I read somebody solved an injector issue with the distributor. It seems that the engine's computer uses the dist. signal to tell when to fire the injectors.

I needed to rebuild my distributor anyway.

Note the marked rod, so it does not go in upside down. that clip in the middle SUCKS to pry off with a screw driver. Since there was a new one in the kit I finally cut it with some nippers. lube your shaft before inserting..... The new bits. Note the new clip.

must put the goo on the module

all clean and ready to go.

Sadly this did not fix the problem, but needed to be done anyway.

This electrical problem drove me NUTS! I checked and re-checked. Replaced fuses, wires, added extra grounds. Still nothing.

On, a side note though - I got some new clear corner lights from Germany. No more ugly orange ones. I used a noid light, replaced relays, checked ohms, and even replaced the ECM. Nada.

And while I spent all this time on the wiring, a mouse got in and ate my door handle. grrrrr....

Frustrated.

I would guess it is something with the harness. It ran before you fixed the harness so start by checking the continuity in the wires you fiddled with. Another option is source another stock harness from car-part and get it running from that.

The dilemma with the harness is that it is a custom one. I had to re-wire each individual plug to fit the new application. I did find a mistake with the distributor wiring, but that still didn't solve my problem.

Bought one. Electrical trouble shooting manual. I was looking through the back trying to trace my wires.

I looked at the picture for G101 and I say to myself what the heck? I have no second ground at this location. I have plugged in every ground wire I found, and even ran extra grounds to the chassis and engine. The picture shows a ground, and I don't have a ground there. So I started pulling on wires, and shining my flashlight around. Then out pops a wire with an eye hole WOOT!

Could this be it?

Then this happened:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/uO-icsfKBAo

Now that's a good first start video! Can't believe the ground was so well hidden, praise Isuzu for being classy enough to point it out in the picture.

Greatest first start video ever! Congrats!

Haha, that's awesome, love the video! Congrats!

That was a wonderful video to start my day with. Thank you for that.

Best first start video ever.

Nice work, great video.

Thanks guys I cant wait to do some REAL videos. After all that work the car was stuck in second gear....

With the car stuck in second gear, the first thing I checked was the quadrant box to make sure the shifter was in the right spot, but everything was correct. My fear was that I screwed up something with the little balls in the transmission, which is what the manual implied. So, it had to come out. Doing this for a second time sped it up a bit.. There are a few things I've learned after doing it twice. I'm going to take 1 stud out of the ex manifold down pipe and use a bolt instead. It makes it really hard to pry off. I'm going to put a bit of grease on my radiator hoses so they won't be so hard to pry off. I had a battery go bad and leak acid over the trans that will need cleaning up, and I've got my oil supply line that is a bit too close to the exhaust. I'd like to see if I can get a different fitting for that.

Might as well clean up the engine bay while it's back out.

Ugh, I feel your pain. I recently did a full blown 5-speed swap in a 1998 Honda Odyssey minivan only to find out that the junkyard trans was stuck in 4th gear.

This is my new favourite thread, since Mazdeuce fixed his garage! Thanks for all the info in the machining section, it's super informative for an amateur like me. You suggested a GRM day at the shop a few pages back - whereabouts do you live?

The machine shop is in Charleston South Carolina www.fiskautomotivemachineshop.com

It would be cool to meet some people from the forum. Bring your parts, get them machined - have a beer and some hot dogs...

That sounds like a plan. When?

Sadly, it's a bit of a drive from Ontario

I dunno when. I'll have to gauge interest. Maybe the week between Christmas and new years. The shop is always dead then.

I got things separated from the block. Next up: cleaning off a space on the bench to work on it.

The tabs on the gear weren't dis-engauaging. So, when it should have been out of gear it was still in. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. I thought I might redrill a roll-pin higher on the shaft to raise the point at which it released. Or shim it by putting a washer under the gear.

Well, after messing with it several times it started to work on its own. I would put the ear on loose and it would work. Tighten it up = not work. Loosen = work. I finally figured it out. The synchros were mis-aligned and that was the problem. Easy fix .... once you figure it out.

While the CV axels were out I pulled the suspension for new struts and bearings. Eventually I will get some coil-overs, but I have to find some springs for the rear. I'm hesitant to cut the rear springs. (twist beam rear axel)

Step one for installing bearings. Have all the right parts on hand before you start.

sometimes the race will come off with the bearing, most of the time you'll have to cut and chisel it

Add grease around the seal edge before pressing

Go ahead and paint it while you have it off. Many wheel bearings no longer require a seal. It is made into the bearing. Don't forget to put the snap ring on before you press!