I had the trike in for its final dyno tune yesterday.
We had to order jets for the 38/38 carbie.
So Matt placed the new main jets in (150) and we found an immediate rise of torque by 6% which was massive. Then the problems began.
There was crap in the carbie bowl regardless that it had been wiped clean. Eventually Matt cleaned the jets and we replaced the EJ EFI fuel filter (that might be beyond its use) for a basic in line filter. The crap was a powdery substance as well as some metallic bits. I had ran the fuel tank down to empty going down the mountain near home and as I've done so once before I get to the bottom of the mountain and turn into a driveway raising the front wheel high, the fuel pump can then pump remaining fuel to the carbie and its enough to get me to the garage at Euroa lol.
The crap is likely from the alloy tank being welded up and its residual 2 years ago. So will change the filter often now.
Matt adjusted the timing eventually at 12-13 degrees and today I will be making up a marker/pointer for the crank pulley setting as I dont have a flywheel set up like on other ea81's. He said the dizzy is a "little stiff" and shows up on the light bouncing a bit. He said the dizzy is better left the way it is as he's had one guy spend money getting his reconditioned only for the problem to remain. I've had this dizzy recoed about 3 years ago with little use since. The EFI dizzy was a different dizzy as was the dizzy for the supercharger, recalibrated. So one degree isnt worth the worry.
The main issue Matt had then was the "squirters" being too large and was responsible for the slight hiccup going around slow bends (flooding). Trouble was there was no smaller squirter available for the 38/38.
this was the number one reason why the 38/38 is oversize for this size of engine. and why 2.5 litre upwards is more compatible. So one compensational method was to reduce the idle jets which were slightly rich anyway. On the way home it had the slightest hiccup around a roundabout that was barely noticeable. I'm happy with that. Sadly there is no adjustment on the accelerator pump.
As the charts shows we squeezed 6% more torque out of the engine (and that extra was really noticeable on the ride home) and 2hp extra ATW. I asked Matt if I would likely have more than 74hp at the fly and he said "sure, a lot more". He then took the trike for a short run and was amazed at the quick pick up from stationary or low speed.
Spark plugs (platinum) are set at 38thou.
This draws the engine work to a close. I cant express how much work went into this tune up and would recommend a proper dyno especially post recoed engine and carbie change. Saves guess work.
So am I happy to have selected the ea81 for my trike when the VW 1916 was discarded? Yes and no.
The answer to that question would definately be yes had I had a manual gearbox. The auto trans simply sucks too much power from that little engine.
The trikes purpose however, ease of maintenance by me, compact and ease of engineers certificate from low weight thereby passing the "tilt" test easily was good. Not to mention the trike is set up for cruising and towing our baby camper.
Had I had my time again would I have used an EJ? Yes is the answer. Because the trike is an auto. Going up hills the EJ wouldnt know its a hill. Economy would be equal if not better than the EA. And I'd swallow the costs of maintenance by a qualified Subie mechanic.
So the "EJ it" converts have won this argument....but I have no regrets.
The first pic below shows the dyno result two weeks ago in GREEN and the final dyno in red. The torque are the "dotted" lines with the reading on the RHS. The hp has measurements on the LHS. So you can see the improvements of both days pre the proper main jet and post correct main jet. Big difference.
This final graph has a lower line almost straight. This line if it were EFI could be straightened much more but the intention is to get this line as straight as possible eg air/fuel mix around 14.5.
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But also 