240 1978 245 K-jet B21 - 200k mi tune-up/refresh, what should I put on the list?

(Feel free to point me to existing threads. I've searched, but haven't found what I'm looking for.)

I have several B230s, and have refreshed about half a dozen now around the 200k mile mark.

I want to do the same thing to my new '78 245 with a B21 (center, below). This is my first B21 and first K-jet. I know what to do with the parts that are the same as my later 240s, but I'm not sure about everything. I think this car was completely OEM, originally from California. I just want to keep it stock while making simple improvements to keep it on the road a while.



The story with this car is that it was running "fine" until the battery cables shorted out and started a small fire while the previous owner was driving it. He parked it after that, and I bought it a while later. As far as I can tell, it didn't damage anything (other than the old battery cables). But while it was parked, the pack rats moved in and chewed wires and two injector lines. They also packed sticks and debris into every nook and cranny, so I've been opening everything up to clean it.

My first priority was to replace the battery cables, repair all the wiring, and replace the two injector lines that got eaten. I also decided to delete the old York AC system. The engine is really dirty, and I like clean engines, so I decided to pull the K-jet and intake manifold and clean things up while I'm waiting on parts.

I didn't realize that these old engines had no oil trap in the block, only the vent in the valve cover. Is there anything else under here that I should take care of while it's accessible? I plan to change the heater hoses, all vacuum lines, and engine mounts at a minimum.



The K-jet air flow sensor and fuel distributor are really dirty. How much can/should I disassemble things, and what else should I refresh on this while I have it all out?

Air flow sensor: 0 438 120 078
Fuel distributor: 0 438 100 032

(You can see the pack rat art in the bottom right corner.)



Should I use all new copper washers when putting the K-jet back together? If so, is there an easy list with part numbers and sizes that I need? I've been looking at schematics, but I can't find a clear image and list.

I plan to change out all rubber components in the engine compartment. What can I delete? I was planning to eliminate the charcoal filter to clean up the engine compartment, but maybe that's a dumb idea. Should I just replace the OEM valve cover flame trap with like components, or is there an upgrade that is recommended?

Anything else?

Thanks,
Jason

Pics no worky.

Cwazywazy said:

Pics no worky.

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Damn it. Back to Photobucket.

Do they work now?

Had you told me you needed them, I could have included a full set of crush washers with the hoses I just sent you. I did include 4 new crush washers, so your part of the way there. They're probably reusable, but it's a good idea to have spares handy just in case.

There's a gasket between the air flow meter and the housing. Change it after you take it apart for cleaning. You might as well change the o-ring on the oil pump drive cover (where the breather box would go on a later engine) while you're in this far.

The PCV bits are cleanable, but new parts are cheap, so why bother.

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/6860/104325-flame-trap-kit-240

There's no reason to eliminate the charcoal canister. It doesn't use any power and helps keep the air clean. If you don't like it in the engine compartment, get a canister and bracket from a later car.

hiperfauto said:

Had you told me you needed them, I could have included a full set of crush washers with the hoses I just sent you.

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Yes, if I had been smart and planned ahead, I would have done that. My projects tend to snowball. Do you know the part numbers for these? It looks like 947281, 947282, and 947620.

hiperfauto said:

You might as well change the o-ring on the oil pump drive cover (where the breather box would go on a later engine) while you're in this far.

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Is that the rather large one, part # 949659? IPD doesn't think my car has one, but I assume there's some kind of seal under that cover. Is there also a seal behind the bracket that holds the control pressure valve? In the exploded view, it looks like o-ring # 956000.

hiperfauto said:

There's no reason to eliminate the charcoal canister. It doesn't use any power and helps keep the air clean. If you don't like it in the engine compartment, get a canister and bracket from a later car.

Click to expand...

Good idea. I have the canister and bracket from a '90 to mount it under the battery.

The numbers I found are 18665 for the 10mm, 11994 for the 12mm, and 947620 for the 8mm crush washers although they may update. Tasca shows they're still available under those numbers.

949659 is the correct number for the o-ring under the oil pump drive cover and 956000 is correct number for the fuel pump block off/CPR bracket o-ring.

Tons of great info here, including green book scans and helpful hints.

I'm a year in with my first k-jet car ('79 245) and have not yet taken the deep dive in to the k-jet system. It drives well enough that the injection has remained untouched, but it is finicky. I've had days where everything is running great and it seems like a fantastic fuel delivery system. Other days I want to yank everything out and slap on some carbs. I have a set of AQ151 carbs/manifold sitting on my bench, but I also have a spare k-jet setup ready for a rebuild. I'm still not sure which route I will go.

When I got my car, I went through it and replaced ALOT of stuff (see my project thread, link below if you want to see the whole story).

It sounds like you have a handle on basic needs, but at risk of stating the obvious, here's my basic "to do" list:

Check and/or refurb/replace:
- k-jet bits - injectors, cold start inj, thermo time switch, etc
- in-tank fuel pump
- hp fuel pump
- fuel filter
- normal tune-up stuff (rotor, cap, plugs, perhaps wires)
- fuel pump relay
- O2 sensor
- vacuum lines
- hoses
- water pump

Depending on what I decide to do with my car, I may have two k-jet systems and an unused k-jet pressure test kit on offer soon

Good luck with it! Looks like a fun project.

I have done this. K-jet isn't pure wizardry, it's actually pretty elegant. Long as your pump pressure, line pressure and the fuel dizzy are in decent shape, the car will run. Setting the fuel dist is in the greenbooks, if you go word for word, you'll have no problems. A healthy K-jet system is pretty hard to beat for an older car like this. There's a reason it was so widely used (although in varied forms.) That said, I have a car converted from K-jet to carbs and it's not all it's cracked up to be, haha.