Spoke Too Soon

[AnthonyB13]

Well seems as though I spoke way too soon. While driving around from my Battalion headquarters today I had a serious setback. As I started to slow down for a red light and speed back up as it turned green the car started sputtering and I lost power. I managed to coast into another unit's parking lot as the car died completely and get into a parking spot.

Symptoms: Car is not firing on all cylinders and not able to keep her running unless I give it just a touch of gas, even then it is really rough and will stall as soon as I let up on the gas. No power to move the vehicle. Black smoke from unburnt fuel.

Current setup: Bluebird T25
Greddy BOV recirced
JGY IC kit
At the time I was running NGK Iridium gapped to .30
Premium pump gas
Fresh oil, Mobil 1 full synthetic
JWT ECU
Timing verified day prior at 17* btdc


Tried: Checked the couplings for looseness or outright failure, none that I saw but I wasn't able to get underneath due to being in a parking lot and no room.
Checked the plugs, blackened slightly and wet on a couple cylinders. Changed to Bosch Platinum 2's, with no change.
Checked distributor cap and rotor, both seemed in good working order.
Double checked MAF connections, MAF has a chassis ground and the other connections are good to go.
(thanks for all the suggestions Jason)

Things left to try: I am going to get her back in the trailer tomorrow and get her back home and up on jack stands, check every coupler in the IC piping and see what I can find. Also check for VAC leaks through the entire system.
Swap out the distributor with a known good from my donor car. (maybe)
Swap out the AAC with one that has been cleaned out already. (maybe but a good idea to me)

Another possible symptom is running a tad rich, which I attribute to still using stock FPR. Plan on installing an adjustable FPR to see if it helps.
If ANYONE has any other ides I could sure use them, I am at my wits end right now and really upset. She was running great all day since I got her on the road yesterday, and now another setback.

[NathanM]

Are any of the injectors stuck? Sidefeeds can get gummed up real easy.

[ChristopherNissan200sx]

Sounds like it might be a MAF problem, but not sure. I had a problem with mine, but no one responded to my thread.

But my car was doing the same thing one time. When I'm at a light the idle falls them jumps up, sometimes cutting off. Also stumbling through acceleration. See if you check engine light is on. If so check the codes, you can go to advanced autoparts or autozone and they check it for free.

The MAF code is P0100, if this shows up then its definately the MAF. Just replace it and your problems should disappear.

Also since your engine is turboed, is the BOV recirculated to the intake of the turbo? Nathan had a similar problem with that. The BOV stays open so more air in coming in, this will cause the engine to run lean (more air than fuel).

But once again let me say this might not be your problem. When your MAF goes out, your air/fuel is completely screwed. The MAF has no idea how much air is coming in so its just dumping fuel into the cylinders. You might notice bad gas mileage too.

Also just check more of the ignition components.



Good luck with your problem, hope you figure it out.

[Jason@JGY]

can you call us?
we always answer the phone, but the forum is hard to keep on top at all times

I just saw this post.

with the FWD SR's, the 2 easy things to check and attribute to alot are fuel and spark.

1. Take the rail off the motor and try starting the car. If fuel flows out all injectors, this is good.
2. Timing light, or old lay the plug on the valve cover, check to make sure all plugs spark.

if so.............. unplug the MAF and see if the car starts

because you say it barely runs, I would say air leak or blown cylinder!

[AnthonyB13]

Well after a lengthy discussion with Jason and you guys suggestions on here I have a few things to check out and look into. I will keep everyone posted on the progress and anything of significance that I come across.

Thanks a lot for the usual exuberance and quick thinking from everyone, it really helps.

[ChristopherNissan200sx]

Yeah man let us know what happens.

[AnthonyB13]

Well thought I had made out easy when I found an intercooler coupling had come apart. Got it back together and still no luck. Swapped out the fuel rail and injectors and now it doesn't even want to start at all anymore.

I can't check the compression or anything that requires more than one person till I can find someone to give me a hand. So for the time being looks as though I am fairly well stuck.

[AnthonyB13]

Well pulled the rail again and tested for flow and I am getting nothing. I can hear the pump prime when I turn the car on, but I am getting no flow when I crank the car. I know there is at least some fuel making it to the rail, as I was about to swap out for a new fuel filter and it sprayed me, but I am not sure of how much is getting there. Is it possible that all this seems to have happened at once? A bad coupler and a fuel pump that died?

Seems the more I dig into this the more confused I get.

[Jason@JGY]

take the line off the rail, un plug the battery ground, wait 10 seconds, connect the battery, sit in the car and turn the key to start........see if you have gas coming out of the hose.

(you turn the battery power off to erase the memory that you may have turned the key before as the ECU is smart enough sometimes to know if you need more fuel for start)

If you have fuel, then it's ok. If you don't.....then a problem.
We had a car here one time that the hose was OFF in the tank and the pump ran, but no fuel to the injectors.

The other thing that you could do is draw a photo of Nathan and hang it on your wall. Go buy some darts.

[AnthonyB13]

Thanks Jason I will check it out, just not looking forward to seeing if it is hose inside the tank. It is really tight inside my buddies trailer and I can only imagine getting the seats out. If I can't get this all hammered out soon I am up the creek. My buddy is moving to DC soon and his trailer goes with him. I may just end up haling it up there to you if I still have no luck by then.

[AnthonyB13]

Well I misread your post the first time I read it and tried it with the line still connected to the rail, still didn't start anyway. Tomorrow I will pull the line off the rail and try again. I may give you a call as well to talk some things over that I have tried and what other options I have before I throw in the towel and leave it to the pro's.

I would draw a photo of Nathan but wouldn't be much other than a stick figure since I don't know what he looks like lol.

[NathanM]

The other thing that you could do is draw a photo of Nathan and hang it on your wall. Go buy some darts.
can't tell if you're just giving me crap or if i pissed you off over something... :/ Sorry???

[AnthonyB13]

Well gents my beast is up and running, well almost but I will explain that later.

First off I must confess to a serious case of the brain farts, when I reconnected my fuel rail, I hooked the lines up incorrectly, so of course no fuel. So once I corrected my rather interesting case of cranial rectal inversion I was able to start the motor again. The sputtering and missing returned and it brought me back to when I redid the wiring on the MAF of my first car. Turns out I had a bad MAF, once it was swapped out with a spare she ran like a champ!

Ok now for the almost part, on the way home today my battery light came on, and I noticed the voltage on my gauge dropped to just over 12. This worried me as it is normally sitting at close to 14 when driving. Quick trip to Autozone confirms it, my alternator is on it's last legs, putting out less than 30 amps. So looks like another long night of ripping pars off the donor car and trying to get them onto my baby.

Seems like my car is a Greek tragedy, one bad turn after another, lol. At least the solutions are fairly straight forward and fairly easy to fix in the grand scheme of things.

Commence the flame fest for the bone headed move. :D

[Dustin]

can't tell if you're just giving me crap or if i pissed you off over something... :/ Sorry???

Hes not mad, he has a vagina :D

[Dustin]

Well gents my beast is up and running, well almost but I will explain that later.

First off I must confess to a serious case of the brain farts, when I reconnected my fuel rail, I hooked the lines up incorrectly, so of course no fuel. So once I corrected my rather interesting case of cranial rectal inversion I was able to start the motor again. The sputtering and missing returned and it brought me back to when I redid the wiring on the MAF of my first car. Turns out I had a bad MAF, once it was swapped out with a spare she ran like a champ!

Ok now for the almost part, on the way home today my battery light came on, and I noticed the voltage on my gauge dropped to just over 12. This worried me as it is normally sitting at close to 14 when driving. Quick trip to Autozone confirms it, my alternator is on it's last legs, putting out less than 30 amps. So looks like another long night of ripping pars off the donor car and trying to get them onto my baby.

Seems like my car is a Greek tragedy, one bad turn after another, lol. At least the solutions are fairly straight forward and fairly easy to fix in the grand scheme of things.

Commence the flame fest for the bone headed move. :D


Stop crying :D When your done kicking yourself in the *** for making a stupid mistake (there will be more) get in your car and go have fun. Misakes happen, hell we were trying to get Mickey Kendricks car ready and suprise him with it when he comes home from overseas but it blew up on the dyno today :( So now I have to tell him that tuning isnt covered under any warranty and that he has to buy all his crap all over again god ****it!!!!!!! But yeah like I said go drive your car and have fun, mistakes happen












































just kidding Mickey, got ya for a seccond though didnt I ?? :D

[AnthonyB13]

Yea I was definitely kicking myself for a while there, but I figured best to share my mistake so that others can learn how NOT to go about it. In retrospect it was actually a bit comical how it all went down, but in the end it all worked out.

Also turns out the alternator wasn't bad but the belt had given up the ghost, much easier solution.