1990 KA SOHC HELP!!!!

[Flipper]

ok well i'm new to the DIY scene of vehicles but have always wanted to get into it as a hobby. Well the opportunity came up about 2 months ago when my friend had a friend selling a wrecked 240sx. I was told the engine ran fine, needed a hood, fender, radiator,head light, and motor mount. Replaced all of these components and now its not running right. Heres where im lost

With the MAF plugged in it will kick over, idle extremely rough for about 2 secs and then choke out.

WIth the MAF unplugged it will start and idle for about 20secs before dying. If i give it gas it wont rev past 3K RPM.

I have tried 3 different MAFs, and recently tried an ECU. Took apart the intake manifold and removed the butterfly valves also...still cant get it to run properly. Also i've developed an oil leak I assume is coming from the front main seal, but thats another issue. I can upload a video of it running if anyone wants to hear it, but anyone who can help me....PLEASE help me...i've trolled this site for about the last month or so and have tried to find the answer myself but still am lost.

Heres some pics of when i bought it and where im at now.

[speedeast]

Welcome! Let's get that video.

[breadbox]

lol, I wanna tell you to swap the MAF, but you might have to start looking into the harness and the wires coming off the maf, Make sure the pigtail is good and not hacked and cracked. Front end looks pretty good there.

[Flipper]

ill get a video up later today, as far as the MAF my best guess is it was hacked. When i bought the car there was no MAF to be found and the previous owner had drilled a hole in the top of his air filter and hot-glued in what i believe is the air temp sensor....which is now MIA.

[Flipper]

lol, I wanna tell you to swap the MAF, but you might have to start looking into the harness and the wires coming off the maf, Make sure the pigtail is good and not hacked and cracked. Front end looks pretty good there.

hehe thanks, nothing a wench and a tree could'nt fix. Going to cut the subframe out and weld in one off a parts car sometime this summer.

[Johnnie]

I had the same thing happen to me last year, but it was my coolant temp sensor and sender both too corroded to function. After I fixed that, the idle was a lot smoother. Does your temperature gauge work in the dash?

[Flipper]

I had the same thing happen to me last year, but it was my coolant temp sensor and sender both too corroded to function. After I fixed that, the idle was a lot smoother. Does your temperature gauge work in the dash?

hmm, not sure..never had her running long enough to find out lol. Ill check that and load a vid on youtube shortly.

[confused9]

that looks JUST like my old 240 lol. minus the crashing part. replace the MAF. did you find the air temp sensor? what else is missing?

[Flipper]

went outside to make the vid but my oil is too low, i don't want to start it until i pour some more in.

as far as i can tell the only thing im missing is the air temp sensor...the oil catch can is missing too...i really dont know what was removed or what the previous owner did. It looks like some vacuum lines are corked, egr removal?

[rocksteady_racer]

Yea the air temp sensor is actually important on our sohc's lol. It does make a big difference. Also you could try grounding the maf directly to the battery - that's what I did on mine because the ground to the maf from the harness wasn't working right - somebody said that was a common problem in our cars.

[Flipper]

sweet, ill give that a try tomorrow...time to locate that air temp sensor :p

[Johnnie]

if it helps, I'll post a picture of where it is. It cost me roughly $15 at AutoZone, and was a really easy fix. the only frustrating part was the OEM fuse on it being corroded beyond repair, and having to make a 6amp fuse to make it work. I'll also show in the picture how I solved that problem.

[Flipper]

if it helps, I'll post a picture of where it is. It cost me roughly $15 at AutoZone, and was a really easy fix. the only frustrating part was the OEM fuse on it being corroded beyond repair, and having to make a 6amp fuse to make it work. I'll also show in the picture how I solved that problem.

yeh man, i'd appreciate any pics that would help. I should of made this account alot sooner and asked this community, you all seem very helpful ^^

[Flipper]

update:

just got a new engine wire harness, going to install that along with the coolant temp sensor and sender and hoping that gets me somewhere.

[NYIntensity]

When I changed my CTS, I needed to get a 20mm deep socket to make it around everything.