95 KA problem

[Sil80315]

This will be the first time I have posted in the ka-t section cause Ive been into SR's for my entire 240 life. So now I need your KA help

Heres the scoop. Picked up a 95 base model automatic s14. Has 176k. The owner said they replaced the chain guide and it needed to be timing. Thats fine I took off the front cover and the Big sprocket in the middle was loose so I went ahead and tightend that up. Put the motor to TDC. Motor fired right up and idled down. How ever that normal rattle sound the ka makes is much louder and gets worse when the motor is reved up and idles down. Its coming from right where that Tensioner is for the cam gear chains SO this is one issue I need to fix.


Second issue. The car idled great even drove it out of the shop but once I got on it the engine fell on its face and has no power and wouldn't go over 2k. I bring it back to the shop and as soon as I put it in park it dies. It didn't start and The timing was way off cause it was back firing through the intake. If I let the car sit for a min or two, It would fire right up but wouldn't let me rev passed 2k when it was warm and 4k when it was cold. I thought it might of been the temp sensor for the ecu so I unplugged it. it fired right back up but still in limp mode then it died on its own when i left it idling.

Checked ecu for codes and the only code it threw was 34 (knock sensor) and one time it through 82 (something about a/t).

Thinks Ive checked before I left for the night

Checked the injectors for fuel and they pulsed just fine.
I timed it to 20 degrees right before I tryed to drive it


I let it cool down for about 40 min then It started just fine. Idled perfect but still only reved to 4k like it hit a rev limiter. It idled around 800rpm and didn't skip a beat then heard alittle mis fire turn into a few then the motor just turned off.

Id love to get this engine to run and enjoy so if anyone has some advice im all ears

Like i posted up top the only error code it through every time was for knock sensor, Not sure if its that rattle the chain is making that is tripping the sensor or what but its annoying

[WDRacing]

My 95 S15 has a knock sensor code all the time because the plug came off and I haven't put it back on yet. Doesn't affect driveability though.

Your other symptoms kinda scare me. It almost sounds like it's jumping timing. If it's making a loud rattling noise it could very well be so loose that it's jumping the teeth on the gears. I'd pull the the front cover and check the tensioner again.

Also, you can't unplug the IAT sensor. The ECU needs it to operate correctly and will be in limp mode without it.

Is this motor all stock?

[Sil80315]

yeah the motor is stocker then stock. was owned for 11 years by this older lady.

today im going to check the engine timing again. as for the tensioner. i noticed its hydrolic so does it need to be primed before install? im used to the sr tensioner where it is hydro and locking gear.

im also going to pick up some maf cleaner to clean th maf and iacv aswell.

[WDRacing]

Yes it should be primed.

Try using some Seafoam, I've always had great luck with it.

[Sil80315]

ok im back at the shop and I sprayed the maf a few sprays of maf cleaner and sprayed into the IACV tube and now it runs like a champ and drives great. Im going to try and prime that chain tensioner next.

[Sil80315]

Scratch that. I have no freakin idea whats going on with this engine. It started fine and drove fine then i turned it off then turned it back on and all the symptoms came back to where its running like crap. timing seems way off and I even replaced the temp sensor

[Sil80315]

Still lost in the dark. I took the front cover off again. I put the tensioner in oil and primed it. still rattles like a bastard. I let it idle for about 20 minutes. I drove it around the block and all the symptoms came back.

[WDRacing]

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/fix-yo ... attle.html

Try these steps if you haven't already.

Got an oil pressure gauge? They are cheap at autozone, just grab a Sunpro cheapy gauge/sender combo and hook it up to make sure you have enough oil pressure.

Do the symptoms you're getting getting change as the motor warms up? If so it could be that the ecu goes into suck mode when it goes into closed loop.

Man...I hate troubleshooting from the bench. You said the sprocket was loose at once time? That's definitely bad. I wonder if you're jumping time. When it starts to run like crap, take the dizzy and fully advance it, then fully retard it. Do the symptoms get better in either direction? You could just be off a tooth. It's easy to do, I did it 3 times...lol.

[Sil80315]

Problem fixed!!. It wasn't timing, It wasn't the ecu nor was it the typical sensors... The reason why it ran like crap the longer it got warmed up was because the Ignitor inside the distributor was bad and once it got hot it was firing at random.

Thanks to a friend that had similar problems in another car I went ahead and started the car till it got hot and started to misfire. once the car stopped running and wouldn't turn over I took the water hose and trickled some water across it for a minute or two and it fired right up untll it heated up and died again.

Needless to say I swapped out the distributor and it runs great. The chain still rattles horribly so I think im going to order a new tensioner and upper chain.

Thanks WDRacing for being the only guy that made an attempt to help.

[WDRacing]

Awesome that you got her running well. When are you gonna boost her?

[Sil80315]

Haha I don't know about that. My built sr just got back from the machine shop so chances are that will be the heart. As for now I just plan on running it stock and enjoy the good gas mileage. I do plan on putting a ka in my girls drift car so maybe that will get a baby turbo upgrade for extra power but who knows.

Oh another thing, Not sure what is considerate a good compression but I did a check and it was 189 198 205 210. I don't think I ever seen a ka with 210 compression esp for a engine that has 176k