A few problems i am having with my redtop. Searched all first! have a looksey.

[WONit]

Ok as the title says i have a few things going on with my redtop. !st a little info on the car.

89' hatch w/redtop sr20det3" turbo back exhaustwalbro FP...thats it.

I bought this car from a guy who was just tired of it. Had a completely built head. ported,polished,valve job Crower everthing. would not start. got it home,tore into it. found that the fuel lines were crossed. fixed that. cranked it over,and it sounded like a real slow crank,found out that the exhaust cam has somehow been forced in and ground the hell out of the journals that the cam sits in. also had 4 bent intake valves.

so i threw on a spare blacktop head i had sitting around.fired it rite on up,but wouldnt stay running,and didnt wanna climb past 3k rpm. went through the wiring and found that the plug beside the coolant temp sensor had been forced onto the throttle position sensor,and the plug that was supposed to be on the TPS was just hanging there.

fixed the wiring,starts on the drop of a dime. car has full power,but still a few issues.here they are:

Q = the problemA = what i have done or read that could solve it

1. Q- when it idles,it idles very rough.

A-Check plug gap,vac leaks,timing,fuel injectors,MAF sensor. I have done all except check timing with a timing light.though i have checked to make sure that timing was on by the marks many times.

2. Q- The temp gauge in the dash fluctuates when reeving the engine.

A- I have bled the coolant system via the bleed valve under the CPS,didnt change anything.

3. Q- Oil pressure light in dash stays on.

A- I replaced the oil pump/front cover with a know good working one. No pinging or knocking in the engine at all. getting oil to head. no valves tapping.

4. Q- I can get almost 10psi of boost just by reeving the engine while in neutral ?!?!?!

A- I have looked at,and moved the wastegate by hand. seems to be working properly. this is the 3rd turbo car i have owned and 2nd sr20det. i have never had a car hit boost while not driving it ?!?!?!?

thats about it,any help is appreciated. like i said i searched all my problems first. dunno where to go from here.

[duffman1278]

The rough idle might be a misfire, check to make sure your coilpack is grounded to a clean ground with a mutlimeter. Also, look into each cylinder to make sure your not flooding your cylinders. You might possibly have a leaky injector. And check to see that each spark plug is getting spark.

Did you check for boost leaks using a boost leak tester or soup and water? Please don't say you visually inspected them lol As for timing, you did make sure the black links on the timing chain matched up with the mark on the cams right?

For your oil pressure issue, why not try getting yourself an oil pressure gauge so you know exactly how much pressure your getting?

[blinker_fluid]

1. iacv2. check for kinks in the hoses, issues w/ cooling fan, cts maybe messed up3. oil pick-up and gasket, dented oil pan.4. check bov make sure its working properly and vaccum lines are hooked up correctly.

[WONit]

The rough idle might be a misfire, check to make sure your coilpack is grounded to a clean ground with a mutlimeter. Also, look into each cylinder to make sure your not flooding your cylinders. You might possibly have a leaky injector. And check to see that each spark plug is getting spark.

Havent checked with multimeter,but i ground the surface down t bare metal where its grounded so im pretty sure its good. checked all cylinders,and they are good.all plugs firing.

Did you check for boost leaks using a boost leak tester or soup and water? Please don't say you visually inspected them lol As for timing, you did make sure the black links on the timing chain matched up with the mark on the cams right?

Used soapy water method for boost leaks. hmm,,, i didnt use the links for timing. i set it at TDC the andjusted to 10 and 12. put the chain on.

For your oil pressure issue, why not try getting yourself an oil pressure gauge so you know exactly how much pressure your getting?

gonna go buy one tomorrow.

[WONit]

1. iacv

looked at it when i swapped out heads,and it looked damn clean to me. but i will pull it again and clean it!

2. check for kinks in the hoses, issues w/ cooling fan, cts maybe messed up

All hoses are the way they should be. swapping out CTS after i finish this post!

3. oil pick-up and gasket, dented oil pan.

no dents in oil pan,cleaned pickup and changed gasket when replaced front cover.

4. check bov make sure its working properly and vaccum lines are hooked up correctly.

How do i see if it is working properly? when i let off the gas i can hear it blow off and recirc. im pretty sure i have the vacum lines connected properly. i have the one from IC pipe connected to wastegate, one from throttlebody to recirc/BOV nipple by stock IC,and 1 from toip of throttlebody to a T which goes to FPR ,and boost gauge. those are the only ones i can remember off the top of my head. if there are anymore where should they be? i also remember that the other nipple on tbody is capped off.

[Hijacker]

I'd be worried that your cam timing if off a tooth or two then, if that's the method you used. At the very least, I recommend people to count links if they're going to reinstall the chain like that.

Usually, I'll tell people to pull the front cover so they can visually line the chain back up with the marker links, but I do understand that is a major pain in the @ss to do.

[WONit]

I'd be worried that your cam timing if off a tooth or two then, if that's the method you used. At the very least, I recommend people to count links if they're going to reinstall the chain like that.

Usually, I'll tell people to pull the front cover so they can visually line the chain back up with the marker links, but I do understand that is a major pain in the @ss to do.

So you recommend i take the front cover off again ,and do the timing that way? Do you,or anyone else know of another way to do it without pulling the front cover?

PS.... i sure do miss working where i had access to a lift,and air tools!

[Hijacker]

I would pull the front cover (and the oil pans consequently) just to be absolutely certain that the crank sprocket is timed to the cams properly. You could count the links between everything, which would eliminate the need to move the chain around, but you would still need to pull the front cover to count the links that would be down near the crank. But the cam timing would really only account for the rough idle issue.

[WONit]

I would pull the front cover (and the oil pans consequently) just to be absolutely certain that the crank sprocket is timed to the cams properly. You could count the links between everything, which would eliminate the need to move the chain around, but you would still need to pull the front cover to count the links that would be down near the crank. But the cam timing would really only account for the rough idle issue.

guess i will be tearing into that tomorrow if i feel up to it. also while i was pulling out the front and rears seats and center console to clean them, i found the plug that goes into the dash by the ecu just about out. pulled it out to check pins,plugged it back in and now the temp gauge doesnt flutter. havent drivin it yet. dunno if that had anything to do with it or not.

it wouldnt be so bad to pull the front cover off if it wasnt for those 1 or 2 bolts that are almost directly overtop of the steering stuff that holds the upper oil pan on.

[WONit]

Update:

Pulled the front cover today,and redid the timing. That was the problem! the car idles smoothly and accelerates with no hesitation. But i still have not gotten rid of the Oil light problem. Also the temp gauge was bouncing again...Did not look into the other 2 problems (Oil light+temp gauge) any further yet.

[WONit]

Also the timing chain makes noise when coming down from above 4k rpm...i know timing chains are noisy. it doesnt sound like it wants to break,but i dont think its supposed to sound the way it does either... any remedies to this? or any others with same noise. i know you cant hear it,but from my description?