Hi NICO,

First, I would like to say thanks to this forum and its members for all the technical information I have gathered over the past couple years, It takes some time and searching but there is a lot of valuable info out there!

My name is Roy (get it? AreOhWhy) and I am from Mississauga, Ontario a suburb 30 minutes outside of Toronto, Canada.

I have a 1995 Nissan 240sx which as of last week, I have owned for 5 years. I am the third owner and I purchased it 100% stock even down to the radio. I would say it is a very clean car being originally from Florida.







I tossed on the KYB AGX/Eibach combo and drove the car like that for a year, then put it away for winter. Being a college student on a tight budget I ended up storing the car for 2 years. During that two years I finished school and decided to do some big changes on the car, from suspension overhaul to paint. I drove the car like that for a summer and it was great, it inspired more confidence on the road and I received many compliments on its look. I then decided to turbo the KA last summer and here I am now.

I will say that even though I bought this car because I love s-chassis and how versatile they are, the main purpose for this car is to learn how to wrench on it. I am also trying to be smart on how I spend money as I do understand there are things more important in life right now than dumping all my money into the S14. So yes, not all my parts are top notch and my wheels are not $4k, but trust that I did everything on this car with love and proper execution to the best of my abilities.

I have a few pics here and there during my build but I don't know where they are so for now here's a list of what I've accomplished so far and how it is to this day.

1995 Nissan 240sx SE

Engine/Drivetrain
- KA24DET (simple low boost setup)
- Stock head and bottom end
- VMS Racing GT2871R 0.64AR Oil/Water Cooled with Internal Adjustable Wastegate
- Unknown SS bottom mount manifold/elbow
- Unknown 3" downpipe to Magnaflow high flow cat
- ISIS MBSE Type-E catback exhaust
- 8:1 Vortech FMU
- Walbro 255lph fuel pump
- BKR6E plugs
- Blow thru stock MAF
- Timing retarded 2-3 degrees
- EGR/PCV delete
- Greddy FMIC kit
- Blitz Super Sound BOV DD
- Hobbs switch for overboost protection
- Megan Racing aluminum rad and dual e-fans
- Drift freaq engine mounts and poly filled trans mount
- White bunny competition clutch kit and flywheel
- Battery relocated to trunk

Suspension/Chassis
- HSD Monopro Coilovers
- SPC tension rods
- SPC RUCAs
- SPC toe arms
- SPC traction rods
- VLSD
- Energy suspension subframe/diff/knuckle/lca/rack bushings
- Megan racing pillowball inner/outer tie rods
- Stock calipers with Stop Tech rotors and pads
- Custom SS brake lines

Exterior
- Sunset Bronze Mica (4U3 painted in 2015)
- OEM Navan front bumper
- OEM Kouki side skirts
- OEM USDM Kouki rear tail lights
- Fast FC01 17x9 +25 all around
- General GMAX 235/45 all around
- All bulbs changed to LED

Interior
- Stock zenki dixie cup fabric
- AEM UEGO
- Autometer Phantom II Boost Gauge
- Yashio Factory Okachan Water Temp Meter 2
- Tomei Shift Knob
- All lights/dash lights to LED

I think that's about it... Yeah, not exactly an eye opening build but this is my daily driver to work and I wanted to mod the car to be fun yet driveable and respectable on the street. I do wish I could put more money into the car for nicer parts but I am very happy with where she is right now. I plan to tweak it a bit to get her running 100% but she's running great right now, just a few boost/exhaust leaks to sort out. I did almost all the work by myself and for my first time tossing a turbo on a car everything went well. It's a healthy KA, I took my time, and it idles and pulls perfect and no CEL

Anyways, here are some pictures... I'll post more build pictures when I find them and updated KA-T pics when the snow melts. Thanks for reading my intro!





















Stock KA...


Finishing touches on my KA-T from last summer...

Also, I do plan to do more to the car. This year is a driving year for me. I spent most of last year setting up the KA-T so this year I would like some track time to understand the car and improve on my driving skills. So once I find the weaknesses of the car, I'll upgrade it accordingly.

I actually made this build thread because last year WDRacing told me to start one so I can also ask any troubleshooting questions here so it can be searched by others later on, I only got to it now because it's winter and I am bored.

So I guess I'll ask a question now...

After boosting the car, it ran fine. No idle issues. No CEL. Wastegate is set to 8psi and it would always reach there and maybe sometimes creep to 9psi but it would hold and pull very nice. Vaccum is always between 20 to 25 inHg and AFRS are 14.5 - 14.8 idle, and 10 to 10.8 on WOT (rich I know, switching to 6:1 soon). I am happy with the power increase especially with just the FMU. But then after a month or so it would start to lose boost and now I cannot boost past 3psi and I have not changed anything. I did make a boost leak tester and tested my system and found no leaks, I believe I pressurized the system to 15psi. I did find a small exhaust leak where there manifold meets the turbo, very small though. Would this be the cause?

Once the weather warms up I will run the car and do a compression test as well and change the FMU to 6:1 and put fresh plugs. I am wondering if you guys can help give pointers as to what else my loss of boost could be coming from?

Thanks!

So I did a compression test:

#1 - 190psi
#2 - 180psi
#3 - 180psi
#4 - 185psi

So seems like that checks out fine, and I changed the plugs and she runs the same. Now I decided to double check and did another boost leak test and there is a leak nearby the 3" MAF adapter since I am running a blow-thru set up. It could be from this? But I feel like if it was my car would be running way worse than just not seeing full boost as the air is escaping after the MAF. I'll fix the leak and see how it goes.

Wow, that's a legit setup man!
Good work!

Love the metal flake!

Have you checked out your wastegate and the vacuum line attached to it? Maybe pull the intake pipe from the front of the turbo and check it for play and etc.

Definitely want to sort out any exhaust leaks before the turbo. They make a big difference. After that yes, you need to verify your wastegate is adjusted properly and shut until you hit boost.