Dire help needed!!! Running way rich

[Jam-Dodge]

Hi everyone, i've been having a whale of a time after getting my s13 on the road again. after all the problems.

but i've needed to come back to the forum again cause even though i had my car running and could smell fuel when driving , didnt think much of it. now its got to a point that after about an hours drive the smell drives me nuts!!!

Im getting an occassional backfire thorugh the exhaust but not all the time when i floor the peddle i get a slight whiff of black smoke? and the car drives all good, powers all there but THE SMELL OF RAW FUEL IS KILLING ME. start getting headaches and stuff.

i've got no o2 sensor, all fuel lines are intact, no fuel dropping/leaking from injectors, cleaned the maf. it has no Cat on the exhaust. so jus cant figure it out.
the car does only 20mpg need frequent topping up

So please guys help me resolve this one!

[Bubba1]

Hi everyone, i've been having a whale of a time after getting my s13 on the road again. after all the problems.

but i've needed to come back to the forum again cause even though i had my car running and could smell fuel when driving , didnt think much of it. now its got to a point that after about an hours drive the smell drives me nuts!!!

Im getting an occassional backfire thorugh the exhaust but not all the time when i floor the peddle i get a slight whiff of black smoke? and the car drives all good, powers all there but THE SMELL OF RAW FUEL IS KILLING ME. start getting headaches and stuff.

i've got no o2 sensor, all fuel lines are intact, no fuel dropping/leaking from injectors, cleaned the maf. it has no Cat on the exhaust. so jus cant figure it out.
the car does only 20mpg need frequent topping up


So please guys help me resolve this one!

It might possibly be the element inside the charcoal canister is done. Easy to overlook and fairly inexpensive to fix. That was the cure when my old S13 ran rich.

[Dattebayo]

Well, go with the usual suspects for bad gas mileage.

You gotta lead foot? Obviously the harder you drive the car, the less mileage you will get.
Is your timing off? Get the car timed by a friend with a timing light and see if that helps.
Check the fuel pressure regulator and see if it operates correctly.

Other than that, you need to post in the CA18DET section of the forums.

[boost_boy]

Is your car designed to run without an O2 sensor? If it is supposed to have one, you may want to start there. You may want to check the codes as well and get back with us. I'm pretty sure you have some.

[float_6969]

Yea, unless this is a non-JDM CA18, there should be an O2 sensor hooked up. With out it, the car will run rich all the time (also meaning poor fuel economy). Also, is the PCV system hooked up properly? If you just have it open, it will get quite stinky quickly.

[s13drifter88]

Other than that, you need to post in the CA18DET section of the forums.

I thought this was the CA section lol.
Check for any boost or air leaks as well, theyll cause you to run rich while under any amount of load and definitely find yourself an O2 sensor and get it in asap. Unless your S13 is carb'd in one way or another it needs an O2 otherwise your ECU is having a panic attack trying to figure out what to do

[Jam-Dodge]

the car has now started to misfire randomly at first its ok in the morn but after about half hour drive the revs start to bounce ie 1000- 1200 back to 1000 - 700 whilst popping out of the exhaust and it'll stall as its flooding. in between that time my turbo timer stops working.

it is a standard twin cam, turbo with all the sensors on except the o2 sens and a stock ecu ( unmodified). o2 sensor is where i'll start and get one soon as to hook it up, but i cant locate the switch/connector for it (anyone know what it looks like). although there is a plug on the turbo elbow pipe for the o2 sensor itself.

i had a problem with vac leak through the injector seals, and fixed it unless thats gone bad again.
so at the moment when i fire it up in the morn and again after a ride it'll start up idle norm then start to pop and revs go barmy>>> stall. when its driven in that state though theres a misfire continuous - untill i floor it and it'll boost norm, but when its bought to a halt it will stall - hmmm

[boost_boy]

First of all, stop flooring it as you're only making the issue worse by fouling your plugs (they are fouled now). As for the o2 sensor wiring, it is sill there, but you are going to have to locate the wires and extend them to the driver's side.

[float_6969]

Originally, the O2 plug comes off at the back of the head where the coil pack sub-harness plugs in at. Maybe some one has cut it off? From what you're describing, it also sounds like you have a vac leak somewhere too though.

[Jam-Dodge]

quick little update!!

when the car cut off recently ?//? i popped the hood and checked the engine. the pipe going from the fpr to the vac line was squashed which would'nt allow any vacuum to the fpr! so i've now adjusted and shortened that pipe to allow it to be straight which has solved the stalling issue but otherwise its still the same. oil in the engine now smells of petrol and is very thin.

still trying to locate the o2 wiring to fit a sensor.
by the way it does'nt have a cat convertor anywhere on the exhaust?? but i'd assume it still needs the o2 sens right?

[float_6969]

Is this car stock, or a swap? Where are you located? If the oil smells of fuel, you need to change it before you drive it. Fuel thinned oil will quickly ruin bearings under load.

[boost_boy]

Giving us your location helps as well. And like float says, change your oil.

[Jam-Dodge]

well thats the first thing i'll do is change the oil!! would'nt want my new turbo to have any damage.

i'm located in central england UK and this car is standard uk spec
this car as far as i can tell is a stock s13 ca18det engine with nothing swapped in the engine apart from the intercooler and linking pipes everything else is quite standard.

i can still hear backfires when driving at speed and then decelerating

[float_6969]

Hmmm, I wondered about that. I'm assuming the UK spec CA's had a O2 sensor, but I'm not sure. Is there an O2 sensor in the exhaust?

[Jam-Dodge]

there is'nt a o2 sensor on it but the turbo elbow pipe which runs off the turbo and connects to the exhaust has a hole which has been plugged with a nut and thats where the sens is SUPPOSED to be, maybe someones taken it off and plugged it!! why would someone do that??

[float_6969]

Yea, that's where it goes. Weird that it's gone. It wouldn't gain you anything. I'd try to get it hooked back up ASAP.

[Jam-Dodge]

Wahey here we Go!!
it was the FPR pipe that was squashed when put it on properley Wala!
All is Good.
i've put on a o2 sens now which i found killer trying to locate the wiring though
thx to ya all.
have a nice one!