Finally got my car, a few problems.

[pgt892]

Well I finally got my car from Afterdark and I am trying to resolve some issues with the car. First it is using a lot of antifreeze and I think there is a leak somewhere, I am trying to pinpoint it. Second nothing on the gauge cluster works except the fuel and the temp gauge. The odometer, speedometer, and the tachometer all do not work. If anyone could point me in the way of some wiring or something that would help, it would rock. Those are the problems I can think of right now, if anyone could help I would appreciate.

[Altiman94]

I feel for ya man, but I'm glad you got your car back. Does it run?

[pgt892]

I feel for ya man, but I'm glad you got your car back. Does it run?

Yep, it runs, it sounds real good.

[Altiman94]

what'd adam say when you came to pick it up?

[pgt892]

what'd adam say when you came to pick it up?

Not a whole lot considering we were all tired as it was 5am. He took the plates off of it, said it was ready to go and that was it.

[Wuss]

this might seem stupid to mention, but is it a 89-90 s13? I know the gauge cluster, or more specifcally the tach doesn't work with the swap and the stock gauge cluster.

[pgt892]

this might seem stupid to mention, but is it a 89-90 s13? I know the gauge cluster, or more specifcally the tach doesn't work with the swap and the stock gauge cluster.

The engine is a redtop and the car is a 97 240.

[Altiman94]

is it gold in color? I think I remember a gold s14a being there.

[Altiman94]

on the antifreeze leak.. did you see any on the ground? or it is being burned, suggesting a head gasket.

[pgt892]

on the antifreeze leak.. did you see any on the ground? or it is being burned, suggesting a head gasket.

Yes it is the silver moss S14 that has been there since Jan.

I didn't see any antifreeze on the ground yesterday, so today I went out and the reservoir was empty, I filled it up, check the rad which still had some fluid in it. Both the rad fluid and the oil look normal so I am guessing the head gasket is ok. Adam said he replaced the rad right before I picked it up because the other one leaked so maybe there was some air in the hoses. I will check it tomorrow and see how it looks. While test driving it today the temp gauge went just below the hot but I was only running water in it so that may be why. I hope to be able to daily drive this thing by the end of the month.

[Altiman94]

Hmm. Well I do remember the car. Most of the cars have been there forever

[AZhitman]

I'd be leery of driving any more until you pinpoint it.

Check the obvious (is the reservoir leaking onto a hot surface that would slowly drain it w/o any tell-tale puddles?)

Actually, just running water should be COOLER than AF/water mixture (believe it or not).

You need a REAL temp gauge (that shows actual temp, not an idiot gauge).

Best of luck, I'm sure someone far more knowlegeable than I will chime in soon.

[pgt892]

Yeah AZ, I am trying NOT to drive it, but an SR is so damn tempting! I just ordered a Nismo thermostat and rad cap, so hopefully that will help with the temps. A real temp gauge is on the list.

[droptopsilvia]

as for the gauges buy an apexi rev/spreed meter and you can get rid of the gauges altogether and put a t.v. there or something

[pgt892]

as for the gauges buy an apexi rev/spreed meter and you can get rid of the gauges altogether and put a t.v. there or something

Yeah, I thought about using that but I still need to get the odometer working as that is kinda important.

[pgt892]

Well I got my overheating problem solved I think. I took the thermostat housing off after finding out that my lower rad hose wasn't getting hot. After struggling with all the silicone on the housing I finally got it off. I took the thermostat out and what did I find? Some silicone in the spring on the thermo which I would guess prevented it from opening. I took the thermo in, checked it and it works. I am waiting on my Nismo thermo, but I think that was my problem right there. Thanks to all the board members that helped me with my problem.

[GodzillaFan]

Well I finally got my car from Afterdark and I am trying to resolve some issues with the car. First it is using a lot of antifreeze and I think there is a leak somewhere, I am trying to pinpoint it. Second nothing on the gauge cluster works except the fuel and the temp gauge. The odometer, speedometer, and the tachometer all do not work. If anyone could point me in the way of some wiring or something that would help, it would rock. Those are the problems I can think of right now, if anyone could help I would appreciate.

sounds like he didnt wire the dash connector completely.shouldnt be too hard to do.you have pinouts for the s13 dash plug (or wires if he cut it off)and the associated pinouts in your 48 pin connector (thats where they will go) are just an fsm away.

[UsedToOwn240SX]

Hey pgt892,

Do you have an electric radiator fan? I had to turn my thermostat setting all the way down. This turbo engine runs pretty hot. Also, is it true that when you put redtop into S14, you have to change the thermister to that of an S14? The thermister is the coolant temperature sensor in the thermostat housing. I recalled in other posts that the engine may not overheat. It's just the redtop thermister reading hot. Anyway, pgt892, I have an infra-red temperature gun if you need to borrow one.

[pgt892]

Hey pgt892,

Do you have an electric radiator fan? I had to turn my thermostat setting all the way down. This turbo engine runs pretty hot. Also, is it true that when you put redtop into S14, you have to change the thermister to that of an S14? The thermister is the coolant temperature sensor in the thermostat housing. I recalled in other posts that the engine may not overheat. It's just the redtop thermister reading hot. Anyway, pgt892, I have an infra-red temperature gun if you need to borrow one.

I just have the stock clutch fan, eventually I will get a Koyo and some eletrics, but for now I am keeping the stocker.

This new Nismo thermo opens earlier (like 26 degrees cooler) so that shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't heard that before about the thermister, so I don't really know. But I know that mine was overheating because the lower rad hose was completely cool to the touch and there was antifreeze in it, in the rest of the system I just used water so I could tell when antifreeze would come through. Whomever put on the thermostat housing they used some silicone, A LOT of silicone which oozed out into the thermostat. When I pulled it out there was some around the diaphragm and the spring which wouldn't let it open. I tested the thermo after removing the silicone and it worked. So after I get the Nismo unit I am going to make my own gasket and not use the silicone. Currently, since I don't have a thermo in the car waiting for the Nismo unit I can't turn it on and see if it overheats again but I think that was the problem. The thermo was blocking the coolant from traveling through the block and it was all just chilling in the lower rad hose. If for some reason it continues acting up, I might just have to borrow that temp gun.

Now I just have to figure out this gauge cluster problem which I think I have narrowed down to either the F3 plug, the SR instrument cluster plug or something in between. Luckily there are two wires that do exactly what I need, the tach wire and the vehicle speed sensor wire, I am guessing they are wired wrong or shorting out or something similar. So hopefully the car will be driveable by the end of the month! I can't wait to go home and start working on it again, nothing like getting your hands dirty to relieve some stress!

[UsedToOwn240SX]

I hear ya man. I just got back from driving my redtop 240. I put in a new clutch master cylinder today. It was leaking underneath the pedal.

Ya, let me know if it's still overheating. A lot of silicone, heh? LOL.

Regarding the tach and VSS, it's Yellow/Red and Yellow/Green respectively on redtop wiring. Look near your ECU, make sure they're connected to the dash plug. BTW, your car wasn't an auto before right? My S13 was. The SR lower harness plug doesn't match up with the 240 engine bay harness. Also, the VSS was on a different plug.

[pgt892]

I hear ya man. I just got back from driving my redtop 240. I put in a new clutch master cylinder today. It was leaking underneath the pedal.

Ya, let me know if it's still overheating. A lot of silicone, heh? LOL.

Regarding the tach and VSS, it's Yellow/Red and Yellow/Green respectively on redtop wiring. Look near your ECU, make sure they're connected to the dash plug. BTW, your car wasn't an auto before right? My S13 was. The SR lower harness plug doesn't match up with the 240 engine bay harness. Also, the VSS was on a different plug.

It was an auto before the swap, I will look into the wiring for that. I may have found the problem with the tach and speedo today. Using the directions on the http://sr20.hybrids.jp page I looked at my SR instrument gauge plug and the F3 plug and it looks like the Yellow/Green and the Yellow/Red wires have a bad connection. The solder looks like it was done cold and looks pretty bad in general. My dad is going to clean up the wiring, but if the F3 plug is any indication, we may have to redo the whole harness.

[hurddawg]

Was the thermostat your overheating problem?

I seem to have the same symptoms. Cold lower rad hose burning hot upper hose.

[RobDET]

isn't it suposed to be like that? I'm not sure but i thought that the lower hose was the "cold" side.

I know that the S13 temprature sensor is not compatible with many S14 guages. (it reads hotter than what it is)

[hurddawg]

although my temp sensor says the engine isn't overheating, once I shutdown the car, I can hear it boiling near the heater hoses.

The lower rad hose is the colder side but I think the temperature difference is too much. Its literally like cold water and hot water (like on a sink). you can't hold on to the upper for more than a couple seconds, meanwhile you can on the lower.

[pgt892]

Was the thermostat your overheating problem?

I seem to have the same symptoms. Cold lower rad hose burning hot upper hose.

The thermostat wasn't the problem, everything is still getting hot, although now the lower rad hose gets hot too. It looks like my water pump is leaking so I ordered a new water pump from Phase 2 which will be here tomorrow. If that doesn't solve it then I will have to get a Koyo and then everything should run super cold!

isn't it suposed to be like that? I'm not sure but i thought that the lower hose was the "cold" side.

I know that the S13 temprature sensor is not compatible with many S14 guages. (it reads hotter than what it is)

Hmm, I didn't know about any compatibility issues. I will have to install my aftermarket water temp gauge and see what it reads. Thanks for the insight.

[hurddawg]

I fixed my problem today, I just had to bleed the system better now the upper hose runs much cooler.

I had the car on an incline with the rad cap off and undid the bleeder screw and ran the car a bit. Kept on filling it up and now its all good!

all I have to fix now is the noisy *** HLAs.