got the fuel rail fixed... now spark is acting up again!

[fiznat]

Up till now I have been struggling with some hardcore sealing problems with my top feed injectors (fuel was spraying out the side due to improperly seated upper o-rings), but I FINALLY got that all sorted out today... had to make custom brackets for the JWT fuel rail.

Anyways I try to start her up and again, no dice. Turns out that NOW I'm not getting spark again. I checked the voltage to the MSD box and it is now for some reason only getting 7 volts where it needs -- and WAS getting -- 12v just the day before.

The only thing that I can possibly think of is maybe my battery is dying from all this cranking while testing stuff out? I usually have a trickle charger/50amp startup jumper on the battery at all times, but I took it off yesterday because I had to charge something and I forgot about it. I know MSDs wont work unless theyre getting at LEAST 10-11 volts, so I can easially see how the lack of constant voltage could be the problem, but do you guys think it is realistic that a dying battery could be denying me my full 12 volts? I coulda sworn car batteries will put out 12 volts till the minute they die... its just cranking amps that suffers..

Am I thinking in the right direction or am I barking up the wrong tree? It is really the only thing I can think of since the constant voltage for the MSD box his hooked up just about directly to the battery....

EDIT: oh and hey guys, watcha think of my new sig pic? I got sick of the old one so I decided to make another. How bout that pun on "bar?" EH? EHHHH? hahaha

[DammitBobby]

Dam Fizzy,Me and you both having a lot of fun getting our cars running. I finally got mine running but leaking oil everywhere! SUX. Hmm your car is turning over with only 7 volts? If I am not mistaken It won`t crank unless you have over 10volts. IMO I think you may have something wired wrong on your MSD box. That might explain 12 volts one day and 7 the next. Could have short something out. Do you know anybody that has the MSD box installed that you could check out and see if something is not configured right? I hope it is the battery.

[UncleBen]

Just charge the battery and try it again....

[fiznat]

well yeah obviously, but I want answers NOW! haha... goin out there now to see whats up, its been chargin all night.

[virus77]

Im curious as to what happened, any update?

[fiznat]

hahah yes.

the verdict is: FIZNAT IS A MORON PART XXXXXIV

No sense in trying to hide it because you guys will berate me until I tell you so... yeah- I forgot to include the ignition resistor and condensor into my ignition wiring. That little guy is attached to the stock coil with some screws so I thought that it was part of the coil and I just tossed it. NOPE, you need that buddy! Luckilly it was still sitting in my "junk pile." I attached it and HEY LOOK AT THAT, SPARK!!

Sooooooooooo I decided to try and start my car. Got fuel, got spark, buuuut looks like bad timing. I cranked it 3 times for about 5-6 seconds each time and then on the third time BAAAANG-- huge backfire. Scared the crap outta me! I have it recorded on video, you can see the whole area underneath the turbo where the unfinished dp ends light up with flame.

I never thought I'd be so happy but dammit I am SOOO close-- just a couple distribuitor adjustments and I should be up and running! I'm goin out there to work on it now!

[dal2kvvisp]

hurry up and get it running, im sitting here waiting for u to post again, wanna see what happens:) haha

[sil80drifter]

i am also on the edge of my toilet seat. do it!

sil80

[fiznat]

haha sorry to dissapoint (again) guys.

I ran out of time today but it is getting closer and closer. I set the motor at TDC (compresson hose + timing marks) and re-installed the distrib taking care that everything lined up right. I am no longer getting backfires, but instead the motor is "chugging" a little about every other turn. I can hear like a forceful "puff" of air from the exhaust like the motor is going to start, but it just doesnt.

I'm thinking that with all this cranking, I may have fouled my plugs from the extra fuel. I'll get back on it tomorrow with a stockpile of NGK coppers and dammit I'm gonna work this beoytch till she has no choice but to start

[nissanfanatic]

hahahahahhaa. If it isn't one thing, its another. I'm glad to hear you are getting close. Good luck man. I'm anxious to hear about it.

[sil80drifter]

i told you to use a lighter, but noooooo nobody listen to my genious ideas

sil80

[deezlins]

goodluck, hope you finally get this thing runnin, let us know how it goes

[cheapspeed]

check and make sure the timing isnt 180 degrees out. acts like that when they are

[fiznat]

I think my plugs might be fouled...



I cant seem to get the timing right though. This whole distribuitor thing is kinda funky to setup, and I've done it three times now.

I'm pretty sure I am not 180 degrees out, because the backfiring is defiently coming out of the exhaust (downpipe). If I were backwards, the backfire would be coming out of the intake side.

ALSO what has me a little worried is my coil (MSD Blaster II hooked up to a MSD 6a box) is getting reeeeallly hot. You can easially burn yourself on it its so hot. The ign box is also fairly warm as well. I dont know if that is normal or not, but it is definetly kinda makin me rethink things.

Anyone have any advice?
Modified by fiznat at 3:52 PM 2/23/2005

[crzycav86]

I honestly think your timing is about 180* off.

When we did the timing chain, we were trying to fix the ignition timing, and we had adjusted everything a lot, but couldn't get the car to idle. It would start, but die immediately if throttle was not applied to keep it alive.

It may be something you'll wanna look into if you run out of other troubleshooters, but more experienced members may have better solutions.

And one more thing: I would have tried to start the car with the stock ignition system first, and then add the msd goodies later. At this point, the msd just gives you an extra part to complicate things.

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

[fiznat]

Are you guys ready to laugh?

My coil fu*king exploded.

Yup. Exploded.



I was on the other side of the car working on some wiring at the ECU when I heard this huge pop, saw a shower of liquid (which rained down on me even on the other side of the car), and saw all kinds of steam/smoke. Freaking great. My friend, who is a god damn electrician hooked the + and - up backwards on the coil... which would explain it getting hot also I suppose.

God dammit.

Oh, also I found another problem. The EMS thinks my engine is at full load (30+ psi boost) because the MAP was hooked up to the wrong wire. Auto transmission ECU harnesses have 2 wires of the same color (green/orange), one of which is the correct wire for the MAP, the other is the wrong one. Guess which one I picked.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck... this coil oil stinks too, and I'm covered in it.

[crzycav86]

Aheemmmm.. PWND!11

At least you now you know what's wrong I suppose.. until something else goes wrong.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

The turbo gods are against you. Look at the bright side, at least it did it in your garage and not while you were 50 miles away from any kind of civilization. Whats that people are always saying? "The best things come the toughest" or the best things are worth fighting for... eh i dunno the moral of the story is it will be that much sweeter the first time everything works like its supposed to.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

P.S. You might want to wash that crap off... who knows whats in it.

[nissanfanatic]

I am with crzycav86. I think you found the problem. Good luck. And don't kill yourself. I wouldn't advise prolonged contact of the coil liquid to skin or paint.

If I were you, I would look over all the wiring. Especially since your MAP sensor was hooked up wrong. Who knows what else you'll find. Good luck man.

[fiznat]

If I were you, I would look over all the wiring. Especially since your MAP sensor was hooked up wrong. Who knows what else you'll find. Good luck man.

Yeah I mean I've looked over the wiring a thousand times... it seems like you never really find something thats wrong untill it effects something else, or blows up... haha. My friend set up the coil with the ground as a red wire and the positive as a black one, so thats probably why he screwed it up...

As bad it is to have things blow up and whatnot, I feel better that at least I'm finding real reasons why things arent working.

[dal2kvvisp]

Yeah MSD's gonna be a pain... im fairly confident i know the basics of the wiring of it... but knowing me im probably gonna 1. blow something up, 2. blow myself up or 3. 1 and 2... gonna have a shope wire mine up, epensive though! for such little gain i think i got quoted like 300 bucks to get my msd installed with my coil + hidden killswitch. Anyways, good luck with the rest of it, cant wait to see how it turns out

[bruinbear714]

Luckily it didn't blow up with you around... you coulda gotten burns.

[sil80drifter]

Rin-tin-tin-tin-tin-tin-tin....

Back to stock coil for now, huh? All that MSD is overrated anyway... except for the BTM maybe Then again you have higher HP goals than me, so maybe you do need the MSD stuff.

sil80

[fiznat]

Ygonna have a shope wire mine up, epensive though! for such little gain i think i got quoted like 300 bucks to get my msd installed with my coil + hidden killswitch.

Kinda a waste of money imo... The only reason this happened to me was becasue I let my friend install the coil and I trusted him to do it right. Really this is not a difficult thing, its just a stupid mistake. After everything is done and working I'll post up all the correct wire colors and crap, maybe make a diagram I donno. Its really not that hard though, and certanly not worth $300.

Getting my new coil today and trying again... wish me luck and cross your fingers nothing else blows up lol

[WDRacing]

You should definitly hook us up with the proper wiring diagram fiz...If you make it to Phoenix for the meet I'll buy ya some beers...

Love You

[fiznat]

haha WD you already owe me multiple beers as it is!!

[WDRacing]

Hmmm....I seem to have erased those memory cells Fiz. Remind me when you come to Phoenix.

[npaulseth]

Wow, atleast you know what was wrong now