HELP!!!!!!! car dies. car doesn't run. HELP!!!!!

[PantherRacer]

I'm going to strap this car with C4. seriously. if it's not one problem it's the next.

OK, first problem was the Maf blew the Ecu to smithereens. replaced both. hell, put in a whole new block.Car would drive, but anytime I put a load on it (go into boost) car would hesitate.figured out it was the TPS after 2 weeks or so. Now I still drove the car, just really slowly. parked it one day, and then it wouldn't start. No fuel.

Test the pump, low voltage, high resistance, pump is gurgling. change the pump, sounds a bit better but doing the same thing. bump up fuel pressure, voltage goes to 10 on the pump power supply wire. Still don't have 12V. Car would start, idle for about 10 secs, then die. if I gave it any throttle at all, it'd die instantly.

Today: install TPS, problem still occuring. Car is getting spark, and it's getting fuel. Fuel pump still is not getting 12V. I wire in another Wire eliminating the black/yellow wire and connector (The fuel pump harness connector, when disconnected, has ~10Mega Ohms of resistance) connected, there is ~2 Ohms.

So, car starts, idles around 500RPM, dips, dies. after wiring in the other wire, it'll idle between 1K and 800, then 500, then 200 then it dies. all in 10 seconds.

I've searched, all the threads I've come across, when they give it gas it won't die, or if it dies whe nthey give it throttle, it's after the car was run.

I've set my timing properly, that's how I got the car home w/o TPS. Seriously guys, things are NOT going well. I NEED to get my car running so I can sort out my rent money and get to school before I get kicked out of my apartment and the country.

What should I do?

[bruinbear714]

I'm going to strap this car with C4. seriously. if it's not one problem it's the next.

OK, first problem was the Maf blew the Ecu to smithereens. replaced both. hell, put in a whole new block.Car would drive, but anytime I put a load on it (go into boost) car would hesitate.figured out it was the TPS after 2 weeks or so. Now I still drove the car, just really slowly. parked it one day, and then it wouldn't start. No fuel.

Test the pump, low voltage, high resistance, pump is gurgling. change the pump, sounds a bit better but doing the same thing. bump up fuel pressure, voltage goes to 10 on the pump power supply wire. Still don't have 12V. Car would start, idle for about 10 secs, then die. if I gave it any throttle at all, it'd die instantly.

Today: install TPS, problem still occuring. Car is getting spark, and it's getting fuel. Fuel pump still is not getting 12V. I wire in another Wire eliminating the black/yellow wire and connector (The fuel pump harness connector, when disconnected, has ~10Mega Ohms of resistance) connected, there is ~2 Ohms.

So, car starts, idles around 500RPM, dips, dies. after wiring in the other wire, it'll idle between 1K and 800, then 500, then 200 then it dies. all in 10 seconds.

I've searched, all the threads I've come across, when they give it gas it won't die, or if it dies whe nthey give it throttle, it's after the car was run.

I've set my timing properly, that's how I got the car home w/o TPS. Seriously guys, things are NOT going well. I NEED to get my car running so I can sort out my rent money and get to school before I get kicked out of my apartment and the country.

What should I do?

Step 1 - Restore car to OEM specs and make sure you get the proper specs for the TPS at no throttle and at WOT, MAF @ idle, proper O2 reading, proper coolant temp reading, and proper timing.

Step 2 - Make sure wiring is correct and nothing's shorted, crossed, or mixed.

Step 3 - Tuneup.

[snake240]

i feel your pain man. i agree with ^. gotta make sure all sensors are reading as their supposed to. if replacing them dont fix readings, then its time to trace wires. its time consuming but take your time. also test for boost and vacuum leaks. these are important. gl

[PantherRacer]

Step 1 - Restore car to OEM specs and make sure you get the proper specs for the TPS at no throttle and at WOT, MAF @ idle, proper O2 reading, proper coolant temp reading, and proper timing.

Step 2 - Make sure wiring is correct and nothing's shorted, crossed, or mixed.

Step 3 - Tuneup.

What I've done was restore car to proper specs as much as I can, I at least learned that from Uti lol. I've had to make some adjustments.(which I will explain shortly.)

wiring is correct (as much as it can be...) the car does need spark plugs though. It's basically a new engine, tore it down, built it back up, all new bearings, some better condition pistons, new maf, tps, cas, fuel pump (255), seals.

I really do appreciate the help man.

NOW, the problem is with the fuel system. A friend kinked the return line and it kept an idle. of course this is after I replace the b/y wire to the pump because it had high resistance on it and the pump was only getting 10.3V. Now after some fiddling with the relay, the pump only gets 7.3V. (and the car won't start at all)

I hard-wire the pump to B+ with a switch and fuse to just say screw the relay (which at this point stopped working) and the car starts and runs again (after being jumped, and the bolt on my Nismo fpr is almost all the way in.)

I buy a fuel pressure gauge today, put it in-line, set it properly (43.5psi off, 36psi @ idle) and the car idles, but HORRIBLY. kink the return line again and it runs SLIGHTLY better.so a friend bumps the fuel pressure to between 60-70psi @ idle ( I wanted to leave it where it was) and it idles like it was when the return was kinked. (I need to mention that it does not hold a steady idle, RPM & vacuum fluctuate a bit)

I unplugged the maf at one point and it ran about the same. Everything seems to make it a bit better though.

I finally drive it like a total of 200 feet, it dies a couple times after I let off of the throttle, under a load (boost) it still hesitates, doesn't want to get out of it's own way. (At least it's moving now.) I got some video of the idle when the fuel pressure was ~60psi. this is with my phone since my camera was inside the appt.If you look under the Boost gauge, dunno if I got it in the vid, but the narrowband a/f gauge wasn't reading anything at all. Usually when I drove it would be switching (or off) and when I hit boost it would show pig rich, now it doesn't register anything(it just stays off). I will check my O2 sensor tomorrow to make sure it's just the gauge and not the sensor.

I know I'm forgetting something right now, but I'm dog tired. be back with more info when I'm refreshed. Hopefully when this is resolved, someone else won't have to go through all of this to find their problem. And if someone else has been through this already I'd appreciate some insight.

[PantherRacer]

Checked Maf circuit & voltage as per FSM. Power supply: B+Ecu ground - continuityinput signal voltage @ idle - 1.544V/ 3Krpm 2.37V

now the input signal is slightly higher than it should be, but that should still be an acceptable range. At idle it should have 0.8V-1.5V & at 3Krpm from 1.4V-2V.

I think with all the fuel issues my prob is around there, I just can't put my finger on it...I'm about to try and hook an SAFC up and see if that helps, since it is a S15 turbo...

[PantherRacer]

Just flashed the Ecu, gave me codes11- Crank Angle Sensor/Camshaft Position Sensor12- Mass Air Flow Sensor34- Knock Sensor43- Throttle Position Sensor

MMMM. This is gonna be fun
Modified by PantherRacer at 5:58 PM 10/29/2008

[PantherRacer]

So, I cleared the codes, and started up to drive it, and it started dying again. flash the ecu for codes again and it still shows code 34. only code 34 though.I'm going to continue and see if it'll hold an idle.

[blinker_fluid]

sure your fuel lines aren't crossed? line coming out of the filter goes into the rail, line out of the regulator is the return.

[PantherRacer]

Yup, checked and double checked the fuel lines. those are good.

[PantherRacer]

So where is this knock sensor exactly? I've searched and looked up in the fsm to find out where it is, but no dice. Is it the sensor that is between the oil filter and starter under the intake manifold that has one wire coming out of it? or is it somewhere else. I wired that up and nothing changed, Probably didn't wire it to the right place anyways.I don't want to have to take it to a shop for those guys to fix it and charge me money I don't have...SOMEONE on Nico should have an idea what it could be right?

[duffman1278]

I got this from another thread where someone was asking the location of it from an S13 SR

"It is located underneath the inlet manifold."

[PantherRacer]

1. - ?? (Knock sensor?)2. - Oil press sensor3. - IAC4. - CTS

I jacked callmeweezy724's pic for this. Let me know if I have these sensors labeled correctly.

Edit: I forgot to put in that when I advanced the timing, the car ran better. I didn't leave it advanced, i left it at the proper timing, but when advanced, it runs better. So if it is the knock sensor, someone PLEASE tell me EXACTLY where to find it. all these wires and hoses don't help
Modified by PantherRacer at 7:20 PM 11/1/2008

[jr_ss]

Are you sure you don't have any vacuum leaks anywhere? The way you describe some of the symptoms/acting up sounds just like a vac leak somewhere..

[PantherRacer]

I know, it's giving me the same symptoms as a boost/vacuum leak but everything checks out fine. The alternator is charging too, so it's not a lack of voltage...I could triple check my vac lines tomorrow, But I would like to resolve this Knock sensor issue. I just found today that my O2 sensor ground wire got cut at the connector lol. great!

[duffman1278]

Here it is in this pic.

[PantherRacer]

Thanks guys. I will deal with this knock sensor today. Hopefully this ends the bull my car has been giving me.

[nathans12]

save it

[PantherRacer]

So thanks to that picture of the knock sensor (I owe you a beer duffman ) I found the little bugger and sure enough, there's no wire there. Now I have to get the clip off, find a wire, hook everything up.....and pray that it runs right.if this fixes my problem I shall have boost! and I can FINALLY get to selling the S14 100% and getting coilovers and all that other good stuff

[PantherRacer]

so yeah, this connector isn't as easy to take of as I had expected...Why does it need to have a metal clip in it? seriously? I mean, come on. I can't even see what I'm doing! I'm scratching up my arm trying to figure a way to get the clip off...ranting is helping me brainstorm.any tips? I think if I take the whole sensor off, either I won't put it back on right, or I won't find where I'm supposed to put it...

[PantherRacer]

OK, fixed knock sensor wiring. No more codes! idles around 600 now instead of 400 Rpm. like I found earlier, the black wire on the 02 sensor connector is cut/broken/whateveryouwannacallit so the car is now running pig rich. I believe this is also causing a problem. Or it could be the IAC.

What I've gathered from just having the car idling and playing with the throttle a bit; The car will stall if you give it gas and just let off. You have to bring it down yourself. When you try to hold the car at 2Krpm or 1.5krpm, it will roll between those 2 points. (like a Honda with a bad IAC valve) So I am thinking along with the car running rich, there could be a slight problem with the IAC, let me know if I'm wrong.

haven't driven the car yet, just held it at certain RPM points for about 4-5 minutes each, seeing how it acts. It's response when you give it throttle is still a little slow also. Those symptoms are what lead me to believe the IAC is a bit off.because the IAC tracks the throttle and creates a dashpot function so that the engine doesn't stall when the throttle just snaps shut. also the rolling at those certain RPM's. The ecu definitely would have thrown a code back up for the knock sensor by now. It's also not retarded out of it's mind.

But bottom line, I'm going to fix the O2 sensor, and take it for a drive and see what it does under boost. Should be in drivable condition with the KS back in action. except for that pesky wanting to die every time I let off of the throttle...

[PantherRacer]

Checked Resistance of IAC, 10.2 Ohms, perfect.pulled it off to check spring & plunger...plunger doesn't come out. soooo after lots of fiddling, I finally get that gunky bastard out of there. I sprayed it down with some carb cleaner and no more stick!now it all comes down to whether I am really going to get a GReddy"style" intake or not. and if so, do I want to put this stock one on while i wait for it to reach.

I know the stock long runners are better for the low end torque, but they are a mess working around. All in my way causing me to get cut and stuff...

[PantherRacer]

So, yeah, put stock mani back on. lol, couldn't resist. car still drove a little sluggish and then cleared up at the top end. also died a couple times. sprayed out the IAC a bit more, then I realized while doing a quick check...the wastegate is stuck open.We noticed that the bugger was binding before we put it back on the car, so we tapped it loose with a hammer and made sure it was moving freely. But, now it's stuck again. I closed it as much as I could with the engine running and all. But I think that's another part of the problem.the open wastegate along with that exh leak between the turbo & O2 housing. I mean, just maybe.

I hate compound problems. III am going to have to try and save up to get another turbo if I can't rectify this gate prob. It is an ebay turbo. not my buy, it was on there already. maybe I'll try a T25 lol...ohhhh that wud suck...this makes me want to run an external gate though...oh my GOD I miss that abotu my KA-T...also that it was quicker than my current car up to like 50-60 mph lol

[PantherRacer]

ok, so it's totally the wastegate getting stuck open that is causing my problem now that the other symptoms have been fixed. damn ebay turbos...

I'm going to get an ext wastegate flange welded onto my manifold if I can't find one on ebay...all the ones with flanges are for T3's....gay...

[PantherRacer]

So, the problems with my car now are;

Turbo to O2 housing leak Timing is off by one mark, will fix when it gets darker.BOV was leaking (put a straight pipe there, seems to be idling now) too broke to buy new one.TPS has dead spot and is a piece of doodyCatback is off (need new hangers) no torque, sounds loud as fawk Random oil leak from back of engine.

Other than that, it's good lolol. just needs a couple of bucks and some time to be 100%

if anyone reading this wants to buy it...email me...make an offer over 3K. When I fix, paint, & put my susp on it's going to cost more