Hoffman5982's Super Awesome Driveway Swap- Finally Running

[Hoffman5982]

Yea I drilled a few to avoid that. I've read some of the horror stories from people that didn't

[homeslicej2]

I can't remember, but did you finally get your WS harness, or did you just clean your existing one up? Since your CAS plug is bashed, I'd assume the latter. Looks good, hopefully now you can enjoy driving the car.

[Hoffman5982]

Lol. Im not going to go into it about WS. basically, Yury is a scumbag who can't bring himself to tell someone that he has lied to them for the 4th time, so instead he just ignored any type of communication from me

[Hoffman5982]

Just wanted to chime in with updated compression test numbers:
140-135-140-130

This was done while the engine was completely cold so I'm pretty sure those numbers are great. Either way, 130 is a lot better than 60!

Unfortunately I can't even start the car without holding the CAS plug down so I can't do anything til that is replaced, which will hopefully be tomorrow.

[Lonismos14]

All i have to say is damn hoff. This s*** looks really clean. I wish i knew wiring like you, im going to attempt to clean up my bay and misc stuff on my next day off. Keep it up . P.S. The is not for sale sometimes i have my angry days and just want to throw the car away.

[Hoffman5982]

Lol, I fully understand that man. I'm glad you decided to stick with it though. I'm good at soldering and repinning plugs, but I'm not the best at reading hundreds of wiring schematics. I just lose interest too quick

[Hoffman5982]

Alright guys, I replaced the CAS plug today, and I apparently miswired it so it wouldn't start. I finally found a pinout for it and realized two of my wires were backwards. Fixed that, hopped in and turned the key. The motor literally turned over about half a rotation and started right up. It's still idling a little rough, and while keeping a constant rpm it breaks up some, but while accelerating it's fairly smooth. I drove it out of the neighborhood for the first time in 2 months and put some fresh gas. I'm going to adjust some stuff to get it to smooth out, but this is definitely a big step in the right direction. Cheers!

[Razi]

Don't you love that big feeling of relief when you start making good progress?

What is your vacuum during idle?
After I replaced my headgasket it was sitting at like -15psi, and I found out I had some slightly leaky intercooler couplings, and tightening them + a better flowing airfilter made my car idle much better.

[Gabes13]

Air is such an interesting compound; It can leak through the SMALLEST cracks.

Glad you got the car up and running!

[Xit40]

Good work man. I give you . I know it's a pain now and when stuff breaks, but it makes it all that much more worthwhile when it works flawlessly. On top of that you can tell everyone it's your's because you built it.

I absolutely love the engine bay, So clean and devoid of unnecessary garbage. The titanium valve cover looks 1000x better. Just beautiful.

I'll put money on the fact that if you do a boost leak test, fix any small leaks you find and put the BOV on the hot pipe where it belongs (so you can recirculate it, atmosphere dump is a no no) you're idle problems will disappear.

[Hoffman5982]

Ok guys I replaced the CAS plug with one I got from a junkyard and now she starts up without a problem, but still has a shaky idle. It revs fine but shakes at any steady rpm. On top of that it's still running super rich. I took a quick video to show you how well it cranks when it's completely cold, but also how bad it runs. Also did another compression test. The motor was cold and I didn't open the throttle any(dont know if that makes a difference) but I got 140-135-140-130. Considering the motor was completely cold these numbers seem great. Anyways, here you go
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv3EGdCd4cE[/youtube]

[nando]

maybe injector and or injector plug/connection

i had a similar prob with my sohc, bought 4used injector with pigtails off ebay for 35 shipped

checked ohm resistance at the injector and didnt get a reading for #1 injector / plug and got high resistance off #2

replaced my number 1 and 2 injectors and spliced in pigtails. turns out there was corrosion on the terminals and they were also loose inside the plug

de pined and spread the terminal ends apart.

started it up and every thing smoothed out

I'll try and get a vid up of the before prob

http://s664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/ ... 39_617.mp4

[Hoffman5982]

That seems exactly like what my car is doing. I checked the injectors last night to see if they leaked(they don't) and I unplugged them one by one while the car was running and every time the idle changed, so I think that ruled that out. I checked the coils again today and I can't really tell if it changes when I unplug #1. Every other coil changes the idle, but it didn't seem like #1 did, so I'll go out there and switch them around.

In the meantime, I spent a couple of hours today washing and waxing every nook and crevice of the car, along with cleaning the inside out. I snagged a couple of photos






I don't recall showing my gauge setup to you guys. The last time you saw it it was that crappy wooden gauge holder. Well I did a mockup a while back. Same place right under the stereo, and I cut some plexiglass to cover the bottom din and go around the stereo, and then covered it with window tint. I was the final piece drawn out and everything but all of this happened so I haven't been able to finish it. But you still get the idea

Car off:


Car on DAYTIME:


Car on NIGHT TIME:

[Hoffman5982]

And the boost controller Will be moved. I want to make it to where you open the ashtray and its right there, but I'm thinking it's too big for the hole

[Razi]

Neat gauge setup!

[Hoffman5982]

Thanks. I'm happy with it. Once I make the final product and the gauges are spaced out correctly and not turned every which way it will look better

[Xit40]

I also really like those gauges. A very nice setup and clean IMHO.

For the boost controller you could always cut a hole in the stock plastic below the pocket and above the shifter. I think it would look good there and you would be able to look at your gauges and see it. I'm not sure how deep it is right there so i dunno if it would fit, but it's your car do what you want.

Those compression numbers aren't horrible for the car being cold. I'm not sure what they should be from the factory, but they are all about even, which is a good sign. During a compression test your supposed to hold the throttle wide open so air can get into the cylinders. That and the car being warm makes a big difference. You could do it again, but in all honesty I don't think it's necessary

On a side note it's gonna run weird at idle and rich when you shift venting the BOV to the atmosphere because metered air is leaving or entering the system.

[Hoffman5982]

Thanks. I'm really not sure what to do with the BC. I hate having stuff stick so want to hide as best I can and still be able to see it.

As far as venting the BOV, I know it's gonna make my car run a little rich, but I drove it 5k miles with it vented before all of this happened and didn't have these problems so I know it's the BOV causing this. I bought the recirc adapter for my BOV and I had it recirculated when I first put the motor back together and I still had these problems. I took it off because the stock tube that goes across the front of the valve cover was preventing my from adjusting my CAS

[Khost26]

Good job man. Congrats on not giving up. Its inspiring me lol.

[Hoffman5982]

Well I guess since you bumped this I'll tell everyone where I'm at with this thing. The answer: same place as I was before. I've tested everything according to the fsm. The coilpacks checked fine on the ohm test. I replaced the coil pack harness with a new one. Injectors all tested fine on the ohm test. Popped the valve cover off to check timing, which is fine. Reinstalled CAS. Tested cas. tested Maf, it was fine. Tested TPS, adjusted from .77 back down to .45. Went through all of the couplers to check for vacuum leak. Everything literally tested out perfectly. I've been through 4 sets of spark plugs. They get fouled so bad that the car will stop starting after only a week. I just preordered a WS premade harness and I'm hoping that will fix it. If anything it will give me the ability to hook a diag tool up to it. Hopefully the harness will ship out soon and I can come back with a proper update.

[Lonismos14]

so whats up with tha fawty hoff?

[Hoffman5982]

Lol STILL waiting on my harness. WS has yet to send me any kind of email or tracking number even though it has been a month and when I bought it they said it would be the end of June. Am I surprised? Nope

[Lonismos14]

Thats B.S. You think they would be on the ball, being that they advertise so much on this site. My zenki is doing great just got to drop,paint, and wheels. Im making a deal with a dude now for the same wheels you have he wants 800 with tires. You think thats a good deal?

[Hoffman5982]

With tires, yeah that sounds pretty good.

Like I said, I am not surprised. They did the same thing last time I contacted the about a harness, except this time they actually have my money. At this point it's causing me more problems than just a non running car. I was supposed to be going off to college starting this fall, but at this point I won't have enough time to properly break the car in and feel comfortable with having it 6+ hours away from my garage and all of my tools. Instead I get to go to a crappy community college here in town.

What color are you planning on going with? I'm sticking with the factory color whenever I get mine resprayed

[Lonismos14]

Oem RED but imma add just a little more red flake to it.

[Hoffman5982]

Same here. Also, harness will be in on the 28th so hopefully I'll be able to have a worthy update by then

[Hoffman5982]

Alright guys, I think I finally have a semi worthy update for ya'll

Since the last update I moved down here as to have more time to invest into getting this thing running. I guess first I'll start with the negative:

So yesterday I had a little oopsies. The new house has 3 car garage with a 2 car part and a smaller single car part(it's all open inside). Naturally, the little one is mine. As I was pulling in it looked like I was clear but the corner of the front bumper caught the edge. I haven't actually tried buffing it, just rubbed at it with a sponge. Not horrible, but it's enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth:



Now that that's taken care of, lets move on to the actual update.

In June I ordered my pre-made harness from Wiring Specialties. I received it in mid July. Sadly, I got no pictures of it as I was too anxious to install it. I'll go ahead and say that the quality is top notch. Install literally took 30 minutes. It makes it much easier routing it through the firewall and not having to worry about wires breaking when bending them.
Couple of pictures showing the harness and also showing the current state of the bay:




You'll notice that it's running recirculated now. Went ahead and ran that setup to ensure that the problems weren't arising from being vented. It wasn't, but I won't argue with better gas mileage.

Before the harness, I'm sure you'll remember, the car was running super rich. I would foul spark plugs to the point that the car wouldn't start within a week. When I got the harness I went ahead and bought new plugs, and when I started it for the first time with the new harness it started up great. Smoke was no longer coming from the exhaust and it idled perfectly. It still hesitated, but only if I opened the throttle more than 1/4 of the way. Also, when holding a steady rpm, it wasn't shaking anymore. It ran fine for just cruising around, but was in no shape to get on it if I needed to pass people. Unfortunately, my tach still doesn't work. I thought it had to do with the wiring but apparently not. I guess that shop I took it to somehow fried it as it was working before I took it to them.In the past week and a half I've driven it about 300 miles with no problems. Just cruising around. I drove the first few days with no power steering and decided that wasn't going to work for me, so I started focusing on that. You'll notice in the pics above that the power steering reservoir isn't on the shock tower. I decided to relocate it. Also, note the beautiful new coolant overflow



I routed the hoses through here:


and up directly under the resi. The cut isn't the cleanest, but lined with rubber edging to avoid leaks from the hoses rubbing against the metal:


Now, some might be wondering how well it works since the pump likes to be gravity fed. I haven't had any problems. Power steering works fine and the new ss line is no longer leaking. I know the monster can is ghetto fab but I kept it has amateur as I could with a proper bracket instead of just zip tying it in place. Same with the power steering reservoir. Hopefully I don't receive too much hate for it.

Next, some of you might remember the gaping whole for my cold pipe. The initial hole I had cut was way off, and I ended up with this:


Since I can't weld, and i don't know anyone down here who can teach me, I did the best I could with it. I cut a piece of cardboard down into the initial shape I wanted and traced it out on a 1/4" sheet of aluminum. As I said before, I can't weld, so I screwed it in and painted over the screws. Much better imo:



Again, I put rubber edging around the cold pipe and wiring harness.

Now for the biggest progress. After thinking it over while on the toilet(when I do my deepest thinking) I came to the conclusion that my TPS might be off. It made since since the engine was smooth at any rpm as long as I didn't open the throttle past a certain point. So tonight I went out and checked it, and with the throttle closed it was at .32 volts . Adjusted it back to .45. Started it up, opened the throttle and no hesitation. Took it down the road, and it opened up just fine, but the turbo was pulsing, for lack of a better word. Pulled over a couple of times and messed with my boost controller and eventually got it to boost up to 7psi smoothly. It felt great! Up until now the highest I could get it was 2lbs. The only thing now is that it's still skipping in the lower rpm range, but then clears up and goes. EXACTLY like before. I have a sneaking suspicion that the problem lies in the battery or alternator, since my battery and brake light are on, and my gauges keep shutting down, also exactly like before. So tomorrow I'm going to have them checked, and then monday I'm going to look into finally having my bov welded to the hot pipe.

Since it's now the hottest part of the summer, I finally decided to order my A/C brackets from CodyAce. That'll be a blessing. sometime this week I'm going to hit up the junkyards in search of a g20 throttle body with a second cruise control cable bracket. If you don't know, the g20 throttle body is 10mm(I believe( larger than the stock s14 sr20 throttle body. So when all is said and done this will be a fully functioning swap with all the bells and whistles. I'm also going to look into having the intercooler piping re-polished. I think that will be a nice touch.

Other than that, I'm going to repaint the valve cover as it looks like a** and also repaint my calipers with a different color combo. Not gonna ruin the surprise on the colors I have chosen.

Stay tuned!

[Razi]

Very nice!
That harness looks very well done.

As for the pulsing thing, does it do that even when warmed up?
My car jerks a little bit when it's not warmed up. (Another reason for me to install a thermostat)

[Hoffman5982]

I baby the car when it's cold just to avoid any possibility of damage. The motor was warmed up when it did it. I don't know how other boost controllers on my ISIS controller it has settings for lo gain, hi gain, start boost, and limit(in percentage). I can't remember what I ended up with, but after messing with them I got it to stop. I have the low boost setting at 7psi and when I got home I checked the prev boost and it was like 8.2psi.

It's also good to note that my oil pressure is doing good. I finally got a new sandwich plate to hook up my oil pressure gauge. When the motor is warmed up and idling it's around 30psi. When cruising at 65 in 5th gear its between 60-80psi. And I did do an oil change after the harness since the oil was filled with gas from before the harness

[Hoffman5982]

Since the great progress the other night the car has run rougher and rough. Overall it was still better than before I fixed the TPS, but when getting on it it was starting to break up more an more. Had my alternator and battery tested and they both came out perfectly fine, so still no idea what's causing the dash lights to be on.

Last night I jacked the car up and removed the lower harness to go over it. Everything seems fine so I rewrapped it and put it back in. While I was under I started scrubbing the underside of the car a good but. It's still pretty grimy under there but after 3 hours it's a lot cleaner than it was. I also removed all of my grounds, scrubbed the bolts that secure them and around the holes with a wire brush to ensure they were making a good connection. While I was at it I added another one just for safe measures. Didn't really help, but now I can check that off the list.

The last thing I did before taking the car off jack stands was adjust the power steering rack retainer. Reason for this is because during the removal of the KA, I removed it thinking it would drain the power steering fluid. It didn't, so i just put it back in not knowing of the correct way to do it. Since then the steering has been really loose. The wheel wouldn't turn back to center and I just didn't have the feedback I used to. So I loosened it up and tightened it back down in the correct order according to fsm. Haven't driven it yet but I did start the car and turned the wheel and it feels about like it used to, from what I can remember.

Last I decided to check the TPS. I don't know why, I just got the urge to. So I got my multimeter out and checked it. .56 volts... What the hell. The only thing I can figure is the tightening screws require a phillips head and it's starting to strip out, so maybe it isn't getting tightened down properly. I removed the top screw and got out my die set to check the thread size to replace them. In case anyone needs to know, they are M4x0.7 . Keep in mind this is for the s14 SR, not sure if it's the same on all SR's. Tomorrow I'll go hunting for some replacements that have a socket head instead of the sh**y phillips head. Tomorrow I will also be scrounging through junkyards in search of that G20 throttle body, so wish me luck!