I figure a formal introduction is in order..

[Apex]

Guess I'll look into checking my fpr.

[Apex]

So... got spark on all cylinders tonight. Sprayed brake cleaner in the intake and found combustion and fire out the intake mani... promising.

Also, unhooked the fuel pressure gauge and put the line into a plastic bottle. I rolled the key over to listen for the prime. The bottle almost filled with a fuel-like substance. It was brown and cloudy and didn't smell very strong. So... I took it outside and poured some on the ground and lit it. It burned... does that tell me that it would burn in the cylinders (eg. not bad gas)?

So... the pressure is supposed to be 36psi (at idle). When the pump primes, the pressure is 20psi. BUT... when the relay kicks the pump back off, the pressure goes directly to zero. I'm thinking the fuel pressure regulator is prolly bad or not set right. It has to be something between the gauge and the cylinders (line, fpr, rail, injectors). I'm thinking injectors are unlikely because they wouldn't all be bad. Rail; nah... its too simple of a part. Not the line, because its too big to be clogged. That leaves the FPR! It is a Nismo adjustable.

[Apex]

Update: I was able to adjust the fpr so that my pressure holds at 36psi. The engine is turning with the key and I am definitely getting spark on all cylinders. I pulled the plugs and they are all wet. So... bad gas right?

[mr_ca18det]

Sounds like you have bad gas. Drain as much out of the tank you can then run that fresh fuel through the lines till you get some relatively clean gas. You may also have to change the plugs again sometimes if they get fouled up they dont spark so well. Also a fresh fuel filter wouldnt hurt. And if your fuel pressure is still dropping down when the key is turned off could be a few things stuck injectors,bad fpr or possibly bad pump i believe the pump has some sort of check valve built into to it to prevent bleed down but i'd work on getting it running before worrying about that.

[float_6969]

Yea, bad gas won't burn ignite in the combustion chamber. Get the tank emptied out as well as you can, fill it up with 91 octane, put some fuel stabilizer in it, prime the pump about 10 times (that'll pump the bad gas out of the lines and back into the tank and dillute it, and see if it'll fire.

[Apex]

No dice. Had a buddy come over and check a few things. He seems to think that the spark isn't hot enough. I'm going to source a different ignitor chip.

[s13drifter88]

blue spark good, orange spark bad

[Apex]

Ignitor. Still... no. Maybe plugs.

[roast]

Keep it up, I have a feeling that in no time you'll fire the CA and Float won't be lonely sitting on his S14/CA ivory tower of awesomeness....

[Apex]

I have fuel. My gauge reads 35-36ish.
I have spark on all cylinders. Maybe orange.
I have around 130 compression on all cylinders.
I'm definitely getting fuel into the cylinders.
I suspect either A: My spark isn't hot enough or B: I'm getting too much fuel.
The other ignitor didn't work.

I was reading that there is a very specific NGK plug(NGK PFR6A-11) that everyone uses on their CAs. Is this important? The other guy was running Autolite something or other.

[Ca_Silvia]

HGK all the way. Autolites are for the Sprint Cup

[s13drifter88]

Autolites are for Chryslers anyways. NGK or maybe... NGK or you could try some uhh... NGK lol. Always remember, WWND... what would nissan do?

[mr_ca18det]

I use denso's ftw or ngk depends whats in stock at the time. Throw some plugs in and get this pig running.

[float_6969]

Ur compression is only at 130psi? That's REALLY low. Did you have the throttle all the way open, all the plugs removed, and a fully charged battery when you did the test?

[s13drifter88]

130 sounds a bit low to me. mine made 150 across the board before I unloaded it off the freight truck. after being in the car and running for about 10 min then sitting for however long it took me to pull the plug and coil assembly it made 180 across the board

[s13drifter88]

BTW, sounds like you have straight bad gas. My jeep wouldnt start after it took me almost a year to save up for a trans and a transfer case. I drained most all the gas and put $20 in it with a bottle of lucas injector cleaner. pulled the lines, cycled a fifth Wild Turkey bottle of gas out of the lines and bam, it fired right up.

[mr_ca18det]

130 is a bit low but it should still start mine was running with 140 on all 4 . you try any carb cleaner or staring fluid to help it fire (but just a little).

[Apex]

I haven't worked on it the last week or so.

I'm starting back up today.

130 is low, but it should run regardless.
Gas is new.
Battery is new.

[nelson8708]

my buddies sr has 110psi of compression and it still runs. Timing is the only thing i could think of.....you have the three things you need to make it fire.

Spark, fuel, and compression?????

[cdkilla]

I would concur. Check your timing.

[Apex]

Well...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJgPlQe0qVA[/youtube]

Sha-BAM!

She is running. Spark plugs and a wiggle of the CAS!

The beeping in the video is from my smoke alarm. Not sure about the clacking... curious. The car idles high, but does not smoke at idle. However, once in boost, the car starts smoking grayishly. I still have a few loose ends to tie up (the crazy vacuum stuff) then we'll see.

[float_6969]

The clacking sounds like an exhaust leak, pre-turbo.

You need to get a filter in front of that MAFS, or it'll run like poop.

The smoking on boost could be from oil backing up into the turbo and burning due to your low compression causing excessive blow-by combined with not having the PCV system hooked up properly.

If I were you, I would;
- Get the car warmed up to NOT (Normal Operating Temperature) and then remove the fuel pump relay or fuse and let the car die
- Remove the coils and spark plugs
- Hook up your compression tester to the #1 cylinder
- Have a friend depress the throttle completely and turn the engine over until the compression quits climbing (3 to 5 cranks)
- Write this number down
- Repeat with cylinders 2-4
- Post results

I'm recommending this because if your compression is really that low, it's probably going to keep smoking regardless of what you do.

[Apex]

So... I equipped an air filter and let the car idle for about 30 min. The smoking was much less severe after. I adjusted the fuel pressure to around 35psi. Then I drove the car around the block. When I got back to the house, my fuel pressure had fallen to 10psi. Adjusting the fpr did nothing. I noticed some hissing from the top of the engine. There is a vacuum leak around the #4 injector.

O-rings tomorrow.

I checked the compression a couple of weeks ago. It was 130-140 across the board.

[Apex]

Does a timing light work the same as with distributor ignition?

[s13drifter88]

yes it will, just find a plug wire, slide onto plug, slip wire into coilpack and secure. dont attach pre coil tho coz there is a dwell time in the coil.

[Apex]

I set my timing at 15btdc.

My injectors ohmed out ok.

I can drive the car about a mile (1st-2nd gear) before the plugs foul out from excessive fuel. That is weird because my fuel pressure gauge reads around 20psi at idle. Even when I try to adjust the fpr, nothing happens. Could the guy who installed this fpr have damaged it? He said that he cranked it all the way down before installing it and fuel pressure was around 100psi.

The car definitely runs better in higher boost. Where is all this fuel coming from?

[Apex]

How did I not know this... I am running a KA24DE MAF. I assume this is a problem after reading up on CA MAFs a bit.

correcting...

correcting...

[float_6969]

That would cause over-fuelling. Need to get that fuel pressure issue resolved as well.

[Apex]

SOHC KA MAF is on. The engine idles and sounds better. Better throttle response, but I'm choking over 3000. Think my FPR is toast. Anyone have a stock one for sale?

[s13drifter88]

iirc CA maf is CA specific, i kno SOHC maf works for SR cause thats what I used on my friend thomas's SR.