Please don't let your engine idle too much as you have a very small window to seat those rings. So finish your project or get it to the point where you can drive it and open that puppy up. I would hate for you to wear-out that nice roughness on your cylinder walls and cause your rings not to seat.

Yup I got that. It's why I'm not going to bother with this battery stuff until everything is put back together.

It's alive and out of the garage. I fired it up and rolled it out of the garage, and shut her down. I fired it up once more and let it idle for maybe a minute and It's idling a bit rough, but I'll figure that out some other time. A few things to wrap up below. I'll be able to get any idling, fuel ratio, boost, etc issues out of the way once I get it insured, registered, and on the road.
- Bleeding the brakes
- Filling power steering system
- Alignment
- Bleeding the clutch line
- Get the ECU tucked away

IDK, but the more Pulsar's I see, the more I want one. I wonder if I could convert one to RWD....

Bled the brakes and the clutch line today. Tried to drive the thing but it won't keep running. It won't stay at idle and drops to about 500rpms then dies. It will keep running if I give it gas, but I didn't want to keep it running too long without driving it. Once I get the rear brake(s) fixed I might just drive it up and down my street a bit to help get the rings seated. Dee, any input on how to do it properly? The way this thing is running I can't really commute to work with it to seat the rings.

Issue List
1) The power feed I am using for the IC system and WBO2 is a bust. There was a spare wire dangling under the dash and it was 12V. Now after I hooked everything up, that wire goes to 0v when the headlights are turned on. Shouldn't be too difficult to find another 12v acc source. I'm thinking radio harness at this point.
2) The left rear drum brake is frozen and I've never done drum brakes before. But this car is from the South, so it shouldn't be too tough to do.
3) The aforementioned idling/running issue.

I couldn't get the drum off of the car. It's not bolted on from the back is it? After beating on it with a 3.5lb sledge, it loosened itself up. I hit the brake pedal and pulled the e-brake handle and the brake is working as it should and isn't tightening up anymore. I'll just keep my eye on it and if it tightens up again I'll be a little more persuasive with the sledge to get it off.

Got the windshield trim and wipers mounted last night. This weekend I'll work on that 12v accessory source, a quick alignment (mostly just getting the toe alignment fixed) and try driving it around the neighborhood.

Did you turn the release on the inside to retract the shoes away from the drum?

Nope. I watched some YouTube videos and they basically just hit the thing with a small sledge to knock it loose. So I tried that, and the shoes loosened up from the drum, but I couldn't get the drum off. The smart thing would have been to consult the service manual, which is sitting in my garage on the 12 ton press (one of the few things that I actually know where it is). The drum wasn't 100% frozen, it was just really hard to turn. After I hit it a few times it was loose again. So I spun the wheel, hit the brake pedal, and the wheel stopped. Then I pumped the parking brake a few times and released it, and the wheel was still loose. I've NEVER worked on drums before, so this is new territory. They'll likely pull a drum off during safety inspection and let me know if they pass/fail and if there's anything wrong because they want me to pay for them to do it, HA!

Nice to see that thing on the ground. It doesn't take much to do a good a seating of the rings, but you'll have to drive it a bit rough.

Define the driving procedure for seating the rings? What's rough? As long as I don't have to come to a stop/idle I should be able to get it done as long as the neighbors don't call the cops

Take car out on open road, give car a spirited drive without hitting the limiter or redline. Remember to engine brake/downshift the engine for deceleration. Don't be afraid to jam on the gas pedal, but don't forget to engine brake for deceleration. Monitor boost pressure and try not to exceed 10 psi of boost. Engine is not to be idled for extended periods or until you have put at least 20 miles of aggressive driving on the engine using the deceleration mode I mentioned earlier in this post. After 20 miles of spririted driving, change oil and filter and drive semi-aggressive/normal. Don't forget, for the first 500 miles, please use the deceleration mode as much as possible and stay away from from long and boring trips that require sustained speeds. That should do it for now.

I'll be getting the car insured today, registered on Friday, and I'll start driving it around the area over the weekend. The state inspection will have to wait until I get it running smoothly so the shop doesn't screw it up, so hopefully I don't get pulled over. Driving east of where I live should be the best bet since it's gets more into the country.

Got any ideas as to why it won't idle smoothly? I'm going to check all of the spark plugs to make sure all of them are firing and getting fuel, and if they are, I might try adjusting the ignition timing to see if that smooths things out. The throttle cable is another thing. At idle the throttle plate should be fully closed right? I also dropped the MAF when I was messing around with building the CAI, but I pulled the sensor out and it looked ok.

Give us an example via video as to how she's running. I can offer the appropriate advice with sound .

I thought I wasn't supposed to idle it anymore? Just kidding. I'll pull the camera mount of the Mazda and get it rigged into the Pulsar somehow and take some video of startup and driving. The thing is insured now and I'll get it registered sometime this week.

Pulled the plugs, all smell like fuel and have the same amount of carbon on them. Should they smell like fuel when I haven't run the car in a handful of days?
Cylinders 1, 2, 3, 4 in that order





Pulled the valve covers and began the stripped/painting process

Stripped the other cam cover and sprayed 3 coats of 2000 degree primer on them. I'll be stopping by the hardware store to find something a little more flashy than semi-gloss black, which is all I have in the garage right now. I was considering spraying them with truck bed liner, because its flat black and textured and looks kind of cool. Still might go that route if I can't find anything that catches my eyes at the store.

Looked up the spark plug chart, and sure enough I'm running rich as hell, which explains the fuel smell. I'll advance the timing a bit this weekend when I take it for it's first official drive. Registering this bastard tomorrow, fix the stupid electrical gaff that I explained earlier, and start seating those rings.

Registered the car today and put the cam covers back on. Left the gloss black, and I'm happy with the result. They look pretty nice. So nice, that I now feel bad that the timing cover and pipes look like crap. I'll resolve that some other time. Pictures tomorrow.

Car wouldn't turn over, but the battery was a bit low on juice so I'm hoping that's the problem and nothing that I did pulling the coil packs and plugs. Battery is juicing up right now with the trickle charger. Crappy weather this weekend, but I'm determined to get it done. I'll fix the electrical issue tomorrow and make sure everything is good to go with that, then fire her up and start messing with timing. The cam sensor is already set pretty far in the "advance" direction already, but I'll mess with it and see if I can get the idle to smooth out. Tightened the throttle cable, which should help the car keep running at least.

FIRST DRIVE SUCCESS! .... kind of

Idle is still crap. Dee, the videos are below. According to the WBO2 it's running super lean at idle. When I retard the timing it stumbles and wants to die. When I fully advance timing it stumbles much less and can actually run, but only when I set the idle higher. The temperature is running a little high too, and when I finished the drive there was steam coming out of the radiator. There are two nipples on the radiator, the top one was weeping steam. Not sure what to make of that. Exhaust is kind of loud at full throttle. I think I'll add a high flow cat later on when I get everything else figured out.

Painted Cam Covers



Rough Idle
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROA8_FV ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK6gLWFr ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

Steam After Drive
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm6S8HYy ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

That wideband isn't reading correctly. The engine can't run at an AFR of 21.

Another video from today. I got the idle settled down, but it's still too high, and it's still too rough. I set ignition timing to about halfway and that seemed to be the smoothest idle. The WBO2 is showing super lean condition at idle (not 21, but in the mid 18s), but when I'm driving it looks to be reading correctly (14.7 normal driving, about 10.5 at full throttle). Took it for another drive and the pipe to the IM came out of the silicone coupler so I ended up with a boost leak. Might have fixed the wiring issue. The shop that fixed the wiring at the light switch messed up a ground at the radio harness, so when the headlights go on, the ground at the radio harness went away. I might have to double check behind the switch to make sure everything is working there, otherwise that wiring issue might cause problems with other systems in the car. Still having a high temp issue with water/steam coming out of the drivers side of the radiator.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIJR12g0 ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

Bought a timing light last night. I'm going to try and use the plug wire from my Mazda as the jumper, not sure if that will work though. This is the first time I've tried this so I'm not sure how to do it without a jumper from the coil to the plug. At the suggestion of another forum member, I'm going to double check the fuses in the engine compartment and make sure they are all good to go. If/when I get the ignition timing set correctly I'll start digging through the rest of the troubleshooting guide and see what's causing this problem. Somewhere else I read on here that it might be the TPS not sending the idle signal correctly, so I'll look into that too. While I'm at it, I'm going to do a compression check.

float_6969 wrote:IDK, but the more Pulsar's I see, the more I want one. I wonder if I could convert one to RWD....

Completely missed this one. If you want a RWD Pulsar, buy a late 80s 200SX (S12). The front ends look nearly identical.

I have my notebook all filled out with the checklist for troubleshooting the idle problem and a collection of alligator clip jumper wires coming in tomorrow. Stay tuned for some news and pictures.

It's from the doors back that I like about the pulsar though, LOL

Float, you'd be surprised what you can do with a cutting torch and a welder

Jay, man that thing is loud. Can't wait to hear a flat-footed run. And you don't have any problems, you're just camming, brah, lol. But seriously, have you checked for intake leaks post MAF? Pre-turbo in particular? Mine had a pretty rough idle and would fluctuate all the time, except worse than yours, and I was pretty certain I had a leak at my suction pipe after the MAF. Probably where the line for the PCV system went (not for the PCV valve, obviously, but the other one that goes from one of the valve covers to the suction pipe). I never got around to fixing it, though, so I don't have confirmation that's what it was, but all the symptoms made sense.

The funny thing is my wife and neighbor both said it didn't seem too loud, but they weren't outside when I accelerated out of the driveway. I just purchased a 300 cell catalytic converter, which should help quiet it down. If it needs more quiet, I'll put a straight through resonator in the stock location to go along with the Vibrant resonator I put where the cat was originally located. If it's still too loud, well then there's nothing to do but turn the stereo up or wear ear plugs.

I'm pretty sure I don't have any boost/vac leaks because both appear to be holding right where they should be. I do hear some wheezing when in boost, but I assumed that was just how this turbo system was going to sound, and it might just be how this turbo whines when it's spooled. Vacuum was holding at -24 ish when coasting, and around 10 psi when in boost. I do have a vacuum pump for testing, but since that's an open system, I'd have to figure out how to close it down to test the vacuum pressure. Maybe a lid or bag of sorts plus duct tape where the filter connects, then I could check the system using the vacuum manifold.

I have a full page of notes for troubleshooting, sensor by sensor. I'm going to put my money on the Idle Switch/TPS.

Are you sure the fans are pushers and not pullers? If that engine is getting too hot and you're not driving it, you may end up with a low compression oil burner. Sort the high temperature issue and go drive the car as idling it this fresh in the break-in period is bad, bad and very bad.

The fan for the turbo heat exchanger is definitely set up as a pusher. The main radiator fan can be set up as a pusher, but I haven't checked to see what direction it's moving because I forgot to check when I got back from my drive and it was actually running. The temp gauge might also be wrong and there also might be air in the system causing a blockage, because I just saw that type of behavior in my wife's car when I changed the coolant. The temp gauge isn't getting above 3/4 and I'm going to check its resistance by placing it in warming water with a regular thermometer on the stove top. My trouble shooting this weekend is going to consist of just checking all the sensors to make sure they have the proper resistance between pins, voltage with ignition on, and make sure they are connected to the correct ECU pin.

I already took care of the 25 mile aggressive drive with downshift deceleration. I won't be idling the car in the driveway anymore. If the car gets turned on, I'm going to drive it around the area for as long as I can (e.g. turn it off if I see the CEL, high temp, low oil pressure, etc). I'll probably be doing this on Sunday, because Saturday I'll be running around shopping for a replacement for my daily driver.

Just a quick note, the Idle Switch was wired incorrectly by yours truly. Read the manual wrong and wired the 10v wire to pin F instead of pin E. Swapped those and did all the diagnostics and that sensor is now working correctly. Double checking some other items and I'll take it for a drive this afternoon and see if I can take care of that temperature issue and leak. Willing to bet the temp issue is an air bubble in the system and I think the leak might be the temp switch at the bottom of the radiator. What is that thing for any ways? Engine temp is reading off of the sensor by the water pump. What's the purpose of the temp switch at the bottom of the radiator (labeled temp sensor in this picture)?

Done with troubleshooting for the day. Fixed the idle switch, now the car starts, then abruptly dies. Below is what I did, step by step in the order written.

ECU MODE 4
- No red light activation with accelerator

IDLE SWITCH
- Mixed up pin E and pin F at the harness connector
- Swapped pin E and F, reran test
- Checked resistance of harness to ECU and it checks out
- Checked resistance with accelerator and it checked out (no continuity accelerator up, continuity accelerator down)

ECU MODE 4
- Red light is now working

START CAR
- Starts, stumbles around 1000rpms and dies

THROTTLE SENSOR
- Harness connector checks out with resistance at 3.0 ohms between connector and ECU
- Ignition ON, pin F to ground = 5 volts
- Ignition ON, pin E to ground (.46 volts accelerator up, 4.0 volts accelerator up)

ENGINE TEMP SENSOR
- Harness connector DOES NOT check out
- Connector A to Pin 30 = 9.9 ohms
- Connector B to Pin 28 = no continuity
- Connector B to any ground at ECU = 80 ohms
- Connector B to any 12v source at ECU = 180 ohms
- I also can't get a resistance reading across the pins on the sensor itself, shows no continuity

AIR REGULATOR
- Harness pin B to ground only goes to 12v for about 1 second, should be 5 seconds according to manual
- Harness pin A to ground shows 1.2 ohms
- **** Not sure where the fuel pump relay is, so I couldn't check continuity between pin B and fuel pump pin #5

MAF
- Harness A to Pin 37 = 1.4 ohms
- Harness C to Pin 26 = 1.3 ohms
- Harness D to Pin 27 = 1.3 ohms
- Ignition ON, Harness B to Ground = 10.6 volts
- Can't check signal during warm up

ECU MODE 3
- 5 red lights followed by 5 green lights

ECU MODE 4
- Still works, red light on accelerator down, red light off accelerator up

Temp sensor in the radiator... how odd. Neither of the two bad radiators i own have that sensor, just a removable plastic plug. The radiator I just got, however, does have one. I also just went and looked at my car, It looks like i do have a wire for it. My car has been running fine, so i cannot imagine what that one does?