KA-T first start..not going so good.

[Nis-240sx-san]

Hey, im looking for some help. I rebuilt my KA last year, and drove all last summer with it, but NA and with a z32 maf + Safc neo. I bought all the components i needed to turbo it over the winter, and started the turbo build in spring. Now as im finished building it, I went to start her up, and she turned over and started fine, but with a horrible idle. I found my timing light, and the timing was way off. So i decided to reset my distributer because I had pulled it out when i had resealed the timing covers, so I thought resetting it would help. After I did this, I couldn't get the car started again. I tried 180'ing the distrib, and still nothing. Im getting spark, fuel and air, but it still was not starting. So then i tried the timing again....and it started, but only ran for a few seconds. I pulled the plugs, and they smelled heavily of gas. so is my engine flooding itself? Also, what should my fuel pressure be? right now its around 40 when I try to start it.
My setup is: Z32 MAf, EFI specialists tuned ECU, 740cc Dwerks injectors, T3/T4 turbo, JGS turbo kit, SAFC Neo, AEM wideband, AEM truboost, ISIS FPR, walbro 255, 3in turboback exhaust, and FMIC.
I dont have anything else that could possibly screw with the engine.
Im truely stumped as to what the issue could be. If anyone could give me some feedback, that would be great. Thanks.

[driftin_sr20det]

I would start by drying out those cylinders. While your letting the motor dry out check to make sure the ecu is working correctly, lights up as should and maybe even check the code's. If that checks out, before you try starting it up again back the fuel pressure up about 5 psi and if that doesn't help try a little more and more. Could be the tune not being correct. EFI specialists are bad, but everybody makes mistakes so there could be an issue there.

[biggie]

Very possible to be one tooth off on the distributor, happens a lot.

[WDRacing]

Very possible to be one tooth off on the distributor, happens a lot.

I'm with Biggie, I had the dizzy kick my a**. Take the dizzy and move it fully advance or retard it, doesn't matter which and then try to restart it. Then turn it the other way and do the same. See if it responds better with the dizzy in one direction then the other. That will help you figure out which way the dizzy needs to go.

[Nis-240sx-san]

I'm going to try everything you guys have said, and post up my results. I just checked for codes and its blinking code 23, which is the idle switch. What does that mean?

[Nis-240sx-san]

Well I tried messing with the dizzy again, but the engine kept flooding itself. I tried turning down the fuel pressure, but that made no change either. So I decided to check and see if it will start with the stock injectors. So I swapped my fuel rail out with my old one, and it started, but sounds like it only running on 3 cylinders again. However, I noticed as I was swapping the rails (I had removed the plugs before hand) that there was some smoke coming up from cylinder 3 spark plug hole. I can't figure out what's wrong.

[trackslut240]

if it was as soon as u started and then pulled out the plugs, thats just u burnt fuel and smoke, which is ok. were u able to figure out which cylinder is missing? fouled plugs will also cause a no start if the mixture was rich. i had iridiums installed, the car flooded, so i changed the oil and tried again, nothing... no start. changed the oil again and this time put in copper plugs and it fired right up, adjusted the timing, was a tooth off. ran great. ordered a retune which was a little too lean for it, busted #3 #4 pistons...oops. check you oil for fuel smell, if any, change oil. use cheap oil to get it running then change it out before driving.

check you idle control setup. unplugged idle air controller, disconnected vacuum hoses?

[Nis-240sx-san]

Well I need to change my oil fir sure. And I decided to test for boost/vaccum leaks, and found out I have a really bad leak at one of my couplers, and the other is at the first injector at the fuel rail. The big o-ring is leaking. I'll go pick 4 up from the store tomorrow and change them, and fix my coupler.

[Nis-240sx-san]

Well as of last night, me and some friends got the car started. It was the dizzy that was off by 2 teeth that wasn't allowing the car to start. Now everything is good, only prob I'm having is if I free rev it, it's kinda hesitant to start reving, but only for a second, and also when coming down from 3k+ rpm, it sometimes drops to 300-400rpm and stalls.

[Nis-240sx-san]

so after doing som e research, Ive found out that there could be 3 possible problems for my car stalling when im coming to a stop (whether at a stop sign or light). My MAFS is about 5-6 inches from the turbo, but ive heard it has to be at least 12 inches...could that be it. THe others that I heard is if the BOV is leaking, or the TPS needs to be adjusted. Input anyone?

[s13drifter88]

1st id definitely move the maf farther away from the turbo. inlet turbulence can seriously affect the readings... even when starting or idling. as for the stalling it could be a air leak as that will most definitly cause and erratic idle or an idle drop and i8 would certainly check for leaks extensivly but check your IAC and IAC plug connection too. If u bypassed or blocked it off u may want to try adjusting open the throttle body a little more. as for timing, ka's ran 17-20 deg stock so for boost id recommend 10-13 deg. fuel should be about 43 1/2 psi with no vacuum so an estimated 33-35 when running with vacuum (may vary some with diff brands of regs). as for a tuned computer, whats it tuned for? theres 2 z32 mafs, na(n60 blue label) and turbo (n62 orange label) so is the ecu tuned properly? also, check your injectors to make sure theyre not possibly leaking or stuck open as that could also cause a very poor idle and hard or no starting

[jeremy242]

you also want to put a 90 degree bend in the intake pipe after the maf before the turbo to help with the turbulance.

[s13drifter88]

90* is a bit much. look at a ca, sr or rb. stock they dont have 90* angle isnt as crucial as just the length, its just moving it away from the rapid inlet vortex of the turbo that makes the difference. air will begin to accelerate as it enters so tthe closer the maf the faster the air will move thru it which will give a whacked reading. 13-15" is my rule of thumb

[madd ocx]

yeah move that maf away from the turbo, a good 13 to 14 inches and make sure you have a bend in there too.. do you have open atmospheric bov? if so you may need to recirculate.

[s13drifter88]

recirc. will help with idle on engine decel, if u do have an atmospheric check to make sure its not leaking. use a balloon or a condom or something, place around the discharge port and start the car. see if it either tries to inflate or suck in. if so, its leaking

[s13drifter88]

just curious but check ur maf settings on ur afc. it should either be 2in 5out or 2in 7out. if its not i would try them both. ka is not listed in the apexi manual so it could be a toss up between ca or sr being that ca and ka24e are closely related to each other and sr ka24de are close to eaqch other. since u have a z32 maf i deffinitely kno it has to be 2in

[Nis-240sx-san]

Yea, I had the maf set to 2in and 2 out, but the ecu is actually tuned for a z32 maf. So should I put this setting back to stock? Or keep it tge way I have it? I tried unhooking the bov vac line, and the car still stalls on decel. But this week I'm switching to blow through maf setup. I'll report back after it's done.

[biggie]

If the ECU is tuned for the Z32 MAF then yes the SAFC should be 'off', no adjustment there for the maf is needed.

[Nis-240sx-san]

Okay, well since I switched back to stock safc setting for the maf, I've noticed less backfiring happening. But my decel stalling prob continues. I'm just waiting till I get my bov in the mail, then I'll start the blow through setup

[DevilMB3017]

I will tell you without a shadow of a doubt moving the MAF at least 10 inches of piping away from the intake filter helps.

It got rid of my decel problems 100%.

[Nis-240sx-san]

yea, I kinda figured my maf was too close....but I have no other spot to move it besides down infront of the tire, or infront of the engine, neither positions im comfortable with.

[s13drifter88]

in front of the engine would be fine. try to get it as close behind the left headlight as possible (filter included). if ur ECU is already flashed the run the N62 maf u shouldnt have to have the afc to cal in the maf. the computer should function with it like normal. 2in and 2out is deffinitely wrong tho. try one of the settings i listed above and then see which one runs the best if ur gonna run the afc, the after u establish which one is best use the decel air feature in the afc to help correct the idle decel problem

[Nis-240sx-san]

Finished my blow through setup today and the car runs and idles like a champ! No stalling on decel and no more turbo surge! My Afrs did lean justva tad at wot, but Ill get em back to normal with the safc.