My KA-T.

[PantherRacer]

WHOO! just got the S14 from the exhaust shop today. 2.5" piping straight back with a 2 chamber muffler. Definitely sleeper. Definitely nice.But, when I got there they informed me that my starter took a nice big dump on itself. So, I need to rebuild, or get a new starter. OK, fine. the car will have to sit until I get money.

On the way home though, the car starts missing, B-A-D. I stopped, checked, no boost leak, no hoses off. checked each wire with a tester, the spark is weak as hell. so, probably need a new coil too. That or a battery. w/e.Point is, car won't start, and it runs like pure arse.Need to refit a new vacuum line to the boost gauge.hmm. I doubt it's the shops fault, they just put exhaust on tha car.

Anyone have any suggestions? run into this problem? It was starting fine before. also I put in NGK 6 range plugs. there were stock bosh 8's in there before.

I don't want to start throwing parts I don't have the money for at this thing.Worse comes to worse I might have to sell/trade and let someone who has money deal with it.

So seriously. I need some help.

[Tyler]

dont sell! thats my only advice

[480sx]

I mean what help can we give..? You know your starter has gone bad, so start with replacing that.

If you have weak spark it could only be but a few very simple things, things you already know. Coil, battery, alt are among my list of things i would check first.

To come this far to just quit now its a complete waist, just let the car sit till you have the cash/time to fix it.

[PantherRacer]

Yeah, I can't get a job and my mom is already asking where all of my money is going...hoo boy.I'm just about broke again.

I found a used coil and starter for $25. I can just use this other one if nothings wrong, or use the best parts from both.I tested my dizzy and the coil is crap, so I'm going to put the next one on. my new plugs are BLACK. lol

[PantherRacer]

OK, so it's an external coil. Is there any way I can use the 13 coil with my distributor or no?I have my doubts, but if something can be rigged up I can work with it. If not, I'd be glad to trade + some cash.
Modified by PantherRacer at 6:54 PM 4/4/2008

[NateDogg]

Check battery voltage. If the battery is low, so will the spark. No you cannot use the S13 coil with the S14 dizzy without some mods. There is a write up somewhere on the internet about that. Google it if you have to.

I would check the battery and alternator before replacing the dizzy.

[Florida240sx]

Loose ground can cause those problems trying adding another one and cleaning the old ones. Bad connection can make the starter fail too Check battery and connections. Just hook up to another car and should rule them out.

[PantherRacer]

Cool. I'ma check my battery. I doubt it's a loose ground since I have a grounding kit installed and all. But hey, I'll still double check everything.

I guess I did forget to mention I tested the dizzy as per FSM instructions, and I got the 1ohm reading, but where there was supposed to be 26Kohms there was out of limits.

[PantherRacer]

OK. Once again, I took a step back, cleared my head, and went at the car with my wits and technicians training. lolchecked battery voltage. 12.41V, Good. roommate noticed the second ground wire I had to tie the batt to the grounding kit was off.

As I'm putting it back on, I notice a bolt on the positive terminal a bit burnt. yep, "oh ****" I thought.I went up to the front, looked at where I put an inline fuse there, and sure enough, it was blown. The cable came off and shorted that sucker. About to go get another fuse and see what happens now.

changed fuse.***** starts, runs. Plugs are still black like tar, so that is probably why it runs like *** right now. I feel so dumb.

2:39 update. cleaned plugs and put them back in. car idles fine, but as soon as I give it throttle it dies off a bit. If I floor it, it dies. if I keep giving it a little bit of gas quickly it'll clear out and rev up.it's also smoking.

any ideas?


Modified by PantherRacer at 6:54 PM 4/4/2008

[PantherRacer]

A little more to the story.rechecked the SAFC wiring, everything is fine and dandy there. Car won't clear out at all now though. If I touch the throttle it sputters.I want to check my air/fuel ratio as per someones advice, but I have no O2 sensors or a sensor bung to check it that way. My stock maf also only has 3 wires/connectors but 4 pins. the wire I'm missing is the one the FSM says to check (d) for voltage. So...I say....

[480sx]

Kinda sounds like you ecu isnt getting a good maf signal. You sure you got your IN/OUT settings right?

[PantherRacer]

5 in 5 out since I have the stock maf on.yeah, if I unplug the maf and give it gas it wont stumble. Think it needs to be cleaned? or it's FUBAR'd?

moved my IAT and cleaned it(had a bit of oil on it, and no, it's not in the air flow...) and it gives a little bit of response now. Still dies a bit when you give it some gas.
Modified by PantherRacer at 7:57 PM 4/4/2008

[j-z]

jebus creepers batman.... where exactly do you live at??? im in avalon park near UCF.... YOU have ALOT of little stupid problems... i have a 70k mile complete s14 dizzy with cap and rotor. ill sell it to you for $25.... i can also weld in a o2 bung for you as well... the plugs being black mean you are running RICH. the smoke is black right??? thats why it doesnt go anywhere when you give it gas. you have TOO much fuel going in there as of right now.

first thing is to weld a bung in there and get your o2 sensor functioning...second, you need to make sure your maf is installed correctly... i have a spare s14 maf... those two things alone will make your car run like how it is now... SHlT

[PantherRacer]

The dizzy is good, it was just the fuse for the battery cable blew.I'd love to have an 02 bung welded in man. I stay on central Florida parkway. like near sea world.

the smoke is white actually. I know black smoke is fuel, white (some say it's blue) is oil (or turbo) etc etc. I'm going to tech school, but the KA is a new ballpark to me.

It seems that I need to extend my maf. I do have it near the turbo, and there's plastic hose/pipe between the 2.

The plugs were black because yes, there was "too much" fuel, since the spark was not strong enough to fully ignite the a/f mix. My Maf is the same way it was when I got the car. I did no mods to it at all. If extending it doesn't work I'm all for trying your spare maf.

I'ma stop posting now because I'm really tired and I'm full of alcohol and I don't know if I'm rambling.

[spooled240]

a bad/wrong mafs will cause you to run rich. What size injectors are you running? I'm guessing the injectors and the mafs is not working correctly (electrical issue?) I'm tired and skimmed this thread, so sorry if I missed some info..I'll go to sleep now ; )

[spooled240]

and OMG don't sell your car, after all that hard work and all that money...you gotta enjoy the boost man.

That's like buying an all day pass at an amusement park and going home : (

[j-z]

if its white smoke that means coolant ie; blown headgasket, warped head, etc. take the pipe off, mark where you want the bung and bring it to me. ill do it for free. you need the bung of course too. mazworx has them...

[PantherRacer]

oh gosh. whoo. I can say I'm finally done with the basic turbo crap and installation. She's running fine(ish), wastegate has a 5psi spring in it.

Now I say it's running fine-ish because it needs valve guides and seals. it is an old motor, but I'll have to look up how much that'd cost. There's still the thought in the back of my mind to trade it for another turbo car...I do love it, but it is a very high mileage motor.damn thing also needs a transmission mount. Would a torque dampener help at all?

I can now save up my money for my rear overfenders.

[PantherRacer]

So, my BOV isn't opening all the time and it never makes a sound... I've been trying to mess with it, even tried 3 different Type-S valves and none work how I want them too. have them all the way soft, they leak, all the way hard, they dont open, in the middle, one opened about 10 seconds after I let off the throttle with some weak *** moan.

Could it be since the pipe is too close to the throttle? I thought that would've helped more but I guess not. It's basically right on the throttle body...I do plan to move it closer to the turbo but I just wanted to see if anyone else would give me their take on it.

I want that full on ricer sound to go along with my spool and the sound of my wastegate dumping. lol

[j-z]

your bov source HAS to be behind the throttle body to let the bov know when to open. thats your problem...

[spooled240]

where are you tapping your vac source for the bov?

[PantherRacer]

I'm getting my vacuum source from the vac line that's under the throttle body. That wasn't the problem though...Well, I moved the bov from the cold side to the hot side, loosened it up a bit and it sounds off like a champ. When I adjusted it on the cold side it'd either leak, not open, or open about 30-40 seconds after I let off and the compressor surge already finished...

IT'S RICER TIMEE!!!!! Ahh the joy of turbos. Dumped wastegates and blow off valves. Coupled with my straight 2.5" exhaust and black I/C, my car is sleeper as hell until I get on it. Sounds about stock too.

[j-z]

i dont see how that couldve solved your problem... and that nipple on the TB is before the butterfly. it has to be AFTER the TB....

[Florida240sx]

Use your fpr line for vaccum source.

[spooled240]

You know, I don't know what it is but I initially had my bov on my cold pipe right before the TB like you had it. Then I put my mafs there for the blow-through and relocated my bov on the hot pipe right after the turbo and it worked and sounded WAY better! I really have no idea what it is, but bov's must work best away from the TB somehow...

nice to hear you got your ka-t goin, but a stock-sounding turbo setup with a black ic is definitely NOT ricer material...it's low-key sleeper status