my rb20det has problems

[s14-240]

I got my rb20det to start today, but it is having problems. 1. When I turn on the car with it in gear and the clutch in, it moves the car forward. 2. The car starts with difficulty, but once it is started it purrs perfectly, but idles at 1500 rpm's. 3. I took the car for a test drive, my friend had to push the car while I put it in gear. It shifts seamlessly, as if the clutch is working, but it has alomst no power. It overheats as well. He thinks the timing belt has jumped a tooth, or something, and the clutch is screwed up one way or another. Also, when moving with the clutch in, the engine revs. Any ideas? ThanksWalter

[Eikon]

Does the engine misfire at all... you say it purrs perfectly? But, I am wondering if you have bad coil packs or a bad ignitor chip?

Perhaps your Crank Angle Sensor is bad?

Lot's of RB20 swaps have to deal with overheating problems. Lot's of RB20's sit in junkyards or warehouses for a while with no fluids in them.. that causes radiators to get corroded and clogged and ruined. Thermostats don't work properly when the radiator doesn't work properly. Then you overheat the car, and ruin the coilpacks.

Check the condition of your radiator and your thermostat first. If they are bad.. replace them. When you know they are OK, then work on the coilpacks, ignitor and spark plugs.

One other thought is that it might be the MAF sensor. It could be shot.. it might be sending bad readings, causing it to idle high to compensate... then when you try to run the engine a bit, it might not be reading enough O2.

PM JonPowell... He's very knowledgable on diagnosis and repair.

If you don't get your answers here... try skylinesdownunder.comThey have been extremely helpful. Lot's more RB20 owners in Australia and New Zealand. They are great!

Hope this helps. Good luck with your engine

[BoostFab]

I got my rb20det to start today, but it is having problems. 1. When I turn on the car with it in gear and the clutch in, it moves the car forward.

you should start the car with the clutch pedal pressed down and/or need to be in neutral. why in the world do you want ot start the car while it's in gear?if you pressed the clutch pedal all the way and while in gear, the car moves forward, you may want to check to see if you properly fled the air in your clutch lines, and the slave cylinder fully disengage the clutch properly.

2. The car starts with difficulty, but once it is started it purrs perfectly, but idles at 1500 rpm's.

if it runs and idle high, you need to readjust your idle speed, go to http://www.240sxonline.com and click under the RB20 manual, and look at the idle adjustment page (Pg 8).

3. I took the car for a test drive, my friend had to push the car while I put it in gear. It shifts seamlessly, as if the clutch is working, but it has alomst no power.

sound like the clutch isn't grabbing. did you changed out the clutch?

It overheats as well.

did you bled the air out of the system properly?

[s14-240]

I must defend myself on this one. I did not try to start the car in gear without the clutch in. The clutch problem is gone. Turns out that forcing it to drive was the best thing I could do for it. It had really really bad glazing. Now it is perfect. I set timing to 20 advanced. This seems high to me, but I was told this by an rb20 expert?? BTW it was a brand new clutch from exedy. Thanks for the input. Yay I can bleed clutch fluid!!!!!Walter

[BoostFab]

hey man! no need to defend or anything...i'm just putting out some wild guess as i do not have much info from you to start out with.

well...good job for you getting it running right??!?

[s14-240]

Yeah it runs right, sorta. The plugs are fouled so it misses and the thermostat is stuck closed. Other than that it is healthy, starts right up, boosts well, and the clutch is good. I find this all very unrealistic, because I am an 18 year old senior in high school. I did the swap with the help of a few 17 year old friends in 2 weeks, really only about 5 days working on it. I want to stress how easy this swap is when you follow the wiring posted by wolfgang. The other guys, such as yourself Boostfed, on this forum are great too. The proper research on forums like this make the swap cake. Also it helps to have a friend that can weld good. Walter

[BoostFab]

absolutely, browse enough on these forums and you can basically do the swap by yourself and/or w/ some friends--as there abundant of information. good luck & play safe.

[SeVa-S13]

I want to stress how easy this swap is when you follow the wiring posted by wolfgang.

Don't spread this information, if people wanna go SR cuz RB's are too hard to install, DO NOT argue with them.

Glad ya got it going, I remember my first test drive too-- I cackled all the way down the street until I blew a coupler.