Daemonyk's RB25 S13 Coupe *RUNNING!* now with better video

[daemonyk]

Small relelvant update. Always, always, ALWAYS, be thorough, and double check, yourself, your readings, the specs (IN THE FSM), and your memory. Also my MAF can go do something vulgar and anatomical. FSM says MAF should read ~0.8v no air movement, and ~2v when you blow at it. Mine read 0.25v no air, ~1.5 blown through, won't clear 2.0v unless I hold it in front of a shop fan on high, or do a big-bad-wolf at it. And see, my etcha-sketch memory told me a different spec, and that's why I thought the MAF was ok . I'm still digging thru the FSM for the other sensors' specs (TPS, CAS, etc...) so I can make sure I test every sensor correctly and end this nonsense

[pepesilvia]

step one: search form gremlins. step two: kill them, kill them with fire. step three: video, like you promised, yo

[daemonyk]

step one: search form gremlins. step two: kill them, kill them with fire. step three: video, like you promised, yo

Soon, my friend... soon... I plan to provide a video of a running engine, I can't really call what it currently does "running" . Rest assured, there shall be video

Good news, I found a maf, gonna try to scoop it tomorrow - test it first, though. The hell if I'm buying a maf that does the same thing mine does, or doesn't work right in some other unique manner

Found the pages in the R33 FSM that tell how to test the sensors with a DMM (EN-363 thru EN-366), printed them out, going to roll it up and swat at gremlins with it, once I have them all cornered, fire happens, then I'll see where I stand

Like the song goes, "It's no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy"... this is why I double check myself. Twice.

In the meantime, I do feel guilty if I make too many posts in my own thread w/o posting pix... Nothing impressive has been happening with the car, so here's some pix of other "car" stuff I tinker with. I call it another hobby, but others insist that it's still cars and I'm still driving so it's the same thing lol.

HPI Sprint 2 Sport, 1/10 scale belt driven AWD chassis


Came with an R35 GT-R shell


R34 GT-R shell



Mk IV Supra shell (flash kinda washes it out)



S15 Silvia shell



Still trying to get my hands on an R32 GT-R, 350Z, and a slick kyosho s13 silvia body that I found. Because Nissan

More as it happens...

[daemonyk]

Injectors have been mailed off to be cleaned and rebuilt. They should be back sometime next week.

O-rings were worn beyond hope, pintle caps were toast. And don't come back till you've fixed yourselves up!



I've been getting the impression that a video is wanted. So here's what I managed to get before I pulled the injectors. It's terrible, but it's a video of it "running". Best I could do for now, with barking dogs in the background lol.



Hopefully I'll have better once I get the injectors back

[pepesilvia]

word

[daemonyk]

Toldja I'd get one up

Small update:

Injectors are back from cleaning - even with my makeshift cleaning, they were still low by about 7% and had a tweaky spray pattern. Now all 6 flow right, flow evenly, and spray right. NOW where ya gonna hide, ya damn gremlins!

[daemonyk]

My intake manifold is where they're gonna hide

Injectors are back in, now the AFR will actually swing full rich 10.0 when I gas it. Still won't idle, otherwise revs fine.

Still no vac at idle, and there should be... Of course, the intake mani is the one external thing I didn't rebuild, so it looks like I'm removing and reassembling it now "Nah, I'm going to replace the mani later, why bother rebuilding the stock one now?" This is why Live and learn, live and learn. At least I already have the gaskets

[daemonyk]

Got around to pulling my intake mani. Looks like I need to replace it anyways...

Hey look. A gremlin hole . So THAT's where they've been getting in!


That's the underside of runner #6 - can't even see the hole from the top. I think this is the Infernal Combustion Demons' way of telling me I should buy one of those greddy-type manifolds and be done with it I'm surprised I could get the engine to run at all with a hole that big. It's about the size of a golf ball. Maybe now I can get this thing running right already

[daemonyk]

Patched the hole, reinstalled the mani, sumbish started right up Sat right at 800 rpm, afr at 16 at idle, and finally, vac 20mm/hg at idle

IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!!!!!!

Tomorrow I'll screw around wth it and get it running smoothly, tweak all the sensors and such. Also need to mess with O2 housig to clearance the steering shaft. But it lives!

I will get a significantly better video, too

[WDRacing]

Did you grind that hole into a circle, or other wise smooth out all the edges and then patch it? Keeps the cracks at bay...

Pics of patch or ban!

[daemonyk]

LOL well, I didn't patch it, my brother did. I already reinstalled it into the car, too, so I'll have to see what I can to about pix.

However, he did tell me how he did it. He's a marine welder and machinist (specialized in prop and shaft repair), so he's had alot of exp welding things to NOT crack, even from heat stress and vibration and such. He told me he ground down the edges of the hole and smoothed it out, then filled it in with a TIG stick (from the inside and outside) with like a 1/2" overlap past the hole, and then smoothed and polished it inside and out.

While reinstalling it I found a piece of the part that broke off - it was a bracket for part of the water hoses. So odds are it pressed against something and broke. When I got the engine it had no brackets for lifting it attached, so the ppl I bought it from likely wrapped a chain around the intake, and didn't realize the chain was pressing against that part. I DID use proper lift brackets attached to the head, so I'm fairly sure I didnt make that hole Probably why I got such a good condition engine for so "cheap", too.

Oh well. It's fixed now. Time to go make it go

[daemonyk]

Proof of life

Start-up. Anyone have any idea what that clack-y sound is?


Cruising in 4th gear, downshift to 3rd, shift 4th, shift 5th, thumbs up


I love it Still need to iron out some kinks, but I'd say that constitutes "running"

[WDRacing]

Damn, that sounds like rod knock. Hopefully it's just something rubbing/clanking or maybe a sticky lifter. But it sounds exactly like my KA did before I launched a rod through the block.

Can you pin point it with a stethoscope?

[daemonyk]

I've not had a chance to poke at it yet. So far the only thing I have noticed is that the sound fades nearly completely once the engine warms up, but still happens when revved. I'm guessing that (with a scope) if it's a stuck lifter I should hear the clacky from the head area, and if it's a rod I should hear it more thru the block or echoing in the oil pan, yes?

UPDATE

I poked around with a scope and the only place I can hear the noise at all is on the exhaust side cam cover, near cyl 3-4. More than a few inches away and the sound is gone. If I rev the engine, the clackita gets louder in that spot, and nowhere else. Anywhere else on the head, block, or pan, all I hear is smooth fluid sounding rotation, revving or not. This to me says sticky lifter, not rod knock

[pepesilvia]

Got around to pulling my intake mani. Looks like I need to replace it anyways...

Hey look. A gremlin hole . So THAT's where they've been getting in!


That's the underside of runner #6 - can't even see the hole from the top. I think this is the Infernal Combustion Demons' way of telling me I should buy one of those greddy-type manifolds and be done with it I'm surprised I could get the engine to run at all with a hole that big. It's about the size of a golf ball. Maybe now I can get this thing running right already

gremlins been munchin on yur mani? glad you figured that out. Soundin GOOD!

[WDRacing]

Have you taken the valve cover off of this motor yet? If so, was there any sludge? If not, I'd take the VC off and have a look underneath.

[daemonyk]

Yes I did pull them, as well as the oil pan. I even posted pix - they're on an earlier page. The inside of the engine is astoundingly clean.

I will note that the "lifter noise" comes from right next to where the turbo is, and the turbo was massively blown, with oil still pooled in it when I got it (I replaced the turbo since). If my guess is right, this engine was raced till the turbo died, then scrapped and hasn't been run since. Those lifters probably got the worst heat soak from the turbo being right there, and there's probably some burnt oil on them keeping them stuck or restricted. Also the oil that came out of the engine when I got it was blaaaaaack - although not thick, chunky, nor did I find any metal shavings or bits in it.

That's my best reverse-engineered guess, anyways

[daemonyk]

Jus' checking in

Ticky noise fades more and more every time I run the engine. It mostly goes away at operating temp, gets a little louder revved with no load, disappears entirely under load. I slowly crept the boost up from 5 to 10 psi, and it had zero effect on the sound - although quite a nice effect on the engine performance

In a few more weeks I'm going to do an oil change - probably do the first few every 1000 miles just to flush it a little.

And my speedo doesn't work and my tach is still not adjusted so I'm forever doing math in my head while driving

I still have a ton of things I need to adjust, readjust, install, reinstall, or just plain make work right. But the major stuff is mostly done. I'm also gonna keep crawling around the engine with a 'scope, just cos I know how things roll for me, and I know I forget or miss things. Like a giant hole in the manifold. Maybe the engine used to belong to paul walker?

[pepesilvia]

Maybe the engine used to belong to paul walker?

haha i didnt understand this ^^^ at first. "danger to manifold" "shut up!" and then the floor in his eclipse falls apart for some reason?

[daemonyk]

Maybe the engine used to belong to paul walker?

haha i didnt understand this ^^^ at first. "danger to manifold" "shut up!" and then the floor in his eclipse falls apart for some reason?

LOL yup! Because DSM AKA "How I learned about rod knock"

I finally figured out why F&F is determined to do 9 movies. Because Shuto Express did 6 . And "before there was F&F, there was Shuto Express!"...

[daemonyk]

Ok! So that ticky noise has faded yet even more It's quieter than ever, and only does it on a cold start at or near idle. Engine warms up and noise is gone. Engine gets put under load (hot or cold), noise is gone. Engine rpms raised above like 1500 (hot or cold), noise is gone.

I also scoped around some more while running cold. I can't hear anything thru the lower block other than smooth even whirring sounds. Upper block I hear the cylinders firing evenly, along with the whirring. The same on both sides of the block, front to back. Revving the engine made no unexpected changes. Intake side of head, I hear injectors firing, cams spinning / whirring, and very very very faint and even valve train noise. Front to back, all over cam cover, same. Revving the engine made no unexpected changes. Exhaust side, once I get close to cyls 3 and 4 cam lobes I can hear the noise. Revving the engine increases the rate of the noise, but the noise fades to nothing past a certain rpm. Moving the scope more than a few inches away in any direction and the noise fades to nothing. Once the engine warms up, I can barely hear the noise no matter what I do.

And I realized that I had to push the transmission so far to the right to clear the steering shaft, that my gear shift lines up more like this \\\ than this ||| I think I know how to fix it though.

[MissMollyAnnax0]

you're like my super hero lol My fiance does all the work on my car. Wish I had the nerve to actually try but afraid to break things haha

[MissMollyAnnax0]

Jus' checking in

Ticky noise fades more and more every time I run the engine. It mostly goes away at operating temp, gets a little louder revved with no load, disappears entirely under load. I slowly crept the boost up from 5 to 10 psi, and it had zero effect on the sound - although quite a nice effect on the engine performance

In a few more weeks I'm going to do an oil change - probably do the first few every 1000 miles just to flush it a little.

And my speedo doesn't work and my tach is still not adjusted so I'm forever doing math in my head while driving

I still have a ton of things I need to adjust, readjust, install, reinstall, or just plain make work right. But the major stuff is mostly done. I'm also gonna keep crawling around the engine with a 'scope, just cos I know how things roll for me, and I know I forget or miss things. Like a giant hole in the manifold. Maybe the engine used to belong to paul walker?

Wouldn't be a bad idea to throw some marvel mystery oil in with that oil change. Can't hurt, and always good to clean things up

[daemonyk]

you're like my super hero lol My fiance does all the work on my car. Wish I had the nerve to actually try but afraid to break things haha

I definitely break things but I don't let that stop me. Every time I break something, I learn something. Usually it's "that was a bad idea" . Seriously though, I have never met a tinkerer that didn't occasionally break something somehow for some reason or another. C'mon, even NASA people, actual rocket scientists, screw up As long as I don't make the same mistake TWICE, I'm happy. As long as the car doesn't explode, catch fire, or otherwise incinerate or detonate, I'm happy. Give it a shot sometime! I went from oil changes to brake pads to suspension components. Pretty easy and straightforward stuff, and you've got help available since your fiance seems to know what he's about from what Ive seen just sayin

And besides, there's all kinds of car people. Nothing wrong with being a pure driver Driver or builder or modder or tuner or w/e, it's all good. Because cars

[daemonyk]

Well, some changes are afoot

I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I am in college. Classes are picking up more and more, and I find mysef increasingly inconvenienced by a car that is perpetually in need of work. Specifically, now the steering rack is hosing out fluids So a family decision was reached. My brother and I are trading cars. His is in much better condition, and won't leave me stuck. So he's getting the nissan. I'm getting his AWD Talon TSi. It's almost as fast as the nissan (cos heavier), and has somewhat similar ish mods, so it's a fair enough trade, especially since we agreed that we can still drive the others' from time to time if we really want to

Pix! He gave it a facelift, body swapped it to look like a 99' GS. ETS intercooler kit, 14B turbo @ 15 psi.
Donor eclipse got the talon bits, and the nissan is making a cameo in the background lol.


Otherwise it's mostly stock, but with alot of new parts. Most of the other mods are suspension oriented. And cold a/c. Which the nissan does not have. So that's nice too .

Anywho, he's got the time to mess around with a less than perfect car. I don't anymore Still in the family though, so that's good. I'm not thrilled about it, but I'm not that broken up over it either.

Additionally, since he's getting the nissan, he's also going to continue the build thread here.

I'll visit when I can, but calc 2 and statistics and chem 2 and physics 1 (with labs) takes up a massive amount of time and energy, and will likely only get worse. Hence the aforementioned. But hopefully, once I get all educated, I'll be able to afford even bigger projects

C'est La Vie

~Peace~

[WDRacing]

One thing I found out early in life, as you just did, if you have a hobby car, you really need a reliable daily driver to go with.

Sorry to hear you're having to trade. At least the Talon is fun to drive!

[pepesilvia]

Well, some changes are afoot

I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I am in college. Classes are picking up more and more, and I find mysef increasingly inconvenienced by a car that is perpetually in need of work. Specifically, now the steering rack is hosing out fluids So a family decision was reached. My brother and I are trading cars. His is in much better condition, and won't leave me stuck. So he's getting the nissan. I'm getting his AWD Talon TSi. It's almost as fast as the nissan (cos heavier), and has somewhat similar ish mods, so it's a fair enough trade, especially since we agreed that we can still drive the others' from time to time if we really want to

Pix! He gave it a facelift, body swapped it to look like a 99' GS. ETS intercooler kit, 14B turbo @ 15 psi.
Donor eclipse got the talon bits, and the nissan is making a cameo in the background lol.


Otherwise it's mostly stock, but with alot of new parts. Most of the other mods are suspension oriented. And cold a/c. Which the nissan does not have. So that's nice too .

Anywho, he's got the time to mess around with a less than perfect car. I don't anymore Still in the family though, so that's good. I'm not thrilled about it, but I'm not that broken up over it either.

Additionally, since he's getting the nissan, he's also going to continue the build thread here.

I'll visit when I can, but calc 2 and statistics and chem 2 and physics 1 (with labs) takes up a massive amount of time and energy, and will likely only get worse. Hence the aforementioned. But hopefully, once I get all educated, I'll be able to afford even bigger projects

C'est La Vie

~Peace~

the SAME exact thing just happened to me! I cant even drive my S14 to school anymore so my rents decided to sell me their Audi TT for way cheap as long as I put my S14 in storage and dont try to work on the audi... but i hate german cars

Good luck in school. Takin calc 2 and chem 2 as well. BOOOORING

[CJH]

Just a heads up for you. For calc and statics, you can find a walk through of all your homework online. The calc has its own website that usually does a good job of walking you through how to do it (not always). If you type into google your first question in statics, their should be a site called slideshare that has the answer to every question, with diagrams. Its a helpful study tool.

[daemonyk]

@WDRacing
Yeah... This was never meant to be a hobby car. it just kinda turned out that way... Initially, I was just replacing old worn out parts as basic maintenance. Then I got to thinking, "hey now, why replace old parts with new parts, when I could replace them with new BETTER parts!". That's when the suspension mods started. Whatever broke / was breaking, got upgraded Things escalated from there. However, the only reason I swapped the engine when I did was because the KA had overheated several times, and every fluid was mixing with every other fluid And why replace a KA with a KA when you can replace it with an RB If the KA wasn't dying, I'd been planning to wait alot longer. One thing I've learned though is that "plans" are an emergency countermeasure in the unlikely event that things actually go as you anticipated. For me, things seldom go as planned. As you said though, his (mine now!) Talon is a blast to drive. He already rebuilt the engine and put on supporting mods, so with bigger injectors and a tune I could wind it up to 20 psi.

I can't be too broken up about it - I'm trading a hand built mildly modded turbo car for a hand built mildly modded turbo car. And it's still in the family. I'm pretty sure he'll keep that car until the end of time unless it gets hit by a meteor, or I steal it back from him He's not thrilled to have another project out of the blue, but he is satisfied with what he's getting.

@Pepesilvia
My brother (his name is Kasey, my name is Devan, btw) used to work for Audi as a mechanic - he said he doesn't blame you, after working on them, he hates german cars, too At least you're keeping the car. It'd suck even worse if you had to sell it. Lol chem is pretty fun to me, but calc makes me want to jump out the 2nd story window...

@CJH
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll look into that So far for math stuff I've been using a website called khanacademy. All kinds of tutorials on all kinds of math and science. I'll add that one to my list-of-useful-things

So! For convenience sake, I'm just going to let him use this account to keep the build updated and stuff. He's better at this computer stuff than me, so he's helped me with alot of the photo uploading and making of posts anyways. Pretty sure he does his share of reading / lurking here too. I'll try to jump on when I can, see what's going on in the wide world of nico. Everyone here has been really awesome, and I enjoy spending time here when I can. It's that time thing that's the problem No, I'm not leaving per se, but I probably won't be as active between not working on a car, and not having alot of time. Till then, I leave you in the capable, if not a little crazy, hands of my brother Kasey. See ya around

[WDRacing]

Have him make a new user account and if he wants to, he can continue to use this thread to continue the build.