newbie with an issue.....where do i start??

[1991SE240SX]

i posted this in the newbie section, and was advised to start my own thread about it. so.....here it goes..........

hello all. so yea...im a newbie and have a problem. first-a little into on me and my car.....im 25 and have owned many sweet cars but have wanted a 240 for the past 6 years. I spent the last 4 years searching for my dream ride with no luck. Until Feb of this year-i went to a police auction and found my baby. And i got the winning bid of $600.

She is a 1991 SE coupe with a KA-DE, Auto, 90k miles, working HUD, only rust is on passenger rocker panel, previously a non-smoker car, brand new Yokohamas, and surprsingly clean paint job(Gun metal metallic with NICE clear coat)

Car has always ran like a champ. and has never let me down....until as of the past 2-3 weeks.

so i have done mass researching and what not and know that 240's are known for the infamous idle issues. But my prob is a lil more hectic than that. I have a crazy idle prob(after the car warms up). it will be at the normal 600 RPM mark and then go up to almost 2k then down as for as 100 RPM. Followed by shaking pretty hard.....and black smoke coming out of my exhaust. Seems like i have to double foot it at lights jus to keep it from stalling out. the smoke isnt super thick.....but its enough to leave a black tint on my bumper above the muffler.

thought it was a vacuum leak, but after a good look over and some starting fluid, it checked out ok. i pulled my plugs to check their condition-and they have a black sooty deal all over them(except the little platinum diode). then.....after all that, was told i had a leaky injector(dont know why it would only do it when it was warmed up....i thought an injector would be bad right off the bat) so i ripped out the entire s13 unit(fuel rail, injectors,lines,and FPR) and switched in a slightly used s14 unit. everything was working fine...until 3-4 days later when the symptoms slowly crept back into view.

I had it in my driveway idling(and it was idling like dog shyt) and hit the cat with my breaker bar and it stalled the car instantly. I hit it hard as hell too. WTF?? ive always suspected a cat prob because since ive owned the car......after driving around for a while-id get whiffs of a sulfery stinky smell(some strong & some light). but not to the extint it is now. After i hit the cat-it seems to feel like a better car. But once it warms up...the sluggish feeling starts. would a cat cause that many problems tho??

I run codes reguraly and 99% of the time ive gotten a 5-5 readout. The 1 other time i got 3-3 or 3-5(not sure) readout and it had something to do with the exhaust oxygen sensor according to the FSM i have. So....i went and got a new bosch o2 sensor. seemed to be fine yet again and couple days later......de ja vu'. i rulled out the MAF just because that would not let me rev up past 2500,right? i was thinking maybe a faulty IACV??? maybe ignition coil???



heres a list of parts i have-might be a cause or lead to the prob......

-S14 Injen Intake(didnt know there was a diff when i bought it from a friend. Finding out only diff is the s14 lacking the breather tube connection for tube off the valve cover. Worked fine for me, got a Spectre mini-filter and put it on the valve cove. Ran perfectly fine and problem free for 6-7months)

-NGK Platinum 2 spark plugs

-NGK S14 blue spark plug wires. 8mm i think??....(only have 4-plug wires......still have o.e. ignition coil wire on coil and Dist.)

-AVI removed

-Megan Front Upper Strut Bar (3-hole mounting plates, not 2-hole. whats the diff???)

-Reg maintained oil changes w/ Lucas 4cyl formula every 3k, Lucas fuel system cleaner, fresh Trans fluid w/ Lucas ATF conditioner and stabilizer.

-Premium Gas only(usually 91 oct....sometimes 94)

-knockoff 5Zigen Fireball muffler(ghetto as fuhk 2.5" piping. From almost cat-back.....)

thats about all i can think of worth mentioning. any info and/or feedback would and will be greatly apprciated. thanx to all that can help.

[1991SE240SX]

today.......i started it up and it was already starting off the day with a bang....as soon as i kicked it on-it was idling at 2k. gave it some gas and it revved up really strong(i could feel the rev up-it felt like power,it felt pretty sweet) but started driving down my street and before i got to the stop sign (only 10 or so houses between my house and stop sign) it was already "hiccuping". My buddy did a CA swap in his s13 and he told me his old KAde did the same thing and turned out to be misfiring??????????

got home and decided to run a quik chek.....got a 4-5. good ol' injector leak.....what could that be from?? should i have changed the o-rings off the s14 fuel rail before putting it on my car?? i need mass help and i apologize for the book i wrote(haha good one papa smurf) but more detail is better than not enuff. Thanx and hope this helps towards figuring it out. later

[OutToWinPAHC]

I question the cat somewhat, maybe put a test pipe on it for now.

Are you throwing any codes? Hows the timing? Could be MAF related and causing to run rich, Could still be am injector issue.

[1991SE240SX]

other than the 4-5 code i got a lil earlier today, i been getting a 5-5 readout. im not sure bout the timing....havent messed with it or even bothered the dist. since ive owned the car(all my other cars were coil packs....first car with a dizzy)

i dont know how to play wit the whole timing deal....was told its as easy as turning it left or right....but i have a probem with messing with stuff-and it never goes back together as easily as it came apart.

im new to the whole 240 world and did as much research on these beasts as possible. i even passed on a FC chassis RX for my lil s13 coupe.

i always thought my MAF was a deuche a couple of times but was told a bad MAF would let me rev up to 2500 RPM and thats it. So i unhooked my MAF and tried it....it wouldnt let me past 2500. plugged it back in.......up up and away from 2500 it went haha.

I was told to unplug each injector harness one by one with the car idling and i could find my prob there.....i say NOPE. i did that and each one i unplugged the idle dropped and the motor was shaking pretty hard. plugged it back in....idle went up and was fine. From cyl 1-4 it did that.

[JoseBronx]

I got the exact sam problem

[norcals13]

I had the exact same problem a couple years back with mine. up to 2300 rpms then down to about 200 and anywere inbetween. Back and forth stalling out half the time. I changed the fuel filter, plugs and wires, and fuel pump. Still had troubles. But I finally figured it out. It was my Mass Air flow sensor. It was super dirty. but atleast it was an easy fix.

Heres what you need. You should be able to find it at you local parts store for under ten bucks. http://www.crcindustries.com/a...05110

Of course I cannot say for sure this is your problem but your discription sounds exactly like what I had going on. Also Every six months or so it starts doing the same thing just not as bad. I take of the air box and MAFS off and Clean it again and I am good to go for a good while more. One of these days I just need to break down and buy a new one.

Good Luck

[norcals13]

zerothread?id=282308

Here is a helpfull thread for you.

Tell me how things work out for you??

[1991SE240SX]

sweetness man. ill deff post up an update or a lil progress report when i get to getting to it. haha awesome shyt tho-deff worth a try.

only question i have......what would give me the 4-5 on my ECU check?? it says its a leaky injector but i dont see how....the s14 unit seemed to fit better than the s13 one did (prolly a mindfreak...considering they are the same motors.) I just think a 95 unit is more reliable than my 91 piece.

and if i didnt remove the injector from the rail i wouldnt have to worry about the o-rings would i?? thanx again dudes

[1991SE240SX]

well......heres a so-called update........

i decided to risk it all just to drive it to work last nite to show it off to this temp that jus started working at my job. he owns a s13 Fastback and has some stuff done to it and yada yada yada. Anywho....its a 30min drive both ways and the car drove most excellant. Didnt give me a hiccup or anything. I havent even done anything to fix whats been wrong with it. Im lost????



ran a code check on the ECU....came back 5-5..................

im deff lookin for some input on what the hell is up with this car??? its driving me to the point of tradin it for a non-running 510 w/ KA-DE swap.....or introducing it to a lil friend of mine that i call a molotov.

PPPLLLEEEZZZEEE HHHEEELLLPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1991SE240SX]

UPDATE UPDATE........................today was the day it all went away. I finally got tired of evrything and put on a fairly new s14 throttle body(clean a** shyt-no gunk or anything and new TPS) with new gasket. Hooked it all back up fine. Moved onto taking the MAF off and cleaning with the spray stuff. Knocked that out and put it back in after it had time to dry and what not.

Then decided to trash the NGK platinums and put in new Champion coppers gapped to .044. After all this was done it was still idling like shyt and smoke still coming out the exhaust. Saw in my search today goin through some recent and old threads about this problem....and saw something about the Coolant Temp Sensor. So, knowing the one on my s14 motor was brand spanking new(along with the sensor right next to it) I decided to put them in. Out with the old and in with the new.....and BOOM!!!! the car was back to its sicknesss. No idle bounce-steady at 700,no black smoke, no nothing. I couldnt freakin believe it. Im so stoked right now.....and it seems like it running akot more solid now-can just feel the power in the throttle. Thanx to all that have helped on this beast. later yall

[1991SE240SX]

just got back from a lil test drive that turned into a 40-45 min cruise hahaha. The car is running so bad a** its sick. Chirping the tires at stops lights, wanting to get a lil squirrely around corners(good ol' auto....yea!) it really is a great feeling having my car back. Funny thing is-in all the 8 or so months ive owned it...it was never this good-not even when i got it. now it pulls so hard and just accelerates so friggin quik-YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanx to all yall ill a** dudes on this site. without yall-my beast would be in the garage on jack stands with no hood on it-now shes out crusing and killin the streets .

quick question........think my car(91 SE Coupe....all mods listed above) could beat a bone stock 89 Supra?? its just a base model and it has a 5-speed tho??? hp figures claim to be 150 for it.....jus wonderin cuz my lil brother just got one and is talkin fly bout his heavy a** car stompin my nissan. Later yall