Oh, the ups and downs of RB ownership...

[kouki-gymkhana]

So, I've had my swap up and running (mostly) now for the past 3.5 yrs. I only drive the car very infrequently as it is really a play thing for me at this point. I've had numerous problems over the years...blown headgasket, broken camshaft...dead lifters....continued problems with cooling....etc and I'd just about given up on the car and decided to sell it. I've only put about 1500 miles on it since I completed the swap! For the past 6 months or so, the car had a serious stumbling problem around 3500rpm and would buck and hesitate like it was hitting a fuel cut. I though it might be a boost leak, coils going bad, R&R, etc. and I prepared my wallet for the worst ($$$).

I'm happy to report that after building a boost leak tester and getting off my kiester to diagnose the exact problem I've finally found the problem! As I was pulling the crossover pipe on my Hybrid FMIC piping kit, I pulled the T-bolt clamp on the side closest to the turbo and the bracket that bolts to the head and wouldn't you know the entire pipe just popped right off! That's right, the other end of the pipe wasn't tight at all! I felt like such an idiot! I buttoned everything back up super tight and now my baby runs like a beast! Idles super smooth, pulls HARD all the way to redline, and it looks like my super-duper fan arrangement is finally keeping the H20 temps in a good range (75-80C).

Sorry for the long post but I'm just so relieved that what I thought might be a serious problem has turned out to be the result of one loose T-bolt clamp on my IC piping!!

-KG

[240z4u]

Nice work dude, I am also lazy and need to do the same thing. Glad to hear you got it sorted out!

[Coolwhip]

Glad to hear you're back running strong.

Not saying anything wrong with the Hybrid FMIC kit (as i ran one on my first RB25 and loved it). But these as well as all the others don't use the "best" clamps, couplers, and piping and really should be looked over twice when installing. Same with bad gaskets found with boost leak testing.

I've found it to be the tool off the year when diagnosing engine swaps.

Blah, long post = long response.

[240xGuy]

I had so many problems with boost leaks when i first got my swap together and it was a pain in the a$$. I got so sick of it i used jb weld around every pipe before putting them togther. Let me tell you that I never again had a boost leak

[l0nestar]

Good deal man!

Learn from your mistakes! As I have learned - sometimes the simplest solutions take the longest to discover!

Boost-Leak-Tester == simple and effective tool, indispensable when working with forced-induction systems.

[johnny butt]

patience and $$ are key to maintaining a car you are customizing yourself.

it didn't roll out of the factory this way so it's up to you to make it reliable, which in itself is both a blessing and a curse.

I, thankfully, have not ran into any major problems with my motor (knock on wood), just a few older and wrongfully used pieces going out on me, which hasn't been a big deal thus-far because I intended on changing them out anyway (I don't know why I didn't do it in the first place.) **** happens, but be good to your motor and it will be good to you. For the record, my issues are: Bad & Old KA Power steering Lines. I finally caved and got one made by DJ Button. Also, an oil pressure sender wasn't on good enough and it started leaking on me, but I replaced it so I could get a reading on my autometer gauge instead.

And it's good to hear it was something as simple as a loose coupler or intercooler piping. That is a pretty common issue I've heard from some of my friends with SRs and KA-Ts.

[placham]

EDIT
Modified by placham at 10:33 PM 1/21/2009

[USMCgetsome]

keep up with another post like that i can see BAN IN YOUR FUTURE! Seriously man watch the rudeness when you jump up in this here forum. Young man i'm amazed of the ignorance you display. You do not know half of the story to be spouting off as you are. The person that built that swap had prior mechanical failures that were fixed over a long period of time and i can guarantee you he is a great asset to this website and will in your future be helping you out with your RB2ODET when you have trouble and use this site for help.

u fail

[kouki-gymkhana]

Human error= TOTAL FAILRB motors 1, Humans 0 Your post title is misleading, should of named it like; I'm a total idiotToday I figured out how ******* dumb I amor similar

Yes, my swap has been quite a saga and you don't know the half of it. I've probably torn my engine down more times than I care to remember at this point and I am in no way an RB expert like Coolwhip but I am always eager to help out however I can.

There is something strong between us as members of the RB fraternity and we owe it to ourselves to share in our victories and our defeats no matter how small.

[S14-NEO]

best thing i can tell you to do to prevent that from happening again is to get some "T" bolt style clamps..they look like this one right here...

[placham]

kouki-gymkhana, I didn't want to come off like a d!ck.I just wanted to let you know your post title is missleading. I'm not saying that you dont know what your doing.I hope the RB community wont disown me now.

[leesredgt]

Glad to hear you're back running strong.

Not saying anything wrong with the Hybrid FMIC kit (as i ran one on my first RB25 and loved it). But these as well as all the others don't use the "best" clamps, couplers, and piping and really should be looked over twice when installing. Same with bad gaskets found with boost leak testing.

I've found it to be the tool off the year when diagnosing engine swaps.

Blah, long post = long response.

What did you find wrong specifically with the Hybrid intercooler set up?The reason i ask is,well in my hatch as you know,im havening the same problem that the OP had,Ive also got the hybrid setup.Ive made a boost leak detector and fixed all my leaks but it still does the same thing.

Was there any small leaks or anything in the couplers that you found or the piping?Im just wondering that way ill know what to look for when im pulling it apart tomorrow,that way i can fix it before i put it on the vert.

[kouki-gymkhana]

There is nothing specifically wrong with the Hybrid kit. In fact, it fits very well and the piping is pretty decent quality. The only problem with the kit is that a couple of the pipes are angled a bit too steeply where they are joined to the adjacent segment with a silicone coupler. What can happen is that the T-bolt clamp doesn't clamp down equally around its circumference causing a leak. My advice is to make sure that all the clamps are parallel with the couplers when you tighten them up.

[leesredgt]

OK thanks,ill be sure to double check everything this time around.