OK - Mechanic is stumped. any ideas??

[fiznat]

God dammit man, I cant watch this happen anymore!

STOP buying parts, and get your car as far away as possible from that "mechanic!!!!" This guy is OBVIOUSLY a sheister and constantly getting you to throw parts at the car is not only poor diagnostic technique, but also classic sheister-mechanic BS!

CHRIST man, GET the car home, TOW it if you have to, and we will help you get your car running right.

This is killing me man, its becoming hard to watch...

PS the auto ECU and dizzy most likely have nothing to do with your problem.

[Mustangs_Suck]

God dammit man, I cant watch this happen anymore!

STOP buying parts, and get your car as far away as possible from that "mechanic!!!!" This guy is OBVIOUSLY a sheister and constantly getting you to throw parts at the car is not only poor diagnostic technique, but also classic sheister-mechanic BS!

CHRIST man, GET the car home, TOW it if you have to, and we will help you get your car running right.

This is killing me man, its becoming hard to watch...

PS the auto ECU and dizzy most likely have nothing to do with your problem.

tell me about it

Is the only difference in auto/manual ECU the speed/RPM governor? 'cuz if that's true I'd rather have the auto in there so I don't top out in like 3rd gear lol.

Distributor - I have no clue what he meant..he said if it's an automatic one in a 5-speed it'll cause it to not run right. Anyway this could be possible?

Let me know..cause I have pending sales on the ECU and Distributor, but want to know for sure that they have nothing to do with Auto/5-speed before I tell them yay or nay.

MAF - I just want to upgrade anyways, so what the hell..get it overwith right?

[Mustangs_Suck]

He got the info about the distributor/ECU from the dealership...so according to Nissan - if you have an auto dist. in a 5-speed it won't run correctly.

The ECU he said will spit out different AFR's for auto/manual - but my car's been tuned with a wideband and whatnot..so that's not causing it.

Only thing I can think of is the MAF, or something burned out on the ECU. He was gonna do a smoke test to check for vacuum leaks, but since the turbo manifold is off of it, he can't do that anymore.

[onosqv]

Since when have ppl at the dealership actually know what they are talking about? (hehehe, most of them anyway... not our ppl here who work at dealerships ).

Distributor for auto/manual doesn't matter as far as I can tell. The ONLY difference between auto & manual ecu is the extra pieces of hardware to communicate w/ the transmission controller and some of the air flow ratio maps & as you said the governor. If you have a manual, there is absolutely nothing to worry about other than setting idle correctly, which your car currently does fine.

I have run both manual & auto ecu on my car successfully. I have an auto and modified the wiring so that the tcu stuff completely bypasses the ecu...

Also, when I replaced my distributor stuff on my car, there was no mention "is the car manual or auto" - it's the same.

Is the mechanic "telling" you what is working and what is not. Or is he actually "showing" you w/ you at the shop that this is happening and this is not, etc.

If you are only dealing w/ him via phone, get your *** down there pronto.

And like fiznat said. Get the hell out of there.

The next time you post I wanna see

"Guys, all the problems are fixed & I'm boosting again..."

or

"Guys, I took my car back, **** that mechanic..."

If I see

"Ok, so the mechanic now tells me..."

I will

2

[fiznat]

lol well said brokeAs240sx, well said.

[Mustangs_Suck]

Since when have ppl at the dealership actually know what they are talking about? (hehehe, most of them anyway... not our ppl here who work at dealerships ).

Distributor for auto/manual doesn't matter as far as I can tell. The ONLY difference between auto & manual ecu is the extra pieces of hardware to communicate w/ the transmission controller and some of the air flow ratio maps & as you said the governor. If you have a manual, there is absolutely nothing to worry about other than setting idle correctly, which your car currently does fine.

I have run both manual & auto ecu on my car successfully. I have an auto and modified the wiring so that the tcu stuff completely bypasses the ecu...

Also, when I replaced my distributor stuff on my car, there was no mention "is the car manual or auto" - it's the same.

Is the mechanic "telling" you what is working and what is not. Or is he actually "showing" you w/ you at the shop that this is happening and this is not, etc.

If you are only dealing w/ him via phone, get your *** down there pronto.

And like fiznat said. Get the hell out of there.

The next time you post I wanna see

"Guys, all the problems are fixed & I'm boosting again..."

or

"Guys, I took my car back, **** that mechanic..."

If I see

"Ok, so the mechanic now tells me..."

I will

2

ok well. Sadly due to my ****ing work/school schedule I really will NEVER be able to have him show me anything as far as my car goes, only my dad - who isn't car smart at all, so he could b.s. about anything all he wants and my dad'll just go "oh ok". I get out of work at 3:30pm. He closes at 5pm. he is a 1hr drive from home, and I'm not going up there without showering, I feel absolutely disgusting when I get out of that place.

Thanks for the clear up - I will not buy a distributor, nor an ECU (I like not having speed governor/rpm limit in gears anyways ).

All I can think of is the MAF. I will buy a Z32 MAF and that'll be that. Even if it doesn't solve the problem at least I'll of gotten that upgrade out of the way, and we'll be on our way troubleshooting to something else..which will be beyond me by then.

Sadly I won't be able to get it out of there..the engine bay is a mess I assume with all the testing/things the mechanic has done to it...plus winter is less than a month away, and he said he'd store it at his shop the entire winter for free.

I most likely will not be driving my car again until around April 2006 god ****ing damn it.

I need to save the little money I get from working to buy a winter car in less than a month..I can't keep driving around in my dad's civic..he needs it for the good gas mileage/reliable car he bought it for since all he has other than it is his work van that costs over $100 to fill up and gets around 12mpg.

[fiznat]

Stop throwing parts at it. Again, that is no way to "fix" a car. If you change the MAF, keep in mind you will have to change your tune. You shouldnt be upgrading until you have a good baseline to start with.

Tell your mechanic to stop doing random stuff with the car and charging you for it. Tell him to ONLY look at the specific things you (we) tell him to. I would focus right now on MAF and your ignition. Most likely the MAF. There is a procedure in the FSM how to check the MAF, do that. Then the next step, then the next step. That should keep costs in check and at least you'll know whats going on.

[onosqv]

I would also like to add, putting in a z32 maf will only complicate matters, especially in a non properly running car. If anything, I would exhange the existing maf for a known to be good ka maf, the existing ecu (if it ever comes to that) for a known to be good ka ecu, etc.

Please, don't worry about having to take a shower and just get down there today, tomorrow, or whenever. But do it soon.

TOO MANY TIMES I have heard over the phone from a mechanic "yea, we have your engine apart right now checking it, bla bla bla" - then I drive down there, and it's parked where I left it yesterday not touched at all.

The possible issue with the MAF was mentioned on September 29th on this forum by 180sx... it has been 5 days and the only thing we all know is your mechanic "says" he checked it.

I'm not blaming you for that - I understand your frustration with your mechanic too, but I am blaming you for not going in person because something is an hour drive away and you want to shower... seriously, that sounds ridiculous. Your car has been in the shop for how long now? And you won't take an hour out of your time to go down there and see in person to verify everything?

It's not like you are getting ready for a date, you are going to the MECHANIC for crying out loud - they smell like crap after a day's work, you probably smell like flowers compared to them.

Get your *** down there, check the MAF yourself if you have to, just to make sure first.

I don't think anyone on this forum can help you any further w/o some solid real information.. you know how that telephone game works...

Then we'll be instead of

[S14tat]

another difference in the auto to 5 speed ecu is that the tune for cold start up is different. anthony was running a 5 speed with a auto ecu with no problems. the distributor would make no difference either. infact i never even had a clue that the dizzy would be different, and why would they be?

and a Z32 MAF like what everyone says is totally screw with your stock settings. and will require a safcII with a wideband to get it to run right.

the car not wanting to rev past 3000rpm means the car is in limp mode. take it to another mechanic and have him plug in a snap-on scan tool or a OTC or any other scan tool of some sort and find out what ecu code is being thrown off to freak the ecu into running in limp mode. then he will have a better idea of where to even start looking.

[Mustangs_Suck]

Stop throwing parts at it. Again, that is no way to "fix" a car. If you change the MAF, keep in mind you will have to change your tune. You shouldnt be upgrading until you have a good baseline to start with.

Tell your mechanic to stop doing random stuff with the car and charging you for it. Tell him to ONLY look at the specific things you (we) tell him to. I would focus right now on MAF and your ignition. Most likely the MAF. There is a procedure in the FSM how to check the MAF, do that. Then the next step, then the next step. That should keep costs in check and at least you'll know whats going on.

My car is tuned with a SAFC, and was tuned on a dyno with a wideband...you're telling me if I swap out a stock MAF, and put a Z32 MAF on, I'll have to get it tuned all over again just from that one part? If so..I'll just get a stock one then..f it for now..I just want to try and be able to drive it for one more month before it goes into hibernation. The only tests he's run on the MAF and Ignition Coil are to see how the connection is/how many ohm's they are spitting out..he says they are perfect when it comes to that.

I have the FSM on my computer, I"ll have to print out the MAF check part and just go down there. I'm gonna try to do it on Friday, leave work and just go there. If I'm there he should stay until all my tests/questions are answered/proven to me...as he's not an ******* to your face..he's just wishy washy on the phone.

[Mustangs_Suck]

I would also like to add, putting in a z32 maf will only complicate matters, especially in a non properly running car. If anything, I would exhange the existing maf for a known to be good ka maf, the existing ecu (if it ever comes to that) for a known to be good ka ecu, etc.

Please, don't worry about having to take a shower and just get down there today, tomorrow, or whenever. But do it soon.

TOO MANY TIMES I have heard over the phone from a mechanic "yea, we have your engine apart right now checking it, bla bla bla" - then I drive down there, and it's parked where I left it yesterday not touched at all.

The possible issue with the MAF was mentioned on September 29th on this forum by 180sx... it has been 5 days and the only thing we all know is your mechanic "says" he checked it.

I'm not blaming you for that - I understand your frustration with your mechanic too, but I am blaming you for not going in person because something is an hour drive away and you want to shower... seriously, that sounds ridiculous. Your car has been in the shop for how long now? And you won't take an hour out of your time to go down there and see in person to verify everything?

It's not like you are getting ready for a date, you are going to the MECHANIC for crying out loud - they smell like crap after a day's work, you probably smell like flowers compared to them.

Get your *** down there, check the MAF yourself if you have to, just to make sure first.

I don't think anyone on this forum can help you any further w/o some solid real information.. you know how that telephone game works...

Then we'll be instead of

I hear ya..I just know that stock MAF's do not like 8psi or more..I'm running 7. I figured I'd just upgrade and get it out of the way so I don't push another one to it's limits...but if just that part alone will make me have to get it all my SAFC settings re-tuned on the dyno...forget it..it should hold up for less than a month.

and yeah..Friday I'm gonna try to do get down there and do this ****. I'll call him to let him know ahead of time so he can't say 'you made it last minute and I got to be somewhere" or some ****. It's been at his shop for about 6 weeks now...I've had to catch myself from going ballistic with him on the phone a few times.

[Mustangs_Suck]

another difference in the auto to 5 speed ecu is that the tune for cold start up is different. anthony was running a 5 speed with a auto ecu with no problems. the distributor would make no difference either. infact i never even had a clue that the dizzy would be different, and why would they be?

and a Z32 MAF like what everyone says is totally screw with your stock settings. and will require a safcII with a wideband to get it to run right.

the car not wanting to rev past 3000rpm means the car is in limp mode. take it to another mechanic and have him plug in a snap-on scan tool or a OTC or any other scan tool of some sort and find out what ecu code is being thrown off to freak the ecu into running in limp mode. then he will have a better idea of where to even start looking.

Either way..my car has been professionally tuned with a wideband and I have a SAFC monitoring everything...so the different tune the auto/manual ecu spits out wouldn't matter now, and again - I have a SAFC and it's been tuned for my set-up...me putting that part on it will cause me to have to competely re-tune it?

When I go down there on Friday, I'll try to get him to do a diagnostic on it.

If things pop up right away in when I"m down there showing what's wrong..i could give a **** if he has 1000 hrs into it..he's only getting paid for few hrs. it would of taken him to find out what's wrong by running the correct tests given the situation right from the start, and then how ever many hrs it would take him to complete the job fair and square.

[Not_a_sr]

sounds like a bad maf. 20$ part and 5mins to fix

[S14tat]

yes if you have a safc and its tuned to your current maf and you changed to a Z32 maf, it will change the whole tuning greatly. when i switched from stock maf to Z32 maf i had to get it retuned. on stock maf my correction on high throttle was in the -20's, but with the Z maf i was in the teens. and for low throttle on stock maf i was in -28 but on the Z maf it was in the negative teens again.

even switching from one Z maf to another Z maf would throw the settings off alittle. when my first Z maf failed i had to retune my new Z maf by alittle. ( i have a wideband though so it was free and easy )

[Mustangs_Suck]

yes if you have a safc and its tuned to your current maf and you changed to a Z32 maf, it will change the whole tuning greatly. when i switched from stock maf to Z32 maf i had to get it retuned. on stock maf my correction on high throttle was in the -20's, but with the Z maf i was in the teens. and for low throttle on stock maf i was in -28 but on the Z maf it was in the negative teens again.

even switching from one Z maf to another Z maf would throw the settings off alittle. when my first Z maf failed i had to retune my new Z maf by alittle. ( i have a wideband though so it was free and easy )

ahh ok. well if it is the MAF, and putting a stock one on will let me drive it for the rest of this month, I'll just do that, and put the Z32 MAF on it when I upgrade the rest of my turbo kit/motor then. No need to keep paying for re-tunes if the only thing I'm changing is my MAF when I have the rest of the engine/turbo parts to still upgrade.

thanks for the info.

I will be going up there Friday with the print out of how to check the MAF from the FSM. I just asked him if he has a diagnostic checker, and he said he did and he believes it was all clear...but whatever. Him "believing" isn't proof enough for me anymore. When I go up there, I will make him show me the "all clear" code when he runs the diagnostic. I swear to god if it spits a bad MAF signal I'm going to strangle him.

[virus77]

Let me tell you something about mechanics. My dad was one for 30 years and my oldest brother was one for about 9 years before he pulled out of the profession and they were both very good mechanics. Still after all that, I know a million times more about my car and motor. They are pretty clueless about the whole thing. For one thing its a custom setup and its somthing that mechanics dont see often, as opposed to a water pump on a 95 taures which is common as fuk. On top of that most mechanics arent too familiar with boosted motors, your best bet would be a volvo or saab mechanic, they know their turbo ****. Anyways Im not really offering any help im just saying a mechanic and a custom boosted KA dont mix.

Did you try the boost leak tester thats in the stickies for testing for leaks.

[fiznat]

You dont need a scan tool to see if the OBD is "all clear," just look at the check engine light (CEL). If it is on, youre throwing a code. If its off, youre all clear.

[Kenrik]

Oh my... I have not had my car to a mechanic in some time.. I just replaced all my AC stuff (new compressor, expansion valve, drier) and I took it into my mechanic to get it evacuated and filled. The guy was like wow.. I like how you did ____ and how you did____ Why did you ____ oh cool! lol... Who knew putting on a K&N cone filter was such a big deal?... LMAO

I swear I knew more about cars then he did... oh well my AC runs at 55 degrees now... :O Cold... Brrrrr

[Mustangs_Suck]

Let me tell you something about mechanics. My dad was one for 30 years and my oldest brother was one for about 9 years before he pulled out of the profession and they were both very good mechanics. Still after all that, I know a million times more about my car and motor. They are pretty clueless about the whole thing. For one thing its a custom setup and its somthing that mechanics dont see often, as opposed to a water pump on a 95 taures which is common as fuk. On top of that most mechanics arent too familiar with boosted motors, your best bet would be a volvo or saab mechanic, they know their turbo ****. Anyways Im not really offering any help im just saying a mechanic and a custom boosted KA dont mix.

Did you try the boost leak tester thats in the stickies for testing for leaks.

True...this guy is a little different, as he has a VW that he race prepped and put a turbo on himself, and is a SCCA driver with it..so he knows more than the average mechanic...but I think when it comes to troubleshooting, he's clueless.

He was going to smoke test the engine bay, but since the exhaust manifold is off, he can't at the moment. He said he's tested everything and the only leak he found is on my downpipe where it had to be knocked in a notch to clear the steering column i think it is that's in the way, but that leak has been there since I've owned the car, and it drove/operated just fine with it before and it hasn't gotten bigger.

I'm going up there on Friday, I called him and told him I am..He said we won't have much time, but **** that..he's staying later than he wants to - he's had it for 6 weeks and has given me "it needs a new turbo" but that statement has now proved to be false...so him and I are going to find out what's wrong whether he likes it or not.

[Mustangs_Suck]

You dont need a scan tool to see if the OBD is "all clear," just look at the check engine light (CEL). If it is on, youre throwing a code. If its off, youre all clear.

He said he scanned it today...he said it gets an error message when trying to read it as a 5-speed (since the ECU is auto...but with a 5-speed swap), and when he reads it as an auto, he gets some code, but I forgot what he said....I think he said it's all clear, but it's having trouble reading it properly..so idk wtf is going on..I'll make him show me it when I go up on friday.

btw is there even a difference diagnostic tool setting for auto/manual ecu or is it the same and he's lying again??

[Mustangs_Suck]

Oh my... I have not had my car to a mechanic in some time.. I just replaced all my AC stuff (new compressor, expansion valve, drier) and I took it into my mechanic to get it evacuated and filled. The guy was like wow.. I like how you did ____ and how you did____ Why did you ____ oh cool! lol... Who knew putting on a K&N cone filter was such a big deal?... LMAO

I swear I knew more about cars then he did... oh well my AC runs at 55 degrees now... :O Cold... Brrrrr

lol it is funny when you put some mechanics to the test on things..it's like damn man you don't know ****, why are you in this business? oh well..they do one thing good - basic repairing of vehicles while ripping everyone off....I should get in this line of business, the money seems to be damn good..since all you gotta do is lie and stretch the amount of labor hours for some better profit's...the majority of customers wouldn't know any better anyways.

[BadMojo]

btw is there even a difference diagnostic tool setting for auto/manual ecu or is it the same and he's lying again??

This is an ECU from an OBDI car, right? Maybe he was trying to read it through the Consult port with a third party tool, but he could just read the LED on the ECU itself.

Honestly, what he's saying about the ECU doesn't make much sense to me. Did he say it was giving the 55 "all clear" code and what exactly does "not reading it properly" mean? It all seems awfully ambiguous.

I blame the blow.

[Kenrik]

Dude... the ECU has two little lights that blink to tell you the code why is he even messing with a friggin reader... This guys is a complete total screwball... store your car for the winter for free... Yeah rightttt.... get that car out of that shop NOW all he has to do is say hey.. you know i'm going to charge you storage fees for the Six weeks this car has been here... since you do not have any type of contract with him he can hit you with a 5K bill and if you don't pay the car is his... This type of stuff actually happens be careful...

[virus77]

even f the manifold and turbo is off the car, you can pressure test or smoke test it from the first pipe that start your hotpipe.

[Mustangs_Suck]

Jesus god. Well I wanted to go up today..but he confused the **** out of me for a good half an hour on the phone and kept me here - I have come to believe that's what he's trying to do..and he's doing a damn good job of it.

He told me that he all of a sudden got the ECU to spit out the MAFS code.

He said the knock sensor wasn't working, so he got another one.

He said he fixed all of the exhaust leaks.

He said the FPR wasn't getting ANY vacuum - so he fixed it.

He said he cleaned my air filter, as it was dirty as hell (this I can attest to at least).

He said my intake actuator wasn't opening, so he repaired that.

He said he doesn't know how the hell my car was working before.

I thought I heard him say "i changed the AFR on it" and I said "you didn't touch the AFR right?" and he said "no PDQ", to which I replied "pretty damn quick, what the ****?"

I'm having him put the rest of my **** on, and I am driving it home. If it can't make it - I will pay for the tow. **** this guy..he's just confusing me to keep me from coming up here.

**** him.

[Mustangs_Suck]

well **** it...he can just throw all the parts in the interior..it's getting towed asap.

[onosqv]

well **** it...he can just throw all the parts in the interior..it's getting towed asap.

Best news I've heard from you this whole thread

[Mustangs_Suck]

Best news I've heard from you this whole thread

should of never trusted him...damn it..oh well..you live and you learn.

I told my dad about what happened and he said "i've known him for a long time, and when he spits back **** at you like "no PDQ" (as he said when i talked to him) he's mocking you"

So **** him...when he gives me the bill, I'll mock him by saying "shove it up your ***"

My dad is talking with him now to tell him he's done and it's getting towed.

No more Mr. Nice guy for me or him.

[Akihisa]

Clear the codes in the ecu if there are any and make sure he didnt drop anything in the intake, like a rag, to block off airflow.

[Mustangs_Suck]

Clear the codes in the ecu if there are any and make sure he didnt drop anything in the intake, like a rag, to block off airflow.

I will fully inspect my car when I get it back.

I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks something finding out we're saying **** you to him.