s13 sr20det issues!

[kevin920415]

I'm currently trying to troubleshoot some problems I'm facing with my sr. (blacktop)
First of all I blew my fuses for my relocated battery and soon after I replaced it, black smokes started to come out of my exhaust after idling for a while. we checked and replaced the spark plugs as previous ones were THICK black and had a little bit of oil at the end. After a long search we found out that it was the maf sensor..
So we replaced with sohc maf and it DID work but it's bogging extremely and my car dies when i approach to stop.
Last time I drove when I tried to slow down for a corner, my car died after a hugeball of backfire.

What are the causes of this issue?
replace my maf? boost leak? new injector seals? tune?
would that solve my problem?


any tips or advise would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[240dk]

Your first step should be to check all your intercooler connections for boost leaks. The best way to do this is to make you a pressure tester, so you can use compressed air to pressurize your intercooler and intake and check for leaks. I simply bought a round solid plastic piece from lowes that would fit inside an intercooler coupler and clamp it, drill a hole in it barley big enough to screw a either an air hose nipple or a steel valve stem used on car tires. (if you use an air hose nipple you need a way to control the amount of air pressure going in the intake, like being able to cut the air compressor off) Then remove the intake tube that your maf is connected to going to the front of the turbo, and clamp the newly made tester on. Take shop air and pressurize your intake/intercooler piping, see if your boost gauge holds pressure, and listen for air leaks or spray soapy water around all connections. Around 15psi of pressure should be enough to determine where leaks are. Boost leaks will cause you all kinds of problems on a turbo engine that runs a MAF setup, especially running rich and idle problems. The boost tester will be your best friend you will use it many times, trust me.