SR20 trouble, please lend me a hand!

[89sr20coupe]

I got the car and it seems to run OK. I need to get this car running smooth asap as I am going to need it for a daily driver soon. So please please please give me as much feedback as you can. I have used the search for hours and couldn't really find what I was looking for..

It idles like crap!!!

After I drive it around alittle bit and turn the car off, it won't start back up. When I pull the fuel pump fuse out, it will fire up and then die (obviously) and when I put the fuse back in it fires up with little help and continue to run.

The car came with a SAFC, I am new to this thing but I got some settings from the search...It is set on hot-wire in-05 out-05 with the arrow pointing up. I am not sure where to go with the corrections just yet.

I also think the thermostat is stuck closed. Coolant doesn't really get hot but the engine does! I have only taken it around the block and I just got the fans wired up.

The stupid tempature gauge doesn't work, is the sender the same as the stock one? I also think the sensor the ecu might be causing the rich condition and that is why it is loading up and not restarting...Am I on the right track here??

If anyone is in the south jersey area, maybe you could stop by, cold beer is always in the fridge. I am a big noob to this car, but not cars in general, so don't think I am a big retard if I ask a dumb question about the 240! Please help

Modified by 89sr20coupe at 1:20 PM 5/22/2007
Modified by 89sr20coupe at 7:29 AM 5/24/2007

[IanS]

your hot start problem does sound like the coolant temp sensor, and the gauge sender should be the same as the chasis, as for bad idle, try cleaning you iacv, and you can replace your thermostat with one from a b13 SE-R

[exode]

and unplug that damn safc and leave it alone until your car idles right.

unless you need it for your maf or injectors. Either way an ECU tune would do you much good if those are modified

[S13FASTBACKSR]

there are 2 things that will cause the engine to not start when it is hot. The cts like stated above and the wrong heat range of spark plugs. heat range 6 will be for lower hp engines, 7 would be medium and 8 would be high hp engines

[corey240]

dude nomater what anybody tells you it has somthing to do with the coolant temp sensor. and you can only pray it isnt as bad as mine, my temp gauge doesnt work and its from this problem, search your ecu for codes and i bet youl get a code 13. basicaly the car floods because the ecu isnt reading the car is heated up so it floods it thinking its cold, i think thats right? either way were both stuck in the same boat only you may have an easier fix then me, for some reason after replacing the sensors my gauge doesnt work and the ecu still thinks the sensor/s are/is bad. and like he said, dont mess with any tuning devices until the car is running correctly.

[S13FASTBACKSR]

when your CTS is bad the engine will not start when hot because this sensor tells the ECU the engines coolant temp. The ecu then tells the injectors how much fuel to put in based on the engines coolant temp. When the sensor is bad it will say the engine is cold (when its actually hot) so the ecu will have the injectors put more fuel in than needed (as if it were a cold engine start when its really a hot engine start) and then the engine will flood and not start..so yes corey you were right about that but wrong about saying that it is the CTS no matter what. Because it could also be the wrong heat range of spark plugs. But if you havent upgraded your engine AND THEN started having this problem then thats probably not it. (you can only exceed the heat range if you make your engine more powerful) so unless the guy who started this thread upgraded and then had this problem right after ..the plugs probably arent his problem..also you have to reset your ecu to erase the codes.

[89sr20coupe]

Alright, I will unplug the SAFC tomorrow after I change the CTS and the thermostat. I will pull a spark plug tomorrow and see what is in there. I will let you guys know how it turns out. Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated

[corey240]

how do you reset the ecu? i cant find it in the search. seriously, im gona kill the interwebs if i reset my ecu and it fixes my cts problem, both of the sensors are new and the wireing is all good. WTF!

[89sr20coupe]

Ok got it running fine after I changed out the sensor and unplugged the SAFC. However, 2 days ago the hose from the turbo to the bov blew off and the car started making a weird noise. I thought it was just because the hose was off.

I replaced the hose with a metal pipe. Put in the sensor, fire it up and all I hear is a god damn knocking noise. From what I've read so far, it seems like a rod bearing. I haven't driven the car, only started it and it ran a total of 20 seconds. How much damage could be done?

And how the hell did that happen!!!!!! I just got this POS!!!

[S13FASTBACKSR]

You may just have a bad knock sensor. Check your ecu for codes i believe on the redtop a code 34 is knock sensor. You may also want to check continuity between terminal A and a ground (terminal A is all the way on the left and continuity should exist.)The ohms of the KS should be more than 10 so check for that too (all of this with the key on)

[89sr20coupe]

I don't think a knock sensor would cause it to knock. A knock sensor is for detecting pre-detonation/pinging/spark knock... whatever you choose to call it.