I have a 3-day seminar in Atlanta Tuesday, April 12th through the 14th. I called Doug, and will drop her off Tuesday morning. They can keep her until Thursday, if necessary. I will be returning, in May, if I need major service.

He is going to check her out, to see why she is so down on power. She does great on the highway, shifts great, but couldn't spin the tires in the rain hardly. She drives so different from Layla. Layla seems so raw, compared to her.

I think it is timimg, or plugged cats, or plugged injectors. That California gas might have done it's job. Most of the injectors have been replaced, along with the fuel pump, plugs, filter, etc.

I will be condensing the service history, so it will be easier to see what was done, and when.

I am asking for a consult test, along with timing check, fuel system check.

What else should I ask for?

Power balance test done with the Consult. This should reveal any injector or firing problems. Might do the rail flush first.

congrats on taking the Q to T3...I seriously plan on doing it during the NOPI meet in September for a once over to change anything out (preventative) so that the Q goes another 75,000 miles hopefully trouble free....till its death or somebody buys it to put a new engine in it.

Here is a synopsis of the previous owner's service history:. I hope it posts OK. Tony spent over $47K, in 7 years.

09/01/97 45128 Frontier Infiniti $32,330.34 Purchase09/18/97 45785 Frontier Infiniti $- Repair 2 small dents in left fender02/17/98 51874 Frontier Infiniti $65.90 Oil Change08/10/98 58332 Frontier Infiniti $1,400.54 60K Service (oil, plugs, oil pan gasket, fuel filter, fan, oil pressure switch, brake pads, belts, alignment11/16/98 61410 Frontier Infiniti $47.26 Added ground wire to MAF, oil change12/22/98 62450 America's Tire Store $94.25 1 new tire01/16/99 62668 America's Tire Store $282.72 3 new tires04/21/99 64747 Frontier Infiniti $215.11 Oil change, Antenna mast03/16/00 68636 Frontier Infiniti $759.13 Master Cylinder, oil change, brake flush, fuel service08/08/00 70845 Frontier Infiniti $505.95 3,750 service, antenna mast, O2 check03/08/01 74054 Frontier Infiniti $2,223.53 8 Injectors07/23/01 75728 Frontier Infiniti $91.49 3,750 service09/29/01 76528 Sherman's Auto Service $846.15 MAF, checked fuel pump08/02/02 83739 Warren McCord Motorsports $464.57 Oil & Tranny service (flush & replaced with Amsoil synthetic)09/27/02 84779 Warren McCord Motorsports $341.55 Knock sensor code - diagnostic service only - no replacement. Reset code03/03/03 87271 Dean's Automotive $672.28 Oil change passenger window regulator08/06/03 90256 Dean's Automotive $1,874.94 replace fuel pump, relay, & controller, reset knock sensor code09/04/03 90645 Dean's Automotive $1,300.67 replace plugs, fuel pressure regulator12/08/03 92228 Dean's Automotive $3,880.70 valve cover gaskets, brakes, water pump, hoses, battery, alignment08/13/04 97092 Dean's Automotive $166.60 oil change, 7,500 mile service $350.00 Tokiko Blues

It flashed a knock sensor failure twice, but neither time, were they replaced. It appears that all the injectors have been replaced, along with the fuel pressure regulator, fuel pump, and fuel pump control module. I replaced the plugs, which were Bosch +4's (aaaaarrrrrrggghhhhhh!).

I am afraid the knock sensors are the culprits, unless the new injectors are clogged again. It runs so great, though. The idle is a little high. It could be the precats, with all that terrible California gas, and the fact that Tony's wife only drove 50K, in 7 years. She drove 2.5 miles a day to and from work. That was the killer!

what in the world is the owner doing spending that much money on such simple fixes?

rsiwicki wrote:congrats on taking the Q to T3...I seriously plan on doing it during the NOPI meet in September for a once over to change anything out (preventative) so that the Q goes another 75,000 miles hopefully trouble free....till its death or somebody buys it to put a new engine in it.

GLAD to hear that!

Congrats Jeff, cant wait to hear what they say!!!

I dorpped her off, today.

Byron is going to do a Consult, power balalnce, and see what the problems are.

Now I can say Lola has been servcied by T 3. It was really something, seeing all the first-gen Q's in the lot.

Byron is great. Doug was very helpful. Dennis has the run of the place. I would have loved to spend more time there, but had to get home.

I am going back to Atlanta, in May. If I have a good month, I might take Layla there, for a consult.

i'm probably making the drive there this summer for chain guides(assuming time bomb doesnt go off too soon :-P) and a consult. hope i get to meet dennis and all these great people!

I only had time to data log 2 WOT starts thru the 50 mph shift [4000-6500 rpms] AFTER the KS replacement.

Not as mentally sure of parameters on 94 vs 90-93........but the engine pulled well as we say "for a 94" with a 25 degree peak advance at 6500 and mid 9 millisecond injector opening times......the MAF voltage seemed lower [but not by much] reflecting a lower intake air flow thus low injector rate.

My guess is 10% less than mine which would make sense 90 JWT ecu vs 94 stock.http://home.flash.net/~rfm2/massair.htmBased on some MAF tranfer graphs I've seen.........the 0.1-0.15 volt lower signal would be 10% less air flow [+-]........in the 4.25-4.40 volt range

Off topic but useful to keep in mind:http://www.circletrack.com/139_0302_class/

"Octane has nothing to do with the burning speed. The process ofdetonation is complex enough that it has yet to be completelymodeled. Octane is still measured at many refineries by means of anon-line test engine, though chromatography is gradually takingover. In simple terms, detonation occurs when the ignitionprecursor compounds produced as the fuel mix is heated, first bycompression and then radiatively by the advancing flame front, tothe point where it ignites. High speed in-cylinder photographs showthat detonation almost always originates at the junction between thehead and block where a stagnant mixture is the furtherest away fromthe flame front. Octane booster work in a variety of methods. Tetraethyl lead (TEL) worked by decomposing into tiny particles oflead oxide which absorbed and/or reflected the radiative heat fromthe advancing flame front. Other compounds such as the higheraromatics like toluene suppers the formation of ignition-proneprecursors. Any detonation control effort is a race betweencompleting the combustion cycle and premature ignition.

Advancing the spark does make more power in a low compression engineif done properly. The goal is to arrange the peak combustion tooccur at a time which is least likely to cause detonation whiledelivering the maximum force to the piston. The rate of combustionis an exponential function of pressure. The curve climbs rapidlyafter the knee. I high compression engine starts out well up on thepressure axis and so needs less advance to put the combustion peakin the right place. A low compression engine starts out lower onthe pressure curve so more spark lead is used to give the reactiontime to proceed at the low pressure. There is a tradeoff whereradiative heat loss to the piston and block while the combustion isstill slow and additional frictional losses due to there beingpressure behind the top ring for a longer period of time balancesagainst the increased combustion pressure. Just slamming in moreadvance by turning the distributor on an old engine doesn't workbecause it puts advance in everywhere and not just where it isneeded.

I might add that using premium gas where it is not required mayresult in less power and mileage. This is because the non-TELoctane boosters such as toluene, MTBE and other ethers, and thealcohols have less BTU per gallon than the base stock. It thustakes more volume of fuel to make the same power. For at least 10years now the EPA has mandated an additive package sufficient tokeep injectors clean for 100k miles for any grade of gas.

You'll never read about this just looking at the popular hotrodpress written by knuckle dragging Neanderthals who think multiplecarburetors and tunnel ram manifolds and open exhausts still have aplace on the street. But the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)has a huge collection of engineering materials available on thesubject. proceedings of their fuel, engine management and engineelectronics conferences are available, albeit quite expensive.Check out http://www.sae.org. You can buy the papers online,delivered to you in PDF format. There is also a good handbookavailable on fuels."

I will check the air filter. I recall looking at it, in California, when I bought the car, but haven't paid much attention over the last 18K miles and 5 months. It might be a little dirty. All that pollen in Atlanta might have clogged the filter.

I have experienced, in Layla, better fuel efficiency at times. One time, was when I had to put plus in, because the gas station didn't have any premium. I got 23 MPG. I thought I just under-filled the tank the next time. I definitely will NOT be changing from premium, but I thought that reading was very interesting. I have been very happy with Chevron fuels over the years.

Jeff Williams wrote: I will check the air filter. I recall looking at it, in California, when I bought the car, but haven't paid much attention over the last 18K miles and 5 months. It might be a little dirty.

I guarantee it is at 12K. Change both filters on the FY33 every 12K. I wash the inside of the filter box too. Wish the G50 had a cabin filter.

Don't forget the fuel filter also.
Modified by maxnix at 1:22 PM 4/15/2005

maxnix wrote:I guarantee it is at 12K. Change both filters on the FY33 every 12K. I wash the inside of hte filter box too. Wish the G50 had a cabin filter.

Don't forget the fuel filter also.

That evaporator gets really dirty!!!

Jeff,

How's she running! I've just been swamped at work.

dannymchale wrote:Jeff,

How's she running! I've just been swamped at work.

Beautifully! I need to turn the rotors, and re-balance the tires this week.