Diagnose this problem and you win!!

[thetremendoustim]

If you're serious about the ignitor, I have one, just pay shipping. Atleast I think I do, its on the coil bracket or something yah?

 

EDIT: just saw video and dude... :/ How does your hot voiced girlfriend date you with that.

no thats my last resort its like when you''ve lost your keys and after a while you just start looking everywhere; in the cookie jar, underneath the rear van seats, or in boxes in the attic you know? also, she's hot in person

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116263&page=18

 

I've been wanting to throw this out for a while.

 

Somehow I can not be certian, but is it fireing on all holes?

 

Is it skipping here and there?

 

 

Have some one help keep it alive, and start pulling injector plugs or spark plugs.

 

i'll try it!!

 

 

edit: But hey I have been reading other posts etc and these 2 questions just came to mind, could the fact that

 

1. I'm running small (14ga?) wire from the ignition to the fusible link be a problem?

2. The fact that my ecu ground isn't very good be a problem?

[MAG58]

1. Perhaps. It'll run hotter and have more resistance than a larger cable of the same material.

 

2. yes.

[thetremendoustim]

So I made a new ground connection from the ECU but still no go, how do I know if its the ECU? Should I just take it to the Nissan dealership and say test it? Are there any tests I can do with the ECU to see if its running correctly?

[josh817]

I've always read that on the turbo builds its preferable to run an aftermarket ecu rather than stock. Is this why its running like ♥♥♥♥ or does that only come into play so you can tune and stuff? this is why I don't mess with this fuel injection stuff... No will to learn and no knowledge to tinker.

[loy]

What year are your eletronics from?

[thetremendoustim]

83' JECS computer, 83 wiring which was a pain cuz all the writeups were for 81/82 >.

[josh817]

I think even without megasquirt or any other aftermarket ecu, it should atleast be able to start up and run. You would just have a lack of tuning making boosted driving horrible after a certain point I would think.

[kolonelklink87]

perhaps some more information -

 

Pull the spark plugs and take a photo?

 

check that each plug is igniting correctly,

 

Use the ol' flathead screw driver and ear to test if all injectors are firing

 

->check fuel and spark first then check sensors, temp sensor plugs come loose more often than ecu failure... check your distributor angle sensor? my brother was told by a mechanic that his ignitor on his skyline was stuffed... when i had a look i found a loose CAS connection.. saved a bucket of cash

 

if you suspect the sensors pull them and put them in hot water(OR oven lol), resistance should vary (see FSM).

 

failing this you should be able to pick up a cheapy ECU.... im not certain as to how frequently they fail as its all solid-state. People seem to throw money at ecu's to fix problems but it frequently brings heartache when the problem isnt solved

 

*edit* from memory when i had zx injection system when i disconnected the AFM it caused the engine to run WAY rich.. i could only get it to run when the throttle was fully opened.... what happens when you throttle, can you video that?

 

 

after this drama has receded you should consider going with a programable FI such as megasquirt (if you can afford it). Obviously you can post on forums and operate a video camera (also you appear at least semi-literate despite the mullet to evidence to the contrary) this being the case, with time, patience and perseverance you should be able to work out MS.

[Daeron]

someone earlier asked if the plastic spray caps on the injectors were intact. If the injector tips aren't right, the fuel will have more of a dribble action than a spray action, difficult ignition, problems across the board.

 

You need to read the plugs, and I would replace the AFM with a known good one if it is at all possible. Anyone anywhere near you that can help you out?? It would be perfect if you could find someone with a stock electronics L28ET in your region that wanted to help you out. If you can throw in a known good one and it works, you know you need an AFM; if the known good one doesn't work, then you try putting yours onto the other car (if the guy's super nice. Obviously this is an ideal situation)

 

Could you have a bad fuel pressure regulator or a clogged return line? Maybe even a bad vacuum line to the FPR...

[thetremendoustim]

Anyone anywhere near you that can help you out?? It would be perfect if you could find someone with a stock electronics L28ET in your region that wanted to help you out.

yeah i know, i've posted a cople threads trying to find people in L.A. to help me but nobody seems to want to, unless I'm the only person in L.A. with a ZXT XD

 

But, i ended up going to glendale and almost buying another AFM, but while i was testing his I figured out the problem with mine. The carbon swiper had been moved about 2mm so it was not contacting the board until the amount of air requred pulled it to touch the board (flapper about 1/8th inch open). When i moved it to be touching the board when the flapper was closed it now idles fine, but I moved it a few teeth leaner so it's a little better, the P.O. really ****ed me super bad. I have NO idea how it wasn't even touching or how it moved but such is life. Now this is what it SOUNDS like (the video sucks)

 

but hey its running!

[HowlerMonkey]

In that video, you only have 5 cylinders running.

 

I would use a screwdriver to listen to the injectors and see if you can hear one that doesn't sound like it's firing.

 

It's also possible the spark plug in that cylinder has gas fouled and won't fire.

 

I would start it, turn it off after a few seconds of running at idle, and pull plugs.

 

If you find one that is wet, clean it off and swap it with another cylinder.

 

It's safer to pull injector connectors than spark plug wires while it is running to see which cylinder is not firing but not always the best test.

[FlatBlack]

It's also possible the spark plug in that cylinder has gas fouled and won't fire.

 

 

I was thinking that would be the problem ^

 

Glad to see [hear] that you got it idleing at least. Is the AFM just sitting on the fender?

 

And is that the stock T3?

[thetremendoustim]

Hey flatblack!

Yeah it was sitting on the side (the AFM)

Yeah its the stock T3

 

Today i replaced the ignitor with a nismo one I had, got new NGK's (gapped at .043) and made myself some IC piping (the one by my foot (dont worry its just the fender) ) and this is today's result

 

 

Tell me what you think!

 

[josh817]

Are you still running rich because the turbo sounds like its wanting to spool up, but it shouldn't unless the motor is under load. Stage launch systems work by making a very rich condition and then retarding the ignition. Maybe I'm just going crazy, I know regular revving of a turbocharged motor you will hear the turbo spinning up but never spooling I don't think. Get yourself one of those ignition lights that you plug inline with the wire/plug and it flashes every time you get a spark on that wire. They're like $2. Just go down the wires until you hit one that has weird spark or no spark. If everything is firing then as you found out before, either your injectors are ****ing up or your timing is off, by a good amount, or both.

 

I don't know anything about the turbo electronics but it seems like a logical step is to map everything out first. You know the motor runs off of 4 or 5 general things:

-Cam/motor is degreed properly (mechanical)

-spark on all cylinders (mechanical)

-properly working injectors (make sure they're working as they should first so this would be mechanical)

-correct ignition

*break this into sub categories since timing I would think is influenced by different inputs to the ECU from sensors

-proper AFR

*break this into sub categories since AFR I would think is influenced by different inputs to the ECU from sensors

 

Test ALL the sub categories until you find an oddball.

 

 

 

If you have spark on all cylinders, cross it out, you probably degreed the motor properly so cross that out, check your injectors and cross that out if they're good. Get all the physical, mechanical stuff taken care of so its not screwing with the performance of the electrical (IE: TPS is physically broken and reads improperly which messes other things up). If its running with funky timing perhaps you twist the dizzy and advance or retard it until it atleast sounds better than before. Isn't the turbo dizzy just a CAS unit so the ECU takes care of timing? Basically, when the ECU is processing all its inputs, are certain inputs such as water temp and air temp playing a role in how much to advance or retard the ignition? If so, that just made your life really ****ty... If its running way lean, then I would go down the list of things which influence the AFR, all sensors, that sort of thing. Really, you've already kind of done that by checking certain pieces like the AFM however I think it would be good to pull out your schematics and make a list of all inputs to the ECU and then check for shorts, continuity, working properly, etc. If you organize everything out and make sure its nothing mechanical or phyiscally broken/smashed/mangled, then continue onto an electrical check list. Also if I were you, I would note down even the slightest bit of improper voltage say from the temp sensor and what not because with the ECU mixing different inputs together to make a complex running atmosphere (IE: reading air temp, water temp, air flow, and then saying this is happening at X ambient degrees and Y water temp with Z air flow so I need this A/F) I would assume the slightest screw up in any sensor would collectively rape the running condition and performance of the motor.

 

Then again I DID just kind of generalize my thoughts on something I really don't even know electrically... All I know is that when my Z was a wiring nightmare, I just went down the list of things in the schematics and anything connected to each other or whatever was all checked and tested until I got it down to like a break in a single wire or whatever. We're all lucky Nissan didn't rape their wiring from the factory like Triumph did.. One thing goes out and it all goes out. Quite frequently too since they were Lucas products. Haha never daisy chain leery electrics.

[HowlerMonkey]

From that video the car is lean.

 

Of course the car in the video could be dead cold but, if it is actually warmed up, I would get a resistor from radio shack that is the same resistence as the sensor would send on a fully warmed up car and then run it.

 

If it is still lean, bring up the speed until it starts breaking up and push open the flap on the airflow meter just slightly and see if it clears up.

 

If so, you might only need to loosen the spring....if you've played with it already......if not leave spring tension where it is.

 

Your mentioning the wiper being a bit off and fixing it.

 

It still could be off in the direction of lean in that only a very small amount of movment has a big effect on tip in mixture.

 

 

Also......the bypass port...........has that been fooled with or is the plug still in.

 

If not, you can actually see the screw through the slot just a little and can get an idea of how much authority you have with it.