strange engine behaviour - any clues???

vveecee25 Jan 2007, 09:49

hello there everyone.

flippin nice day we having, specially when the damn CA18det starts giving shit hey.

i'm at work in the !@$!@$^ xtrail this morning, because yesterday my sx decided that enough was enough.

its a strange thing, and i'd appreciate any insight if anyone has any!

hte motor is mostly stock except for forged pistons, electric fans, and i've gotten rid of the idling control (it wasn't working anyway) and the cold start system!

when the motor is warmed up (stock gauge half way up), aftermarket guessometer reading about 95, after a trip from edenvale to beyers naude', when i get the car into boost, it misfires, splutters, farts, loss of power, smell of fuel, and very very loud banging noises out the exhuast.

i had a very loud tappet noise the day before, so i checked oil and it was low, so i filled it again. the next day (yesterday, same day it wasnt happy after work) it drove extremely smoothly again, and i was very impressed. that is until i was almost home yesterday afternoon and the above happened.

i even went to the drift meeting in the damn xtrail!!!

anyone know why the engine might be behaving like that?

DDislex66625 Jan 2007, 09:59

sounds like coil packs to me (from your description)

you check teh plugs?

PPhinx25 Jan 2007, 10:47

Plugs.

It happens on my car once in a while.

My car runs through plugs. I use plan NGK coppers. Stuff iridium !

GGary5725 Jan 2007, 10:50

You wont believe me but my car did that exact thing on Monday. Gave the car a good burn to 6000rpm and its all gone away, its definately the plugs fouling up (because I drive like a granny).

CChemCooladmin25 Jan 2007, 10:59

My car runs through plugs. I use plan NGK coppers. Stuff iridium !

Phinx, interesting remark on irridiums? Why. What happened? ๐Ÿ™„

vveecee25 Jan 2007, 10:59

thats actually a good pointer...

i remember this from the last time i had to pull the motor.

my number one plug seems to get oil leaking on top of the plug, and the oil seems to come from the cam timing gear cover. i will have to get that off to check for leaks, but that oil could get under the pretty red insulator thingies and stuff up the spark.

also - i do drive like your gran most of the time. i have to do high mileage on freeways, so i generally never do more than say 3500rpm. if i do push it to the redline (which i do like to do) its never for very long.

so my plugs are fouling. cool, will check it out.

any advice on plug gaps. the standard is 1.1mm, but i've heard people talking about 0.8mm on turbo cars. what's the truth regarding plug gaps???

shot guys!

CChemCooladmin25 Jan 2007, 11:04

If not mistaken, previous posts and threads on sparkplugs. ๐Ÿ˜‚

DDislex66625 Jan 2007, 11:04

1.1mm is kak!

i ran on .6mm before switching to BCPR7-ES ๐Ÿ˜‰ didn't gap those, and they worked fine ๐Ÿ™‚

I'm with phinx on the irridiums ๐Ÿ˜‰ not worth the cash

GGary5725 Jan 2007, 11:07

0.8mm it will give a stronger spark especially if you have a weak coil pack.

CChemCooladmin25 Jan 2007, 11:18

I'm with phinx on the irridiums not worth the cash

Please help man, give some reasons. Facts. ๐Ÿ˜ณ

vveecee25 Jan 2007, 11:24

yeah i get the feeling my coil packs are a little tired.

this could be another 20 questions thread!!!

whats the deal with having coil packs mounted somewhere else, and running high tension leads. i think i would prefer that! would i have to change the management system for something like that?

DDislex66625 Jan 2007, 12:13

ChemCool wrote:

I'm with phinx on the irridiums not worth the cash

Please help man, give some reasons. Facts. ๐Ÿ˜ณ

i just figure they expensive man, it's like 4-500 for a 4 Ir plugs vs. 140 for 4 Cu plugs.

Don't know too much re: pros/cons performance/reliability wise

VVladeadmin25 Jan 2007, 13:21

I'd try just replacing the plugs with the correct gapped ones... if it sill continues... Coils, then you got two choices... convert them into AM coils or source Spit Fires (best option) and it will be cheaper than R1250 from Nissan.

PPhinx25 Jan 2007, 13:53 ยท edited

best plug for me are BCP7ES.

Yep the plug name is correct , Gap I use is 1.0mm the higher the boost the less the gap. I run 0.5 bar most of the time ,only using 0.8 bar for drag.

irridiums are to much cash. and Are only really need with CAT systems.
Plan coppers have been proven to make more power.

Here you guys go. this site has the best info on CA's
But this link is about coils.

URl: http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/178931

DDislex66625 Jan 2007, 13:55

aight!

what phinx said ๐Ÿ˜€

DDracomoderator25 Jan 2007, 15:37

I run BCR8ES plugs with a 0.6 gap at 1 bar....no problems

wwidowmaker25 Jan 2007, 15:47

.6 is a bit tight, no?
check it - take plug out, hold against engine (WITH PLIERS!!)
check spark - bigger gap gives bigger spark (up to a point)
too big i've heard that the "flame will get blown out", which i think is BS, but just regurgitating what ive heard - flame away
too small, too cold = carbon

bigger spark = faster than a red s13!

vveecee25 Jan 2007, 15:55

i've heard of "spark getting blown out" not "flame getting blown out" but thats just pedantic!

and with all your talk of things getting "blown" i'm inclined to believe your avatar!!!

sorry - yes - the friday bug has bitten me on thursday afternoon!!!

wwidowmaker25 Jan 2007, 16:56

veecee wrote:

when i get the car into boost, it misfires, splutters, farts, loss of power, smell of fuel, and very very loud banging noises out the exhuast.
i had a very loud tappet noise the day before,

what do you mean - i thought this was normal ???

its the built in misfirespluttersfartpowerlossfuelsmellovision - it often bangs to get rid of the bad stuff inside
and actually, the farts come before the splutter, but seeing that it is a split second, it is a common misconception to the people from nonSXville

there is no cure, but it will make things more easy if you stop going to edenville - why would you do sumfing like that now? weird!

enough talking, time for some screaming

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