Project F

lol - you think i was joking!!!

i hope all these guys going through rebuilds have the same sort of kilometerage for years to come. it makes you really enjoy your SX!

Found your response funny, thats a good amount of distance done tho.

I agree if you keep having trouble it does take away the enjoyment, but when everything keeps going right its the most fun you can have owning an SX :200sx_200sx:

The sx is idling again! 😂

Kilos on the rebuilt now 1450 something. Stock boost setting, standard timing 15 degrees and water /methanol basically disconnected for time being.
I took the car to Maus Performance in Rosslyn Pretoria past Wednesday. I fetched the sx back today. It was actually ready the past Friday, but Maus could not get hold of me.
I always complimented MAUS and want to do it again. Francois, you are brilliant. Yes I know I pay for the service, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. I took Francois one full day to resolve the idling issue. If you think I have done good elimination, then he has done twice that effort. He admits, he struggled to get to the main problem.
First of all the sx was running lean and not rich/over fueled as I stated the affairs. Although I smelled fuel all over and flooded the sx easy on startup.
Toby, we have done good and well with the engine temp sensor issue. The replaced temp sensor was good and Francois just plugged back the harness clip. But of course the other faults were then still there.
This is how it goes what Francois did, and not in a particular order:
1. Fuel pressure test and adjust. He increased the fuel pressure to six bars to fuel the engine properly. And later re adjusts to manual.
2. He totally stripped the BOV and cleaned it. My bad. I only cleaned it sort of outside and not the internals. So the BOV was also sticky, although it appeared not sticking. (I will invest in a quality BOV- and yes Derek I know that).
3. He took the sparkplugs out to confirm the porcelain length. I now understand that some spark plugs are shorter and longer compared. But mine was perfect. My good!
4. One coil spring inside with the round metal piece was not touching the spark plug close enough, and that was on cylinder one. My bad again. I replaced all four coils with Toby’s and the problem persisted. Some how I missed that odd placement of coil spring?????
5. He has done air leakage test on all pipes and manifold. I don’t know, but assume Maus have equipment to do this. So I think I was not in line here. Makes me think of tools needed??
6. Tested the water temp signal sign. I have done that as well. But obviously the other faults were still there while I tried that.
7. CO testing!!! I couldn’t.
8. Check Management harness for faults. Yes I did, but again not well enough rather.
9. Test and change CAS. I have done that, but with no joy. BTW the CAS is fully advanced. He replaced the CAS and the replaced CAS gave results on different placing. This worries me. The sx is now set at base 15 degrees. He will advance the timing of the sx with the unichip when I am ready to connect the water /meth again and when I am ready for the dyno tune. So the CAS will stay fully advanced placed as is.
10. He checked the fuel lines.
11. Set idle control
12. He replaced the unichip also as an unknown, but that was not the suspect any more once replaced.
13. Then: While doing all the other eliminations he found the AFM 0 to 5 volt signal to be pulled down. I replaced the AFM twice. He removed the water/m signal wire attached to that very sensitive varying volts output, suspecting my w/m trigger. But it was not. Once removed the 0 to 5 volts were still pulled down. But not pulled down complete like to zero, but rather giving out lower voltages than normal. E.g. instead of 3v it would display lets say 2.5V, which consequently leads to the sx running lean. He checked the harness from there and all was fine. He cleaned the erosion or oxidation from the AMF sensor on both male and female sides and whala!! He connected back the water /m signal wire and the idle issue still rectified.
With the dyno tune, we will use the unichip to give the signal to the w/m pump which then relieves the signal wire from any load any way. Which I feel is much safer. And the unichip will command much more accurate towards the w/m activation.
It is also more than possible to use the unichip to control the boost. Will need some form of electronic valve or something. But this is not one of my immediate priorities.
Tomorrow when starting the sx cold, I need to confirm the idle jumps up to 1500 rpm, cause I just get the feeling that is not working so well.
Initially I did not expect to be charged R1700 inclusive of VAT for this job done, BUT be careful how we react on this one because of various obvious reasons. 😉
Did I learn from this? You bet I did, and again I love that. Keep in mind that I still can’t measure CO and alike without the tools needed.
The front and back crankshaft seals leaking oil, still needs my attention. 😈 Also one lifter not bringing his side will be replaced some time in feature. 😈

WHEN IS THE NEXT EVENT????? 🙄 🙄

Chem 8)

1700??? 😮 😮 😮

damn dude.

but it sounds like he had his work cut out for him. but you still didn't tell us exactly what was causing the poor idling. was it the corroded connectors of the AFM???

was it the water temp sender that was disconnected???
was it the coil spring not touching the sparkplug???

was it all of these things???
and the thing with the CAS sounds a little dodgy. if its set to fully advance, but your timing is only on 15 degrees, does that not mean that something else is set incorrectly??? i ask because i used to have this problem, before i set my timing belt properly and replaced the bearings on my CAS.

but its great that its working lekka. now you need to wire in that pressure solenoid so that the unichip can control your boost! 😉

veecee wrote:

1700??? 😮 😮 😮

Well 4 of us fiddled with it and could not find the problem so I reckon its money well spent, well worth the the relieve of frustration.

Any way that is really good news Freddy, glad your up and running!

Yep I agree with Vlade. We (mostly ChemCool) spent a LOT of time looking into it and came up short. So the money had to be spent. Glad you're mobile again, ChemCool 🙂

Great Freddy, this was a long and hard road but you are close to the end, just a few small things and you are "rebuilt with a vengance"

I am happy for you.

Draco wrote:

...but you are close to the end...

😂

Good To hear Chemcool...

I need my damn Co's set aswell

Phinx wrote:

Good To hear Chemcool...

I need my damn Co's set aswell

Its not gonna help you to set YOUR Co's you'll just drive it home and set them back how you like it again!

i hope he used the right equipment to set CO's.

the old CO meters were fine with leaded fuel, but with all fuel now being unleaded, the old CO meters do not give accurate readings anymore.

so most people cant get accurate CO readings anymore! and apparently the new meters are kak expensive!

GO GO Freddie!

Thanks Ero, now I am feeling better. Must say currently I dont know how to feel about the sx? On the one side yes I am happy and on the other its the budget worrying me. Any way, drove to brits and back and it was a good drive. I tell you what. And Vlade this one is for you: My sx will go down to Dbn and back. Or what about Sabie and back? No problem.
I say! when is the next event dammit???

Chem 8)

yay freddie...

reliability is key to enjoying the sx man!!!

on that note, i've been driving mine to work this whole week, and all i can say is i dont know why i waited so long to get it sorted. damn tie rods. its going so well, so i'm also keen for a long road trip on decent roads.

any ideas guys... come on people!!!

A1 grand prix, SX convoy to Durbs 🙂

mmm i wonder if my thumb still works...

A1 grand prix, SX convoy to Durbs

I agree, If there are a few guys coming in convoy in there SX's, Ill drive up and meet you guys at Harrismith.

Toby wrote:

A1 grand prix, SX convoy to Durbs 🙂

FK yeah!!! sounds awesome.

can we go up and down the pass a few times???

do they have cameras there??? i remember one of the best parts of owning an SX was overtaking people on that pass while doing 165km/h on the uphill (ont he way back to JHB)...

the problem was the speed limit was 80km/h!!!

Eish, forget the convoy then... I paid R2500 in fines the last time I went down to Durbs for A1GP, don't plan on getting more fines this time... 🙁

was just kidding...

we dont have to drive like that. in fact, in my old age (hahaha - yes gary i know!!!) i drive like a granny mostly.