Olivia - 69 2 door 510 sedan - fully built CA18DET

[DottiBlue]

Can you pick brand new coils and wires? If changing out the harness with a different one got one more cylinder to fire, kinda sounds like that may be the right direction?

 

Woo hoo!!!! New page!!

[aintnobiscuit]

It's got a coil that sits on top of each spark plug, so theres no actual spark plug wires. The coils seem to be making spark, I'll have to test it again and see how the spark looks from the new harness.

 

I think the coil packs are pretty expensive like $500ish. I have other ones, but unknown condition. I tend to swing by people's part outs and pick up CA18s of unknown condition lol. I have a bunch of parts all over in my garage and storage.

 

I'm not sure if it was adjusting the timing (it looked like the exhaust cam timing was off 1 tooth) and the timing belt tensioner was loose. I wonder if it jumped a tooth on the crank. I checked the cams but i probably need to just double-check the crank too.

 

(new pages are good :))

 

Thoughts

 

• Double-check the crank timing mark is lined up 100% perfect
  
• Compare lines on cam timing to make sure they still line up with step above (count cogs same as before)
  
• Pull fuel injector rail/injectors and throw in the 550s
  
• Test spray pattern of all 4 injectors
  
• Pull all spark plugs and inspect again (take pictures so I can compare
  
• Pull one coil at a time to try and identify if it's spark and identify the cylinder
  
• Pull one injector clip at a time to see if it's fuel and identify the cylinder
  

 

Can you guys think of anything else? I think this pretty much covers the 3 essentials. Compression/Spark/Fuel.

[DottiBlue]

I'm sure you have thought if this, but have you tried moving the coils around to see if that changes which cylinders are firing, I don't know if you can tell now or not. Also is it possible to put the stock computer back on just to see if it will start? Just my two cents.

[aintnobiscuit]

No stock ECU and the coils are wired in a way that makes it impossible to put them on the wrong cylinder. I just pulled my rail and turned the CAS by hand (fires injectors and ignition). The pulses from the injectors are absolutely minuscule compared to what i saw before.

 

Issue?

 

I hope so! I have some 550s I'm going to put in right now!

 

:)

 

Oh, and I'll upload a video of the dangerous bullshit i just did to test. he he he!

[aintnobiscuit]

I checked everything above and timing is dead on, etc. The only thing I could find was a wire on the back of the alternator. Looks like a ground. It's an 8mm bolt whose matching wire is black with a ring at the end, so I imagine it's ground.

 

Just hooked that up and I'm going to put everything back together and try to fire it up.

[aintnobiscuit]

Cam timing is dead on as well as the timing belt install. I have good fuel pressure. Compression is 140psi across the board. Have spark. Ability to run is not affected by spraying starter fluid. Wideband shows flatline (7.4 afr / 0 volts) while gauge shows proper voltage. Swapping wires yields same result. It seem like only 1 output on the innovative wideband controller works at a time. I tested the voltage with a multimeter straight off the analog 2 and analog 1 outputs. Whichever is hooked to the ecu is always 0v.

 

Heres a video that shows timing belt markings better

 

Here's a video of what my 440cc injectors are doing when i turn the CAS manually (yes I know this is dangerous). Fuel pressure is at a base of 36psi w/o vacuum line attached. Almost nothing. The injectors are running in batch mode. I put the 550cc injectors in and have the same problem. I show 12v at the injector plugs and the signal jumps on the other pin when i turn it. Anything else I can check here guys? I recall when I did this test a couple months ago, the spray was MUCH more.

[aintnobiscuit]

And here's the result.

[SR20DETdatsun510]

You have already surpassed my total knowledge of motors so I got nothing...

(thought I'd waste a post stating that.... ) ahahaha

I hope you figure it out Sooon. I wanna hear that thing runnnnnnnn!

[Eagle_Adam]

X2 - i was gunna post something along those lines and didnt

[Draker]

I am trying to follow this.. but are you sure you've got the correct software driving those injectors? Is the ECU chipped or are you running nistune or something? If you are suspecting a weak spark on all your cylinders I would start checking to ensure you've got all the factory engine grounds in place... or as many grounds as would have in the CA's normal environment.

[510T]

Maybe a bad ignitor chip? Are those the same as sr20/vg30/vh45? you are beyond my skill set also, lol. Keep it up you are a master troubleshooter! I wanna see a big burnout video soon...

[Draker]

Also, what spark plugs are you running?

[aintnobiscuit]

Ignitor Chip:

I can check it again, i haven't checked it since the last time something like this happened and I couldn't start the car. The problem is that even a good ignitor chip fails the tests in the FSM. I'll keep you posted on that. I have several ignitor chips.

 

Spark plugs:

BCPR6EIX-11

 

ECU:

Haltech standalone engine management. The tune is good, the car was running properly prior to swapping head gasket. I have two known good tunes and i tried both with the exact same effect.

 

Spark:

Spark was bad because of the shitty coil pack harness. I swapped it for one that is pristine, no more arcing.

 

Engine grounds:

I went through the FSM and looked for all the grounds then traced all my connections and tested the grounds with a multimeter last night. They're all on, tight and reading proper voltage.

 

This is why I'm lost, LOL... WTF is going on?

[BRE510]

When I did the SR20DET swap on my 620, I was experiencing random firing of the plugs and it was running about like yours. In the end we had to attach more grounds to the engine and it helped but was still having issues. If the harness to the igniter was moved around it would clear the problem. End result, the connector going into the ecu not only connects in but it also has a bolt as well (this is for the SR ecu) that compresses the connector into the ecu to make sure it has a good contact... It was only hand tightened and loose so once we tightened it up the engine stumbling problems were gone. Not sure if the CA18 ecu is the same. Might not hurt to check it...

[Draker]

Interesting.. no codes?

[aintnobiscuit]

BRE510: I had that same issue at one point, it doesn't hurt to check. I had wiggled the conector and traced some wires... maybe i need to pull it out and try to re-seat it. I did mention that when i turned sharp it was cutting out... i thought it was the coils arcing, it could definitely be the ecu plug. For the record, it does have a bolt as well ;)

 

Draker: The haltech doesn't throw codes, it just flashes items red if theres a problem. It's different from a stock ECU.

[Draker]

Gotcha, not totally familiar with it. It'd be a tough one to diagnose without being their hands on. I just know how wiring is.. check to make sure all your connections are good and there is no corrosion. Especially to the PTU. Unplug the MAF and see if that makes it run any better. You could have un-metered air entering the engine. Have you checked for boost/vacuum leaks?

 

I'm grasping here.. but trying to give you ideas.

[Draker]

There is also typically a spec for counting the cogs on your timing belt between timing marks. Even though you are lined up to the backing plates and marks on the crank doesn't mean you are on the money. Check out EM-9 in the service manual for specs on counting the cogs on the timing belt if you haven't seen it already.

[aintnobiscuit]

checked that. 39 cogs for cams, 48 from exhaust cam timing mark to crank timing mark. I'm running a MAP sensor as I have a standalone ECU, so i could run it without the intercooler piping on and it wouldn't affect anything.

 

These are good suggestions though, keep em coming!

[aintnobiscuit]

Pulled the ECU connector and made sure it was properly lined up then pushed it in and tightened it ALLLLL the way down.

 

While cranking the 02 sensor is showing 21-22 AFRs. This is super lean. Decided some problem with injection/fuel has to be the problem. Spoke to my friend who will be tuning and he thinks the same thing (i made sure i didn't give him info to lead to this conclusion, just answered questions he asked). So i'm going to continue exploring that avenue. About to take the rail off and trigger injectors via the CAS again since I have checked voltages and know EVERYTHING is good electrically with the ECU outputs. The only thing left to explore is the signal that comes to the injectors. It shows as a pulse that raises voltage from 3v to 4.5v on the firing side of the injector plug when i test it. I know this is a shit way to test, but if someone else has ideas, please let me know :)

 

Used this image to test pins on the ECU related to injecting fuel

 

Results

 

Pin - Name - Measured Voltage

58 - Dropping Resistor / Power Transistor - 12v

101 - Injector #1 drive input - 12v

103 - Injector #3 drive input - 12v

107 - Injector Ground - 12v (tested against battery +)

108 - Injector Ground - 12v (tested against battery +)

110 - Injector #2 drive input - 12v

112 - Injector #3 drive input - 12v

 

So now I'm just tracing wires up the harness to see if they're broken or fucked up in some way. If I don't find anything i'll pull the fuel rail and run the injectors via the CAS again like the video before... they should have a huge spray pattern with lots of fuel, not a tiny puff like it did in the video

 

Wiring harness

No obvious breaks anywhere. I unraveled it all the way up to the resistor pack (power transistor).

 

Power Transistor input - (red wire) - 12v

 

Injector plugs

Injector #1

Power - 12v

Trigger - 4.5v

Injector #2

Power - 12v

Trigger - 4.5v

Injector #3

Power - 12v

Trigger - 4.5v

Injector #4

Power - 12v

Trigger - 4.5v

 

Fuel stuff

Base fuel pressure - 36psi (fuel pump running, no vacuum)

 

Then there's this WTF shit going on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_mLYTP6Q_A

 

I was doing a test just now with the rail out and injectors exposed. Almost no fuel came out still. I was confused as fuck. I used a 9v to hold it open for a second or so... and air came out... maybe my FPR took a shit and is trapping air in the rail?

[DottiBlue]

I think you said it, what is the fuel pressure on the rail? Your fuel pump up to snuff? Maybe a fuel filter that's plugged up. I know this is all basic shit. Just trying to come up with what might be causing the poor fuel delivery.

 

Twice now!!

[aintnobiscuit]

Son of a bitch.... it's just out of gas.

 

I feel like such a retard..... i never filled the tank up like i meant to before i started tuning so i burned through the 2 gallons that were in there working on idle and then driving it around the block a few times. I haven't bought the fuel tank sender for the fuel cell yet... so i have no gas gauge.

 

Easy fix at least. Video tomorrow?

 

:D

[DAT510]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[skyblue]

oh man. well i've been following diligently waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel. Congrats!

[Laecaon]

Oh fun times. That is such a common issue. Glad to hear you sorted it, must be a relief!