My S13 Build Progress - 56K Warning

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by S14DB

Hook up the breather line to the intake so you get rid of another source of unmetered air.

Originally Posted by statik

he has the enjuku intake kit I believe which doesn't have the recirc or breather sources on it.

Correct, I had to purchase one of the small K&N filters for the breather. I will most likely recirc in the future, I didn't realize when I purchased the BOV that it doesn't have an outlet for recirc unless I am misunderstanding how recirc works. From what I understand, it is supposed to have an outlet which is to be routed to the intake after the MAF.

[240trainee]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

I will most likely recirc in the future, I didn't realize when I purchased the BOV that it doesn't have an outlet for recirc unless I am misunderstanding how recirc works. From what I understand, it is supposed to have an outlet which is to be routed to the intake after the MAF.

Correct, you need to put air from after the turbo (hot pipe) into the piping of air before the turbo, but after the MAF (intake). so you need a bung welded on your intake, and it looks like you got an SSQV, iirc you can get a re-circ fitting for that that you can hook a pipe too.

[240trainee]

what came up first on google -

http://www.optionimports.com/hksssbovrefi.html

[jrmiller84]

Yeah, I haven't done any research on recirc parts yet since I knew I could get it working without it for the time being. It's definitely something I'll be doing soon though. Probably after I get rocker arm stoppers and an oil filter relocation kit so I can use my oil pressure gauge.

EDIT: Wow, it's only 18$. I may do it sooner than later in that case.

[jrmiller84]

Update

Went out there on my lunch break today to attempt to take care of a few small things. Got the timing out of the way. Made sure it was two marks from the right on the crankshaft by using the timing light. One thing I noticed was that the timing light would every once and a while miss. I think I need to regap the spark plugs. I couldn't find my gap tool so I had to go off of the gap on the old spark plugs. If that's not it, I'm guessing it could be the timing gun. It didn't happen very often and the car showed no sign that it had occurred when it did, purred like a kitten.

With that in mind, the car seemed to run better after the timing, which was obviously expected. She's almost ready for a drive. Still have to switch out the two tranny sensors (which I hope I can get to without dropping it) and a couple other miscellaneous things.

I also have to figure out how the damn boost controller works, thing is confusing. I've read that about this particular boost controller multiple times on here though. Also, the boost gauge is hooked up wrong somehow I believe. It sits at 15psi at idle and drops to around 0psi when given throttle, ass backwards. I have the tubing kind of oddly done so that may be why. I have the tube from the smaller nipple on the intake manifold splitting, one to the FPR and the other running into the cabin. The line in the cabin is split again, one to the boost controller and one to the boost gauge. It seems like that would be fine but perhaps not.

[statik]

theres 3 sources on the intake manifold near the throttle body if I remember correctly. One of them you are not supposed to use, it went to the carbon canister, make sure to cap that off and not use it. Other than that it could be the gauge is busted, ive never seen a boost gauge in reverse heh.

As for the boost controller, yes its unfortunately stupid confusing to use at first, but it's not terribly hard. Make sure you switch the unit into PSI mode (check manual), start in low mode, set the SET GAIN to roughly 4psi less than you want to run, so for daily driving say you want to run 10psi, set it to 6 (60 since the mode displays the amount of boost x10), then start with the gain at 0% and the boost % at 25. If you dont reach the desired boost level of 10psi, turn up the boost %. Now if the boost spikes or falls off, turn up the gain until the compressor starts making surging noises as your boosting, you need to back off slowly until it doesnt spike or fall off and it doesnt surge. The stock actuator has a hard time holding over 10psi to redline so if you dial in highboost at 14 don't be surprised if you cant get it to stay solid. You can upgrade the turbo or the actuator depending on where you want to go next.

More detail profec B spec II tuning info:
http://www.sr20forum.com/archive/ind...86098-p-1.html

Just to start driving the car and working the kinks out I would just leave the controller off.

[GSXRJJordan]

Sounds like your boost gauge is a vacuum gauge... 15in/hg of vacuum is normal at idle, and 0psi of boost is normal for spiking the throttle in neutral (ask statik said). Glad you got it running, and props on not drifting through school zones as soon as you got it turned over

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

theres 3 sources on the intake manifold near the throttle body if I remember correctly. One of them you are not supposed to use, it went to the carbon canister, make sure to cap that off and not use it. Other than that it could be the gauge is busted, ive never seen a boost gauge in reverse heh.

As for the boost controller, yes its unfortunately stupid confusing to use at first, but it's not terribly hard. Make sure you switch the unit into PSI mode (check manual), start in low mode, set the SET GAIN to roughly 4psi less than you want to run, so for daily driving say you want to run 10psi, set it to 6 (60 since the mode displays the amount of boost x10), then start with the gain at 0% and the boost % at 25. If you dont reach the desired boost level of 10psi, turn up the boost %. Now if the boost spikes or falls off, turn up the gain until the compressor starts making surging noises as your boosting, you need to back off slowly until it doesnt spike or fall off and it doesnt surge. The stock actuator has a hard time holding over 10psi to redline so if you dial in highboost at 14 don't be surprised if you cant get it to stay solid. You can upgrade the turbo or the actuator depending on where you want to go next.

More detail profec B spec II tuning info:
http://www.sr20forum.com/archive/ind...86098-p-1.html

Just to start driving the car and working the kinks out I would just leave the controller off.

Yep, I have the bottom nipple capped off. I actually had the actuator connected directly to the hotpipe up until today because I was worried that the boost controller wasn't set up correctly. Didn't want to mess anything up even though it says it starts at low boost.

I think the boost controller manual got soaked in gear oil () at the storage unit so I downloaded the pdf, same thing. I think I've read that posting before, but now that I'm in the thick of it, it's a good time to reread. It'll make more sense to me now.

I'm going to be disconnecting the boost controller like you said when I first drive it, assuming I can figure out what's wrong with the boost gauge. The fittings on the gauge were kinda shitty (Megan) so I may have to find a way around using their fittings. It came with these compression fittings that slid onto a small hose and was meant to fit inside of one of the connections and compress onto the hose but it didn't do that at all. I could pull the hose out of the fitting easily. I'm guessing that may be where my problem lies.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by GSXRJJordan

Sounds like your boost gauge is a vacuum gauge... 15in/hg of vacuum is normal at idle, and 0psi of boost is normal for spiking the throttle in neutral (ask statik said). Glad you got it running, and props on not drifting through school zones as soon as you got it turned over

Or maybe that's what it is, hah. The gauge has positive and negative boost on it. I'll attempt to take a video of it in action if I can next time. This is the gauge:



It sits below the 0psi park at 15psi as I mentioned and jumps up to 0 psi.

[statik]

yes hehe, thats 15inHG, in vacuum, above 0 is boost, you should pull about 15-20inHG at idle and 20-25inHG during hard engine decel, if you don't pull at least 15 at idle then its usually a sign you have a leak somewhere. I wouldnt bother disconnect the boost controller, just leave it off. Make sure the source to the solenoid is going to NO and the output of the solenoid (COM) is going to the wastegate, NC is the source when using an external wastegate.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

yes hehe, thats 15inHG, in vacuum, above 0 is boost

Well well then, I've been learned, haha. One less thing to worry about.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by JDS Performance

It does look as your manifold is leaking - But FYI it will burn off oil from your hands etc for a lil while too - or if you have heat wrap etc.

also your top radiator hose looks kinked - I would trim it down to get rid of that

it depends on how you got your fans hooked up really - but usually they wont come on until the thermostat gets hot enough - but you do need at least 1 fan running pretty much all the time - with a turbo motor you are going to have serious heat issues - but thats a whole different descusion there

Here's something that's been on my mind. I like this idea of keeping one fan running all the time. It's not hard to make happen with the thermostat kit so I will probably do that tonight or tomorrow. My question is, which direction does the water flow in the radiator? It would make sense to have the constant fan run on the side where hot water enters the engine. In the FSM it doesn't show the current of incoming hot water or outgoing cold water, it refers to each water "port" as an outlet (as opposed to mentioning one as an inlet).

It may not even be very important which fan stays on, but it's worth knowing I suppose.

Taking density and heat into consideration, hotter water is less dense than colder water so it would seem to rise to the top of the radiator if I'm remembering thermodynamics correctly. If I'm right, I'm guessing Nissan would follow this and pull colder water in from the bottom of radiator, but I may be wrong.

[statik]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

Taking density and heat into consideration, hotter water is less dense than colder water so it would seem to rise to the top of the radiator if I'm remembering thermodynamics correctly. If I'm right, I'm guessing Nissan would follow this and pull colder water in from the bottom of radiator, but I may be wrong.

Correct, the bottom line on the passenger side is the feed, the return side is the top drivers side.

I would have to suggest not leaving a fan running all the time. You don't want the engine running cooler than it should, the engine needs to reach operating temperature. Also when running on the highway you almost never need the fans on, even with a FMIC in the way my fan doesn't need to come on when constantly driving, so its unnecessary strain on the fan itself as well as the electrical system. Let your cooling system do its job and set the fan to come on after the thermostat opens. I have mine set at about 165F, nismo thermostat opens at 149F. Fan comes on as it should and only when idling or cruising slow in traffic.

[GSXRJJordan]

Matter in any state other than gas doesn't change density with temp. The water comes out of the engine at the top, enters the radiator, and cools on its way down to the bottom (water neck by turbo is outlet, inlet is on intake manifold). but it doesn't matter which fan is always on because the hot water will get cooled evenly by either fan (because it crosses from right to left, if you're looking at the radiator). Don't need fans on all the time as a general rule though...

EDIT: Goddammit Statik, you're always faster than me...

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

Correct, the bottom line on the passenger side is the feed, the return side is the top drivers side.

I would have to suggest not leaving a fan running all the time. You don't want the engine running cooler than it should, the engine needs to reach operating temperature. Also when running on the highway you almost never need the fans on, even with a FMIC in the way my fan doesn't need to come on when constantly driving, so its unnecessary strain on the fan itself as well as the electrical system. Let your cooling system do its job and set the fan to come on after the thermostat opens. I have mine set at about 165F, nismo thermostat opens at 149F. Fan comes on as it should and only when idling or cruising slow in traffic.

That's true as well. I thought about the electrical strain but I wasn't sure how significant it would be. Fan would probably give out before too long after all the heat and constant use.

[statik]

Originally Posted by GSXRJJordan

EDIT: Goddammit Statik, you're always faster than me...

I work in front of the computer all day and get emails when theres a reply to a thread im in haha, my bad =D

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by statik

I work in front of the computer all day and get emails when theres a reply to a thread im in haha, my bad =D

Same here, supposed to be coding, pssshhhh, haha.

[jrmiller84]

Work Day 27 [Back to index]

I drove the car today.

That's right, I got to drive her today. I'll get back to that later though.

I got out there and started working on the tranny sensors. Getting the neutral position sensor replaced was a piece of cake. Unscrew the old one and put the new one in. Only issue I had was I didn't want the gear oil to drain so I had to be quick. I only lost a small amount and was able to refill it easily.

Now, replacing the reverse sensor was a bit harder. Actually, I wasn't able to get it out. It's not that it's hard to unscrew, it's that it's hard to get to. The 19mm wrench was too long and I couldn't move it once it was on the sensor. I have a plan though. The sensors look the exact same for the KA and SR, not a single difference except for the electrical connection. So since I have the SR lower wiring harness with the correct connection for the SR sensor, I plan on making a small interconnect that allows me to change the connector so it can be used with the KA harness. Should work fine, just have to do a bit of soldering. It will save me from having to drop the tranny in order to change out one sensor.

One thing I noticed was that the KA had one more tranny sensor than the SR. Here is a picture of them. The one on the left is the reverse sensor, the one on the right is the extra one. Anyone know what it is?





One thing to note about the KA sensors. They all have a rubber boot on them where the wire meets the sensor to keep the wires safe from the elements. When I took mine off, the wires were exposed and covered in oil and the boots were not on the sensor, they had moved up the wire and were just resting against the sensor. With that in mind, I took a rag and cleaned all of the connectors. Then I took some silicone and covered the wires so that they would be protected completely now. Then I used some silicone to seal the boot back onto the sensor. Maybe I'm a little overzealous but at least they will never give me any lip.


Alright, on with the driving. Once I got the sensors taken care of, I realized that was the only real thing keeping me from driving the car. So I tightened down a few things that absolutely needed tightening and made sure everything was as it should be. After that i put the front tires back on and lowered her back onto the ground.

Started her up and put her into first. I was scared as hell that something would fuck up in the tranny since it was my first time doing work on one.

Gave it some gas and held my breath, she moved perfectly. Pulled right out of the unit and into the alley way. So I started going down one of the alley ways and shifted into second. Shifted absolutely perfect.

I could only get going fast enough to be in third because of the length of the alley. I wanted to drive it out on the main road, but since it was after 9pm I wouldn't be able to get back into the storage unit complex. It was probably a good thing I didn't go out there, I would have been tempted pull hard with her and she's not completely ready for that.

Another thing to note was that it didn't seem to overheat at all. The fan turned on like it should. I need to reconnect the wire that tells it when the car is on. I connected it to the ignition fuse but I think that fuse is before the ignition switch because it doesn't turn off when the car is off. So I need to move it into the cabin and connect it to the ignition switch under the dash. My temperature gauge is still kinda weird on me, but that'll be replaced when I get a DOHC gauge cluster.

This weekend is going to be fucking awesome

[wannabe_drifter]

Thats awesome, can't wait to see a vid of that thing on the road

[xblack240x]

Good job man, nice to hear it started, both you and all the zilvians that have been following this build have waited for it...

[jrmiller84]

Forgot to mention this earlier. After running the engine like I did today, driving it for a little bit, the smoke off of the turbo stopped. Now this doesn't mean I'm not going to change that gasket. I actually ordered it today and it'll be here tomorrow for me to install. I'm also going to check all of the banjo bolts while I'm at it like I said. I'm doing a good triple check of everything before I take it on the road this this weekend.

[JDS Performance]

Originally Posted by jrmiller84

Work Day 27 [Back to index]

I drove the car today.

That's right, I got to drive her today. I'll get back to that later though.

I got out there and started working on the tranny sensors. Getting the neutral position sensor replaced was a piece of cake. Unscrew the old one and put the new one in. Only issue I had was I didn't want the gear oil to drain so I had to be quick. I only lost a small amount and was able to refill it easily.

Now, replacing the reverse sensor was a bit harder. Actually, I wasn't able to get it out. It's not that it's hard to unscrew, it's that it's hard to get to. The 19mm wrench was too long and I couldn't move it once it was on the sensor. I have a plan though. The sensors look the exact same for the KA and SR, not a single difference except for the electrical connection. So since I have the SR lower wiring harness with the correct connection for the SR sensor, I plan on making a small interconnect that allows me to change the connector so it can be used with the KA harness. Should work fine, just have to do a bit of soldering. It will save me from having to drop the tranny in order to change out one sensor.

One thing I noticed was that the KA had one more tranny sensor than the SR. Here is a picture of them. The one on the left is the reverse sensor, the one on the right is the extra one. Anyone know what it is?





One thing to note about the KA sensors. They all have a rubber boot on them where the wire meets the sensor to keep the wires safe from the elements. When I took mine off, the wires were exposed and covered in oil and the boots were not on the sensor, they had moved up the wire and were just resting against the sensor. With that in mind, I took a rag and cleaned all of the connectors. Then I took some silicone and covered the wires so that they would be protected completely now. Then I used some silicone to seal the boot back onto the sensor. Maybe I'm a little overzealous but at least they will never give me any lip.


Alright, on with the driving. Once I got the sensors taken care of, I realized that was the only real thing keeping me from driving the car. So I tightened down a few things that absolutely needed tightening and made sure everything was as it should be. After that i put the front tires back on and lowered her back onto the ground.

Started her up and put her into first. I was scared as hell that something would fuck up in the tranny since it was my first time doing work on one.

Gave it some gas and held my breath, she moved perfectly. Pulled right out of the unit and into the alley way. So I started going down one of the alley ways and shifted into second. Shifted absolutely perfect.

I could only get going fast enough to be in third because of the length of the alley. I wanted to drive it out on the main road, but since it was after 9pm I wouldn't be able to get back into the storage unit complex. It was probably a good thing I didn't go out there, I would have been tempted pull hard with her and she's not completely ready for that.

Another thing to note was that it didn't seem to overheat at all. The fan turned on like it should. I need to reconnect the wire that tells it when the car is on. I connected it to the ignition fuse but I think that fuse is before the ignition switch because it doesn't turn off when the car is off. So I need to move it into the cabin and connect it to the ignition switch under the dash. My temperature gauge is still kinda weird on me, but that'll be replaced when I get a DOHC gauge cluster.

This weekend is going to be fucking awesome

The black sensor on the right is the Neutral Postion Sensor from the KA

[GSXRJJordan]

I'm so excited for you that you got to drive it, and so bummed that you have to pull the turbo/exhaust/piping/etc to change out that gasket... I've probably done it 10 times in my life, and the hardlines and banjo bolts are a royal pain in the ass, no matter how you do it.

I hope you got the 7 layer manifold->head gasket ~ paper ones suck ~

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by GSXRJJordan

I'm so excited for you that you got to drive it, and so bummed that you have to pull the turbo/exhaust/piping/etc to change out that gasket... I've probably done it 10 times in my life, and the hardlines and banjo bolts are a royal pain in the ass, no matter how you do it.

I hope you got the 7 layer manifold->head gasket ~ paper ones suck ~

Yeah, the last time I did it, it was a pain in the ass. I'm actually thinking about replacing the hardlines with some braided ones so I can move the turbo a little easier the next time I have to do it.

I've got a list of small mods in mind already

[mr_240sx]

yeah i can honestly say i hate those turbo lines. i psent a good 2 hours trying to hook them up to the block when i changed the manifold gasket. next time i have to take it off im getting braided lines and hopefully it saves a bit of a headache in trying to line them up.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by mr_240sx

yeah i can honestly say i hate those turbo lines. i psent a good 2 hours trying to hook them up to the block when i changed the manifold gasket. next time i have to take it off im getting braided lines and hopefully it saves a bit of a headache in trying to line them up.

Same here, after moving the turbo out of the way to get to the rear banjo bolt they get slightly bent and don't want to line up quite right. It's gonna suck... I might buy those lines on Monday.. hah.

[jrmiller84]

Update

Took her for a small drive again today. Drove a good 3-4 miles down a highway that's near the unit, a nice four lane stretch of open road with little traffic(Waldo Rd. for you Gainesville people). She preformed excellently. No major problems at all. Only things that were noticeable were the power steering (which I'll be fixing) and the boost being so low. I believe that was a result of the boost controller being on and set to low. Once I turned it off it seemed to boost a bit higher although I didn't gun it fast enough to reach max boost, didn't want to be too hard on her. Didn't go any faster than 55 I believe and I it only got to about 6-7 psi.

Got some funny looks from the rednecks out there, driving my car without a hood or bumper

[mr_240sx]

glad to hear that shes running !!!!

[opponheimer]

If you get braided lines be sure you get the ones with banjo ends so you can use the factory oil regulating/restricting bolts. Or else you'll more than likely start blowing oil after a few thousand miles.

IF you want to stay with hard lines, undo the two lines on the block first, and don't bend them in any way or form. Take off exhaust and if you can, o2 housing, then put a 19 on a long ended ratchet behind the turbo (once you unbolt the manifold from the head) and undo the coolant line going in the back of the turbo cartridge. After that undo the oil drain and your done.. You shouldn't have many problems with the lines, especially with re installation, as long as you don't bend them.

First time i did it to replace the inlet gasket it took me 8 hours, now I'm down to a little over an hour.

[jrmiller84]

Originally Posted by opponheimer

If you get braided lines be sure you get the ones with banjo ends so you can use the factory oil regulating/restricting bolts. Or else you'll more than likely start blowing oil after a few thousand miles.

IF you want to stay with hard lines, undo the two lines on the block first, and don't bend them in any way or form. Take off exhaust and if you can, o2 housing, then put a 19 on a long ended ratchet behind the turbo (once you unbolt the manifold from the head) and undo the coolant line going in the back of the turbo cartridge. After that undo the oil drain and your done.. You shouldn't have many problems with the lines, especially with re installation, as long as you don't bend them.

First time i did it to replace the inlet gasket it took me 8 hours, now I'm down to a little over an hour.

I'll be staying with the hard lines for the time being, but the next time I need to take off the turbo I'll be prepared and buy some braided ones. I don't want to have to deal with that for much longer.



I forgot to mention earlier. This Monday, I am going to be purchasing a few new parts. In particular, I am going to be purchasing an AFR gauge and a water temp gauge. Reason being that my stock temp gauge is going nuts on me. When the car is cold until just before normal operating temp, it reads accurately. After it hits the normal temp it'll chill in the correct place until I hit a bump and it shoots up to the top of the gauge. Scares the hell out of me, makes me double guess the cooling when I see it shoot up even though I know it's the gauge. I will be replacing my gauge cluster soon due to the RPMs not working and that should fix the temp issue, but until then I need to know it's not overheating on me.