Engine Problem and I'm Not Happy

[Paladin06Greg]

OK, here is the story. I was on my way to drop my car off for shipping. It was running great after 3 days of EASE OBD II tuning (new MAF install). After about 25 minutes of driving I noted a quick power drop, the car began to miss real bad, the boost gauge went crazy for about 5 seconds. I was able to crawl to the shipping companies yard for shipment.

I got the car here (AZ) and hooked up my EASE OBD II and got multiple engine mis-fire cylinders 1 and 6. I pulled and checked all the plug wires they are good, the coils are all new and good as well. I noted that all but two of the plugs were gas soaked and very black in color. As a precaution I replaced all the plugs. I believe the igniter is good and no real way to test the ECU.

Now I restarted the car, still running rough as hell, boost gauge shakes like crazy, S-AFC knock signal is 45 to 55 at idle and there is a loud squeeking sound from the SC. I also noted the SC remains warm even after running for awhile.

I'm really leaning toward the SC but I'm looking for some input. As of late this car has been a real pain and If things don't get better real soon it's on the FS block as is. I've dumped way to much money in this hole not to be able to swim.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Greg

[Solorange]

Im sorry to hear that. Im sorry I cant help you but I hope you figure it out. Id hate to see you leave the solara community...

[Vampire]

You tried calling Arrieta? My first thought is ignition. Maybe the MSD system? Can you bypass the MSD and try to see if it's okay? If the SC is binding, just remove the belt and see if it turns like when it came out of the box. Good Luck.

[shidosha01]

You tried calling Arrieta? My first thought is ignition. Maybe the MSD system? Can you bypass the MSD and try to see if it's okay? If the SC is binding, just remove the belt and see if it turns like when it came out of the box. Good Luck.

I was thinking the same thing about the MSD. Of the three cars that Arrieta Motorsport built yours, joe, and mine. Yours hasn't been up to par lately. But the only thing that Joe and I don't have is the MSD and our cars run fine. I wonder if you can bypass the MSD. Ask Carlos Jr.

[~Spadwaller~]

Did you try opening up the gear nose of the S/C to see if everything is copasetic?

[DatSRBoi]

My guess is Timing or electricals

[Paladin06Greg]

I removed the MSD long ago since it was thought to be a problem. It was not.. Your point about the cars is correct except, I'm not a happy camper.

You tried calling Arrieta? My first thought is ignition. Maybe the MSD system? Can you bypass the MSD and try to see if it's okay? If the SC is binding, just remove the belt and see if it turns like when it came out of the box. Good Luck.

I was thinking the same thing about the MSD. Of the three cars that Arrieta Motorsport built yours, joe, and mine. Yours hasn't been up to par lately. But the only thing that Joe and I don't have is the MSD and our cars run fine. I wonder if you can bypass the MSD. Ask Carlos Jr.

[Paladin06Greg]

I'm not sure what out of the box was like. It's been a long time.

You tried calling Arrieta? My first thought is ignition. Maybe the MSD system? Can you bypass the MSD and try to see if it's okay? If the SC is binding, just remove the belt and see if it turns like when it came out of the box. Good Luck.

[Turbosolara]

your CEL is not on at all? i am guessing #1 and #6 ignition coil is fried. i am thinking the worst scenario is that your supercharger broken into pieces and parts flied into #1 and #6 cylinder but let's hope it just some simple fix.

[Paladin06Greg]

Good thought but I'm afraid not. After the last TS session and engine start, we go the #1, 2, and 3 misfire. Don't forget the CEL is always on after engine upgrade. The EASE OBD II easily identifies the codes.

your CEL is not on at all? i am guessing #1 and #6 ignition coil is fried. i am thinking the worst scenario is that your supercharger broken into pieces and parts flied into #1 and #6 cylinder but let's hope it just some simple fix.

[JoeB]

Greg,

Comments like this

Your point about the cars is correct except, I'm not a happy camper.

Inusinuate that you feel something was done wrong with your engine. As I mentioned in the PM, everything you've described can be a result of tuning the car way too rich except the sc. That might be better explained by running it with the 2" pulley. The only way to tell for sure is inspection. As I mentioned before, running 2 steps colder (IK24) plugs has mixed blessings. It's a big help on the top end but you must be very careful not to run too rich on the bottom end or you will foul plugs easily. Fouled plugs can do most or all of what you are describing. If you have gas soaked plugs, this is easy. It's NOT because of how your engine was built, it is because you are simply not burning all the fuel you are giving it. That is most likely because of a bad tune running way too rich. You'd have a hard time convincing me the plugs weren't fouling if you had gas soaked plugs and misfire codes. The CEL being on is ALWAYS explainable. My car was running very rich right after the build and I would have had a CEL too but I tuned it out. I really think you simply need to tune it. -JoeB

[SleeperSolara]

Oh, no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not on the F/S block.
It should be a bad ignition, or your S/C stuff is endin' up in the the engine.
Or either the gad valve of those cylinders gettin' stuck at some point.

[SC V6]

imports are hard to tune...

[Paladin06Greg]

JoeB,

How in the HECK did you come to that conclusion. Please don't put words in my mouth. I barely have room for my foot now.

Greg,

Comments like this

Your point about the cars is correct except, I'm not a happy camper.

Inusinuate that you feel something was done wrong with your engine. As I mentioned in the PM, everything you've described can be a result of tuning the car way too rich except the sc. That might be better explained by running it with the 2" pulley. The only way to tell for sure is inspection. As I mentioned before, running 2 steps colder (IK24) plugs has mixed blessings. It's a big help on the top end but you must be very careful not to run too rich on the bottom end or you will foul plugs easily. Fouled plugs can do most or all of what you are describing. If you have gas soaked plugs, this is easy. It's NOT because of how your engine was built, it is because you are simply not burning all the fuel you are giving it. That is most likely because of a bad tune running way too rich. You'd have a hard time convincing me the plugs weren't fouling if you had gas soaked plugs and misfire codes. The CEL being on is ALWAYS explainable. My car was running very rich right after the build and I would have had a CEL too but I tuned it out. I really think you simply need to tune it. -JoeB

JoeB

[JoeB]

JoeB,

How in the HECK did you come to that conclusion. Please don't put words in my mouth. I barely have room for my foot now.

Sorry if I came to the wrong conclusion. That's the problem with written communication, sometimes that happens. The way I came up with that conclusion is when Rizal pointed out that Arrieta's built the 3 of our engines, yours was the only 1 having a problem and 1 thing different waas the MSD Ignition. Then you pointed out that the MSD Ignition had been eliminated and that you weren't happy, I don't see any other way to read that but of course I could be wrong and sorry about that.

As for the tuning, no I wouldn't "0" out the S-AFC and start over. 0 in the low throttle would be very rich. The thing is, at idle, we are at the base of the air flow signal from the MAF. It doesn't make a difference if it is the stock or TT MAF, they will be close. That is the biggest factor determining the amount of fuel that will be delivered. Based on the fuel map in the ECU, at idle it will hold the injectors open a certain amount of time for 14.7:1 A/F. Then the feedback through the closed loop system will write in temporary corrections for temperature, altitude and slight changes in the state of the engine. If the ECU thinks it is holding the injectors open for lets say 5mS on 250cc injectors but you have 370cc injectors, it will spray 48% more fuel than it should. I would expect the correction at idle to be very close to that. Maybe less depending on how much different the voltage is from the MAF at idle.

As you start to accelerate, the voltage will go up slower than it did with the stock MAF because the percentage of airflow accross the MAF is lower in its total capacity. Therefore the amount of fuel will be better balanced as you go up (closer to 0 correction). At the top end however, you will most likely need to add fuel as the TT MAF is more closely matched with larger injectors. With our 370cc injectors, I think I added around 10-15% at red-line.

Hopefully you can get it straight fairly quick. Running that rich usually leads to very frequent plug swaps and that's no picnic. From your description, you might need to swap the plugs to even get it tuned if you're still getting the misfires. Then you'll need to tune it in as short time as possible to keep the plugs firing. After that, you may want a fresh set of plugs in. Denso is going to love you. -JoeB