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Old 03-05-2008, 02:23 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Need help diagnosing engine problem- VIDEO

Need help to figure out why my engine is running rich, and like this, check out video. I will paypal 30$ to anyone who helps me solve this problem! Stuff done to car is listed below. Thanks in advance.

Car: 99 gsx, 50K miles.

Mods: Hard intake pipe
1G BOV (Recirculated)
Removed BCS* restrictor
8.5 MM spark plugs
NGK spark plugs
Boost gauge

Recent fixes: Head gasket
Alternator and belt
Timing belt

The car has been running fine on this setup with no problems previously.
I recently upgraded to a ported 14b ported turbo and a mbc, also, I dont know if this makes a diff or not, I grounded the positive bolt on the alternator when I was taking it out and it sparked a bit, no fuses blew though, and no side effects is seemed, the problem started about 3-4miels afterwards when I put in a diff alternator and drove the car. I would try to set boost at 15psi, but when the car warmed up the boost would go all the way to about 20psi, it happened a couple of times, and every time I would let go off gas instantly. I've only put about 20-30miles on the 14B before the car started experiencing problems. First it would only rev to 5K then studder down, then 3.5K rpm, and today it only goes to about 2.5K then studders down.

Tings checked:
Timing GOOD
Spark plugs GOOD
Spark plug wires GOOD
Ecu GOOD
O2 sensor etc... GOOD (according to OBD)
Thermostat GOOD
MAF GOOD (makes a diff if I unplug it)
MAF connector GOOD
Compression GOOD (Although a little high now at 180 due to carbon build up)
Leak down test GOOD
Fuel pressure solenoid GOOD
Injectors GOOD
Fuel pump relay GOOD


Last edited by klipschaudio : 03-09-2008 at 10:52 PM.
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Old 03-05-2008, 03:07 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Run off the BCS and see if that changes anything. Do you have any sort of a MBC?
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Old 03-05-2008, 03:12 PM   #3 (permalink)
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I'm gonna take a shot in the dark.... I had an issue similar to this when I purchased a 95 e-prom for DSMlink to put in my 99' GSX. The car would accelerate fine at low to no boost, but at about 3-3.5k the car would break up and blow loads of smoke out of the exhaust. The culprit was a blown sensor ground, which in turn blew the MAF reset transistor. If you are getting readings, then the sensor ground is propably not blown, but I would check the MAF circuit, IDC's, and O2 readings when this happens. If the MAF (in Hz) signal turns into a jagged mess, your IDC's drop, and the 02 readings cut out, then look further into the ECU.

I would also double check the timing. Brad


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Old 03-05-2008, 03:18 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Check your coil pack as it's possible that it could have gotten hit with a spike when you touched the alt + contact. I had done the same thing though it only blew the 100amp fuse on me. Do a search to see how to test the coil pack or if you have a haynes book I think it tells you there. Also make sure the mbc is properly connected and there are no leaks in the intake system.
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Old 03-05-2008, 03:25 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Do a boost leak test.


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Old 03-05-2008, 03:34 PM   #6 (permalink)
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On top of what others already suggested, check to see if your wastegate is functioning properly. Similar happened to me when I was on a road trip. I almost disregarded it as the problem because I could move it by hand, but just out of curiosity I used a vice grips to hold it a quarter of the way open and that alleviated the problem enough that the car was driveable to get home.
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:04 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The_EE View Post
Run off the BCS and see if that changes anything. Do you have any sort of a MBC?
I had the MBC installed, but since the problem arose I installed the original hookup back on, including switching back to the t25.
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:07 PM   #8 (permalink)
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On top of what others already suggested, check to see if your wastegate is functioning properly. Similar happened to me when I was on a road trip. I almost disregarded it as the problem because I could move it by hand, but just out of curiosity I used a vice grips to hold it a quarter of the way open and that alleviated the problem enough that the car was driveable to get home.
The wastegate is good, I know this because I tried it by hadnd previously, and the turbo worked fine before I removed it.
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:08 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Do a boost leak test.
I forgot to mention that I did do a boost leak test, and it is tight.
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:20 PM   #10 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dsmlifestyle View Post
I'm gonna take a shot in the dark.... I had an issue similar to this when I purchased a 95 e-prom for DSMlink to put in my 99' GSX. The car would accelerate fine at low to no boost, but at about 3-3.5k the car would break up and blow loads of smoke out of the exhaust. The culprit was a blown sensor ground, which in turn blew the MAF reset transistor. If you are getting readings, then the sensor ground is propably not blown, but I would check the MAF circuit, IDC's, and O2 readings when this happens. If the MAF (in Hz) signal turns into a jagged mess, your IDC's drop, and the 02 readings cut out, then look further into the ECU.

I would also double check the timing. Brad
It's hard to see in the video but I was taping the obd reader, all the reading are normal, nothing cuts out, does the obd log idc? I measured the MS and it was about 44ms at 2500rpm, on my 1G it measured about 40ms at 2500rpm, so I am guessing it is within range.?

91.67% according to this link Stealth 316 - Injector Duty Cycle Calculation

Also, it's not the ecu, I bought another ecu and the same problem is present, the ecu is getting correct voltage in the right places.

I'll search into the maf reset transistor and see how to test it.
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:21 PM   #11 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by voodoogsx View Post
Check your coil pack as it's possible that it could have gotten hit with a spike when you touched the alt + contact. I had done the same thing though it only blew the 100amp fuse on me. Do a search to see how to test the coil pack or if you have a haynes book I think it tells you there. Also make sure the mbc is properly connected and there are no leaks in the intake system.
I'll do that, but isn't the coil pack functioning if I am getting a spark?
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:35 PM   #12 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by klipschaudio View Post
I'll do that, but isn't the coil pack functioning if I am getting a spark?
I had one go out on me and it exhibited similar symptoms to yours where it started to expirience some studdering issues initially at a high rpm(about 5k) but eventually it dropped down to 1.5k then 300-400rpm( running from 2 cylinders). The coil for 2 and 4 eventually fried completely. I should have mentioned to also check the transistor pack as well since this is the reason why the coil failed(a test light and some aligator clips works for this test). For my issue it turned out to be a short in the wiring that ground out the transitor causing the coil to overload. In your case, since you shorted the alt briefly, it had the potential to fry something. Of course it could be something simple like one of the plugs to these or the cam/crank angle sensor comming loose. You could also check the gap in the spark plugs.
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Old 03-05-2008, 05:22 PM   #13 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by voodoogsx View Post
I had one go out on me and it exhibited similar symptoms to yours where it started to expirience some studdering issues initially at a high rpm(about 5k) but eventually it dropped down to 1.5k then 300-400rpm( running from 2 cylinders). The coil for 2 and 4 eventually fried completely. I should have mentioned to also check the transistor pack as well since this is the reason why the coil failed(a test light and some aligator clips works for this test). For my issue it turned out to be a short in the wiring that ground out the transitor causing the coil to overload. In your case, since you shorted the alt briefly, it had the potential to fry something. Of course it could be something simple like one of the plugs to these or the cam/crank angle sensor comming loose. You could also check the gap in the spark plugs.
I see, I tested the power transistor also and it tested good. I'll see how to do a coil test.
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Old 03-05-2008, 07:30 PM   #14 (permalink)
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According to this diagram

I am getting the 70-90ohms between the pin 2 and 3 on the connector, and about 14K ohms on the 1-4, and 2-3 coils, I measured it on my 1g and same thing, so the coil must be good? I'll look into the maf stuff now.

Last edited by klipschaudio : 03-05-2008 at 11:15 PM.
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Old 03-06-2008, 12:55 AM   #15 (permalink)
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You say plugs are good. Did you read them? Do they all look rich? What plugs and gap?

What are your LTFT lo and mid? Thought I saw it on the scanner in the video, but couldn't see the values.

Any codes?


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Old 03-06-2008, 12:09 PM   #16 (permalink)
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You say plugs are good. Did you read them? Do they all look rich? What plugs and gap?

What are your LTFT lo and mid? Thought I saw it on the scanner in the video, but couldn't see the values.

Any codes?
I'm not getting any codes now, I did have a p0500 I believe for speed sensor, but its gone now.

I'm not sure what values you're talking about, I'll just take a better quality vid for you in a sec.

I bought new njk spark plugs and gapped them, still same problem. Thanks



I tried to make a video and it turned out bad, then I went to make another one, and car would not start because the spark plugs were too wet, I put in my previous njks and it revs up to 5K rpm again, kinda wierd. Hope you can see the values on this video, tks.


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Old 03-06-2008, 03:22 PM   #17 (permalink)
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Hey so I watched the video again, just wondering what was your rpm(looked to be 1100-1200) at and was the car up to temp?

Also you said you changed the turbo, did you make sure the o2 sensor was reconnected, have you checked the o2 housing to make sure there are no leaks there? is there? After driving the car around did you see if there were any codes again?

how is the car at this point, is it still giving you issues when driving, has it started giving you issues at lower rpms now?
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Old 03-06-2008, 04:27 PM   #18 (permalink)
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Hey so I watched the video again, just wondering what was your rpm(looked to be 1100-1200) at and was the car up to temp?

Also you said you changed the turbo, did you make sure the o2 sensor was reconnected, have you checked the o2 housing to make sure there are no leaks there? is there? After driving the car around did you see if there were any codes again?

how is the car at this point, is it still giving you issues when driving, has it started giving you issues at lower rpms now?
Around 1200 or so, the car was about 150F coolant.

The o2 sensor is connected and it is reading normal, I've done a boost leak test when the 14b was still on from the turbo inlet and there were no leaks, I just took the car out for 300ft and back, and got the p0500 speed sensor on my obd, which will turn into cel if I drive it more.

At this point the car is not drivable, and hasn't been drivable ever since the problem. It keeps on studdering, no power at all,will not go past 2-3K rpm, smoking like crazy, felt like it was gonna die, so I turned around asap and came back.
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Old 03-06-2008, 07:42 PM   #19 (permalink)
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the p0500 error is odd....have you checked the connector? look up vss to see some info.
Double check the maf connection, I know you mentioned you were going to.

I don't know if you have the egr hookups on your car, but that could also cause a high idle if any of those hoses come loose.

Also check the injector connectors, make sure they are seated on the injectors.
Make sure the spark plug wires are connected correctly. I'm sure you've done all of the above, but it never hurts to double check.

What color is the smoke? Have you checked the oil lines to make sure there weren't any leaks after you installed the 14b? is the oil level at a good level, is your coolant level normal?

You're also not getting any other codes? I would almost expect some sort of other code as the vss shouldn't cause this sort of issue.....

I know I've repeated everything that you said you checked, but again, double and triple check it, make sure nothing is skipped.

You might want to do a search on head gasket issues, it's possible you could find some info from others that have done the same thing and had issues.

Okay, I looked at one of the other videos that you had posted, not sure if this is also related, but when you reved the engine, the cell came on. Do you know what that cell was?

it was from this vid
Video of 2 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

assuming the timestamp is correct, that was from 2 weeks ago...
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Old 03-06-2008, 08:21 PM   #20 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by voodoogsx