Any tips for starting your car for the first time after doing a major overhaul on it?

[ohmygahitsjosh]

Kinda new to the whole mechanic side of things so I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips or things to watch out for when attempting to start the car for the first time after sitting for 3 months and having a LOT of things in and out of it.

I have removed and replaced or reinstalled all of the following:

Transfer case
Oil Pan
Entire turbo setup from the manifold/gaskets/studs to the test pipe/DP gasket including oil lines and water lines.
All vacuum/boost lines and MBC
All upper intercooler piping
all lower intercooler piping
Radiator
VC
Head
Head bolts (Replaced with arp head studs)
All timing components (Reinstalled old tensioner because it seemed to be still in spec)
Wiring harness
battery
thermostat
thermostat housing
Fuel rail
Injectors
and a cable which i assume is the throttle cable... Kinda clueless as to if this is hooked up right... id think if it was tighter or looser then it was before that it may have a negative effect on the idle? maybe someone could clear this up for me

Sorry if my terminology on any of the parts is wrong.. im still learning whats what

Ive also installed an AEM UEGO wideband 02 and i just have to hook up the red and black wires still on it...

Im completely new to logging and stuff, I got my tactrix 2.0 OP cable yesterday so Once I figure out how Im going to go about running evoscan on my macbook Ill be using that to log and ecuscan to hopefully tune with... I also have a black face SAFC-II in my possession... would it be worth installing that as well?

Thanks to anyone with some useful information!

So far from reading some other similar posts Ive gathered as much as pulling the fuse labeled Engine and crank it over til I get oil pressure but thats about it. All the work that Ive done reinstalling everything Ive tried to go by the manual and info on vfaq and some of the tech posts on here and Im pretty sure Ive done everything right... but where its my first time im a bit skeptical... So also if anyone can tell me some things to be looking for that may indicate problems asap so I can be sure and cut the engine before I eff anything up too bad :/ (That is being generous and assuming that it even DOES start when I turn it over haha)

Thanks again to everyone who has been a HUGE help in taking me thru all the stuff Ive been having issues with while trying to to get to this point. Ive definately learned a TON of stuff in the last couple months about not only DSMs but the way cars and turbod applications work in general.

 

[LiquidX]

First thing you'll want to do is pull the MPI fuse under the hood and go and crank her over. That will prime the oil system and should give you a slight idea if there are any large leaks.

After doing that for a couple 20sec cranks, have some one look and see if any fuel was leaking out of the rail anywhere as the fuel pump would have been turning on each time you go and turn the key off and on to crank.

Make sure all other fluids are topped and not leaking at this moment. Put MPI fuse back in and crank it over. Have someone or yourself look for fuel leaks (double check), oil leaks, water leaks, and exhaust leaks.

Did you do a boost leak test yet? If not do one before starting the car. Be sure the wideband is calibrated before starting the car and have it all hooked up properly.

 

[ohmygahitsjosh]

Alright Thanks

I figured the wideband was calibrated out of the box But I'll check the papers thatcame with it and see what I can find out about how to calibrate it

I'll also do a boost leak test
I'm not sure how to do one but i'm sure a search of the forums will lead me to a walkthru


Thanks again

 

[vannaksgsx]

Try this, one of MANY threads.


http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/228139-boost-leak-testing.html

 

[ohmygahitsjosh]

bahaha k so I guess it might help if i installed the SPARK PLUGS before doing the boost leak test

I forgot I had them out in case I needed to do a compression test or something :x

lets try this again ;]

Apparently I lucked out and when I bought this car it came with a cardboard box of random junk and in it i found a pvc boost leak tester!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Be ready to get everything set to factory specs once it warms up. After you do all your prep and turn the key, assuming everything works fine, let it warm up and then be ready to set the idle (need to jumper wires), set the timing(jumper wire, timing light), and set the fuel pressure (if you have an AFPR).

My AEM UEGO was fine right out of the box. There was no calibration required.

Hope this helps!

 

[ohmygahitsjosh]

whats this about a timing light and jumpers and stuff?
do you need all that even if youre going to be flashing the ecu? I guess I wasnt aware that this was something anyone did If you can give me more info on this or point me in the right direction to get it thatd be a big help

thanks

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

whats this about a timing light and jumpers and stuff?
do you need all that even if youre going to be flashing the ecu? I guess I wasnt aware that this was something anyone did If you can give me more info on this or point me in the right direction to get it thatd be a big help

thanks

I have no expirence with a flashable ECU but I would imagine that you still have to have your base idle, timing, and fp set manually. I don't know for sure though. Check out this VFAQ on how to set the timing.

I was just reading some threads on setting the ignition timing on 2gs.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/236950-setting-base-timing-95-gst.html
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/216306-how-do-you-adjust-base-timing-2g.html
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/216081-increase-base-timing.html

For teh 2gs it looks like it depends on what ECU you have and also what CAS you have. I'm so glad I have a 1g! Anyways, the timing part might not apply to you but I would recommend that you look into it some more to find out for sure.

 

[JusMX141]

I always keep a stock ECU and a set of 450's on hand so there's no chance of fuel trims being off so badly on the initial startup that the engine would get flooded with fuel.

 

[ohmygahitsjosh]

yea I still am using stock injectors til i can afford to upgrade to a 190 and some evo 560s
My plan is to just run between 10-15 psi on the e316g until then.
Ill also need to do an intercooler upgrade but im taxed out atm

Im not getting very far with the boost leak test it doesnt seem to build ANY pressure at all...

tho the gauge I have basically starts at 10 or 15 psi hmmm Is there any chance for the BOV hoses to be hooked up wrong and allowing air to just escape? there doesnt seem to be any leaks around my injectors/fuel rail area and the Intake mani was left still attached to the head during the rebuild I havent touched anything past where the UICP connects to the TB elbow...