new here! friend bought a galant vr4... some issues though

[heyzeus2003]

hey fellas i'm new to this board because one of my friends brothers just bought a 92 vr4 with several mods done to it... which i do not believe were installed in the cleanest/best way. the interior appears to be in great shape though .

some pics can be found here

now i'm really here because the car is nice and all... but there are several things that need to be worked out:

-the car stalls occasionally (usually after a long run)
-rough idle
-battery runs out of just if left connected
-car seems to be running rich (wastes alot of gas, smoke out the exhuast)
-the transmission grinds if you dont go into 3rd & 4th gear before going into 1st. it also grinds sometimes when you shift fast into 2nd gear. & then the transmission pops out of 5th gear sometimes.

sadly the car is just not tuned right
here are the mods as they were told to my friends brother & then to me

gt30 ball bearing turbo
BOV (not sure what kind)
cams & gears (not sure what kind)
some sort of clutch
apexi safc2 (doesnt seem to be tuned properly)
typhoon/cyclone engine? (the person that sold him the car told him it had either one of those engines imported straight from japan... any ideas on this guys?)

any ideas on how we can start tackling these problems?

oh yeah one more question... i think my friends brother started messing with the safc. cuz when he first got the car the afm gauge just went back & forth, but now the afm gauge sometimes stays on the rich end & then jumps around.. did he mess something up? how are you supposed to read the afm gauge i never really understood how you were supposed to read it?

 

[K_Hill]

The AF gauge will jump around if driving regularly but once it goes WOT it should stay at a steady read.. The rough idle may be from the cams.. Do you know what kind of cams they are??

 

[heyzeus2003]

oh ... well the afm gauges stays at rich for a while bounces around & goes back to rich. then at WOT it stays rich aswell .

i have no idea what cams the car has... the guy that sold the car to him told him that it was perfect (but it is obvioulsy not). i dont even know if he really has a gt30 turbo (i'm new to the boosted world . all i know is tha the turbo lags until about 3.5-4k rpm's. is there anyway to tell what kind of stuff is in the car?

oh yeah i forgot to mention... oils seems to come out the BOV, is that a problem?

thanks

 

[SkyLineGtR-R34]

take it to the autoparts store, let them check the codes
check the alternator and other basics
start from there and go up

and i don't know about oil coming through a BOV but i wouldn't say that's something good

p.s. what is that pipe going over the heat shield on exhaust manifold?

 

[Gleason]

I wonder if he has a 255lph fuel pump with no AFPR..that could explain running rich 24/7 and the rough idle. just an idea of something to check.

although a bad SAFC tune could also be the culprit.


or a mix of both.

 

[heyzeus2003]

take it to the autoparts store, let them check the codes
check the alternator and other basics
start from there and go up

and i don't know about oil coming through a BOV but i wouldn't say that's something good

p.s. what is that pipe going over the heat shield on exhaust manifold?

is there no way for me to be able to check the codes ourselfs? would performance shop be a better place to take the car, since the guys at autozone suck?

umm.. what could that be? bad turbo seals? bad gasket?

the IC pipe?

 

[heyzeus2003]

I wonder if he has a 255lph fuel pump with no AFPR..that could explain running rich 24/7 and the rough idle. just an idea of something to check.

although a bad SAFC tune could also be the culprit.


or a mix of both.

so would it be a good or bad thing to have the 55lph fuel pump? anyway to check find out with out dropping the tank?

i think it might be the safc, cuz my friend knows nothing about it (nor do i) & started messing with it & he didnt/doesnt have a manual.

 

[heyzeus2003]

would the tsi or gsx awd tranny work with the galant? i'm pretty sure his current tranny is toast. or would it be cheaper to have it rebuilt?

thanks for the ideas guys.

 

[SkyLineGtR-R34]

@gleason

you can (or your friend) check the codes of course, but you would need some kind of data logger
you can pretty much use any pc or laptop and install the data logger software and buy a plug for your car to check on that

it would also be nice to check the gaskets on turbo and manifold for leaks, check the intercooler, intercooler pipes...pretty much all pipe and gasket connections

as far as the performance shops go, they would probably do a better job than autozone...but make sure that they know what they are doing

 

[Gleason]

so would it be a good or bad thing to have the 55lph fuel pump? anyway to check find out with out dropping the tank?

i think it might be the safc, cuz my friend knows nothing about it (nor do i) & started messing with it & he didnt/doesnt have a manual.

the 255 itself isn't 'bad', but you really need to get an adjustible fuel pressure regulator because it over-runs the stock fuel system and you run ricchhhhhh.

heres a good thread about AFPRs
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1556607#post1556607

i dont believe you'd need to drop the tank, the galant vr4s probably have a 'fuel pump assembly' you can pull out and swap the pumps. i'd think anyways, never had any exerience with the cars though.

should probably read up online on how to use the AFC before you start messing with it

i've never personally used one, so i can't help you on fine tuning, or base tuning it.

heres the tech section for DSM tuning
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=39

heres two related articles

how AFC works
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105569
and beginer tuning

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103469

 

[heyzeus2003]

thanks for the info guys! you guys are awesome! hopefully he can get it tuned right, soon.

anybody know anything about my transmission question? & are the engines in the galants the same as the turbo eclipses/talons?

thanks again

 

[K_Hill]

Yes, the motors are the same.

 

[heyzeus2003]

Yes, the motors are the same.

sweet! does that go for the trannies too?

thanks

 

[K_Hill]

I really don't know a little search might give you a answer..

 

[K_Hill]

Double post... Internet Lag...
sorry

 

[PndrsBox20G]

if you dont mind me asking how much did your friend paid for the GVR4 with all those goodies?.....

 

[big_eskimo]

hey fellas i'm new to this board because one of my friends brothers just bought a 92 vr4 with several mods done to it... which i do not believe were installed in the cleanest/best way. the interior appears to be in great shape though .

some pics can be found here

now i'm really here because the car is nice and all... but there are several things that need to be worked out:

-the car stalls occasionally (usually after a long run)
-rough idle
-battery runs out of just if left connected
-car seems to be running rich (wastes alot of gas, smoke out the exhuast)
-the transmission grinds if you dont go into 3rd & 4th gear before going into 1st. it also grinds sometimes when you shift fast into 2nd gear. & then the transmission pops out of 5th gear sometimes.

sadly the car is just not tuned right
here are the mods as they were told to my friends brother & then to me

gt30 ball bearing turbo
BOV (not sure what kind)
cams & gears (not sure what kind)
some sort of clutch
apexi safc2 (doesnt seem to be tuned properly)
typhoon/cyclone engine? (the person that sold him the car told him it had either one of those engines imported straight from japan... any ideas on this guys?)

any ideas on how we can start tackling these problems?

oh yeah one more question... i think my friends brother started messing with the safc. ### when he first got the car the afm gauge just went back & forth, but now the afm gauge sometimes stays on the rich end & then jumps around.. did he mess something up? how are you supposed to read the afm gauge i never really understood how you were supposed to read it?

OK, where to start? Give your friend a pat on the back because if you guys get this thing running correctly, it's gonna be a really fun car.

With the stalling that can be caused by several things. An incorrect A/F mixture, a lightened flyweel or crank pulley, if that 2G MAF isn't set up correctly. You guys are just gonna have to troubleshoot that as best you can, but those are some things you could look at. Hopefully the dummy light will point you in the right direction.

The rough idle could be caused by all of the above things I listed, also aggressive cams are known to cause a less than desireable idle quality.

It seems like you know something about cars, so I'm guessing that it's black smoke, which indicates a rich mixture. If it's gray it's steam, if it's blue it's oil, blah blah, just had to ask. This is more than likely an extremely rich tune.

The tranny's are the weak link in DSM's. You pretty much gotta bite the bullet on that one. I'd suggest changing the fluid with GM Synchromesh or Redline and doing the general upgrades to the transmission. I would throw a Symborski kit on it, a short throw shifter, some skateboard or rollerblade bearings for the shifter bushings, and that's about it short of a rebuild. Don't forget to adjust the clutch after you do this.

Tell your brothers friend not to touch things if he doesn't know what will happen when he does. It's a very bad idea to try and tune without a logger and/or a wideband o2 sensor. Also is there a wideband o2 sensor that that A/F gauge is connected to? If not its pretty much a lightshow. Good luck and keep us posted.

R.J.

Edit: Forgot about the battery issue he's having, it's either a bad battery, a bad alternator, which it doesn't sound like, or a parasitic draw somewhere which can be NIGHTMARES to find. Pray its not one of those. Also you should do all of the general maintenence for peace of mind i.e. plugs & plug wires, oil & filter, air filter, fuel filter, Seafoam, and all fluids, maybe even a timing belt. I know it sounds like a pain but unless you know that stuff has been done recently, you have no idea where it's been or how long those things have gone without being changed.

 

[heyzeus2003]

Lol... well the car has been through a lot since I posted this. Turns out the guy who owned the car before him had messed up the engine enough for it to loose compression. He found out the compression was bad when he went to have it professionally tuned by a shop that is about an hour away. They found a lot of small issues that the PO did, like the boost controller was not installed properly (the shop said it was badwards?), safc was not tuned properly (most likely thanks to his brother)...etc. So since he found out the compression was bad, he bought a tuned block (don't know for how much) to replace the one he has now. The cams were also what was causing the bouncing idle, so he did a straight trade for stock cams. He supposedly got an Evo tranny installed in his car, but the tranny still has the same symptoms. As for the battery issue, well it turned out it was the automatic seatbelts that were killing the battery; they somehow kept drawing power even when they weren't in use. Anyhow, by the time they're done, they think he'll be making about 300whp... maybe more (is that possible without EMS?). unfortunately the owner of the car is easily convinced to believe whatever the shop people say, so at times I think they are screwing him over. Like recently they told him that his piston were installed backwards!?!?! Idk, there is only so much I can do or say to help.

As for the question on how much he paid for it, well it wasn't that much since he traded his old car (92 Integra LS) plus cash for it (iirc maybe about $1500 cash...)

 

[big_eskimo]

Ah, silly me, I didn't even notice how old this thread was haha. That sucks to hear about all that stuff that was bad on his car. It sounds like it's all getting straighened out, and if you don't have any previous experience with a shop then it is kind of scary because there are some pretty shady shops out there trying to get a little more money out of people. Let us know when its done.

 

[heyzeus2003]

yeah, i'm anxious to see it finished... but it seems like it might be a while. thanks for the input.