new turbo install......new problems

[Breaksteel]

Ok I just finished my turbo install (Star Performance) and its seems I have a small problem, the car is now running lean. White smoke is coming out the tail pipe and the air fuel gauge doesnt want to budge off the lowest possible reading, it starts to move at high idle but only one led.

Is there any way to adjust this? Unfortunitly I dont have a fuel pressure gauge so I dont know what kind of pressure im dealing with.

Could this be the result of a vortech fmu and leaving the stock pressure regulator in place?

 

[GSGoinFast]

Ok I just finished my turbo install (Star Performance) and its seems I have a small problem, the car is now running lean. White smoke is coming out the tail pipe and the air fuel gauge doesnt want to budge off the lowest possible reading, it starts to move at high idle but only one led.

Is there any way to adjust this? Unfortunitly I dont have a fuel pressure gauge so I dont know what kind of pressure im dealing with.

Could this be the result of a vortech fmu and leaving the stock pressure regulator in place?

is this all happening at idle? have you driven it at all? how does it drive? do a compression test? i'd go buy a fuel pressure gauge, like $30 from summit, and check what it reads. if its happening at idle, i dont see it being the fmu. your stock fpr still controls idle pressure, and even if the fmu was messed up, and was messing with pressure at idle, i dont think it can lower fuel pressure, which would give you a lean condition. maybe test the fuel pump.... hmmm give us some more info like the questions i asked above

 

[Breaksteel]

is this all happening at idle? have you driven it at all? how does it drive? do a compression test? i'd go buy a fuel pressure gauge, like $30 from summit, and check what it reads. if its happening at idle, i dont see it being the fmu. your stock fpr still controls idle pressure, and even if the fmu was messed up, and was messing with pressure at idle, i dont think it can lower fuel pressure, which would give you a lean condition. maybe test the fuel pump.... hmmm give us some more info like the questions i asked above

This happends at idle, yes.....on the gauge one led over max lean lights up when rev'ed to 5000 or so other than that it is stuck maxed out at full lean condition. I have not driven the car in this condition, no... the tail pipe is pouring smoke out as equal to a cold winter mornings smoke..only this doesnt stop when the car is at operating temp. I have not done a compresion test as I do not have a tester, will most likely grab one tommorrow, along with a fuel pressure gauge...I have pulled the plugs re'gaped them and knoticed they are indicating a lean mix so I know its not my air fuel gauge. I would love to drive the car but with as much smoke coming out of the exhaust i dont think it would take long to smoke the rings, if it hasnt already strarted.

oh i just remembered, this shouldnt matter that much but there is 89 octane in the tank as I havent driven the car to that gas station to fill up on 93....

 

[selmerguy]

just making sure your fmu is installed right. it goes on your return line from the stock fpr to the tank. the side goes on the fpr side and the bottom goes on the tank side.

it sounds like you have the fmu on the line going to the rail.

good luck.

 

[siueclipse]

Is there any way to adjust this? Unfortunitly I dont have a fuel pressure gauge so I dont know what kind of pressure im dealing with.

Umm ok.. you are out there boosting but you have no idea what your fuel pressure is? Do you want a clue as to what that white smoke is youre seeing? Its a busted head gasket.

 

[GSGoinFast]

Umm ok.. you are out there boosting but you have no idea what your fuel pressure is? Do you want a clue as to what that white smoke is youre seeing? Its a busted head gasket.

he said he hasnt driven it, so he hasnt hit boost at all.

 

[Breaksteel]

just making sure your fmu is installed right. it goes on your return line from the stock fpr to the tank. the side goes on the fpr side and the bottom goes on the tank side.

I hope this is the problem, i think i have it connected correct but for easyness sake i hope its wrong, ill check it

Umm ok.. you are out there boosting but you have no idea what your fuel pressure is? Do you want a clue as to what that white smoke is youre seeing? Its a busted head gasket.

again gsgoinfast nailed it, i have not boosted the car at all, infact i have not taken it off the jackstands yet, I'm going to pick up a fuel pressure gauge and fittings very shortly.

(Edit)I have the fmu upsidedown and it looks like i have it connected wrong.... easy fix....., (if fmu is mounted right side up) i have the bottom line off the fmu going to the stock fpr, the side line going to the tank and the vacuume line going to the intake manifold.....this is wrong...right?
I am going to pick up a fuel pressure gauge and change the fpr lines.....i will get back with any info or changes to my situation

Latest update.......I changed the lines on the fmu and have only got a 5% increase in fuel, im still abnormally lean but the car does seem to run better, i say 5% because the smoke cloud has lessened that much......I have the line off the stock fpr to the side of the fmu and the bottom of the fmu hooked to the fuel tank...im at a loss for what to do now, will the ecu see this issue and fix it?

 

[GSGoinFast]

I hope this is the problem, i think i have it connected correct but for easyness sake i hope its wrong, ill check it



again gsgoinfast nailed it, i have not boosted the car at all, infact i have not taken it off the jackstands yet, I'm going to pick up a fuel pressure gauge and fittings very shortly.

(Edit)I have the fmu upsidedown and it looks like i have it connected wrong.... easy fix....., (if fmu is mounted right side up) i have the bottom line off the fmu going to the stock fpr, the side line going to the tank and the vacuume line going to the intake manifold.....this is wrong...right?
I am going to pick up a fuel pressure gauge and change the fpr lines.....i will get back with any info or changes to my situation

Latest update.......I changed the lines on the fmu and have only got a 5% increase in fuel, im still abnormally lean but the car does seem to run better, i say 5% because the smoke cloud has lessened that much......I have the line off the stock fpr to the side of the fmu and the bottom of the fmu hooked to the fuel tank...im at a loss for what to do now, will the ecu see this issue and fix it?

well you got it hooked up right now. still, i dont see how that would cause a lean condition at idle. buy a compression gauge and test the compression, it will tell you if you have hg problems or something else.

 

[Breaksteel]

well i have crossed my fingers and toes.......the smoke at closer look seemed to be steam, i also pulled the plugs after changing the fmu lines and they didnt seem as bad after a 5 min idle, so i took the car for a ride....

yes its not blown up....!!! ......anyways im waiting for it to cool down and im going to be pulling the plugs once again and see what happened, also the smoke was infact steam, once the exhaust warmed up it went away. leads me to believe there is infact a problem with eather the electical connections in the air fuel gauge or the gauge isnt working properly, the plugs should let me know this...

the car runs good, hard to tell how much hp gain i got cause of the wet roads but im running 8 pounds of boost and id deffenetly seems to be running as it should.

final pics of the plug.....seem ok to me whats your thaughts?

 

[GSGoinFast]

well i have crossed my fingers and toes.......the smoke at closer look seemed to be steam, i also pulled the plugs after changing the fmu lines and they didnt seem as bad after a 5 min idle, so i took the car for a ride....

yes its not blown up....!!! ......anyways im waiting for it to cool down and im going to be pulling the plugs once again and see what happened, also the smoke was infact steam, once the exhaust warmed up it went away. leads me to believe there is infact a problem with eather the electical connections in the air fuel gauge or the gauge isnt working properly, the plugs should let me know this...

the car runs good, hard to tell how much hp gain i got cause of the wet roads but im running 8 pounds of boost and id deffenetly seems to be running as it should.

final pics of the plug.....seem ok to me whats your thaughts?

looks better then my plugs. . i just started my car up for the first time with the fmu installed and the fuel pump installed, and i was getting a little white steam also. im glad its working good now. now go out there and kick some honda ass!

oh yeah, any CEL's? could be your o2 sensor if its not your gauge

 

[Breaksteel]

looks better then my plugs. . i just started my car up for the first time with the fmu installed and the fuel pump installed, and i was getting a little white steam also. im glad its working good now. now go out there and kick some honda ass!

oh yeah, any CEL's? could be your o2 sensor if its not your gauge

those plugs have over 30,000 miles on them..
i have no cels, thats why i thaught it was the gauge....it was....according to the instructions they had me hook the signal wire to the gray wire on the o2 sensor.....well they were wrong and thats the last time im reading directions .....i hooked it up to the black wire which one would think is the ground....the sensor now works....or atleast what they do when hooked up correct.....I now have disco lights....

next step is an egt but the car is off to paint next week, then off to the muffler shop to have them weld what small exhaust leaks i do have (magnaflo missed a spot). off to the dyno after that!!!!

so to sum it all up i was running lean (fixed- fmu was hooked up incorrect) and gauge stuck on full lean (fixed- hooked up to signal as oppsed to ground wire)

 

[selmerguy]

glad i could help.
you might want to double check how you have your christmas tree/ a/f gauge and use the wire in the ecu harness. white with a black stripe in the top harness.(don't quote me about wire color i forget which one i used.)

 

[Breaksteel]

wiring off the ecu will give a better reading?

 

[selmerguy]

i am not sure but i know if you use that wire your gauge wire won't get close to your exhaust. the hotter that gauge wire gets the mor inaccurate the readings. at least thats what i have been told. however unless you use a wide band that a/f gauge only helps a little. don't use that to tune your car.

 

[Breaksteel]

i am not sure but i know if you use that wire your gauge wire won't get close to your exhaust. the hotter that gauge wire gets the mor inaccurate the readings. at least thats what i have been told. however unless you use a wide band that a/f gauge only helps a little. don't use that to tune your car.

I have the wire inside a loom going across the top of the motor away from any heat source. I have also managed to get the wire inside the heat wrap that came on the o2 sensor. hopefully this will not heat up too much and melt, i don't think it should. Also i have seen how these gauges work in my brothers car, deff not something to tune with as you have stated, i just installed it as a reference. If it goes in one direction and stays then we got trouble.. it does start to fluctuate more as the sensor heats but its expected, if i feel like tearing work apart i will put it to the ecu but for now it should work..

im also planning on running stand alone management but thats after the motor work.

 

[selmerguy]

I have the wire inside a loom going across the top of the motor away from any heat source. I have also managed to get the wire inside the heat wrap that came on the o2 sensor. hopefully this will not heat up too much and melt, i don't think it should. Also i have seen how these gauges work in my brothers car, deff not something to tune with as you have stated, i just installed it as a reference. If it goes in one direction and stays then we got trouble.. it does start to fluctuate more as the sensor heats but its expected, if i feel like tearing work apart i will put it to the ecu but for now it should work..

im also planning on running stand alone management but thats after the motor work.

i hear that. i am doing my motor work as i type this. my head is going to get a valve job and a good hot tank on monday. i haven't pulled my block yet but i stripped it today. i need to go buy a motor stand and a hoist soon. hope to be done this time next month.

 

[Breaksteel]

well good luck with the motor, i cant wait till i have the money to strip mine but i have thaught about buying a new block and building it as i have the cash and time, this way if i blow it up i have anouther one ready to go at a days notice

 

[selmerguy]

thats a good idea i wanted to do that but.... the person that owned mt car before me blew the timming belt and the valves put dents into the pistons and they never replaced them. so i went boostin' and it went boom pretty quick.

 

[Breaksteel]

ouch, yeah dents in the pistons are never good, unless you want a realy inexpensive way to lower compression ....im surpirised that a blown timing belt didnt do more than that, normally it bends valves and put holes in the pistons and other such wonders to the block if your realy unlucky....i guess you got off easy...but still sucks regardless

 

[selmerguy]

i didn't blow the timing belt it was blown way before i bought the car they did nothing to the block and replaced the head. thats why my pistons have dents in them.

 

[Breaksteel]

yeah you had said that the previous owner blew it up, at least now the car has someone that is willing to spend the money and keep it up!! i got lucky with mine, it was like brand new with only 38,000 miles on it back in 01 i think...put alot on it since then, and i replaced my timing belt at i think 75000 or somewhere i there cause i have heard all the horror stories about them blowing and i was on like my 3rd set of alternator and power steering pump belts so i was beginning to get Leary about making it to the 100000 mark