Car won't run properly. R33gtr

[leung23c]

Hi guys. My car looks like having electrical problems. I hope you guys can give me advise to me before I spent a fortune towing it to some German garage in Regina hoping they know what they are doing...

Spec:
Stock MAF
Stock injector
Stock ECU
Stock coil stock ignitor stock harness
Stock BOV
Tomei stroker bottom end
Good compression good oil pressure no fluid leak at all. (Maybe an air leak however)

Fuel pressure is perfect as it got new fuel pump and regulator. I can hear the topfeed injectors clicking. Loud as hell indeed. All plugs are fouled but still make proper spark as checked visually. The exhaust has some marks of unburnt fuel. Even the bumper got some fuel stains.

The car will not run properly. First few times I start it it revs fine all the way to 4000rpm. But I must hold the pedal slightly to let it idle or it will rev lower and lower then die on its own. Then it will get harder and harder to start and then won't start at all. I don't have a consult port so I used the PFC to check sensor and everything appeared to me in check. Nothing out of spec and all sensors got voltage. Then I swapped stock ecu back and used a paperclip to check the stock ECU and after trying to start it shows up a code 21 (or 12? It's two slow pulses and one fast pulse)

More weird stuff....after the car stalls when I step on the accelerator pedal it seems its activating fuel pump for a split second...

I don't know where to check. I don't know what's going on.

[GTR-Garage]

Are you running a Power FC? Did you remove your ECU at any point and then plug it back in?

[leung23c]

Yes. I plan to use stock computer. PFC wouldn't run at all. Stock computer runs no good.

[GTR-Garage]

Did it run on the stock ECU before you installed the Power FC and when it didn't run you put the stock ECU back in and now it's running bad?

[leung23c]

It ran on both ecu before but now it only runs on stock ECU, very roughly. It will not run on PFC. If I let the car sits for a while the car starts right up although it will run roughly and die eventually. May I ask what causes the engine to run roughly/weak combustion? By the sound I can tell the combustion is running weak although the wideband shows 10.0 afr during cold start.

[GTR-Garage]

My first inclination was that your A/F was way off. Is your AFR around 10.0 at idle or just immediately after starting it up? That's pretty rich. Have you checked timing?

[leung23c]

Immediately start up is 10.0 and/or richer than 10. It goes leaner than 10 when i throttle it a bit but engine doesnt seem to improve. The fuel pressure is fine though.

[NismoS-tune]

Off topic but that's the most over built stock car I've ever heard of lol.

Has the car ever run properly since the stroker install? What was done since it last ran? Have you played with timing since it last ran properly? Sounds like your timing may be wrong. If you had an ati damper, it may be set backwards (in regards to base timing)

If this is a newly assembled car, did you set you base throttle position (guessing that you have a different ecu or removed your tps at all? Sounds like your car never goes to idle loop

[GTR-Garage]

Agreed, it seems like a timing issue to me. If you have fuel and spark and compression is good I wouldn't get too worried about something major.

[leung23c]

It ran fine about a year ago except missing/leaning in highway. Car had quite a bit of power at first but things started going downhill. I thought it was the fuel pump failing which it was and then I replaced it and an oversized pressure regulator.

I bought the car the way it is when the last owner had the engine rebuilt with tomei stroker kit, but with a N1 oil pump and used stock ceramic turbo and a stock clutch....the work was done at Sumaru's. I know there is no mechanical issue but other components of the car are failing. Although they are no major problem if I don't know what it is exactly I am still totally screwed lol.

I never touch the timing nor the timing belt. The only thing I did was took off the cas and put it back.

All I know is that the engine runs weirdly....something is wrong....SAU dude thinks it may be my AAC...I wild guess is the ignition...

[GTR-Garage]

Did it run correctly before removing and reinstalling the CAS? If so, that's the source of your problem. Try adjusting the CAS and if you get no difference check to see if the locating pin on the end of the cam snapped off. If it turns out you have a bad CAS let me know and I'll express you one out at our cost so you can get your car back on the road.

The first thing I would do for sure is to check the timing. It's easy to do and it will eliminate a ton of potential issues.

[leung23c]

No it starts to fail before I remove the cas. The half moon key is still there and I simply put the cas in the middle setting. Will try adjusting it back and forth however. Thanks for your offer of help!

Just curious how would it be able to rev up freely for a short while then die if I did not touch the cas during that time?

[NismoS-tune]

What did you set your base fuel pressure at (without vacuum assist)?


The AAC could be a culprit if truly your car runs fine other than idle. Then again, I don't use idle control at all and mine idles fine.

[leung23c]

base fuel pressure is 3 bar. Because I have fuel pressure gauge permanently installed I can see the fuel pressure is really stable. I have fitted new tomei pump and direct feed it.

How can AAC be a culprit? I am thinking maybe the ignition system fails intermittently. What about air leak? can it cause no start situation?

I have just booked an appointment with CWS tuning in Regina next week. -_- Seriously I want to live in Alberta or Ontario.

[onyx_gtr]

Just a thought, reading what you wrote and my first thought would be a fueling issue due to some facts, 1: you state the
Car idles at 10:1, 2: you stated that you plugs are fouled, 3: you said if you rev the car you can get it to ran for a bit before it died ( flooding itself ) which would make a hard start or no start condition. You could try turning down the fuel pressure for 3 bar to say 2.5 bar ( see if that helps a bit )or you could have bad injectors ( as in leaky injectors which could be dumping fuel in as to spraying it in ), if you have another set of injectors to try.
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