sadshins

Hello, I’m new here! Recently ive been running into this problem where my S13 (Completely stock motor wise besides just a cat delete and hks hi power exhaust) will have a light misfire under load. I went to get it smogged the other day and noticed it when it was sitting at 2500rpm. It does it about every 5 seconds, seams like its back firing but that doesn?t make sense when you can physically feel the motor shake....

So far owning this car I have changed the fuel filter, replaced all 4 injectors with new oem, added a higher cranking amp battery, cleaned all the grounds i could find, replace the iac valve (NOT the sensors, unfortunately had to reuse so I didn?t have to rewire it) what next steps should i take?

I plan on changing the spark plug wires, and checking the cap and rotor while im there. I also plan to replace the tps in the future with oem hence it being 29 years old.

Where should i go about it from here.... totally lost and confused, very, very new to schassis especially ka?s

Update: (1-7-21) I changed the 2 blade coolant temp sensor, cleaned the single blade (because everything i could find was the wrong thread size) cleaned the connectors for the Tps And Maff, changed sparks plugs to regular platinums (vs coppers).

But when i pulled the plugs, the tips were white (yes, white = Lean) but my smog test was super rich, it showed crazy amounts of gas coming through the exhaust so that makes no sense... could it be that the distributor timing is off? So its sparking at the wrong sequence of the combustion cycle?

(?Updates? are from Facebook post, not much luck there hope you guys can help!)

Update #2 (1-7-21): so on the forums i read about how if you unplug the maf for 2 minutes while the car is running it ?should reset it? so i tried it. Unplugged it, let it run like shit for 2 minutes and plug it back in and went back to where it was. Then i got to thinking, in my 1990 Rx7 Fc NA when diagnosing if the tps was bad, the forums said to the same thing as the maf, but with the tps, and see if there is a difference at idle or under load. So i gave it a shot. Unplugged it, no change, revved it to 2500rpms were the misfire is most noticeable, and the car reacted the exact same. Plugged it back in, no difference, revved it to 2500rpms, no difference. Still breaking up. I did not attempt to drive it with it unplugged as i did not want to damage the engine. But could this mean that my tps is dead?

S14rebuild

Plugs wires, cap, rotor and ignition coil.... change them

canadians14sr20det

This guy is 100% right. If money is tight, start with plugs and make sure the gap is right on them and the old ones weren't being fouled for some other reason.

s13poop

^ These guys are right

it might be a good idea to change your 02 sensor if you haven't already also hit your intake mani with some throttle body/air intake cleaner to clean any carbon buildup from previous owners.

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sadshins

Okay i will do that, i read NGK’s wires for the s13 are better than oem, is that true? And should i just stick with oem cap rotor and coil?


Edit: my wires, cap, and rotor are all new oem, could it be just the igniter?

S14rebuild

Check ur coil and the distributor itself

sadshins

Update, i checked the fuel pressure from the pump, and its reading normal around 34Psi.
I then used a timing light, put it on all 4 plug wires and ended up with the same results of it fluctuating between 965-985... but what does that mean?? Ive never used a timing light hahaha super new to all of this

canadians14sr20det

Fuel pressure is a little low but probably not the issue frankly. I would assume the 965-985 is the idle speed of the engine. An engines idle will fluctuate, this is normal. Was the timing mark on the engine correct with the light?

Antihero983

That is the RPMs, and those numbers aren't bad for idle at all. I'd be interested to see what the timing looks like through the rev range though since you're getting the misfire up top.

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kennedy8383

Check ecu for codes