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View Full Version : Weird KA problem, all help welcome


slow40sx
09-03-2012, 04:03 PM
Ok so i bought a 92 s13 hatch for 300 bucks, had a blown up motor in it so i pull the motor and tossed it. I managed to find and S14 ka for cheap but upon inspection i found that the valve seals were leaking, so i took the head off properly, dropped it off at the machine shop, have help throw a straight edge on it to make sure it was flat, it checked good, and had them replace the valve seals. After getting it back i went over most the motor and replaced all the seals, front and rear main, intake mani, exhaust mani, head gasket, put in ARP studs, threw it all back together, new clutch, new slave, new clutch master, new brake master, i pretty much replaced everything i thought would go wrong since this is going to be my daily. Before tossing it in i removed all the useless emissions and egr bullshit and blocked everything off correctly. I put the motor back in and right before i started it i had a buddy toss my battery in and hook up the cables while i was messing with my white car, i didn't bother looking but he hook up the cables backwards and it fried my ECU, i got a new ecu tossed it in.


The car started right up smoothly and then immediately ran like 400lbs of shit, if i gave it any gas it would bog and die, if i let it idle it would slowly die, i adjusted the timing with a timing light, same thing. Here is where it gets weird, i unhooked the MAF plug and it started to run smooth and idle a little high and i could even rev it a little but it would still break up a bit until it hit the 3K rev limit with the maf unhooked, so i thought ok, bad MAF right? WRONG! i took that MAF and put it on a buddy's car, his car ran perfect, took his maf put it on my car, ran like dick, no change, so ok, MAF wiring right? WRONG! i put his engine harness on my motor and it ran like aids still. So a couple weeks later he pulled his KA to do an SR swap, so he gave me everything off his motor i replaced the fuel rail with injectors and FPR, replaced the distributor, plugs, wires, fuel filter, used his ECU aswell, replaced the ignitor and coil, replaced the fuel pump and drained the tank and put fresh gas in it, still runs like total asshole i have no fucking clue what to do and it is really pissing me off, i just want to start driving this thing so i can start saving on gas and this is causing more of a headache than anything else

CAN ANYONE HELP ME? PLEASE!

PS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also compression tested the motor and got 138 140 140 138

PPSSSS!!!!! just to clarify the motor is an s14 KA and it has everything need to make it work in an s13 and the car i pulled parts from is also a 92 S13

PPPS!!!! The only code I got from the ECU was 55 which is all clear

Memberofthe600hpkaclub
09-03-2012, 04:07 PM
Check cam timing....maybe take pics n show us...just helped a guy out with the same.exact problem ...and he was 100% sure they were right...he was def wrong

slow40sx
09-03-2012, 04:18 PM
ok will do, i'll get some tomorrow

call me old fashioned
01-01-2014, 12:08 PM
hate to bump a very old thread but I am having the EXACT same problem as you down to the S!$ motor into an S13 swap...
did you ever source the problem and fix it??

dallasb53
01-01-2014, 07:07 PM
sounds like timing to me, when i did the timing chain on my motor i had the same problems till i got a light and timed it right

call me old fashioned
01-01-2014, 07:17 PM
my car seems timed right just from how it sounds when it is running but it wont idle unless the throttle is opened about half way or if I feather the gas. it just wants to bog out. the spark plugs are black, covered in soot. its running way rich but even when I floor it, wot it bogs out.

I really wish OP sees this and can tell me what sorted his problem out

dallasb53
01-01-2014, 07:43 PM
my car seems timed right just from how it sounds when it is running but it wont idle unless the throttle is opened about half way or if I feather the gas. it just wants to bog out. the spark plugs are black, covered in soot. its running way rich but even when I floor it, wot it bogs out.

I really wish OP sees this and can tell me what sorted his problem out

seems to be.... have you used a light? mine seemed to be too, hell i even drove it around but it was way off when i put a light on it

call me old fashioned
01-02-2014, 12:23 PM
thought about it last night, went back to work today, had to pull the dizzy out and move it a few teeth over, runs like a charm now. thanks for the help! now time to tackle the terrible vacuum leak...
and all this in time for the snowday today, yayyy drifting w/o wrecking tread.
thanks again.
and if anyone else stumbles across this, the timing was way too retarded and it was bogging out because the spark was so late, barely any fuel was burnt up in the combustion. I was running it w/o any exhaust, straight manifold, and it was shooting flames because the fuel was burning through the valves and mani due to being fired late.

had to remove the distributor to skip some teeth on the gear until the timing was advanced enough.