S13 SR20DET wont start after driven hard

[Psychomoongoose]

I just bought an 89 with an S13 SR20DET. Drove it back from Ontario, CA to Santa Rosa, about a 7 hour drive, the only issue was when it was cold, it would die when I was cruising up to a stoplight with the clutch in and throttle off. That issue seemed to go away after it was warm.

Anyhow, I was doing some skidding at a local spot and the car was running poorly on the way home. It was down on power and it seemed to be running rich.

I tried to start it back up and it wouldnt start. Cranking and cranking till the battery died. Brought it home, cleaned the MAF sensor with MAF cleaner and sprayed a bunch of CARB cleaner down the IACV tube. Still wont start. Unplugged the MAF. Still wont start. I know it has fuel because of the aftermarket FPR shows pressure.

Mod list below.

Nismo Thermostat
Nismo Type-A FPR w/ Marshall Liquid filled gauge
New rubber fuel lines allaround
Brand New Custom SS Power Steering line. Similar to Chase Bays line.
*7 layer S15 Exh. Manifold gasket
*New S15 Spec-R Garrett T28
HKS Wastegate Actuator
HKS 264/264 Step 1 Cams
Earls SS Oil and Coolant lines
ARC BOV (recirc)
Greddy FMIC
Nismo 740cc Injectors
N62 Maf
New Carquest Battery(Bought in 05/2015
RS-Enthalpy Tuned Ecu(264/264,S15 T28,740cc,14psi, 255 walbro, etc)
Apex'i Filter
Tomei Intake Adapter
Powered By Max Flex Cobra Downpipe
Catco 3" high flow cat(gutted)
ISR 3" blast pipes(loud)

[Dboyizmlg]

basics!!!

check for spark, fuel (i know you said you got that part).

Check fuses, wiring. If all else fails, do a compression test.

If it where me I would inspect spark plugs, and compression check 1st.

[SoundEfx]

FPR showing pressure doesn't mean that the injectors are working correctly. So check them.

I would change some of the sensors, o2, coolant... etc

Then follow that up with a general tune up.

[Psychomoongoose]

My friend must have been drunker than I thought.

Turns out the FPR DOESN'T show pressure when the car is cranking over.

Checked the BLK/YLW wire (according to the FSM, this is the power) and it indeed does have power, with the key in the "ON" position. Im lead to believe that the Walbro 255 is dead. Will swap the unit for a working one, as soon as I can talk to one of my buddys that has one.

Also, I cleaned the spark plugs, they were pretty dirty.

[Psychomoongoose]

Okay, got the fuel issue solved.

Now, Ive discovered that it doesnt have spark. I checked this by pulling one of the spark plugs out and touched the threads on the valve cover. Didnt see any spark.

Swapped ignitor for a working unit, still no spark.

What should I check next?

EDIT - Cannot check codes on the ECU, some dumbass stripped the little plastic screw that turns debugging mode on.

[S-Nation S13]

No spark, check the wire harness there might be a break in the harness to the wire leading to that coil (and you switched ignitor to a known working one so you cancel out ignitor issue)

[Tyler_240]

Remember the ground from the coilpack harness to the firewall and from the harness to the head.

[Psychomoongoose]

Those grounds look good, however I'll take em off and clean em

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[cotbu]

I would source a working ecu!
Do the other cylinders have spark? If so rule out coil packs and harness. A working ecu should give an ignition code 21 or whatever.

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[Psychomoongoose]

My buddy is driving his SR20 car over tomorrow.

Should i test my ECU in his car? Just in case I have some electrical issue that caused my ECU to fail? I would hate for him to put his ECU in my car and have my car fry his ECU.

If my ECU was tuned by RS ENTHALPY to use an N62 MAF will either of our cars start once we swap ECUs?

Im going to clean the grounds now and look for issues with the coil pack wiring now.

Also, is there a way to physically check if the injectors are firing? I dont have a multimeter yet. Going to order one off Amazon now.

[cotbu]

Swap your items to his car, injectors or whole rail, and z32 mafs.

If you put his ecu in your car dont try to start it, just pull codes or get a laptop and consult program and pull codes with your ecu.

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[Psychomoongoose]

Swap your items to his car, injectors or whole rail, and z32 mafs.

If you put his ecu in your car dont try to start it, just pull codes or get a laptop and consult program and pull codes with your ecu.

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Interested to see why I should swap injectors and MAF to his car. What would this accomplish? Just curious, doesn't seem to quite make sense to me but I might be missing something. Also our injectors have different capacities, wouldn't that create an issue?

Also, you're saying that I should use his ECU to pull codes from the rest of my car? Can't I just wire up a consult port on my ECU?

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[cotbu]

Taking your injectors, mafs, and puttings them in his car allows your ecu tune to run in his car. If everything works on his car then you know the ecu tune injector and mafs are good.

If you have a "friend" that was coming over to help you, swapping those item would be pretty easy and offer better answers to whats wrong then just a code, because if you tried starting the car 20 times with a code its going to be stored, until its cleared. You already messed with things that could possibly throw additional codes not necessarily were they your problem. Start fresh or start new.
First thing you should do is pull codes getting a code 55 is not a bad thing when your car runs like shit, that tells me its not a sensor issue you dig.

When words form a sentence, you have to read all the words!
or get a laptop and consult program and pull codes with your ecu.

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[Psychomoongoose]

My buddy never showed up today with his car.

However, i believe I located the issue. This is the connector for the ignitor chip.

Now just gotta locate another connector and solder it in. Hopefully this will solve the issue.

http://imgur.com/GzOi7No

[cotbu]

If you have wiring that looks like that, why make a thread about you car not running right? (Rhetorical)

Fix all your wiring, at least all plugs and connectors before you wire up that consult port, for future problem solving. G/L



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[hobbs]

Jesus, time for a new harness.

[Psychomoongoose]

Soldered in the new connector, still wont start.

Took apart the ECU and found this burnt pin.

http://imgur.com/AISG3HL

Plus a bunch of corrosion on the ECU cover. Bummer.

Wow! Looks like I cant drive until I save up to get a rywire harness and AEM standalone. Im not trying to cut any more corners. I just want a reliable setup!

Will update in a couple months when I get the above mentioned parts installed and tuned.

[ultimateirving]

Sorry to hear, but you are on the right track, Saving some money and getting some quality parts is a solid plan.

Soldered in the new connector, still wont start.

Took apart the ECU and found this burnt pin.

http://imgur.com/AISG3HL

Plus a bunch of corrosion on the ECU cover. Bummer.

Wow! Looks like I cant drive until I save up to get a rywire harness and AEM standalone. Im not trying to cut any more corners. I just want a reliable setup!

Will update in a couple months when I get the above mentioned parts installed and tuned.

[cotbu]

Looks like one of those tsunami swapped ecus! At least, you wont be racking you brain chasing gremlins now. Start fresh.

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[Psychomoongoose]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160226/18a38956e7c7e9cb341b9a71858fd73a.jpg

Got the Rywire harness, AEM EMS with all necessary sensors, Tial BOV ready to be installed and tuned. Should be done with the next 2 or 3 weeks, I'll post dyno results when I have them.

[Kingtal0n]

Is that an S13 engine from a 1989 180sx with 150 - 200,000 miles on it? Whats the compression say?

Before dropping 2k on an ecu/wiring/dyno tune I would have done something with the 25 year old bottom end.

[Psychomoongoose]

I understand completely but in this case the ECU and wiring harness were both shot and needed replacing. I could have sourced another stock ECU and harness but I'd rather only purchase parts one time. If it turns out the rings are not perfect or whatever, at least the rest of the expensive engine peripherals are sorted and I can find another built block that someone's selling at a loss.


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[Psychomoongoose]

Car is at the best tuner in NorCal's shop, Lawrence Shipman, and should be completed within a couple weeks. Will post more information and dyno results when available.

So much excite!

[wiring specialties]

Happy to see you're replacing that harness, good luck and keep us updated!

[Psychomoongoose]

Disappointed with the Rywire harness.

When selecting the options for a new custom SR20DET harness there is an option for GM LS coilpacks. I selected this option and verified it with them via several emails back and forth.

When I got the harness, I discover its still got the OEM ignitor chip cabling setup for the OEM coils. Apparently they dont actually set the harnesses up for GM coilpacks anymore due to some issues with the Nissan wire gauge not being sufficient for the GM parts.

Anyway, I thought I was getting a plug and play harness for my setup but now I have to get a GM sub-harness built and wired into the harness for of course, more $.

Pretty bummed with Rywire.

[wiring specialties]

We offer the LS coil conversion harness if that would help you out Psycho.

http://www.wiringspecialties.com/coilpack-harnesses/

[Psychomoongoose]

We offer the LS coil conversion harness if that would help you out Psycho.

http://www.wiringspecialties.com/coilpack-harnesses/

Thank you, but I already had one made.

Rywire is definitely pissing me off, now.

Discovered that the IAT and MAP sensors were pinned incorrectly into the harness. They were juxtaposed. These are supposed to be tested upon completion?

Bullshit.

[Psychomoongoose]

Rywire refunded me $200+tax.

Car is finished. Made 300WHP. Will post a chart if I can get one from my tuner.

[ultimateirving]

Rywire refunded me $200+tax.

Car is finished. Made 300WHP. Will post a chart if I can get one from my tuner.



Good to hear.

[Psychomoongoose]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160429/d209fd5d42523adea2a3d6fdb05f0253.jpg

[cotbu]

Lol [emoji13]

[Psychomoongoose]

Had a strange issue with the rear end. The driver side axle stub popped out!!! When I was driving!!! It still had the snap ring thingie on it and everything. Upon removing the axle I was not aware that popping off the dust cover was really easy and the whole thing will just come apart on your face. Now I know. I bought a new CV shaft. They're early J30 units, 5 star and Rzeppa style.

Anyhow, I tapped the axle stub back in and am waiting on the CV shaft to be delivered.

Why would this happen? My car is not TOO LOW, its not like im tucking 18s or anything. Almost, but not. Do you guys think it will likely happen again?

[Psychomoongoose]

Had a strange issue with the rear end. The driver side axle stub popped out!!! When I was driving!!! It still had the snap ring thingie on it and everything. Upon removing the axle I was not aware that popping off the dust cover was really easy and the whole thing will just come apart on your face. Now I know. I bought a new CV shaft. They're early J30 units, 5 star and Rzeppa style.

Anyhow, I tapped the axle stub back in and am waiting on the CV shaft to be delivered.

Why would this happen? My car is not TOO LOW, its not like im tucking 18s or anything. Almost, but not. Do you guys think it will likely happen again?

any idears

[Psychomoongoose]

monday bump? bueller