Dash Rendar

I'm glad I came across this thread Ian. I've often wondered why I get a single puff of black smoke out the exhaust whenever I dump my foot the accelerator for the first time. (After letting the car warm up.) Your explanation makes perfect sense to me!

*** SOLD *** I'm selling the stock front speakers mounts, including speakers. They work/look fine, but I no longer need them, having upgraded to some bigger speakers. I'm not really sure what a fair price is, so I'm suggesting £25 plus postage? Reduced to £20.

The mit is one of those natural wool things. As for the turbo install... you'll have to speak to Darryl about that, since it used to be his car.

Not quite. Still needs a new clutch, a new turbo gasket and fixing the lean problem.

Indeed you did!

It did look sweet when it was low, on Eibachs. Unfortunately, it also didn't fit into any of the three car parks that are near my place of work. In fact, it pretty much wouldn't go anywhere! Now it's back to stock, it's much better. Yes, I did pay for it. But no one advised me (at the time) not to use a sponge to clean my car with. A couple of washes later and the swirls were back. Now I use one of those mits... No idea. The body shop that did the machine polish (Colin's place, next to Phoenix) supplied it for me. I use the number plate as an indicator of where I can and can't go. It's actually on a hinge!

P.S. There are higher-res photos in my VB garage.

To answer questions and comments... What hasn't been done would be an easier question. Yes, I have. Blimey, it didn't take you long to find this thread. I've just PMd you! Dammit, it's already had one!!

In celebration of: A) My car finally being back from the garage B) My 30th birthday I decided to clean my car and finally take some decent photos. I know a few people have been waiting to see pics with the new wheels on. Well, here they are... http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/front1.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/frontRight2.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/frontWheel1.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/rearWheel1.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/sid2.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/turbo1.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/engine2.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/backRight1.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/close2.jpg http://supra.just2good.co.uk/myBlackSingle/060408/dash1.jpg

Thanks fellas! I'm feeling old now...

Dont worry. I haven't (since you advised me not to) routinely been boosting the car. I have occasionally (and rarely) given it short bursts of boost merely for the purposes of diagnosing the symptoms and informing you guys how it behaves. It's a shame to have a 550bhp car and not be able to drive it on boost. BTW, I think my AEM goes off the scale >18, rather than 20. Even so, would you expect the car to be misfiring with these kind of AFRs, as it drives fine in the lean condition?

At full boost at 1.0 / 1.2 bar, the AFRs sometimes show 10 (as Ryan had mapped it to), but sometimes seem to only go down to about 12.5, during the lean condition. The knock sensors do flash occasionally at full load, but it's a bit random. I think this is because we never completed the mapping under boost, so it still needs some tweaking.

Thank God for that!

The wideband sensor was replaced with a new one, as when we first saw this problem, it was assumed to be misreading. The new one behaved the same and Ryan subsequently confirmed it was reading the same as his Innovate. In summary, I'm confident it's reading accurately. I'm not so confident about the environment it's reading (i.e. the possibility of water contamination). I dont know about the EGTs. It's the one gauge I haven't bought!! I'm not sure if Ryan was able to measure this when mapping? It's a good question though. If the AFRs are apparently lean, but the EGTs are fine, would that further support the theory that the AFRs are in fact fine and are just misreading?

Sorry if this is a silly question, but how? I'm presuming exhaust gases dont make an electrolytic environment, and I'm pretty sure exhaust gases dont get hot enough to cause fission! (It's been nearly 10 years since my biochemistry days, and I have a memory like a sieve!)

That's okay. None taken. This issue has gone on so long that it's causing me to occasionally misplace my sense of humour!

This is really good stuff! Makes a lot of sense. It's exactly like Darryl says... The car doesn't seem to run like a dog when the AFR goes lean off the scale. In fact, it drives fine. I get the occasional det on full boost, but we never finished the mapping under boost because of all these issues. There didn't seem much point... While I was under the impression the fuel pressure was dropping, I wasn't going to boost it anyway. I like this theory of coolant contaminating the AFR reading. It makes a lot of sense! Again, I think this might have been one of the early theories that got lost/forgotten in light of the fuel pressure red herring. I don't think it's the 'turbo' gasket, as this is a new issue. I guess it could be coolant from the cartridge, but - on the other hand - I dont lose much coolant. I was under the impression that the exhaust was actually venting a lot of condensation. (Mark tested the efflux and said it had no coolant in it.)

It's not the FPR. I've tried three different units. And all the vacuum lines have been replaced. And besides... the fuel pressure remains constant with constant throttle, and is rising with boost as it should. Once the car gets hot and the AFRs go lean off the scale, the fuel pressure on idle remains at a steady 38psi. (Just as it was when cold.) At least... that's what Mark tells me. I'm picking the car up on Saturday, so I'll see for myself.

Okay, so now I need to look at the map, ecu, or temperature sender? I always had the ECU on my list of potentially faulty parts, but the apparent fuel pressure problem threw me off the track for a long time! (Everything else in the car has been changed, so I may as well carry on!) I'm happy for you to all laugh at me, but I can only go on the advice I've been given. That's why I turn to the likes of Mark and you guys! What else can I do...

No, it's not fixed. We've merely established the fuel pressure isn't dropping, and therefore isn't the cause. So we could try remapping... Or failing that, maybe the PowerFC is faulty. I thought early on that it might be the ECU, but when the gauge in the engine bay showed the fuel pressure dropping, I figured that had nothing to do with the ECU, since there's no way the ECU could do this. But now I know the fuel pressure isn't dropping, I'm having to rethink! Doh...

I had no idea I was being funny.

Well, some exciting news... I've finally got a load of gauges in the cabin and Mark at Phoenix has been playing with the car. It turns out that the fuel pressure is rock solid (even when the AFRs are lean) and does exactly what it's supposed to on boost. So it looks like there was no fuel pressure problem afterall! One of the other gauges I fitted was an oil temperature gauge. Mark tells me that the car goes lean when the oil temperature reaches above 70 degrees, which explains the symptoms and the circumstances under which the AFRs go lean. In particular, the AFRs go off the scale at 82 degrees. Mark has recommended that I get the car remapped using the oil temperature readings. (I think it was done using water temps before.) I'm not sure how easy it is to get the PowerFC to take an oil temperature feed, but I'll be speaking with Ryan about that in due course! Has anyone else mapped using oil temperature readings before? Is 82 degrees abnormally hot?

So damn cheap. I spent £12K a few months ago for a well-sorted single. It turned out to be not quite so well-sorted and has cost me several thousand since and still isn't running right. (And that one needed a respray on the front too!) This car has to be worth all the money!

The AFRs are lean when it smells. But the fuel pressure is harder to monitor as I dont yet have a working fuel pressure gauge in the cabin (and I can't pop the hood while I'm waiting at the lights). I do have a gauge fitted, but it didn't have the right unions, so I have some parts to order...

Darryl, when did you first notice the erratic AFRs when you had the car? I don't suppose it started when you changed that line between the FPR and the rail? It would be a mighty nice coincidence if it did. (But I seem to recall you saying the car had always had strange AFRs, presumed due to a bad wideband sensor?)