My project problem child. Multiple issues and information inside.

[Guest Goss]

So it is pretty hard to choose a place to start will all that has occurred with this car. I guess I will start with it being a 1994 2jz-gte 6-spd J-spec supra. It wasn't taken care of very well by one of the previous owners so I am treating it as a project. Also my location doesn't help too much - I am in Okinawa, Japan which isn't well known for having many reputable garages or access to parts.

 

Now for the issues I have been having:

 

1. The car will start perfectly when it is cold, but will have issues when it is warm; however, it will properly start maybe 1/10 times when warm. If it isn't one of those 1/10 times it will take a few seconds when turning over.

 

2. The car is not producing the boost it should. When I first got the car it would boost around .7 bar with bpu+ which is low for what it should be producing. It would boost to .5/.7 on the first turbo and when the second turbo would open up the boost would not change; however, it felt like I was accelerating quicker. There was no death whine and no loss of boost with the second turbo. Since then I have done these things in this order:

 

2a. Replaced old vacuum lines and checked most of the connections. haven't touched the fittings on the left and right side of the FMIC yet... (no change in boost)

 

2b. RE-routed the vacuum lines to run the turbos parallel (TTC) (nipple broke off of the ICV VSV so I wont be able to switch back to sequential until I get a new VSV from god knows where) (no change in boost)

 

2c. Replaced both turbos, turbo manifold, and gaskets. The #2 turbo has some damage to the turbine and I really thought this would do it; however, the turbos do feel stronger but only shot up to .8 bar on a random run 1 day after install. After that a constant .5-.7 bar of boost at WOT in all tested gears.

 

2d. Noticed the car was missing at high RPMs when building boost, thought the sparks could be blowing so I bought new NGK plugs and replaced my old plugs. When I was replacing my plugs I ran into quite a few things which I expected from the oil on the bottom of the block.

 

2d1. Coil pack connectors are complete garbage. all missing the white insert and shattering upon contact. (ordering new set tonight)

 

2d2. The valley had a thin layer of grime and the coil packs had oil on them. The packs for 3/4 has some and 5/6 were rather coated. Looked at the plugs upon removal and noticed 3/4 were a little wet with oil and 5/6 were submerged in about an inch of oil. (added valve cover seals to shopping list)

 

2d3. Now, when I pulled my plugs #1 and 2 had very noticeable white tip with damaged diodes which made their gap about 1.2mm. (all plugs pulled were deformed to around 1.2mm) At this time I also took note of the car possibly running lean prior to the TTC mod - and could still be.

 

2d4. I replaced all of the plugs with NGK BKR6EIX-11 (only ones I could find close to a 7 heat rating...I regapped all of them to 0.9mm). Upon re installation of parts the car was missing and reseating the coil pack connectors multiple times one by one worked this out. Now the kicker is that the car does not miss anymore at high RPM but it only building .4-.5 bar of boost now.

 

3. I am also dealing with oil being lost rather quick...which can be seen on the rear of the block and around the head when the car is on the lift. I have been told by a japanese mechanic that the large leak is probably the crank seal or cam seals.

 

3a. I am starting to think about buying a full engine rebuild gasket set from suprastore.

 

4. The hose coming off of my water pump is also leaking coolant which I have known to indicate a failing pump. The pump is also on my current list of parts to order.

 

5. My last issue is the car changing how it idles and will just drop down to 50-100 rpm and sound like it is being choked out or just go all the way down and die, and I haven't been able to figure out how to recreate this issue...it likes to come up whenever it wants - but never occurs right after the engine is started. My normal idle starts at about 1k and works its way down to 750. When this issue kicks in I have known it to happen after downshifting and driving downhill then putting the car in neutral to glide down the hill. This probably occurs more often because during other parts of my normal driving the car is in gear if i'm not at a stop light. I have also gotten it to run better by letting it die out and restarting it at a light, but there are also times where restarting the car does not remove the issue.

 

5a. To try and fix this problem I pulled out the IACV and cleaned it and the little orange flange inside the intake manifold. (no change in problem)

 

5b. I have also adjusted both of my idle screws and throttle cable position - this either netted no results or too high of an idle (1100/1200 at all times).

 

6. I have a really old version HKS BoV which is sort of hourglass shaped. It has a pressure line running to the right side of the intake manifold. I wanted to see how much I could adjust the screw and was able to remove it in approximately three turns. Upon inspecting the small nub of a bolt that came out it seemed like it didn't even reach the metal inside of the end of the screw hole it was inserted into.

 

7. My interior clock is very dim and only flickers on and off at wierd times only showing 1:00 (no where near full brightness) and my dome light does not work; however, my cigarette lighter works perfectly.

 

8. Today I started to hear a light slurping or bubbling sound inside the car while running...almost sounds like a slightly over pressured soda fizzing out of a small hole.

 

 

Also some FYI in-case they can be related to these issues. When I first switched to the TTC mod the car let so many fumes out I got headaches from driving, after about 2 weeks it has gotten a bit better. I also smelled my oil where the oil cap is and it smells like gas. That made me think there could be some injector problems as well. My car still has the trac actuator located near the firewall on the passenger side of the car, but the trac fuse is pulled. Another thing of note is that when I was attempting to install my downpipe I cut the temp sensor on the top cat and my 'hot cat' light did not trigger on my light display; however, the light shows when starting the car. Not to mention when I removed my cat near the turbos there were some metal bits the fell out of it's hot side upon shaking it. The bits were unidentifiable and the largest was about 2mm (since then I have replaced my turbos).

 

I will take some pictures soon to assist with what I am dealing with. My next move when I get time is to put the car on a lift and redo all the FMIC piping. I have also recently purchase a voltage reader and plan on checking all of the VSVs...my current one of interest is the WG VSV which I have not touched yet.

 

Thanks for reading and I am highly interested in any input anyone has.

[Ian C]

Points 1, 2, 5, and the smell of fuel in the oil and the cabin can all be attributed to overfuelling.

Point 5 you can probably reproduce simply by revving the engine up when in neutral and letting the throttle slam shut.

 

Check your narrowband sensor output (there is a guide on here somewhere, do a search) to see if the O2 sensor is working properly. If it is okay, you'll need to check your static fuel pressure and your injector duty cycle, both of which require tools of a little more specialised nature. Also, change the oil out as it'll not be working properly with fuel contamination.

 

Point 2 Can also be attributed to a boost leak of course. A holed FMIC could cause this problem. I'd treat this as a lower priority investigation though.

 

3a might not be such a good idea, check the reputation of that company

 

6 sounds like a snapped bolt.

 

7 could indicate an earth fault. If you have got an earth fault playing merry hell with your electronics, it could account for 1, 2, and 5 as well. It could also account for the CAT temp probe not lighting up a fault despite being cut off. Check all your earth points (documentation is on this site somewhee, again, have a search), make sure they are solid and corrosion free. Also put the trac fuse back in. This may be hiding an underlying problem that will help with your diagnosis.

 

You should also perform a compression test, sounds like your engine may have had some foreign objects through it damaging the turbo and lodging in the CAT.

 

-Ian

[Guest Goss]

Thank you for the help Ian. I have to wait for the weekend to have time to work on the car, but I will spend all day trying to figure it out. I spoke to the previous owner (who was out of country most of the time he owned it) and he said the guy before him changed the injectors, swapped the fuel pump, and flashed the ECU (not sure what that means). So my first priority then will be to pull the injectors on Saturday and make sure they are stock size, if there was an earth fault it would also make sense because that other guy must have been screwing with the ECU to do all of that...also the trac fuse was pulled a long time ago by that guy and I would probably have to order one.

 

I will do a search for the narrowband sensor output guide and figure out what going on with that. I can also say that when the Japanese guys swapped my turbos they swapped the entire section including the sensor on the pipe on the hot side of the turbos.

 

As for the boost leak, when I was driving home from work it was boosting up to .6 - so it is fluctuating a bit.

 

As for the lights, does it make a difference if every light shows when I turn the key to on?

 

Also my fuel pump sounded like it was humming a bit louder when I was done driving today, and I lifted the spare tire cover thing and could hear the oozing noise in there.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Goss (see edit history)

[Guest Goss]

Ok, so I am getting the engine compression tested this weekend to see if it is the piston rings or the injectors. I will also order the Apexi V2 Standalone system based upon the results of the test.

[Guest Goss]

...so I compression tested my engine and all of the cylinders checked out. Next I need to find out why the injectors are over fueling and what I need to do to fix it.

 

Also I am not too sure but I think my turbo seals are bad....AGAIN. There is oil around the silicone connector on the hot side of the intercooler that connects to the turbos.

[Ian C]

Smearing of oil in the intake area is fine, it's the crankcase ventilation system working normally. Even a teaspoonful pooling in the lower areas is normal.

 

Have you tried the rev-up and slam shut of the throttle to see if you can make it stall yet?

[Guest Goss]

Smearing of oil in the intake area is fine, it's the crankcase ventilation system working normally. Even a teaspoonful pooling in the lower areas is normal.

 

Have you tried the rev-up and slam shut of the throttle to see if you can make it stall yet?

 

one of the Japanese mechanics suggested routing both the PCV and the elbow line from the left side of the block into an oil catch can. Is this viable?

 

Also I revved it up to 6k and let off the throttle and it will go back to whatever it was idling at before I revved it. Recently when I turn on the car for the first time each morning it will idle at around 1.1-1.2k then as I drive it will continue to lower to about 900-1k or decide to drop as low as possible, 0, so I haven't been able to really pinpoint it. What I can say for sure is that when the car is running the turbos sequentially it seems to happen more (I also get a lot of compressor surge in sequential) and it occurs more when going downhill while braking through putting it in a lower gear and applying pressure to the brakes and dies when I press in the clutch to fully stop. It also doesn't die every time this occurs, sometimes the idle will get so low you can hear the car suffocating.

[Ian C]

It's either overfuelling or the idle control valve is stuck, which is a common problem easily fixed

 

My opinion on catch cans is that if you've got enough oil in your intake to need one, you've got an underlying problem that needs fixing. If that's fixed, you don't need a catch can

[Guest Goss]

It's either overfuelling or the idle control valve is stuck, which is a common problem easily fixed

 

My opinion on catch cans is that if you've got enough oil in your intake to need one, you've got an underlying problem that needs fixing. If that's fixed, you don't need a catch can

 

Ah ok, I pulled off the idle control valve a few weeks ago; however, I was unable to get those coolant lines on the bottom of it disconnected without flipping out. I will give it a shot again, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's the injectors as well. I hope to take off the system this weekend to figure out what I need to do next.

 

I have also heard the same for catch cans, just gotta wait another two weeks before my gasket set comes in now.

[Guest Goss]

So I have been busy the past two weeks with a pretty intense course but am done now. I was able to stop by a japanese shop here and order coil pack connectors...they came in like 5 hours later and were only 1500 yen for all 6. I had time to check my water pump with my new one that came in and they look totally different. I was just doing a bunch of searches online for other water pumps and this one I ordered is the only one I can find for the 94 2jz-gte. The pump is a bosch 98152. The differences I see is that this bosch one doesn't have a spout to connect the leak line to which should run towards the ground, but there is a hole drilled on the top of it for some reason. Also the pulley looks a bit different.