Ken-chan's car blog

We have another DIY article based on something that happened to my older backup computer. Between loose wiring, dirt and curious fingers – the fan lost 2 blades and caused the whole PC case to wobble shaking the video card out of agp port causing crashes.

The cost of this DIY is $0 assuming you have the right tools, dead power supply (with a working 12 volt fan) and some electrical / soldering experience. Please note several things:

• Unplug the power supply you will take apart from the outlet!
• Power supplies contain capacitors which can still contain enough charge over time to give you a good jolt if you don’t pay attention while touching terminals. Don’t touch the terminals by hand – use isolated wire cutters.

My backup PC uses an old sempron 2500+ with 3.2″ length & width heatsink, so the power supply 12 volt fan is just slightly bigger than the stock cpu fan I had on there originally – more cooling is better Below is the picture of the fan I have currently on there (also an upgrade however it’s dirty & abused).

After removing the fan & heatsink from the cpu – I’ve thoroughly blown out all the dirt using air compressor. I then removed the old damaged fan from the heat sink. Here is a fan I took out from another power supply just to give you an idea that most power supplies come with similar size fans. Test your fan with 12 volt voltage source (any 12 volt power supply will do or use the computer power supply).

Here is what we will do – find a way to attach the next fan on top of the existing heat sink. Now you have 2 choices – use it in “push” (push colder air from top onto the cpu heatsink) or “pull” (pull hot air from the heatsink, which gets replaced with colder air around it) configuration. I chose the “push” configuration since I think it has some advantages.

As you can see – it would take a bit more work to make a bracket so that we could use screws to hold the fan to the sink. We’ll have another way to do it which is equally reliable.

If you look closely, you will notice that the sink fan has small hook ledge where the factory bracket was held. The issue is that you cannot just push the fan into the holding ledge or will be held too close against the sink.

So I used a small metal saw to create 2 ledges on the opposite sides of the fan so that it would be held in place above the heat sink.

Now let’s line them up – you may need to gently expand the heat sink to fit your new fan over the center of it – in my case it didn’t take much time to do this with the fans being similar.

You can see the clearance from the heatsink that we have thanks to the ridges we created. Once you snap it in – should be very stirty – to give you an idea – you need screw driver and some effort to take out again. If it is loose – bend the sides of the heatsink so that it grabs well.

This is what it looks like from the side. You can see my goof up when making the first notch

Now we need to test to make sure the wiring we transferred from the old fan still works. Note that I am not using the 3rd wire (blue) in this case (which is the rpm measurement that my new fan doesn’t have).

Temporarily wire the power wires for the test but keep them separated when you plug it in. You can use isolation on the wires as well to prevent them contacting each other.

Quick test to ensure the fan positive and negative follows the standard color code. What we are looking for is to check whether air is being push onto the heatsink & out to the sides (“push” configuration). Keep wires separated for the test & don’t keep the computer on too long since CPU doesn’t have a way to cool itself.

Ok, test went as expected. Now let’s solder the wires from the new fan to the old connector. I am using shrink tubing to cover the exposed area of the wires but you can use electrical tape instead – shrink tubing helps to keep moisture out to lessen the chance of contact & a short circuit.

If you are using shrink tubing, put it on the wires before you solder…

After soldering, place the shrink tubing over the soldered areas & “shrink” them using heat…

Now add heat paste between the sink & cpu, mount your fan / heatsink combo back in place & hook it up.

Now enjoy your new found quiet fan. I noticed that after blowing out the dust, doing upgrading the fan & adding heatpaste, my cpu temperature dropped 7 degrees. It’s been running for over 12 hours with slight overclock without issues.

*** Short update: system works great over 48 hours later while overclocked.. Temperature of CPU still 7 degrees below & no crashes.

Oh yeah – Merry Christmas!!!

Some new DIY projects…

Please check out this link to view the diy guide:

http://www.makemilk.com/pic_hosting/s1495/diy/mc505_potentiometer_repair/

A short tune after repair with mc-505, roland xp50 and korg x3.

korg x3: elec guitar

roland xp50: piano, strings

roland mc505: everything else

MC505.mp3 a short tune test if mc505 works

Hia people… A quick update on ka-t3: it’s running good + good compression – over 1050 km on it (broken on on stock s14 ka24de ecu + safc)  – time to start boosting   In the mean time I’ve torn apart the older motor (ka-t2) to start working on it…

Just a quick spirit booster…

For KA-T4, we will be doing a slight upgrade to everything including the blower…

Here is a good way to quickly fabricate an alignment tool for the piston rings…

To get your alignment print-out tool:

1. Open your factory service manual (FSM) to the engine rebuild page which shows the piston ring alignment.

2. Copy (hit print-system request button).

3. Open your favorite image editing application and select EDIT->PASTE from the menu.

4. Cut out rest of the image except the piston ring alignment diagram.  Enlarge the section about 200-250%, print a sample.  See if the center of the piston in the diagram roughly fits the real size of the piston.  It may take 1 or 2 guesses.

5. Once you have a final printout, use exacto knife or scissors to make a nice tight hole to slide over the piston.

6. Now put some bubble wrap around the rod bottom (to prevent any possible scratches) if you are using vice to hold the rod-piston in position when putting the rings in.

Recent Addons:

Nissan ‘93 Quest alternator upgrade, TurboXS Knocklite.

Stock internals +:

Felpro gasket, 9.2:1 compression altima 98+ pistons, ACL main & rod bearings, ARP 10 mm head bolts, Block cylinders honed & glazed, head rebuilt & tested in home garage…

Tuning:

Emance ECU, SAFC2, N60 MAF, 480cc s15 injectors, AEM Fuel pressure regulator, LC1 Wideband, and the rest of goodies to make it run…

Slight alterations to the stock manifold. No valve of any kind on it; pcv recirculated.  Changes to oil lines & vacuum block as well to make this more modular.

Just oil pan, fuel rail and some other pieces and it’s ready to go…  Started the swap already w/some changes to the setup…  Here is the picture of the motor together…  The hose sticking out is the new spare hose that will be going to a small vacuum manifold (not sure of the best placement yet).  Advantages:

• Instead of teeing into fuel pressure regulator vacuum source with gauge – it can have a separate source.  I am hoping this would give FPR slightly more response when coming back to vacuum state (lower fuel pressure) as that’s a tiny 1/8″ line feeding gauge and fpr.
• Running BOV from the vacuum manifold instead of brake master vacuum source (centralized).  Too many sources running off single limited size line will reduce the effective vacuum going to the devices.  Maybe it won’t make much difference but it’s an improvement never the less.
• future addon: 1 spare port for GM 3 bar map sensor - for safc 2 LO->HI THR switchover point.

Short video snapshots of parts of build.. disregard the paint overspray on the bottom of the block – has been cleaned up.   Along with block surface.

KA-T3 Rebuild

Out with the old – in with the new…

Yey – she runs good – compression is 185-187 psi all across after 12 km drive.

This is an overview on code retrieval for Nissan 240sx / S14 with OBD1 ECU – KA24DE motor (1995).  This DIY along with the OBD1 ECU error codes may also work on other versions of 240sx, but you may want to verify your own information.  Please note that the error codes were sourced from 1995 Factory Service Manual for Nissan 240sx.  Having said that, let’s get going…

And here is the link to the MS Excel sheet featuring the list of Nissan 240sx OBD1 ECU codes.

http://www.makemilk.com/pic_hosting/s1495/diy/retrieving_ecu_codes/s14-1995_ecu_error_codes.xls

Some notes on retrieving codes:

-codes will follow consecutively one another followed by a long pause – for example:

you might get code 12 (if MAF signal is bad) then long pause then code 25 (IACV / IAAV) and then long pause again and they’ll keep looping so if you miss them first time around, you’ll be able to pick them out soon again.

-Code 55 (5 long flashes followed by pause and 5 short flashes) indicates that there is no error.  This will also show up when you reset the ECU codes.  Basically it means: no error code was stored.

An alternative to this is to get NISSAN consult box that hooks up to laptop shown below… please click the picture for more information…

Nissan Consult - obtaining realtime data from your car's computer

There are many ways to remove a seized stud – easiest way – get a stud extractor.  But if you don’t have one, here is a diy that will help you remove the stud without damaging it.

Some people may argue that a rebuilt turbo will fail within weeks, etc.  I’ve run mine for over a year now.  I agree – new turbo is much more fine tuned and with new parts it may run longer given same type of abuse.  This article won’t go into debates about new / used turbos, running coolant lines or not – do your own research and decide on your own setup.   What this article will do is show you how to rebuild your basic journal-bearing t25 turbo (t25 A/R .80 M24).  Please note that many of the smaller journal turbos can be rebuilt in a similar way…

Having said that… Enjoy…

http://www.makemilk.com/pic_hosting/s1495/diy/t25_rebuild/

Hia people…

For this project, you will need:

• Unused s14 ecu (to cut out the connector from it)
• s13 harness plug with wires
• non-working power supply. * I prefer reusing/recycling so power supply seemed like a good source for ”free” 18 AWG wire.  When taking the wire, make sure to test continuity with voltmeter to ensure your wires will conduct current / signal.  Or you can buy a spool of 18 AWG wire at almost any hardware or automotive store.
• Pin out wiring (coming soon)
• Soldering / wire stripping tools
• Patience & Common sense: anything you see on this site you take full responsibility for.  As stated in disclaimer, I am not responsible for anything that happens to you, your car, your cat, etc.

This is based on several sources and yet to be retested (more information including detailed finalized pin out to come soon once it’s all tested w/conzult)..  I’d like to give credits for most of the research legwork to people on ka-t.org (JM Halder) and emance site for the pinouts they posted on their respective sites – Thanks!  I’ve combined both sheets to minimize number of pins and yet keep the consult port.

1. Cut out the connector & clip off the pins.  Avoid yanking on the bottom of the ecu board as it may break part of the plastic connector (which is where I screwed up – should be no problem as it’s just small part of it and won’t affect the function).

Trim the wires on the s13 connector (picture: left) to about 2.5″ from the connector.  For wires you won’t use – you can either tie them off or gently pop off plastic tabs on the connector & remove any unused wires (mine are removed & bagged).  Remove any spare pins from the s14 connector (picture: right) by pulling them from the front of the connector – bag these as they may come in handy and if you screw up or decide to add more ecu functions while testing.

2. If you are using new wire skip this step…

Cut your wire (read the fineprint on the wire insulator - it should say 18 AWG or 20 AWG - I like to keep all of them consistent so kept to 18 AWG).  Again test whole wire before cutting into equal length pieces.

3. Test wire for continuity before cutting.  Then cut into 5″ pieces (remember that you also have 2.5″ on the s13 harness connector so together 7.5″ should be plenty to cross-wire the far away pins like consult)

4. Organize wires into colors for each section of the harness connector (optional).  Makes it look neater and also helps you quickly verify how many pins are in each section.  Also helps with wire tracing.

5. Now with pins eliminated, you got more space to solder…

6. Done…

7. Print out the pin-out list (coming soon).   It is sorted according to the s13 pin out and you can check off on the list each pin and mark on the diagram to verify that you’re doing it correctly.

8. Ok all wires are done – time to verify your work.  Check your pins again – make sure they are not sticking together or they could cause a short.  You can also set the connector on it’s side and take 5-10 mins to check with voltmeter that you are getting continuity from the s13 pins to the correct s14 pins.

9. I prefer to test anything electrical before I seal it up – so before epoxying.. Depends how confident you are in your work, you could seal it up.  In my case, I’ve done some wiring changes from the original pinouts I’ve seen so it needs testing.  If you decide to do this, make sure that none of the exposed wires are contacting each other or you may fry something!  During testing I usually run thick strip of rubber covering the rows of connectors and spread them out horizontally to ensure no contact.

MORE INFORMATION COMING IN FEW DAYS / WEEKS…

• new pin outs (excel)

This is a quick and cheap way to remove pilot bushing from the shaft without purchasing “special tools”.

Take a decent size bolt and 5/8″ hose, put the bolt in 1/3rd of the way into the house – you may have to turn it a bit by hand to get it in to the hose…

Now put in inside the pilot bushing hole.. ensure the hose sits right up against the end of the pilot bushing hole. Now all you have to do is either push in the bolt further into the hose or turn the bolt clockwise so it goes further into the hose causing the hose to expand inside the pilot bushing.. since the hose will fit snug inside the pilot bushing, u can pull out easily..

A quick note:

Keep it straight when pulling it out – to avoid scratching and also – the tolerances for the bushing size are precise so unless you keep it straight – it might get stuck. If it gets stuck.. just rock it gently back in and try again.

Oh yeah – when you’re putting on a new clutch kit.. don’t reuse the old bushing..