Ken-chan's car blog

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.

Update – 8000 km after rebuild running 7 psi. Runs great. Slight build up of carbon on #1 & #4 — compression #’s for cylinders 1->4 (195, 189, 189, 191). Injector cleaner should be able to clean that up and gap spark plugs.

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..

C: Likely cause – drained battery / short circuit in the system.

Solution:

Test voltage on the battery – anything below 12v is bad news – try to charge it up. (some notes coming on how to verify battery’s charging ability based on amps)

To test for short circuit in the system, do the following:

1. Visually inspect positive cables leading away from the battery.

2. Unplug the negative terminal of the battery.

3. Wire up a 2-5 watt 12v light bulb.  Place one wire on the negative terminal of the battery and the other on the disconnected negative terminal.  With car off, if you get the light bulb to light up even a little, you got a short circuit somewhere.  Intensity and the bulb you choose can indicate roughly how much drain there is – brighter = more flow / less resistance. 

3. To further test where the short is, uplug one fuse at a time until the bulb shuts off.  When it goes off, inspect the system or wiring associated with that fuse.

You can make custom soft gaskets really easy and save quite a lot of money.  By “soft gaskets”, I am referring to gaskets that are not do not include steel gaskets such as the ones used for exhaust, etc.  Soft gaskets can be used to provide a good seal against oil and air leaks.  I have been making custom soft gaskets for my turbo projects for 2 years now without leak issues, etc.  Just make sure when you purchase gasket sheets, you use the right gasket material for the specific job it was designed for – use oil type of gasket when you will be making gasket for the oil return line for your turbo – I found that coating the finished gasket with slight layer rtv sealant helps to give it rubbery characteristic which should make it more resistant to moisture.

Here are some DIY gasket pictures for a T25:

Let’s get started:

1. Take piece of regular photocopier / printer paper.

2. Put the part into a vice or on a stable surface.  Use pencil to trace the shape of the flange through the paper.

3. Cut the shape you just drew and punch out / cut out the bolt holes.  Basically we’re making a gasket template on paper so we can trace it onto gasket material.

4. Trace out the shape on the gasket using the template you just made.  Cut the gasket material to the shape you traced on it – hole punches are very useful to get the bolt hole sizes right instead of having to mess around using exacto knife or cookie cutters, but you can do it either way.

5. Put it on the flange itself to see how it sits.  You can gently file or cut it to fit the flange exactly – this way it will not reduce air flow and will last without tearing, etc.  Make sure you don’t cause any damage to the actual flange.  Afterwards – clean up any dust that accumulates from the trimming of the gasket (air compressor / cloth / visual spot check come in handy).

6. Here is how our new gasket looks back on the turbo…

Ok some more examples..

T25 inlet / outlet gaskets…

KA24DE IACV gasket…

* Point of interest: if you are putting your IACV back on the manifold that still sits on the motor, it’s good to use dental floss or string to hold the gasket & screws together until you start to tighten them on the back of the manifold.  It saves a lot of time and headaches resulting from falling gasket / screws.  Once you start tightening, pull on the string so it unwinds and you’re done.  This works great in places where you have limited access with one hand.

Here is an example of a pod I made for a friend. 

After measuring & marking the gauge circle cuts on the wood, using hole cut outs I cut out 2 1/16″ holes, spray-protected the pod with moisture resistant wood varnish. 

Example of hole cutout set I used to make the gauge pod – click here to see how the remaining cut 2 1/16″ wood pieces were reused in making a boost leak tester

Afterwards I lined inside of the gauge-holes with thin layer of padding tape to ensure gauges would hold firmly without being crushed by expanding wood if it ever gets moist (it also gives it some room to expand so you can still pull out the gauge if you twist it but it sits firmly inside without bouncing around).  Afterwards, I sanded the edges on belt sander to give it smoother, rounder look in case my friend would decide to mount it externally somewhere.  I am not so creative – it’s mostly about function & durability but you could make it round, etc.

Here’s a finished wooden gauge pod I’ve been using for the past 4 years:

BEST PART OF THIS DIY is that you can:

• Color it any way you want.
• Mount it any way you want.  It can also be made for exact fitment under your stereo, etc.  I am currently using a wooden 3-gauge pod in my car that I made back in 2006 that sits under the cd player – no issues with shaking, rattling, fading, etc.
• If you choose oak or other solid wood – it’ll be more durable than the cheap plastic stuff you can get online.  And it’s still cheap to make – provided you have the basic tools.
• You can create custom wiring layout with fuses and brackets to make swapping gauges and installation on any car real easy.

S: Your gauge shows low vacuum idling.  Car feels very shaky – may stall if revved & throttle is released.

C: There could be several causes why vacuum is low.

Starting with the easiest to the more painful to fix, here they are:

1. vacuum leak(s) on the intake piping (usually via vacuum hoses or cracks in the piping)

2. vacuum hoses on the intake manifold (past throttle body)

Usually the greater the difference between good vacuum level and bad vacuum level indicates how big the air leak is.

3. EGR – the diapraghm is known to leak.

4. Leak around throttle body.

5. Intake manifold gasket leak.

6. BLOWN PISTON RINGS or BENT VALVES / Head Gasket (?) ***  (check compression / leak-down)

Solution: To diagnose vacuum leaks – visual inspection helps but it can be hard to trace in a maze of hoses & cracks almost impossible to see.  Instead opt for air compressor – just ensure it is set to moderate pressure levels.  Do not worry 100 psi will not blow away your manifold right away or create leaks if you only have a 1/4″ hose – but pay attention to your boost gauge or whatever gauge you have on the large piping to ensure you do not run over pressure it is rated for.  I am checking my stock ka-t setup to 20 psi and can easily spot if something is not right – I found that my EGR leaked past 4 psi so that got fixed

Once you find out you do not hear audible leaks and haven’t found the reason for the leak, do a compression test.  And if it looks good – and you are sure there’s no leaks, it’s probably your timing that’s off – a symptom of that would be really bad uneven idle.