Today i got new spacers and adaptors for my 380cc PE Injectors. Last time i started my car i had a bad fuel leak coming from the injectors. After looking at the injectors it appeared some O-rings were very worn so probably were not sealing which may have caused the fuel leak. At this point my wideband was reading low 10s.

Today i installed spacers and new adaptors and all o-rings were good and started the car and this is what happened:

There was a VERY VERY loud whining coming from the intake manifold. I had broken one of the 6 long gold bolts that hold the gold metal plate to the lower manifold off and i figured it would be ok without that one bolt. I'm guessing this was a mistake and i should replace the bolt, but i'm still not sure what the whining sound was, i had never gotten that sound before. Also after i killed the engine smoke came out from under the intake manifold, seemed like the smoke was coming from the injector area.

The other problem was i was running HIGH 14s and low 15s on my wideband at idle.

Edit: wanted to add that i am not running the walbro 255 yet. I was told it would be ok to not run with the high flow fuel pump as long as i dont push the car hard until i have it installed by a professional.

There were no noticeable fuel leaks but i went from low 10s to low 15s, either case is bad.

Also the only thing i changed was my vacuum line. I moved the line to that "blind cap" on the front left corner of the upper plenum as the PE instructions tell me to do.

The only other problem i am thinking is the vacuum hose from the BOV. I had it running from the BOV, which is mounted right between the MAF and intercooler to a vacuum hose port coming off the upper intake piping between the MAF and Throttle Body. Is this right?

 

Wow bro ... I don't know if all this work/risk is worth saving the install $$ ... hope it all works out for ya man ... I'm no FI guru (just audio) so I'll leave the advice giving to them.

Good Luck Bro!
Jim

 

Werd.

 

High 14's at idle is ok, I had 14.5-14.9 with my Vortech. It should go down to the rich side when you tap on it. Also I was under the impression that the vac lines should be run from the manifold to get the best reading. I installed the Vortech myself so I *kinda* feel your pain, well half of it I suppose

 

how did you break the golden bolt? did you snap it off? did you get ALL of the broken parts out?

man.. for all this trouble, maybe you should have taken it to a shop-

did you inspect the injectors them selves for cracks prior to install? i.e. how do the tips look?

maybe you should start snapin' picts of everything.. your AFR @ idle seems to be ok.. once you start revving and you're on boost will it really matter the most-

did you torque everything to spec (minus the rod you broke?)

 

Im a new user here, but you used spacers with your injectors? So you moved the nozzels further out from thier factory spot? If so the fuel doesnt atomize as well when you do that, are all aftermarket injectors like this? That a/f ratio is ok for idle.

 

UPDATE: removed that broken bolt completely. Found a replacement.

We're going to try again in a few minutes here with the new bolts and with the car lowered back down to normal level. We've had it jacked up really high in the front most of the time if that matters at all.

 

UPDATE: i've been driving it around the block, there's definately an exhaust leak. I'm going to take it to my muffler shop tomorrow and pray the leak is from the downpipes to the test pipes and not all the way up at the manifolds...

Also the afr is all over the place. It just bounces everywhere. When i get on it, it stays around 11-13, but when i let off the throttle coasting it seems to want to dip all the way to 17!

 

If you keep your car at like 10.5:1 all the time you can wash out your rings. When you coast its going to be a high a/f ratio due to the motor idle. You really need to buy some books on forced induction.

can you post a datalog of your afr at rpm?

 

17 is way too lean. usually u want to stay around 14-15 at idle and then it richens up a bit while cruising.

 

Well i i dont trust my car very much. Tonight on the way home i had a huge problem. I was going around a curve and shifted down a gear and all of a sudden i wasnt go any faster when id press the gas. My traction control thing came on and would not go away at all for a while, i shifted down to 2nd as i was slowing down and the car shook and sputtered. Then i shifted down to first and the same thing happened. I coasted around the next corner and tried 4th and 4th would work for some reason. I got to my friends house with 4th gear and let it sit about 10 minutes. There was fuel dripping a little on the ground from the engine block and the whole car reaked of gasoline. After the 10 minutes i started it again and it drove ok again.

The car was overheating like crazy, im going to add more coolant again tomorrow. I just don't really trust the car. I mean i am supposed to drive from sacramento to san diego on sunday (roughly a 8 hour trip) and i just don't think it's a great idea at this point. Maybe tomorrow things will shape up. I really feel the car needs a tune too. I mean the AFR is ALL OVER THE PLACE, rarely ever constant. When im off the throttle it even goes to a ---.

 

When you take your foot off the gas it normal for your af to go lean as the throttle plate closes. I have 19k on my TT my car has done this from day 1 and still running strong. You should bleed out the cooling system. It can take a long time to get all the air out. It sounds like you just put the kit on and drove it without checking everything. If all else fails have a shop that has experience with 350Z's make sure your install is correct and have them tune it.

 

SOunds like it would be well worth the money to have a shop go over everything you installed .You still have a gas leak and probably a vacuum leak . Let a shop give it the once over and fix all your problems

 

What WB are you using and where did you locate the sensor?

My AEM would not read steady (it would wildly osculate) when it was mounted just after the first joint on the test pipe, moving it farther down the pipe gave a steadier reading, within the same ranges. I too was concerned about A/F when I first got my kit, at idle it is supposed to be 14.7, it will go a little up or down. Once you accelerate, it should drop down, my AEM usually drops below the range it can read. Decelerating it will go way lean, that is normal, you are not supplying gas. Cruising it should be 14.7 or thereabouts. I would seriously do the required mods to the fuel system (pump and regulator).

The BOV vacuum line should come from the intake manifold. You can T an existing line.

Get the air out of the cooling system. There are help threads on here for this. Basically, there is a vent on the heater hose passenger side that you open with a phillips head screwdriver while filling. That allows trapped air to escape. Another technique is to park the car on an incline or ramps to raise the radiator neck higher than the rest of the engine. You add coolant, squeeze the upper radiator hose, watch the air come out. No more air, close radiator cap, run for a few minutes, cool down, repeat filling and air purging.

 

It actually sounds like your fuel system is better. Remember your wideband is not going to be steady at one number all the time. As you drive your car and the ECU adjusts the long term and short term trims the AFR is going to move. Under WOT if you are in the 11s thats a GOOD thing. The going as far as 17s as soon as yu lift is not uncommon as the ECU attempts to correct for an overly rich condition caused by the BOV opening. It may be time to duck into Z Car Garage up there and let Rob do a once over of the car and correct whatever he can.

 

dont blow up your motor......or worse catch on fire when driving, take your car to a shop.

 

seriously dude, if you have a gas leak u have a greater chance of catching your engine on fire or worst blowing it up. If u need that car rdy by Sun to drive back to school, you have to shell out some $$$ (I'm sure no more than 300 + tune) so take it to a shop and get it checked out. I just might be something really stupid and takes 10 mins.

 

+1

 

you better pray that the exhaust leak isnt coming from the manifolds. They are a real pain to get to without pulling the motor. Good luck man...

 

Heh, yeah i am aware of this, i pulled the motor out a few weeks ago.