Fuel filters are a no service item on 350Zs, unless you have an aftermarket filter that's not your problem. The filter is a mesh bag that keeps debries from entering the pump but it is not susceptible to plugging/clogging.

 

UPDATE!!!!

Mechanic couldn't make it over last night but I decided to put the car together and stayed up until midnight to get it done. Here's what I did:

-switched injectors from the bad cylinders to the good so I could test and see if the problem followed them. Since they opened under power and the harness tested ok that would mean they were clogged.

-cleaned some grime out of the injector seating tubes in the manifold

- found that my friend that did the injector install lost the 2 rear fuel rail spacers! I didn't notice when I checked the torque and took the rail off. Found one on the backside of the engine and got a new one from the dealer. Given which cylinders were running poorly I don't know how much this had to do with my issues but it sure wasn't helping. I lubed the o-rings and seated them very carefully to make sure they went in as straight as possible.

- torqued the rail down in 2 steps per the FSM procedure

- I bought an OEM lower gasket but looking at the aftermarket one that came with the MREV2 it looked to be sturdier and there was 0 issues with it so I left it

- Used the Motordyne instructions to torque down the lower and upper plenums in stages

- I had Sasha tap my manifold for an NPT fitting for my boost sensor and FPR source to replace the O-ring seal on an AN fitting I was using. It never leaked when testing and I couldn't affect the vac reading at idle by twisting and torquing on the fitting so I don't think it was an issue but this is a more reliable long-term solution

- Sasha also lent me his leak tester that attaches to the throttle body so I used that and went with his recommendation of 25 psi to test for leaks. I didn't find any "leaks" but my catch can was making a gurgling sound through the breather

- Loaded Vince's VER3 base map

I started it to run the cylinder power test and right away it sounded much better at idle. Vac reading was -21.x and AFR was 13 on the Zeitronix, 12.5 on both banks in Cipher. No misfire code came up. It is nice to be running too rich! I'm pretty sure Vince added a bunch of fuel trying to correct the lean issue so with the issues fixed there is a little too much fuel now.

So the end result is I don't know exactly where the issue was but it was likely a combination of injectors not seating properly (although they looked fine when I took them out) and vac leaks on the manifold (that couldn't be heard when testing to 8 psi previously). Going forward, I will always be using the Motordyne torque procedure, I previously used the right order but torqued to final spec in one step per the FSM procedure.

One last question, the catch can gurgling when pressurizing the manifold would mean I have leakage past the pistons into the crankcase, correct?

I am still going to get a compression and leakdown test done for peace of mind and I will take it out for a drive tonight to get logs for Vince but it appears my issues are solved for the meantime. Now I can move on to the dozen other things I have left to do to "finish" the car.

Huge thank you for everyone's patience with a noob and all your input.

 

sounds like you took your time and did the work properly this time.

 

where is the catchcan attached to? depending how it is attached air could be getting through there so who knows.

Sounds like the leak was fixed though. I'm guessing under all that intake stuff something wasn't attached correctly which meant low vac source at idle.

 

It is set up like this:

PCV - Catch can - driver's side valve cover hose


Also, I was worried about speaking too soon and I was right. Drove the car around tonight and it was good at first but got progressively rougher and leaner. Also still smoking, presumably from the oil that went through the turbo initially. Started the car after I got back to the garage and let it sit for a minute and it would be ok for a few seconds (14.5ish on both factory widebands and the Zeitronix) then stutter and go lean for a few seconds (25 on bank 1, 14.5 on bank 2, 18-19 on Zeitronix). Vac reading was -21 when cold and in the 19 range when hot.

I tried to upload my cipher and zeitronix logs so you guys could take a look but the attach file section wouldn't let me upload the zip files even though they were under the file size limit. Here is link to a zip file with all of the logs if anyone is interested in reviewing and weighing in. They are numbered 1-7 so the Zeitronix can be correlated to the Cipher logs. All have been emailed to Vince as well.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the calculator for fuel pressure in the DashDAQ was set up wrong and I haven't fixed it, it is exactly half of the logged value!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/85272571/Logs/Logs.rar

 

Forgot to mention that I checked the codes when I got back and there was a P0300 and a P0302. I pulled codes again after I shut it off and started it again and P0302 was gone, still had P0300.

Sasha's opinion is it just needs to be tuned properly but it really felt fine (and the sensors reflected that it was ok) for the first part of the drive so if it was just tuning I thought it should have been poor right off the bat.

If anyone wants to review the Zeitronix logs you will need the datalogging software from their website to view those files.

I'll check the plugs and pull the lower intercooler pipe to check for oil to make sure that is not still an issue but I don't really know what my next step is except to pull everything apart again down to the injectors and re-test/reassemble. Before I do that I'll wait for Vince to reply with his opinion and a new ROM if he thinks it will help.

 

Do a search on that code, and see about 5 pages of results in the F.I section, as mentioned before it is a very common code


A cold engine will have a different fuel table (corrections) than a hot engine...
hence the need for a proper tune.

 

If I'm asking for help it doesn't make sense to leave out related information. I know it's common.

Per Vince's instructions, the logs were taken after driving around the block to get the engine up to operating temp.The first drive log is at a coolant temp of 83 degrees (C).

 

More oil in the lower intercooler pipes. Damn.

 

he didn't post it because it's too much for 1 person to post out. It's easier to just read through the threads on it.

the p0302 is a specific cylinder so i would look at that one. I'm pretty sure 0302 is cylinder 2.

so more oil in the pipes. I know you said before you didnt see oil in teh pipes so you didn't re-prime the pump by taking it off like i said. I would seriously take it down and pour a lot of oil inside of it. These don't have "seals" to go bad and of all the people sending back precision turbos because of oil going past the rings has never been a problem with the ring seals. It's almost never the turbo unless the turbo has tons of miles of hard use on it enough to wear it out.

 

Oh, I was just explaining why I put it in my post, I wasn't saying Sasha left out information. I've read pages of P0300 threads.

I did disconnect the pump and fill it until it ran out.

Cylinder 2 plug is whitish.

I'm guessing injector related issue on cylinder 2 is causing the surging AFR.

Not sure what would cause it to suge though unless it is the ECU dumping fuel in the other cylinders and then pulling it back as the AFR comes back in line.

 

ya, if cylinder 2 isn't putting out fuel then the a/f is high so cylinders 4,6 would be getting tons of fuel dumped in them to compensate.

 

Drove the car to a shop, ran decent, one bank still bouncing from 14 to 25 AFR intermittently.

Will update the post when I hear from the shop on Monday.

 

Compression tested at 185 across all 6 cylinders. When they pulled the plugs to compression test plug 2 was fouled out. Replaced it with a new one and took it for a test drive. Car runs and drives smooth at idle and low load but P0302 is active. Most likely an injector issue of some sort on that cylinder.

Will update the thread when I hear from them again.

Greg and Sebastian from SpecialtyZ are flying up here for a local Z club dyno session this weekend and I am booked to be tuned on Monday. I'll post those results in a new thread.

 

I doubt it's an injector issue if the plug was fouled and your A/F was going up rather than down. More likely a spark plug issue. Just an FYI, I don't think I've ever seen a thread where a suspected injector issue turned out to be true.

 

Just got a call from the shop. Positive wire on injector harness #2 was loose! They will have the car together shortly for another test drive.

 

So I would bet that the injector wire was pinched between the mid and lower IM during the first install was complete. This would have caused the original leak and your vacuum was only -15hg, at the same time causing the injector to missfire.

After you had it taken off and re-installed the vacuum leak went away, but now you had an intermittent connection on one of the injector, still causing the rought running condition.


EDIT:

I think I missread the problem post...injector wire loose. For some reason I read pinched..

 

Ah well, wiring issue, I can believe that Good luck!

 

i think in our emails i told you the story of my p0300 code where the wiring was backed out of the injector connector only about 1/8" so i couldn't see it. I just randomly happened to see it after 2 weeks of tearing the car apart. Pushed the wire back into the injector clip fully and all was well.

so ya, exactly the same thing that happened to me.

 

Yep, you did mention that but it was after I had it reassembled and I was taking it to the shop anyway. If I had ripped into again that was the first place I was going to look. Appreciate the email help BTW!

All the months of blood, sweat and thrown wrenches and I finally cracked because of a single loose wire. Lol.

Going to pick the car up this afternoon and I'll report back with results and get some logs for Vince to throw a revision at it before the weekend.