Hello guys.....I picked my car up from COMPTECH and everything was fine, then when i was leaving it would not start just turned over and over. I then tried again 20 seconds later and it started......drove home running it very conservatively with no boost.........drove for about 5 miles and all of a sudden it started to act very sluggish and hesitate and idle would drop to almost stalling then back up and down and up and down.............A/F meter would not register Stoich anymore when this was doing this.............so I go to dinner come back thinking I will put her into the garage and see if she runs normal, same thing right when i started it up, almost stall and then run for 1 second then almost stall, i gave it gas and it runs up fine but most idle consistant, almost like its out of gas? I asked COMPTECH what they gapped my new plugs at and they said they where around .42-.44...........could the plugs be doing this? or is it the ECU or the SS Box???? All ideas are welcome. Thank you in advance.

Kevin

 

Have they already tuned the car (ie. measured A/F ratio, etc)? Was the car working before? Did the tuner drive around to test the install? Has the A/F ratio been measured on the dyno? etc.

--Steve

 

Here is the dyno with A/F...........it has not been tuned SS Box is straight from Vortech. Ran good when we dynoed it and test drove it.

 

So there was no problem at idle earlier in the day? (Sorry I haven't been following the updates very closely today)

If you turn on the A/C does it idle higher?
What's the A/F at idle?

--Steve

 

Ya there was no problem with idle during the dyno test or test drive, just after driving conservatively for 5 miles then all of a sudden it feels like it is going to stall.........when i was doing the dyno run and test drive the A/C was off............on my drive home half way home i turned it on.............then it started 4 minutes later..............i let it cool off for 3 hours and started it back up same thing and i turned my A/C off and same thing.......Just feels like its going to stall and its out of gas barely hangin on.

 

Check the surge valve and all connections off the IC for a loose connection, might be a leak somewhere. Plugs are too high but would just cold start or idle funny this is a vaccum leak I bet.

The boost may have caused a hose to come loose?

GL you will fix it and all will be good.

You punched it huh and the pressure cause a hose to come off that wasn't clamped down good enough.

 

I know that if the car is getting too much fuel at idle it will act funny so that's a possibility--but doesn't explain why things seemed normal at first. Unless the ECU has "learned" and is trying to compensate for too much fuel.

The R4 fuel map has entries for unboosted RPMs (i.e. at vacuum under idle). Could those be too rich? Just a guess.

--Steve

 

I like 12SecZ's explanation better than mine! Check all of the hoses into and out of the plenum, including the one that goes from the front left of the plenum to the SS box.

--Steve

 

one other thing is when i ran it at full boost and went to hit the brake pedal was hard as a rock then as boost came down, it acted like a normal brake again, like the power assist was gone under boost then came back, weird huh!

 

just throwing an idea out, but possible loose plug? I crossed 2 coils on my install and it idled and ran like crap, I would think a coil pack coming loose would do the same.

 

I'm assuming the plugs were changed BEFORE the test drive, right?

--Steve

 

Sounds as if i may be Fuc*ed..............

 

why would my car when you turn the key over just sit there and turn turn turn turn turn turn turn.............then 10 seconds later try it and boom start right up?

 

If it was the plug gap, you wouldn't have a problem at idle, but would lose power during boost. If it was a coil connection, the car would be missing all throughout the RPM range. It's definitely not a leak before the MAF, ie intercooler, SC etc. If it's a vacuum leak it has to be between the MAF and the heads.

I don't know how the Vortech runs their PCV setup, but I'd check the brass pipe coming out of the front of the plenum underneath the plastic engine cover. Make sure there is a hose coming out of that. Follow the hose to make sure anywhere it has a connector there's a hose going on it.

About your power assist brakes, there should be a check valve going to your brake booster. If that one way check valve wasn't working properly, you would have the hard brake symptom that you describle. I'm trying to think of a way that the symptoms could be related, but not coming up with anything. I'll do some more reading in the FSM.

 

Don't start tripping too hard yet it happened to EJ's car and was just the CAI part of the tube near the MaF.

On my car it was behind the bumper off the IC and I was in LA!

It will be alright Kevin.

No one's install is ever perfect it takes time man and isn't tuned yet.

It is fixable and the dyno number is good.

 

Save your self some "Triple Guessing" and Go to TechnoSquare - See Tadachi.. And Get the Monkey Off Your Back...

It appears you have two controllers countermanding each other.

Technosquare
22521 Normandie Ave.
Torrance CA 90501
Phone 310-787=0847

Please keep it simple...Simple is best.

Cheers Amy -

 

You called it...........just ran out to check my intake off the plenum and sure enough it blew off...................WHOOOOOOO i am releived.............thank you all so much for the help...........but i still dont understand the starting problem?

 

If there is a vacuum leak after the MAF the ECU isn't properly metering the air. So, the engine is getting too much air and not enough fuel. Engine's don't like to start up when there's fuel mixture problems. Glad it was something simple.

 

Yea, like what he said.

Im sorry i cant be of much help, because i just know enough to putt along myself.

Ok, one idea off the top of my head. Check your fuel lines for kinks and that they are safely tucked away from heat sources? If its hard to start your engine, maybe it has to do with vapor lock? Dirt got into the injectors?

 

So it was indeed the hose that goes from the plenum to the SS box? Glad you found it!

--Steve