[Rigel]

That sounds horrible. I think the motor is ok but I'll need to check.

 

[Rigel]

I wasn’t able to get much done this weekend. First step after the fuel issue was to drain the oil. The oil from the motor was really nasty. It was thin like water and smelled strongly of fuel. Hopefully it wasn’t sucked too far into the motor. I also drained the oil cooler loop. Most of that oil was ok. I drained and refilled the accusump as well. I will probably do another flush with fresh oil to make sure I got most of the fuel out. It takes a long time to drain this whole loop. I ended up using compressed air to blow out the oil cooler lines.

I also pulled off the fuel rail.

I haven’t had a chance to inspect the trouble injector but I will hopefully get to it this week. I am leaning toward just replacing them all with new ones. It doesn’t seem worth it to keep these. If this happened when the car was running it will be a big problem. It’s also a pain to replace all the oil if it were to happen again. I also looked at my fuel pressure again. The regulator is supposed to hold it to 58 PSI. I was reading 68 PSI when I checked it today. I disconnected the fuel return line and just had it dump to a bucket. With that setup I read 62 PSI which is a lot closer to the target. I’m guessing the radium jet pump is causing the restriction and increasing fuel pressure. I will have to look into it as I’m sure this is part of the reason my car is running so rich.

 

[Kris OK]

Sounds like you are diagnosing the fuel over-pressure situation. That’s pretty high fuel pressure! If it ends up being the siphon pump how will you fix it? Can you drill it out or make a bypass to route some fuel around it?

 

[Rigel]

Sounds like you are diagnosing the fuel over-pressure situation. That’s pretty high fuel pressure! If it ends up being the siphon pump how will you fix it? Can you drill it out or make a bypass to route some fuel around it?

I talked to a coworker and apparently the fuel trims should be able to compensate for the pressure difference. Also a proper dyno tune should negate the issue. I still want to fix the pressure though. The jet pump came with 2 other size restrictors. I may drill one out till it doesn't cause the back pressure. I currently have bigger issues so it's going on the back burner.

 

[Rigel]

I got busy at the end of the year with activities and travel. I was able to install a fumoto valve in the oil pan. I don't really like how it sticks out.

I've dropped that tire off track a few times; all it would take is a rock to break it off. I'm thinking about adding a front skid plate to protect the oil pan and valve and a mid-skid plate to protect the headers. I procrastinated on solving the injector issue because I didn't really want to drop a ton of cash buying new ones. I ended up taking them back to the place that cleaned and tested them. I was told they need to be installed and used immediately after testing. I waited around 10 months to use them so I bought that they had just got gunked up from sitting. I had them recleaned and tested. It was covered under their warranty so it was hard to not do. They found and fixed the stuck injector, also a few others were dripping.

I felt good about reinstalling them and getting back on track. I also cleaned the fuel rail and replaced the fuel damper. It was a little dirty so I thought that could have led to some of the issues.

Yesterday I got oil back in the motor and reinstalled the fuel rail. I also put in new spark plugs and leads. I started it again and ran it for like 30 seconds. It fired right up and sounded really good. I looked under the car and saw these wet spots.

I kinda thought it was just some moisture or something. I went to start it back up so I could drive it back into the garage and it immediately locked up. I knew enough from the last few times that when the dash went dark from the extra power draw of the starter I stopped cranking it. I took out the spark plugs and found cylinders 6 and 7 had a lot of fuel in them.

It's worth noting the injector that failed last time was in cylinder 4. So basically 3/8 of the injectors have failed open. If it weren't my money I would have replaced all the injectors the last time this happened. Now I don't think I have an option. I consider myself fairly risk averse and I think all these injectors need thrown out. I'd imagine they are an extremely reliable mechanism but this set must have had some damage done to them. Monday I will look into buying some new injectors. Unfortunately I believe that also means I need a new base tune. The stock AC Delco injectors are like $140 per. There are cheaper options but I may go with some from the company that cleaned my injectors. I did drain my oil again and it didn't seem like any fuel really got into it. It's amazing how long it takes to drain 8.5qts of oil. I'd imagine the trap doors in the oil pan slow it down but it takes like an hour. I'm gonna reflush the oil cooler lines too. Fortunately I planned for failure and had the accusump closed off so fuel couldn't get into it. I also looked into the fuel gauge reading empty. Turns out my fuel tank is just empty.

I did my due diligence and checked the resistance of the sensor. I also disconnected the fuel pump, plugged it in and checked the gauge was working. It seems fine. Now I just need to get a gas can so I can fill it up. Probably should have done that when I had it on a trailer.

 

[Kris OK]

Was the wet floor spots where the excess fuel was coming out of the headers? What’s the story on the injectors - I’m too lazy to look back thru the thread? I would definitely not trust this batch though. Would the excess fuel pressure cause them to behave the way they are?

 

[Hodgdon Extreme]

Am I understanding this right?

Got injectors back from inspection/cleaning/testing
Installed them, forthwith
Car started right up and ran for 30 seconds
Three injectors failed open

 

[theraflu]

I commend you for going all in on this project but this engine bay seems like nightmare to work on and these teething issues suck. Hopefully the new injectors take care of the problem for good.

 

[Rigel]

The wet spots in the picture are indeed fuel. I had an injector stick open in mid December which caused me to remove and recleaned/test them. Once I got them back and reinstalled I had two more stick open in the second start-up. So I've had a total of 3 fail open on two separate occasions.
The engine bay is tight but really the only issue I have is the rear passenger spark plug is a little tricky to get. Honestly the jz is probably worse to work on. The spark plugs are way easier to get to and there is more space one either side of the engine. I had a coolant temp sensor break on the jz and spent a day removing the whole intake to get to it. Realistically the engine bay is just tight. I don't think any engine would be easy to work on. Still better than my FRS. I've been putting off spark plugs for a while.
Hopefully new injectors fix my problem. Overall it's really not that bad, just annoying.

 

[Rigel]

I finally ordered injectors Thursday. I called to company doing my tune, CBM motorsports, and they had a factory injector set for like $600 so I ordered them. I was surprised when they showed up Saturday. I got them in the fuel rail and installed. Hopefully I don't have any issues with these.

It took most of Saturday to get the rest of the oil drained and everything refilled. But as it sits it should be pretty much ready to start. I wasn’t able to get fuel on Saturday because it was raining so much in socal. Sunday I was able to fill it with 5 gallons. I looked at the radium jet pump again and it came with a larger restrictor fitting so I swapped that out. I am now reading 64 psi, with a target pressure of 58 psi.

I may try drilling out one of the fittings a bit bigger to get it closer but it's better than 68 psi before. I also wrapped a few of the power steering wires so the engine bay finally looks pretty clean.

I borrowed a leak down tester so next week I can check that. Once that's complete and fuel pressure is fixed I should be ready to reconnect everything and start it. Then it’s just the clutch and I’ll be ready for a tune. Last I checked they were booking tunes about a month out so it will give me time to build heat shields and tidy everything up. Also maybe I can put some miles on it. I'm hoping third time's the charm holds up and I don't have any more major issues. On the side I have also been working on my oil pressure gauge. Ultimately I want to remove the screen in the cluster that shows the gear you’re in and replaced it with something I control. For now I'm just using this little screen and an Arduino. It will show oil pressure and temperature.

I added lights to show low oil pressure, low oil temp, and the green is for normal oil pressure. I will probably add more to it in the future. Or I may just get a Holley ECU and screen. I haven't found a good place to mount it yet. I also need to find some connectors so I can make cables and wire everything up. I feel like I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel but who knows what else will cause issues.

 

[Rigel]

So I got a lot done today. I ordered these fenders and trunk spoiler back in September.

The first shipment got lost in customs but the second one finally made it. Monster service has been great. They were very helpful and had no issues sending me the second shipment once the first one was lost. I've been looking for fenders ever since I widened the track. The monster service stage 1 30mm wings caught my eye. I liked that they are a full replacement wing instead of over fenders. I got the trunk spoiler as an impulse buy. The rear needs something and I'd like to get a big obnoxious wing at some point but for now this will do. The fenders fit pretty well. They already have all the holes drilled and all but a few line up. The will need a little TLC to fit properly. Still they are really close so it won't be much work. I have 1" wheel spacers and added about 1" to the LCA. The 30mm is pretty much perfect. I will probably raise the front about .25" so the wheels have a bit more clearance and don't smash the fenders.

Once I get them fitted properly I will get them painted. Overall I'm happy with them, they don't look to crazy and keep the car looking stockish. The trunk spoiler interfered with the badges on the trunk so I removed them with a bunch of floss. I'll probably remount them a little lower so they clear.

 

[Rigel]

I got the car started again today too. With the new injectors it seems to be running fine. No more fuel out of the headers and it started 3 times without locking up. It will need a tune soon as it can struggle a bit at idle. I put the exhaust back on so I'll fire it up again tomorrow.

I ran it long enough to warm up the motor. I found a coolant leak on one of the heater core lines off the motor. I will try a tighter clamp to fix it.

There is also a kink in the other hose so that will need fixed too. Now that it's running again I should be able to do a leak down test. Then I just need to bleed the clutch and it should be ready for a tune.

 

[Rigel]

This week I made some progress and had some setbacks. I tied rebleeding the clutch and made it much worse. I didn't have a vacuum pump this time and regular bleeding did not work. So for now I have no clutch. I finally read the directions for the clutch bleeder I have and I will try their method next weekend. They say to open the bleeder and stick it in the mc reservoir then pump the clutch. If that doesn't work I will have a vacuum pump next week. I also started the car with the exhaust. It started up great again and ran fine. The stumbling at idle also went away. I pulled a few of the spark plugs before starting it and they all looked great. After running it for about 5 minutes it started to bog a little bit. When I reved it I got black smoke out of the back. I took off the exhaust and the left header is covered in black soot.

I also pulled the spark plugs and they show a similar story. Right side looks great left does not.

My first thought is it's the cat causing a clog but I don't really know. I'm going to make an adapter so I can check back pressure. That cat felt hotter than the other and the left side was the side with the leaky injector. Anyone have ideas? Other than that it ran great. It's pretty quiet and hard to pick up on audio. I also did a leak down test on the motor.

That went ok. I wasn't able to truly warm the motor up but the coolant got to like 160 f. I was only able to measure 3 of the cylinders at temp. The rest were measured on a cold motor. I didn't notice a difference when I double checked the same cylinder hot and cold. First I used a screw driver to feel for tdc to do the test. I ended up switching to a piece of metal wire to feel the piston coming up. That still wasn't great so I ultimately would feel for the piston to come up then pressurized the cylinder to like 10 psi. I would then continue to turn the motor till both pressure gauges read pretty much the same. Then I would pressurize the cylinder to 90 psi. I found that much pressure tries to move the cylinder so I had to hold the crank while doing this. Below are the numbers, they all look pretty good.
Hot
5 90-88 2%
8 90-88 2%
7 90-89 1%
Cold
1 90-86 4%
2 90-86 4%
3 90-88 2%
4 90-87 3%
6 90-88 2%
So the motor looks good. I need to solve this soot issue and rebleed the clutch. Then assuming it stays running and there are no coolant issues it should be ready to tune. I also did a bit more work on my pressure sensor.