still no go

Tonight, I addressed the water leak and topped off the fluids. Then Adam came over and we fired her up. The car was all good from leaks: air(vacuum), water, or oil. Good. We adjusted the idle air control valve and got the car's down to ~750rpm idle. All seemed good. However, the motor was still a little shaky at idle and it was still running rich. With a little throttle, it sounded like a lawn mower.
We checked the spark plugs and they were pretty charred. We did a check with the motor on and pulled each coilpack thinking that possible one of the coilpacks weren't working and not sending a spark to the spark plugs. If the motor got worse, then that coilpack was ok. Cylinder 1, 2, and 4 all got worse when the coilpacks were pulled and no change when cylinder 3 was pulled. This ment 1 of 2 things- either the coilpack was bad, or there is something wrong with the cylinder. we switched the coilpacks 1 and 3 and repeated the test of pulling the coilpacks with the motor on. Again, cylinder 3 was the only one with no change in the motor idle when the coilpack was pulled. This ment that the coilpacks were fine and that there is something wrong with cylinder 3.
Game over for the night.
What I need to do tomorrow is to do a compression check and buy new spark plugs. Hopefully we get similar readings in each compression and after changing out the spark plugs, the car is running correctly.
It just seems like if it's not one thing, then it's something else.

training update

Training lately has taken a back seat as the car has consumed much of my attention and energy. However I have been riding to/from work 4-5 days a week for the last 3 weeks. This week though, the base miles begin again and I will definitely keep utilizing the rollers or be outdoors as weather/motivation permits.
So in the last 3 weeks, I have only ridden 5-6 times for training instead of just as a form of transportation to work, swam a couple times, and ran 3.4 miles with Desiree.
I need to get my arse back to it.

just a little hiccup

Today everything went pretty well doing the work on my own. I capped of the vacuum nipple, took of the valve cover, put the motor to top dead center (TDC) and realligned the CAS correctly. After everything was bolted back on, I fired up the motor and it was idling much better. Didn't smell rich and no more black smoke. However, there was a little water leak from one of the new water lines out of the turbo. I wonder why it didn't leak last time we fired it up on Thursday night? Possibly because I filled up the radiator.

I started to unbolt some air plumbing but got burnt on the dorsum of my hand as the work needed to be dome was close to the exhaust manifold. The water bolt off the turbo is difficult to fully tighten because it is stuck between the 2 turbo housings.

I'll let the engine cool over night and get up taken care of tmw, then we should really be up and running.

I also start to get the car ready for the road by giving her a wash and replacing the windshield wipers. Silvia is almost alive!

almost there

Yesterday, we got all the fluids topped off and was all set to start the car. However, the battery was dead probably from me testing out the car audio/video. So we charged the battery and with start assist, finally were able to turn it over. Adam then noticed that there was an oil leak. So we shut off the motor and traced the source of the leak. It was the new braided oil line from the turbo to the block. I used the old copper washer which upon inspection, had a very little slight bend allowing oil to leak through. No worries, new copper washers installed and the car was fired up again.
It was now having a rough idle as it did before we changed out the exhaust manifold. Fortunately, no more leaks- oil or coolant as the new braided stainless steel lines solved all this. We now needed to figure out the reason for the idling problem. We started to play with the crank angle sensor (CAS) thinking that it might have been put in a tooth or 2 off causing the timing to be off. Also, we found a vacuum port under the throttle body that was open to the atmosphere that should appearntly be capped off. I stuck my finger to block the port and the motor started to stall and bog worse. This is due to the fact that the idle air control valve not being turned up enough.
Next order of business.
1. Pull the valve cover and reallign the CAS correctly with top dead center
2. cap off open vacuum port
3. adjust idle air control valve
Then we should be in business and be up and driving on the road.

Silvia is here and the work has begun!

So my new car arrived last Friday, just in time for the new year! I drove it about 60ft from the street into the garage and the work began. The car has been under construction since.

Things in the order that they have been fixed:

1. re-wire headlights to work.

2. re-wire and hook up in-dash dvd player into the car

3. remove turbo and manifold

4. install new manifold, new turbo lines, gaskets and accessories

5. bolt new manifold back onto the motor

6. bolt exhaust back together and onto the turbo

What's left to do before starting the car: bleed the clutch.

Then fire her up. Should be doing this tomorrow and then finish up the audio/visual system since I'm waiting on the radio brackets to come in and fix all little things about the car that I'm particular with.

Also I have a new set of wheels that need to be mounted. MRR GT1 18inch staggered wheels: 8.5 in the front 9.5 in the rear.

Stay tuned for more of the build to come.

more pics can be found at: http://community.webshots.com/user/asiangq

the search is finally over

After only having the Acura TL for about a year, I was ready to move onto something different.

Criteria
1. good reliable daily driver
2. looks good
3. fun to drive
4. allow for some spirited driving/maneuvering when needed/wanted

Afer about a month and a half of searching, the search is over and has culminated to this:

1995 Nissan 240sx with a full s15 front conversion and an sr20det motor transplant. This is something similar to what I built in high school but at another level. The car is currently located in northern Illinois and is ready to be transports down.

Upcoming updrages:
-full audio/video sound system
-full alarm system
-performance tuning

Stay tune for the progress updates

Happy Holidays: Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!!!

'Tis the season. A few of the many things that I like to do this time of the year are:
1- cuddle and stay warm
2- charlie brown christmas album feat arrangements by vince guaraldi
3- jazz arrangements of chrsitmas songs
4- spending time with love ones

I hope that all are doing well and that you get to enjoy this time of the year doing the things that you like.
Happy Holiday's and safe travels.