Thread: New guy here with a SR20 (Obviously) powered Datsun fairlady Roadster

Hello SR20 Forum.
My name is Mick, and I live in Sacramento, Ca.
I have been working for the last 2 years on a 1968 Datsun 1600 Roadster. It was kind of a basket case sitting in a field when I got this crazy idea to buy it, and build it using a JDM power plant from a 1996 Silvia. So I purchased a SR20DET S14 Blacktop with a 5 speed trans, complete wiring harness, ECU, & MAF.
I have been mostly lurking around many sites to get most of my questions answered and so far I have succeeded in getting it installed, wired up and running.
I am now at the point where I need to tap into a knowledge base for some of the more technical fine tuning, and probably some simple questions too.
I would have posted some pictures, but it appears that Photobucket is not playing nice today.
Some history of what I have been doing for the last 2 years.
I stripped the car down to the frame, had the frame blasted and painted, rebuilt all of the suspension and converted the disc calipers to late model Volvo dual piston.
Modified the frame and motor mounts for the SR20 using a kit and Jig from Spriso Motorsports, that made things a little easier. I replaced all of the rusty floor pans and modified the trans tunnel to accommodate the bigger 5 speed. I had to replace the turbo exhaust manifold as the doner car was a right hand drive, and that interfered with the steering. So I went with a top mounted turbo header and re-clocked the turbo. I had to get creative with the inter-cooler plumbing, but that all worked out. The space under the hood of the roadster ran out quickly so I had to relocate the brake proportioning valve and custom make all new brake lines.
The fuel cell was another story, as the shape and size is pretty specific to the car, so I reconditioned it and ran a walbro in line fuel pump to get the proper fuel pressure at the FPR.
Anyway the car starts, stops, runs, and moves around under it's own power right now, the problem is it doesn't seem to be running well, and that is why I have joined and soon will be asking some specific questions about fine tuning it.
I know this was a little long winded, and I plan to post with more details, and pictures when possible. Bye for now,

Mick

Mick, you've come to the right place.

Let us know what the most egregious issue is, and the symptoms, and we can help you track down the issue.

Then we can move on to the next, etc.


I know some things can confound other things, but the more it can be split up, the better.


For example, how is your idle? Were you able to get the engine into ignition timing mode to set the ignition timing properly? How is cruising? How is WOT? How are throttle transitions?

Hi Ben,

This does look like the right place. Please forgive my ignorance on some of these questions as this is my first computer controlled engine I have installed / worked with.
Most of my mechanical experience has been with 60's and 70's American cars, and those are quite simple... comparatively.

First thing is the idle, it does not want to. I manually adjusted the stop screw on the throttle body to keep it running. It seems to be running rich as my garage gets stinky really quick and it smells very rich.
I have verified that the TPS is adjusted correctly at .45v but other than that I am kind of stumped.

Engine timing mode is a mystery to me. MY ECU did not have a consult port, or a LED to indicate any codes. I wired in a consult port and purchased a "ECU Talk" cable, downloaded a simple program just to read any stored codes. I got a "55" and looking that code up means all good. So how does one get into the timing mode? Do I need additional software? Some of the sites that offer tuning software do not support my ECU, it is a Zenki 23710 69F00 with a big WC on it

I have not taken the car out for any kind of drive yet as I am not sure if it is running hot or not. I wired an electric fan up and used the 2 leads from the ECU that were id'd as "Low fan relay", and "High fan relay" but I think I have to re-visit the way I have wired it. I used the output as the 12v signal, but further research seems that they should be the ground signal to the relay.

The throttle transition seems smooth and there is no hesitation through the entire range, but I am a little nervous about WOT because I do not see the waste gate actuator moving at all, and from what I have read this can cause a lean condition and potentially cause engine damage. I am not sure if I need to install a BOV on a somewhat stock installation.

I realize this section is the new members area, and if i need to move this thread to another area because of the amount of questions I will be asking, just let me know and I can start a new one.

Lets go from here for now




Thanks

The only thing I can help with it going into timing mode, sorry I'm not much help with the rest of it.

Let the engine warm up to normal temp.
Disconnect TPS
Rev engine to 3000rpm THREE times.

You are now in timing mode.

http://www.sr20-forum.com/naturally-aspirated-all-motor/2566-how-adjusting-ignition-timing.html

Nice write up on setting the timing. I was pretty excited to see how to do this....up until the point of moving the distributor, My engine does not have one of those. Mine has an igniter and coil on plug setup.
It does however have the marks on the crank pulley, and the indicator pin so there must be someway to set it.

When the directions for FWD and older engines mention rotating the distributor, what they really mean is that you should rotate the Cam Angle Sensor (CAS). These just happen to share the same shaft on the older FWD engines so the directions aren't as clear as they should be.
On the Coil-On-Plug engines, you will find the CAS on the valve cover where it gets driven by the camshaft. For FWD engine it's directly driven off the intake camshaft. For RWD engines it is driven 90 degrees perpendicular to the intake camshaft.

Thanks, that makes sense.
And my photobucket account is working, so here is where I am at with my project.
[img]URL=http://s758.photobucket.com/user/Emptytank/media/datsun/photo_zpsaaf62f99.jpg.html][IMG]http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/Emptytank/datsun/photo_zpsaaf62f99.jpg[/img][/URL][/IMG]

Some better pictures
When it left the field
[img][URL=http://s758.photobucket.com/user/Emptytank/media/datsun/1023100848.jpg.html][IMG]http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/Emptytank/datsun/1023100848.jpg[/img][/URL][/IMG]
What was under the hood
[img][URL=http://s758.photobucket.com/user/Emptytank/media/Dottie/1113101144.jpg.html][IMG]http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/Emptytank/Dottie/1113101144.jpg[/img][/URL][/IMG]
and what it looks like now

[img][URL=http://s758.photobucket.com/user/Emptytank/media/Dottie/sept_15%20016_zps9spudax5.jpg.html][IMG]http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/Emptytank/Dottie/sept_15%20016_zps9spudax5.jpg[/img][/URL][/IMG]
[img][URL=http://s758.photobucket.com/user/Emptytank/media/Dottie/sept_15%20018_zpsakoz7v9f.jpg.html][IMG]http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/Emptytank/Dottie/sept_15%20018_zpsakoz7v9f.jpg[/img][/URL][/IMG]

I like it. Nice work.

Beautiful car and great project. Looks good!