Thread: Starting, running and mpg issues.

SR20VE motor in b13. B13 ecu w/ emanage for injector size change until I can order my calum ecu.

New (refurb) distributor, cap less than a year old. Plugs about 6 months old, i just cleaned them. Getting blue spark with a .35gap (i used to run a larger gap, around .45 but read somewhere to change that so i did). Wires not shocking me when i touch them so i assume good. New optima red top battery.

New air filter, fuel pump less than a year old (walbro).

Distributor is at center position. I have never been able to get into timing mode so I have left it there to be safe. All grounds good. All fluids good.

o2 sensor less than 4 months old, bosch universal.

Cant think of anything else relevant off the top of my head.


Problem:

Started with unable to crank on a -17temperature day. No biggy. Battery unable to crank it and died so a replacement was done. Temperatures have not seen that low since.

While driving in the rain, car died on me. This was about a week later. As soon as i gave it over 15% throttle it stopped moving, i pull it out of gear and it falls flat and stalls. Wouldnt start back up immediately. Had to baby it home because it would die as soon as i hit a certain % of throttle. It has had this problem before and I immediately target the dizzy.

So while im waiting for dizzy to come in from the zone, i try to clean the one thats on there. Replaced battery terminal connectors even swapped in another coil i had lying around. Still nothing.

A day passes, car starts and runs like normal w/o any changes. I proceed to replace the distributor. Swapped over the existing module, rotor and cap. Starts up afterwords and runs fine. So i drive it a little bit and take it in for the night. This was last night.

Today. Moist day, little bit of rain. Warm temperatures. I go to start the car....nothing. So I do my usual trouble shooting: Yes it cranks, strong. Yes fuel pump working. Yes clutch pedal in. No red light on emanage. All fluids still good. Nothing.

So i pull out the 15a fuse for fuel pump. Cranks 3 times and starts. Burns out the fuel and stalls. I put the fuse back in, it starts up in a few cranks. I let it idle for a few, and then give it a little gas. Falls right on its face and stalls. I pull out the fp fuse again, let it burn out the gas, put it back in and starts up. It starts to act just like it did when it died in the rain the other day. Certain percent of throttle and it falls on its face.

In neutral if i go wot, rpms dont move for a second, i get a backfire sound then the rpms go up. Sounds and smells like its running very rich which i know it is running rich. However it only does this on wet days it seems.

I also get very poor mpg. Worse in the past 2 months.



Looking for any idea on what to check next.

Previous to me re-gapping the plugs the only time i had this problem was when I was driving in the rain, not from my car sitting over night. Is it possible that closing the gap on the plugs is making it unable to ignite the fuel?

I know that I am running rich from the b13 ecu so me thinks it could be too much fuel too little spark problem, or is it a timing issue possibly?

THE E-MANAGE DOESNT SOUND TO BE HOOKED UP CORRECTLY..

remove the e-manage or get ecu portion of wiring harness again an run it off stock ecu .. when somethings not right go back to square one. but at square one you didnt have the harness chopped an skrewed

Yes, but for the first 8 months with emanage installed i never had a single problem. Not that im doubting the possibility obviously, i mean the wires could have been bumped or something but if that were to be the case the red light would come on showing an error would it not?

E-manage comes out tomorrow. Any other ideas i should check?

Im gonna regap the plugs to .4 and see if that helps them handle the rich running mixture.

Also I will check on my timing if i can finally get it into timing mode. Its so simple it seems but i fail at it.

What maf are you using, sounds like it has a bad connection.

Stock DE maf. No damage to connection or wires for it. Will probably reground at some point in time tomorrow for the sake of doing so.

have you tried changing the wires, coil, or ignitor chip? when i had my chevy v8 the optispark (distributor) system would do something similar. and it was due to the water screwing with stuff. once they were swapped all was good, and a little di-electric grease to boot.

btw the nice to see another ohio ve. i was born and raised in cleve. hts.

It sounds like you dont have enough timing or you need to clean your maf with some degreaser maybe both. Are you running premium fuel?

I did a lot of work in my previous job in cleveland heights.

Wires dont shock me when I touch them, and im getting a blue spark when i check the plugs. So i know its strong, but may not be enough.

Havent swapped ignitor chip but have swapped the coil. I know that the water issue while driving existed but i think that this current situation is unrelated but showing similar symptoms.


Im running 89 right now i believe. I have the dizzy at the center position and under what i was advised that is supposed to be stock timing position. I still have to try to get it into timing mode and see what its at.

The only problems ive seen that have caused these symptoms are distributor, timing and lack of combustion/excess fuel. Distributor is changed. Timing by physical means is correct but i will not know until i get a timing light on it, which would also include me finally getting it into timing mode.