JimX

Well last night I finished writing down all the settings from the tune and typing them up into a spreadsheet. I also recorded the old settings before the tune from when I'm fairly sure it had more bottom-end, so I'm ready to experiment without worrying about losing track of anything. I'm not 100% sure it's got less low-end than before, it could just be my imagination. But I'm fairly certain it has lost a bit, mostly due to the stumble/misfire it gets when warm. I've attached both sets of my settings to this message, anyone got any hints? JimX_PowerFC_Ignition.zip

Mine does look almost exactly like that, but it only has the top fitting in your pic. I tested the car the other night and it now goes off, but only just, and only when really pushing it (like over 6000rpm or so). I think I need to ditch it and get something smaller. Anyone have any ideas of what I can put in its place? Preferably quiet! Plumbed back if possible, but it's in an unusual spot (can't see from engine bay) so I'd need to work out how to re-route it back to the intake. I don't mind if it vents to air as long as it's not too loud. Or if anyone has any ideas on how to make it release with less pressure (replace the spring?) please let me know.

Thanks for the reply! Well this afternoon I got bored so I took the whole thing off to work it out myself. It's not ceased, but yeah I discovered that out is "looser". I also found that you can even remove the whole adjuster for the "loosest" setting but I put it back in and wound it in a couple of turns. Haven't test driven it yet. The spring is quite strong and I'm only running 14psi of boost so maybe I need to ditch it and get something smaller. Asking about the vacuum lines isn't off topic, because I want to get it working so thanks for asking Well for a start I only have one vacuum line to it (only one place to run one), and it runs to the back of the plenum. Should it go somewhere else instead?

I phoned Petroject yesterday and was told that a universal 3 wire O2 sensor was $105 plus tax. I quoted the part number 23011 as skypy12 said early on but the guy didn't seem to be able to find it. I went in today to buy it, but the guys working there didn't know who I spoke to and so I had to start all over again. I said the guy had told me about a universal fitting one but the new guy said that they were all different and he had no definite one for an R33 GTS-t. He brought out a couple of which one he was fairly sure would fit and I tested my memory of the old plug (which was still in the car at home). Through my memory of the old plug I worked out that it was the large thread, zirconia, male plug, with 2 white wires and one black. The only other possible one he brought out (3 wire, large thread) was titania and I therefore deduced for a GTR, so that made me doubly sure I had the right one. I got the medium length cable version because that's what he brought out, but I'm fairly sure that the short length one will be fine (it was what my old one is anyway). The part number on the end of the box was 23109, so perhaps the 23011 above is just the short cabled version. If in doubt just take a look at both and compare and see if they're otherwise the same, and you can get either one. This for a '95 R33 GTS-t anyway. The biggest disappointment was price, it was $160, although only $110 trade, so if possible get your mechanic mate to pick one up! I think maybe the $115 one I was quoted on the phone wasn't an NGK, or the extra few cm of wire cost $45 (!?) Or maybe he accidentally quoted me the trade price (which would have made it $5 more expensive... hmm) I also spoke to the guy about some rumours I've seen around both here and elsewhere. He said that you don't really need a factory sensor to get the best efficiency, because they are all very close in tolerance, and almost all of them are made by one of three OEM's anyway. They being Delco, NGK/NTK, or Bosch. If you wanted the "closest" one to factory spec, then get the same brand that made the factory one I suppose. The guy said that NGK was probably the best quality brand, but they sell all three brands aforementioned. I don't think it matters at all unless you're running a completely stock Skyline, which very few of us are!

Hehe, I was thinking of asking why all the hostility but you answered it above before I asked! I have a catch can. Not to save my engine, but to try helping prevent the recirculated oil from coating the entire length of my intake. As it is it's doing a fair job, after about 30k km you can see that there is a slight brown smudge on the rocker cover hose outlet (it's translucent) but on the intake side the hose is almost entirely clear as it was when new. That indicates to me that the can is stopping some or most of the oil from coating my intake and intercooler. I feel that I should replace the can with one that can take a whole bunch of steel wool to help trap more oil, but there's so little blow-by it's not a high priority for me. I'm not thinking that this thing will save my engine at all, or render the car street legal, but I do think it's a pretty cheap mod to help ensure that your intercooler maintains its efficiency. Autospeed have a couple of articles on how to build an air/oil separator and the reasons behind it (that's where I read that the steel wool is a good idea) so there's more than a few people who think it's of some use. Oh, my main motivation in doing the re-routed plumbing is that I used to just have a breather on the rocker cover, and it essentially started to coat the inside of my engine bay with oil.

I had my PowerFC tuned recently, and although it's now got a lot more mid-range and top-end, anything under 2500rpm or so is totally dead, actually worse than it was before. It even seems to stumble and misfire fairly often, like it's dumping way too much fuel in. Could this be the result of adjusting the cam wheel which was done with the tune? Is there any way to compensate for it? If not then I'm tempted to sacrifice the extra top-end power by putting the wheel back to zero degrees. Once above 2500rpm though the car is entirely different, and it gets from 5000 to 7000rpm in the blink of an eye. (well, maybe one blink each for 5000-6000 and 6000-7000 ) The only other thing that has been "changed" since the drop in low end power are the injectors, which are now 550cc. But it idles about the same as before, so I don't think this is the problem at all. I've got the old settings written down, is there any point in experimenting with the old timings to see if I can get it to run any better? Or shouldn't I bother because the cam wheel has been adjusted?

Does anyone know which way to adjust the Type R bov to make it release pressure earlier? It seems to be frozen shut! All I get is chopping noises out of my air box. I have tried adjusting it both in and out about 8 full turns from where it was, but neither seems to make it open. It used to work before I had my intake re-done last year, and I think the mechanic has adjusted it the wrong way.

Ah ok. Thanks for all the info, I guess I'll put a priority on getting a new O2 sensor now. The economy has been steadily getting worse since I got it, and not all due to power mods. Light-footed highway driving should essentially be the same as it always was but it's not.

Ah right. Does it use the inlet temperature to adjust cold start fueling, or does it use the coolant temp? If the latter then I guess I don't need to install one. Otherwise where can I get one and how do I wire it in? I have an R33 GTS-t sorry (should have said in original post).

Is the inlet temperature sensor part of the AFM? It makes sense that it would be, since it measures the temperature difference in airflow to send the signal to the ECU. On my PowerFC diagnostic screen, it has "---" for the inlet temperature. Does this mean it's not getting the signal at all? Is there any reason why the AFM would work but not send the temperature, because it otherwise seems to work fine (response, power, etc). If the sensor is attached elsewhere or if there is a common reason why it wouldn't be showing me the inlet temp, can someone please advise? I think this is the main source of my crap fuel economy, if it thinks the engine is always cold it'd be like driving around with the choke constantly on! Edit: I should note, I have installed a Q45 AFM and re-wired the plug as per instructions I found here awhile back. I did it all over a year ago so don't ask me what I wired up to what I spliced it into the loom so that it still has the original plug, but tucked up out of the way and insulated. Is it possible I did something wrong there?

Just in case anyone wasn't aware - the "FC" in "Power FC" stands for "Full Computer". It's meant to replace the ECU along with all its functions, in addition to everything else it does. I imagine that's the reason why you can't use the R33 Power FC in an R34, if the R34 has additional security features.

How do you test the coils with an ohm meter? I had misfiring problems at above 6000rpm. I tried patching up the coils with silicon but it didn't make any difference. My mechanic had said that 2 coils were drawing too much current and causing the misfire, but I forgot to ask him how he tested them. I have since replaced the whole lot with Splitfires (they are quite cheap from Nengun and Perfect Run at the moment if anyone's interested) which has fixed the problem, but I'm wondering if I can now check the coils with an ohm meter to see which the duds are.

Now you're testing my memory. I think I just used a straight screw-on barb fittings, but I might have put some sort of adapter in because I think the 044 has a bigger outlet than the car's fuel line. I got almost all the parts from Earl's in Silverwater. I also went to Pirtek looking for the banjo fitting but they couldn't help (neither could Earl's). The main reason why I don't remember specifically what I bought is because I spoke to the guy at Earl's and showed him the pump and sock and said how I needed it fitted, and he went and got all the parts he could and we fitted up what we could while I was there. I didn't have a "shopping list" as such. Maybe you could make a sharper angle with the hose with a right-angle fitting so that you could mount the pump diagonally or horizontally to clear the space? I imagine this is much easier said than done though. Good luck with it.

The non return fitting? You mean the ball bearing spring thing? I removed it primarily because I couldn't find a banjo fitting for it, but yeah it did add to the length and would have been somewhat harder to fit if it was in place. Oh yeah, I also had to completely remove the bottom of the bracket. I tried to bend it a bit to keep it in place as a spacer, but I gave up because it made the whole thing too wide to fit. One thing I do remember quite well is the fact that it was very very difficult to push the bracket all the way down the slot even with the bracket chopped, to get the pump to reach all the way to the bottom of the tank. It's a common hassle with these pumps because they are wider than the factory pump. I had to bend the bracket kind of into a slight "S" shape to place the pump back out of the "corner" it's supposed to be in. I've actually found a photo of that view of the tank (attached), as I was trying to work out how to fit it exactly. It took several attempts but I finally got it. I can't imagine the R31 being impossible, the R33 was hard enough as it was. Perseverance should pay off.

Argh, can't find the pics And it's for an R33 not R31 sorry, but I imagine the setup would be similar. I'm really curious about the pics now, I mustn't have renamed them to something appropriate so they're lost on my hard drive. I'll go through all my pics when I have more time. For the mesh, I cut off the one on the factory pump, and secured it to the bottom of the 044 with some fuel hose and clamps.

All turbos will have a tiny bit of up/down shaft play, but they shouldn't have any forwards/backwards movement (viewed from front). Well, technically they do on all axes, but as soon as you can feel the forwards/backwards movement with your hands, it's reached a point where it's starting to wear out and will probably need replacing or rebuilding soon.

I fitted my 044 internally. You have to cut/modify the factory bracket, so this is a one way journey (well, you can always buy another second hand bracket if you want to go back to factory). I've got pics of my finalised setup somewhere at home I think. It doesn't look pretty, but it's internal so who cares! The thing on the top of the pump is a spring ball bearing valve. It's designed to stop fuel flowing back into the tank when the engine is off, but since it was so hard for me to find a banjo fitting for it I decided to remove it and I haven't noticed any issues with starting, even when the car wasn't run for a couple of weeks. All it will do is restrict flow slightly so I don't think there's any reason to keep it on there. I've been told that it's a good idea to upgrade the pump wiring for an 044 because of the extra current draw, but I kept the factory wiring just replacing the end terminals with round ones, and I haven't noticed the wires getting warm or anything. It might melt one day in the middle of summer but it's been going strong for over 2 years now, including very hot middles of summer.

The R32 could just be so named because it has an RB25DET engine transplant from a later model, or even dodgily had a turbo thrown onto the side of a normal RB25DE. Also, technically speaking the model numbers are around the wrong way - there was no R32 GTS25-t released by Nissan, and all R33 GTS-t's are GTS25-t's but are often called just GTS-t for short.

It's your alternator regulator, get it replaced. You will start frying very expensive electronics before too long at 17V. I know someone who had around 17V in his old crappy Magna, and things started dying one at a time. Headlight bulbs, dash lights, dashboard, stereo head unit. The stereo was the last thing to go for some reason, and it was only then that he decided to see what might be wrong with the electrics! I guess he had his priorities right, who needs a working fuel gauge as long as you have music

Second hand should be around $150 or less. Try Ebay, you might be lucky. If not then JustJap should have one and they deliver too. Test it before you go and buy one first, it could just be a bad connector or something. See if you can borrow a known working one from someone and hook it up.

Hehe, in that case maybe you need it upgraded to 5" Seriously though, it's almost certainly an AFM problem. I've had a similar thing happen when I accidentally yoinked out my S-AFC awhile ago, which among other things, severs the signal wire from the AFM. I also recently have my AFM die a half-arsed death, which resulted in the car being unable to idle, although I could get above 2500rpm in that case by keeping the throttle open.

2nd vote for 5" tip being the problem.

You can't tune it, unless you've got a programmable ECU like PowerFC, or an intercetpor like S-AFC. If you are just wanting to give it a normal service type "tune", you can do a few things. These aren't in order of importance, but roughly easiest to hardest. Firstly, clean the air flow meter with some electrical contact cleaner (buy from Jaycar, ask for exactly that and they'll know what it is). There are threads in here on how to do it properly, not that it's difficult. Secondly, change the plugs for some good quality platinum or iridiums. There are probably already platinums in there, but if you change them now you'll know how many km they've done and can not worry about them for awhile. Thirdly, test the O2 sensor which affects your fuel economy. You can either do it (relatively) quickly with it in place, or remove it and test it on a workbench (the latter is a more accurate testing method). For details on that, read this article. Fourthly, clean your injectors. The cheap way is just via the bottled stuff from an auto parts shop, which may or may not help. The expensive/proper way is to get them removed and ultrasonically cleaned, which usually costs around $200 or more, depending on if you get the mechanic to remove the injectors for you or you do it yourself.

Has anyone done a diagnosis of their O2 sensor before and after replacing it? I found this website here about how to check it both in the car and on a workbench: http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/ecmsensors/O2sensors.html In there it says "You are looking for voltage to go above and below 0.45 volts. If you see less than 0.2 and more than 0.7 volts and the value changes rapidly, you are through, your sensor is good." I did the in-car check as they described because my car was already hot, and I found my O2 sensor was fluctuating several times a second between around 0.1 and 0.9V, so according to the above it is working properly. At the end of the article, it says there's no benefit in replacing any O2 sensor that will pass the workbench test which is a more accurate test. Can someone workbench-test their new (or spare) O2 sensor and post up how fast it drops from 0.6V to 0.1V after heating? It's supposed to be under 4 seconds, but I'm thinking if a brand new one does it in 1 second, but mine does it in 3.9 seconds, it's time to replace it anyway even though it technically passed the test. I'll test mine tomorrow if I remember (I'd do it now but the engine is still too hot!)

I thought I was smart and did this of my own accord without needing to ask Whiteline about it. But a few months afterwards, I felt a clunk and the steering went a bit wobbly. I had a look under the car and noticed that the metal bracket which the left side link arm attaches to on the chassis had snapped off! Needless to say I was impressed by the strength of those things and disappointed in the strength of the bracket. Unfortunately due to the stress involved it was impossible to get one of the nuts off, so I had to buy a new link arm. I still have the broken bit of metal bracket as a souvenir. It went several months without any problems like this so it just could have been a slightly defective mounting bracket on the car. But I would still advise anyone that wants to do this to re-inforce the bracket somehow. I went back to the second-softest setting after this happened.