Various Issues

[Ska]

Right well after the move I have several issues that I'd like to get sorted out, but dont really want to take her to any mechs up here until I at least have some sort of go at fixing them, and because I dont know of any reputable workshops here in Rocky, yet.

Now of those who dont know, a bit of history. December 20th the car was put off the road and was repaired and handed back to me on March 31st. Heaps of underbody parts were replaced with brand new replacements and the chassie rail was repaired and the passenger side panels were repaired and resprayed.

She spent 98% of the time off the road, at the panel beaters shop, with most of the repairs done by the workshop in a very timely, efficient manner.

I recently moved from Brisbane to Rockhampton and since I have had her back I have found these few issues, any help and/or advise would be greatly appreciated!

1. I have a Greddy Profec B EBC, it is set to lowest for both high and low settings. When you turn it off you should only get stock (wastegate) boost, (right??). I have a turbo timer that doubles as a boost guage, which reads in Bar. Now the issue is that even with the EBC set at the lowest and/or turned off, I still boost to between 0.9 and 1.16 BAR of boost , WHAT THE? Of course I only hit this when under heavy use of the accelerator, but still, I dont want it boosting anywhere near that at all. So the EBC isnt working, so turned it off and got the same result? Tried checking that all the hoses were connected up fine, and took off a couple and checked for leaks, to see if that was causing it, nope, all the hoses were fine? I checked to see that the boost controller box wires are hooked up... any suggestions?

2. Just in the last couple of days my front passengers side window gets stuck 3/4 of the way down, it just stops?

3. I have an "issue" with my ignition barrel sometimes not letting the key go, it just does not return to the lock position, but travels fine through all the other positions, (accessories, start, etc). Sometimes it takes 4 to 5 goes to get the key out and I am deathly afraid that one time it just wont come out....... so is it possible to just get another barrell and replace it, or is it worth going to a locksmith...?

4. The rear wiper does not work, the previous owner said that it just needs to be hooked up under the inside plastic cowling, but when I tried to get it off, removed the couple of srews and pried and pulled until I thought I was going to break the plastic so gave up, anyone had that plastic cover on the inside door off before? Also the rear sprayer does not work, well when I try to use it from the left hand stalk on the steering column, I dont hear anything and not water comes out of it, so I'm thinking that was either unplugged at sometime as well.....?

5. Anyone had any good/bad experiances with workshops in Rockhampton at all, please keep it out of here and in PM's to me. I dont want to start another workshop bashing thread.

6. I have a GFB Stealth BOV, which wakes the dead when it vents. Am I able to safely change it from the current position, (75% vent to atmo) to 100% venting to plumback? I know there will still be some noise from the vent in the intake, but it has to be quieter than it currently is. I am dreading the day I am next to a police car, as at the moment everytime I change gears it's like she is screaming out, "DEFECT ME PLEASE!".

Also my replies might be few and far between atm, no net access yet at home, and dont really have time at my new work, so if it takes me a day or two to reply, I'm just busy

Thanks guys,

Cy

[AlexCim]

2. The windows up upper and lower adjustment points as there is no door frame to put pressure letting it know when to stop.

I am not sure how to fix it, but take the door skin off and have a peek under there. The skins are pretty easy to get off and on.

3. I know that when the car is auto, the ign barrel wont let the key out unless the car is in P. Maybe due to the fact that your car was converted, there is a underlieing issue there with the ign barrel. Maybe the wire mercury crossed/grounded to fix that problem was disturbed in repairs

4. The hatch carpet is a bitch to get off. Remove all the plastic clips holding the carpet down, then the carpet comes off. If you want the plastic bit off, just pull it off when the carpets off. Some clips can be tight, so it will feel like you will break it but it should be fine. Ive taken mine off before.

Regarding the sprayer, the hose for the sprayer goes through the rubber things between the door and the chassis, down the side, under the carpet floor in the rear, through under the carpet and through the passenger (i think) side somewhere) Maybe it was unplugged at the washer bottle when repairs were being done. Do a diagnostic. Blow through it, could just be kinked somewhere

6. Its fine to change the BOV to plumb back, as long as it plumbs back somewhere. Make sure there is a hose somewhere form the BOV to the intake. Which there is, so go for it!

[Revhead]

1. Sounds like the boost controller isn't hooked up correctly. The hoses might not be leaking but if they're plugged into the wrong place, they won't be doing a thing. The fact that you're freeboosting with the EBC off indicates to me that you have a vacuum line hooked up backwards/to the wrong place somewhere, or that a line to the wastegate or to the controller is blocked or crushed. Get a proper diagram of the Profec showing all of the connections (particularly the air/vacuum lines), and trace each of the vacuum lines back to make sure that the correct line is plugged into the correct place on the EBC, and that it's not blocked or crushed. An easy test for this is to take the vacuum hose that goes to the wastegate, and one that comes from the intake of the car after the turbo, and join the two with nothing else in between (don't forget to block any other lines you unplug, don't just leave them open). It should run stock boost, or around 0.5 bar. If it doesn't, there is a problem with either the hoses you've just joined (blocked, crushed), the wastegate has issues (very unlikely), or you've connected the wrong hoses up lol
   Call me if I haven't explained this properly... which wouldn't surprise me
   
2. What Alex said
   
3. I've already spoken to you about this one
   
4. I have no idea... so take Alex's advice lol. As for the rear washer, it's possible that the plug on the washer bottle wasn't put back on, or that the tubing wasn't reconnected under the bonnet. Check the simple things first.
   
5. Erm... never been to Rocky so I haven't had *any* experiences with workshops there
   
6. No problems by plumbing back - that's what the factory gear is designed to do, and venting to the atmosphere won't give you any performance benefit. But then, neither do enormous fluoro green stripes...
   

[CruiseLiner]

hey mate

number 3 is what alex said. their is a cable running from the ignition barrel in the auto stageas to the gearshifter, its like a throttle cable pretty much and doesnt allow keys to come out unless its in P or N i think.

to get it to work as if its in P or N all the time u need to get the cable and pull it tight and screw it down to something in the car under the centre console to keep the barrell always open for the key. its located directly near the gearshifter.

give me a PM if you dont get my commments and ill take a photo of the cable and how ive set it up.

number 4. the washer bottle is mounted under the gaurd on the drivers side and the 2 seperate window washer motors r in their and check they are workin correctly with a 12v battery, as they tend to seize up after a while. check for power on the wire leading to the washer motor when the button in the car is pressed as well to check wiring is fine.

hope it helps

cheers

Brad

[Ska]

Thanks everyone, now that I am living in a house instead of a motel I'll give all those a go.

Wierd thing about the boosting Revhead is that the boost never goes above 1.1 Bar, which is good and bad. Good because it's not going over that, bad because I dont want a dead turbo. But also doesnt that sort of say that it isnt "free boosting" which kinda leads to there is something holding the boost, but what and where......... ?

Anyway Umm brad if you could PM me some of the picks of your setup with the key, that would be fan freakin tastic eh, I dont want to be in the position where I cant get the key out!

All the other things will have to wait until all our stuff arrives from storage, to get my HUGE toolset (it's like one of those small 24 piece ktis from supercheap)

[CruiseLiner]

Thanks everyone, now that I am living in a house instead of a motel I'll give all those a go.

Wierd thing about the boosting Revhead is that the boost never goes above 1.1 Bar, which is good and bad. Good because it's not going over that, bad because I dont want a dead turbo. But also doesnt that sort of say that it isnt "free boosting" which kinda leads to there is something holding the boost, but what and where......... ?

Anyway Umm brad if you could PM me some of the picks of your setup with the key, that would be fan freakin tastic eh, I dont want to be in the position where I cant get the key out!

All the other things will have to wait until all our stuff arrives from storage, to get my HUGE toolset (it's like one of those small 24 piece ktis from supercheap)

gimme a couple of days mate im busy as hell at work and then trying to get my motor back in again, damn the joys of modifying

[Ska]

gimme a couple of days mate im busy as hell at work and then trying to get my motor back in again, damn the joys of modifying

Not a problem, I cant really do any work on mine till the weekend anyway, thanks heaps!

[Terminal]

just on the rear hatch plastic cover, i used a spatular to get in behind it and then levered the cover off. once you get a few clips out you'll realise how stiff they are the first time once you get going it's easy to get off, but its the first few that are the tricky ones.

[Ska]

Well again thanks for everyones help! Had a go at some stuff and here are the results:

2. Took the door trim off and could see the problem right away. There was a big quarter circle of stirofoam, about 30cm radius. It's got LH stamped into it, and it was floating loose in the door, so I removed it out, mainly because I dont really know where it belongs, and hey presto chango, problem solved!

3. I found the big think cable running from a sort of square module right underneath the ignition and zippy tied it tight and hey presto, works fine, thanks Brad!

4. Well after some pulling, I finnally got the platic cover off the rear door. Took a look and yeap, the wiper had just been unplugged, so I though yaay, too easy, hooked it up and tried it out, worked fine, but hey look at that, the switch for it is off, but it is still going, but at least the squirter works.

But yeah now I have to figure out why the wiper goes non-stop, doesnt matter what position the switch for it is in, it sways to an fro quite happily. Happens once the key is put into ACC.

So that is probably why it had been dissconnected, tossing up wether it would be worth having an auto electricition sort it out, or wire in my own switch to it, to turn it on and off from the driver seat.

5. Well I have been informed that there are no 4wd dyno's here in Rocky, and the nearest is Bundy, so might as well go back to Brisbane for a tune if I want to in the future.

AND after all that, one last thing pops up...

7. Well after changing the BOV to full plumb-back, I went for a quick spin to see what it sounds like, much quieter, pulled up at a set of lights which are on a slight incline, went to pull the handbrake on, didnt yank on it or anything and something goes SNAP! Oh great So I gently tried to dis-enguage the handbrake, which it did, *whew* and drove straight home.

When I took a closer look at it, it looks like the actual handbrake mechanisim has a very thin peice of metal at the bottom, and this was welded to the floorpan in about 5 or 6 places. But because the metal was so thin, the welds werent the best, they have just broken free.

So I am wondering why didnt they just use some tech screws and tech screw the bastard down. But how much clearance between the floorpan and the gearbox is there? If I do put screws down through the foot of the handbrake and the floorpan, will they hit anything else? Should I try to get someone to re-weld it, of which I am sure they would just break free again........

Any suggestions?

Thanks again everyone!

[GoldZilla]

AND after all that, one last thing pops up...

7. Well after changing the BOV to full plumb-back, I went for a quick spin to see what it sounds like, much quieter, pulled up at a set of lights which are on a slight incline, went to pull the handbrake on, didnt yank on it or anything and something goes SNAP! Oh great So I gently tried to dis-enguage the handbrake, which it did, *whew* and drove straight home.

When I took a closer look at it, it looks like the actual handbrake mechanisim has a very thin peice of metal at the bottom, and this was welded to the floorpan in about 5 or 6 places. But because the metal was so thin, the welds werent the best, they have just broken free.

So I am wondering why didnt they just use some tech screws and tech screw the bastard down. But how much clearance between the floorpan and the gearbox is there? If I do put screws down through the foot of the handbrake and the floorpan, will they hit anything else? Should I try to get someone to re-weld it, of which I am sure they would just break free again........

Any suggestions?

Thanks again everyone!

Cy,

I was warned about this by Alan when he told me about the whole conversion process when I went to look at the car to buy off him. He said that a lot of people do not make allowances for the amount of pressure the handbrake mechanism puts on that area of the chassis. He's done a few of these conversions (as you may remember from the manual conversion thread), and was quite willing to rip the centre console off the car to prove that he'd done the suitable strengthening - his confidence in his work (and the fact that he'd done a few of these conversions while living in Japan) was enough for me and my old man...

I'd suggest seeing if you can strengthen the area properly with welded in plates. If necessary, I can take photos for you to see for yourself and compare. PM me if this is what you'd like me to do...

[Ska]

I'd suggest seeing if you can strengthen the area properly with welded in plates. If necessary, I can take photos for you to see for yourself and compare. PM me if this is what you'd like me to do...

You have PM

[Ska]

Found setup instructions for the Profec B here:

(There is also a crap load of other technical things from GReddy here)

http://www.greddy.com/dir_tech.htm

So might take a look, there are some dip switches which I might fiddle with to see if that fixes the issue, but yeah just thought I'd update here.

[GoldZilla]

You have PM

PM replied...

[Ska]

Well, last night I tried checking out the dip switches on the profec and they were set right, so I tried the settings for the "(If Overboost Occurs)" mode.

Went for a burl out on the highway and found some wierd things. I got different results for different gears.....? What I was doing was out on the highway in a 100 zone, I would wait for no traffic and then reset the peak on the turbo timer/boost guage and give the accelerator what for. and then slow down, pull over and check the peak.

1st gear peaked at 0.4bar

2nd gear peaked at 0.9bar

3rd gear peaked at between 0.8bar and 1.1bar

Then I tried rolling along at about 60kph and putting it into 5th and flooring it, to build up the boost and see what it peaked at. This way it never went above 0.8bar...

Wierd thing is that I turned off the boost controller and got nearly exactly the same results, +/- 0.05bar.

So how do I check that the wastegate has not had any damage done to it? Would the spring on the actuator arm be stuffed?

[Ska]

Oh also wierd thing, before the accident, the EBC worked fine, held boost constantly at 0.7bar, didnt spike what-so-ever.

[Revhead]

Dunno dude definitely sounds like something is dodgy. Did you try connecting the wastegate line directly to the intake? If you did feel free to ignore me but I cbf reading back today, so damn tired

Anyway, if you haven't already tried it, use a new or known good bit of tubing. If it holds a factory boost level the wastegate is fine, the problem is in the Profec, the piping, or the wiring. If it doesn't, the wastegate flap, actuator arm, actuator or something is stuffed.

[Ska]

Problem is that I have NFI which hose to connect to where, and how? Remember I am a noob at this whole, "Lets be a mechanic!" idea . Give me a Axapta and I'll code you up a motor?

I'm going to see if the solenoid makes and noises when switching the unit in the car on/off, been told it should make some sort of noise when it kicks in.

Also I do have the stocker boost controller sitting there and Gary1 did show me how to set it up, but need different size hoses and cutting this and putting cut there and make sure you dont cut this hose...... I cant remember all that

But it is definatly NOT holding stock boost, with or without the Profec turned on/off. So just need to figure out how the turbo timer is seeing the boost, as there is a pipe that goes from the plenum to inside the cabin, and I assumed it went to the Profec, as shown in the Profec setup guide, so there must be a t piece somewhere for that pipe to feed the turbo timer/boost guage as well.......?

Other thing is to get a known working boost guage and set it up independant of everything and see what it says....?

[Tangles]

dunno how to help (Im a newb as well matey! LOL), but geez Id be worried about seeing 1.1 bar, 0.8 is all ok, but 1.1 may eventually lead to a overheated & blown turbo.

best to put up a thread in the forced induction thread me thinks. anyway, how are you sofar enjoying the move????

Brendan

[Terminal]

yeah the engine is identical to skylines, maybe someone else has had this problem

[Ska]

Yeah might try a couple of more things first and then if all else fails I'll go searching. Thanks again to everyone for your help! Muchly Appreciated!