Hanaldo's R34 Gt(T) Skyline Build

[Hanaldo]

Well my tuner has plenty of experience with flex fuel setups, but not with Link ecus, only with Haltechs. But after going to the tech night last night, I'm quite confident the Link can do everything the Haltech can, so I'm sure it will work. Its just a case of my tuner figuring out how to do it, but some of the stuff he was going through last night and with me on the phone was amazing, so I'm sure he can do it. I picked up 5L of E85 on my way home that I'm going to do some testing on to check how accurate Links configuration is.

However, I did have some drama with the car on the way home last night. About 2kms away from my house, the car stopped accelerating and then just died on me. After a quick check under the bonnet I noticed I had no fuel pressure at the rail, and sure enough when I turned the key I couldn't hear the pump prime. So in the middle of a busy street (no chance of pushing it off the road) I got into the boot and tried to get to the pump.

I could feel the relay click when I turned the key, so it's not a problem with the relay. Quick check with the multimeter showed I was getting power at the terminals on top of the lid, so the problem is inside the fuel tank. I started trying to get the lid off, but in undoing one of Nissan's f**kING STUPID plastic fittings, it snapped clean off. So with no chance of fixing it where I was, I decided it was time to call a tow truck.

As I was on the phone, an exceptionally nice couple in a transit group service Ute pulled up and asked if I needed help. I told them there wasn't much that could be done, but they offered to give me a tow. They quickly drove home and the bloke cut the seatbelt out of his project car and used it as a tow strap. The 5 minute drive home is the most nerve wrecking experience I have had in my car, being 30cms off their tailgate knowing I had no brakes...

But, we got it all the way back to my place without any damage whatsoever and they helped me push it into the garage where it is now sitting awaiting diagnosis. I offered to pay the couple for their help but they adamantly refused. I'm very grateful there are still people around who are so selfless, it was a refreshing change from the Commodores driving past me doing burnouts and hooting at me while I was stuck.

Thank you, kind strangers.

[Hanaldo]

Well after all that...

I pulled the fuel pump out today and inspected everything. All appeared in order, wiring was fine, connections were fine, pump looked fine. Connected the pump direct to the battery and it turned on, so fuel pump is obviously fine. Right, must be the relay. Test the relay for continuity, all is fine, test the coil for contact when powered (the 'click') all is fine. Thinking the arm inside must be burnt out, I pulled the relay to pieces but it was in perfect condition. Confused.

So I put it all back together and tested for voltage at the relay posts when the key was turned ON. 12v. So the fker HAS TO work! Put it all back together the way it was, turn the key to ON and... Voila! Works first time. So after all that, it must have simply been a bad connection at the relay. I checked that last night, but it must have been in the pulling all the connectors off and putting them back on that it sorted everything out. Bloody electronics

BUT, I'm pleased I don't have to spend any money to fix any of that! Only thing I need to fix is the fuel lid after snapping the fitting, but I wanted to put AN fittings in there anyway so that's no big deal. Just have to figure out what to do with this 'jet pump'...

[ichi-go]

I was at the haltech tech night as well - was well impressed with the haltech ecu, good luck with your flex fuel setup and do post your results

[Hanaldo]

Yes, it's a very capable unit! I will definitely post results, though I'm not expecting anything outstanding. If it cracks 350rwhp again then I'll be happy until I can sort out whatever is holding it back.

Picking up some Speedflow gear tomorrow to sort out the broken fuel lid fitting, then in the arvo I'll be testing this batch of E85 that I've got and comparing my findings to what my ECU reads. Fingers crossed the calibration is spot on!

[Hanaldo]

So, managed to sort out my fuel lid:

Absolute prick of a job to convert that plastic fitting to an AN fitting. I do still need to make sure that there are no leaks, can still smell a bit of fuel a few days later so will make sure that isn't an issue.

Also tested the accuracy of my sensor, and while the Zeitronix display and my ECU still disagree on the fuel temperature reading, they did at least agree on the ethanol content. So I have booked the car in for next week Wednesday, fingers crossed I have set everything up correctly and I don't cause any headaches for my tuner With any luck, this time next week the car will be running on 88% corn juice!

Edited August 29, 2013 by Hanaldo

[JH32]

So, managed to sort out my fuel lid:

Absolute prick of a job to convert that plastic fitting to an AN fitting.

Also tested the accuracy of my sensor, and while the Zeitronix display and my ECU still disagree on the fuel temperature reading, they did at least agree on the ethanol content. So I have booked the car in for next week Wednesday, fingers crossed I have set everything up correctly and I don't cause any headaches for my tuner With any luck, this time next week the car will be running on 88% corn juice!

Sweeeet! Bring on the good times!

Thanks again for your help with my fuel pump queries mate, much appreciated!

[Hanaldo]

No worries mate; manage to get it sorted? Or attempting it on the weekend? It's all pretty straight forward, but if you do need a hand feel free to gimme a shout as I said, happy to help out where and when I can

[linkems]

ethanol sensor connected straight to the link ecu as a digital input will give a slightly lower reading. Mine sits around 78 sometimes fluctuates either way a but the fuel im using should be pretty close to 85. The tuner told me link tend to read a bit lower, which isn't a problem as what ever number it spits out is only used as a reference point. If using that display and connecting to analog 5v input you can configure it to what ever you want but im guessing it will be pretty spot on.

The mods to your fuel lid looks like a good idea, but i hope the tank is sealing tight and water doesn't get in.

[Hanaldo]

ethanol sensor connected straight to the link ecu as a digital input will give a slightly lower reading. Mine sits around 78 sometimes fluctuates either way a but the fuel im using should be pretty close to 85. The tuner told me link tend to read a bit lower, which isn't a problem as what ever number it spits out is only used as a reference point. If using that display and connecting to analog 5v input you can configure it to what ever you want but im guessing it will be pretty spot on.

The mods to your fuel lid looks like a good idea, but i hope the tank is sealing tight and water doesn't get in.

Thanks for that mate, gives me a bit of confidence. I tested the E85 I have here using separation funnels and found it to be 88%. That is accurate to within 2%. The sensor reads 82%, but if that is a little low and the sep funnels are a little high then they would still overlap in the 5% error range that the sensor has. So that makes me pretty confident. I'm still just worried that the Zeitronix display and the ECU being spliced into the same digital signal wire might cause errors in the readings because of some interaction between the two.

Good thought about the water getting in! I will double check. The bulkhead has a teflon washer on the inside and has an o-ring on the outside, so it should seal up well enough. But I will pull it off again and make sure that it is water tight, don't want to tempt fate!

[JH32]

No worries mate; manage to get it sorted? Or attempting it on the weekend? It's all pretty straight forward, but if you do need a hand feel free to gimme a shout as I said, happy to help out where and when I can

Cheers mate, hopefully this weekend I'll have it done!

[B-rice]

those fuel lids are a b*tch to work on when i was rechecking my pump found that the seal had come off and dropped inside the tank. If you did manage to get the fuel temperature running what would the ECU do. Route the fuel to a cooler?

[Hanaldo]

Yeh people complain about those seals a lot but I've never had any issues.

I'm not setting up anything with fuel temperature. Just using it as an indicator for how the pump set up is running. If it does get too hot then I'll look into a fuel cooler.

[Hanaldo]

Well, have had to get back into the tank for the 4th time this week. Randomly woke up at 3am with the thought that I had forgotten to plug the fuel level sender back into the lid. Got back into the tank this morning to check, and sure enough the plug was sitting down in the tank! Lucky I did though, because while I was in there I had the sudden thought that I never asked if the fuel hose I bought was submersible. Turns out it wasn't, so I have spent all morning chasing up some submersible fuel hose that is compatible with ethanol. Eventually found some Gates stuff at Repco, so I'll go pick that up just now.

This replacing the moulded fittings business is trickier than it seems! Getting quite good at getting into the tank and getting the fuel pump in and out though

[iruvyouskyrine]

Haha you know you're playing with car to much when you wake up to a random thought about your fuel pump at 3am

[Hanaldo]

Ah dude. Happens all the time. Some of my best work is done between the hours of 1-5am

[B-rice]

sometimes i dont sleep just researching about my next moves. "Obsession is the word lazy people use for "Dedication".

[Manuel Kasko]

I'm going to have to admit I dream about my next mods etc. When I was struggling with fitting my SS1PU I lost heaps of sleep trying to figure out a solution to the water lines.

[Hanaldo]

That ones easy, braided lines an AN fittings ebreh taiiiiiim! Makes removing and installing the turbo such a breeze.

Anyway, just finished up in the boot. Gates Submersible fuel hose in the tank; stuff aint cheap! $28 for 30cm. Also decided to replace the nuts on my bulkhead terminals with nyloc nuts, ethanol safe and means the nuts won't work themselves loose and cause a bad connection to the pump. All in all, not too upset I had to get back into the tank, though if I keep that up then I'm gonna have to figure out another way of loosening the collar, damn thing is copping a beating!

Also, because sitting in the boot is just so damn comfortable, I decided to rewire all my stereo gear while I was in there as well. Don't have anything serious as I don't spend much time listening to music in the car, but the previous owner had a setup for two amps and a sub, plus all the speaker wiring. I've just got the one amp powering the speakers now, but the wiring was all still in there. It was a 'professional' install done by some audio shop, but my god it was atrocious. Seriously, why do workshops refuse to cut wire to length? They all leave 10m of wiring just bundled up inside the car. So I ran everything so it is no longer visible, and then cut it to length. I used to be ashamed of all my wiring, but I could proudly show it off now

[Manuel Kasko]

I couldn't get that one water line that was behind the block. Lost a week of sleep trying to figure that out haha.

I'm the same as you with the wiring situation. Previous owner had a stupid sound system that had super BASE BASE BASE!

[Hanaldo]

*sigh*

Thought it would be a good idea to pull off all the vacuum hoses from underneath the plenum and put hose clamps on them. Farkin, can't get them back on the barbs. Will need to pull the fuel reg out to give myself more room (for my gorilla forearms, because yes Mani, I lift occasionally ).

Can't be farked tonight, will do it sometime before Wednesday. The clamps won't even go on anyway, the hose tails are too close together on the plenum. #awesomewasteoftime