Rb26 Problem

[hanyou]

hey guys, i put back a stock airbox on my 32gtr to replace my apexi pods... was all good, had to move the intercooler pipe as it was in the way.. did a test and pop intercooler pipe came off so was running pretty much didnt do anything above 3000 rpm. i fixed it again went for a drive again was ok..

then tonight i tried a hard test and i heard a *pop* so i assumed my intercooler pipe came off again.. but this time it was different.. the idle was dropping to almost 0rpm and the car was running liek sh*t altogether..

so i had to drive home with it like that as i couldnt fix the pipe at the time.. drove it about 1-2km very slowly, mates said it was blowing sh*t load of smoke.. so i checked the oil to make sure nuffin happned to it.. ive tried taking apart the airbox again and re-installing it making sure every hose clamp was on as tight as possible... i turn on the car and again sounded like sh*t but it was keeping idle this time (900-1000rpm) although it was hunting..

what could be the problem? could i have damaged my afm in the process?.. i know i accidently put pressure on the mesh but it jus pushed it in abit, didnt rip or anything, tho i highly doubt that could make a difference since it wasnt the sensor? ive made sure i plugged in the the AFM plugs properly too. please tell me i didnt fark the afm's..

ive taken this airbox on and off liek 3 times now and its pissing me off so bad as its pretty time consuming on a rb26.. so any ideas?

thanks

[hanyou]

had a think bout it and im gna try put back the apexi pods when i get home just to make sure if its the afm's or not

[GTRgeoff]

It won't be the AFMs but the plugs are caked with carbon. Give it a few decent revs then take it for a drive.

The reason it blows black smoke is overfuelling as the afms are seeing air sucking through but it's lost out the IC pipe. I had similar happen on my track GTSt at PI and melted my rear bumper and taillight just rolling a kay or so to the pit exit. If yu exhaust had been hot you could have suffered the same.

Are you still running the stock hose clamps? What are they, like 15 years old now? Get some heavy duty ones, replace the problem ones first and watch your problems disappear.

[hanyou]

crapp didnt know hose clamps made that much of a difference?

wen i get home ill give the car some hard revs on idle.. hopefully fixes itself up.

thanks gtrgeoff

[hanyou]

ok ive done wat gtrgeoff said.. basically same problem, tried putting on my apexi pods back and yeah still the same

so im 99% sure its my afm now... i looked at the sensors inside the afm they looked quite moist and dark. carbon i assume?.. any ideas?

[Morgs]

Sounds like you've still got a loose intercooler pipe. That'll explain why it dosen't idle / drive properly, and as said the bulk fuel coming out of the exhaust. Happened to me several times when I had the std twin setup.

Did you pull the spark plugs out and have a look at them? Mine were so bad once after popping a cooler pipe I had to put a new set in.

Edited September 11, 2006 by Morgs

[Godzilla32]

Look at watever you had to change since reverting back to the airbox. if it wasent doing this before you changed it then thats where the problem will be. Sometimes however changing things can upset somethign that was about to let go anyway. It does sound like you still have a leak though.

Deren

[hanyou]

only things i moved was the afm/apexi filters and the intercooler pipe from twin turbo pipe to the cooler. ive made 100% sure that its on

will have to try the spark plugs next, im using copper ngk's at the moment.. should i try cleaning the afm as well?

the car idles at 900-1000rpm now doesnt drop to an almost 0. but yeah its very jumpy and sounds liek a rexy on idle

[GTRgeoff]

Very hard to damage the AFM's doing what you did, but if you unplugged and replugged them then there may be a dirty contact, so give those a good clean. For the AFM I use brakleen then electronic contact cleaner through the mesh.

Sounds a lot like a leak though. Check everything. Being a bit older means a lot of the small hoses can harden and crack without being touched, or just a gentle movement while working on something else even though it was never really involved can crack them leaving a nasty idle and power delivery.

Also pull the plugs and give a quick file and gap, and well done for not getting ripped off buying platinums and crap.

[GTRgeoff]

Also, when I popped a hose on the GTR, and off the cooler too so had some dismantling, I had to give it a real squirt after driving off the road some 800m to get it to stop chugging with all the carbon buildup. So if the hoses are good now take around the block and give it a squirt to get some heat onto those plugs and see how it goes.

[hanyou]

wats brakleen?.. do i spray brakleen on the plug and around the AFM, and jus contact cleaner in the sensor?

haha yeah i figured copper plugs would be the way to go from teh 'force performance and induction' section

*edit* found out wat brakleen was lol

[GTRgeoff]

Brakleen around the sensor, then contact cleaner on the sensor and the plugs.

[wrxhoon]

Did you check all your i/cooler hoses? The bottom hoses you cant see inside the front guards ?

[GTRgeoff]

And while you are checking nthem look for splits and cracks. I had one split and it was costing me 4-5psi of boost and heaps of response and power.

[hanyou]

wrxhoon - thats wat i thought of earlier this morning, was planning to take off the front bar tonight. good to see i was on the right track lol

gtrgeoff - yeap im prety much gna check every hose/vaccum on that side of the car, ive also bought that brakleen & contact cleaner just then.. hopefully tomorrow ill have a post saying its all fixed

thanks all for you help

[hanyou]

a big thanks to all you guys ive fixed the problem...

basically i jus got 2 new hose clamps for the cooler pipe, cleaned the afm's with brakleen & contact cleaner, and changed my spark plugs to hks iridiums which came on my car wen imported and i kept (i knew they would come useful one day)

the spark plugs were totally farked haha.. i think that was the main problem

all is good.. except i have a split in the cooler pipe near one of the hose clamps.. but its on the metal so shud be ok for now!

thanks again