Jays Rb25 R32 Track Day Build

[Bushy]

Oh ok cool, I didn't realise you could use the hand controller in that way. Definitely sounds like you can save a fair bit of money with the right tools and knowledge!

[Clandestine]

Well, it has been ages since I've posted on here, and basically nothing has happened with the car... A lot of stuff happened for me though, I was offered a job up in Sydney and am now living and working here, sold my ute and R33 skyline but kept the R32. The plan is to come back on weekends and take it out to the track every now and again, do some super sprints and hill climbs etc to get back into it. I don't own a car up here (close enough to the city there's no need) so I need to get back into driving properly.

I've been waiting on some stuff with the mechanic for a while (have been pestering him with phone calls) but got a call last week with some good and bad news.

Good news: My mechanic had his auto electrician friend around and they isolated the ECU on the loom from the rest of the car and were able to get the injectors firing by turning it manually, the PFC was functioning perfectly. There were also a few wires found which were seemingly disconnected when the car was stripped out and hadn't been reconnected. At this point everything was looking good for getting it to finally turn over properly.

Bad news: They hooked up the splitfire coilpacks and tried again, the PFC turned itself off and started to get a burnt smell. They disconnected the coilpacks, but after this the injectors no longer worked and the PFC didn't come back on.

I got in contact with my mate who fixed the PFC last time, he went and picked it up from the mechanic the next day. The exact same two chips have burnt out, which means it should be fine (RAM chip and another, no ROM chips as far he can see), but still needs to be fixed. They were thinking the coilpacks may have issues (I know there's two types for RB25's depending on your engine?) or a resistor pack which my friend has taken and will be testing also.

Anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this? Previous experiences or knowledge in this area would be great as I don't particularly want to be playing the "toast the ECU" game each time they plug it in.

[Clandestine]

THE ENGINE STARTED!!!1!

Had a call from my mechanic yesterday, when the ECU was fried the other day they actually went through the whole process again but with one of his friends GTR Power FC's (brave move). This had the injectors firing again, and after hooking everything up it still continued to function though there wasn't any spark, where my ECU turned into an expensive (though shitty) toaster.

A few days later he shoved in an RB20 ignitor module, and hooked up a stock standard RB20 ECU. This gave it spark, it started, and he ran the engine for around 20-30 seconds. Everything sounded healthy, oil pressure built up etc.

Now when he called he said his friends ECU was a PowerFC for a R32 GTR, whereas mine is for an R33 GTR and that may explain why mine exploded and his didn't. As far as I know (and as far as I can see online) the PowerFC released versions for the R32/R33 GTR (combined, with Autech Stagea also?) and the R34 GTR and GTST variants were separate. They opened up both PowerFC's side by side and the internals are completely different, possible different models? I've asked the mechanic for the model number of his friends PowerFC which worked so I can check a few things out.

He suggested that there was simply an issue with my old ECU after the first encounter which caused it to fail again, and that buying a new PowerFC would fix the issue. Seems strange to me that a stock RB20 ECU works though, as the wiring is meant to be different?

Either way, the engine sounds healthy and actually works, that's the most expensive part of the whole operation so it's a relief to finally hear it turn over. At this point I'm looking at buying a brand new R32/R33 GTR PowerFC to put in the old girl, but I want to be certain it will work before I do.

Any thoughts on the above would be much appreciated

TL;DR

My engine started, it's healthy. I ejaculated from pure excitement. Shit's still broken.

[SKiT_R31]

Use the RB20 ecu and fit a nistune board?

[zoidbergmerc]

Use the RB20 ecu and fit a nistune board?

exactly what I said.

[DJRIFT]

the rb20 ecu will run fine on a modified to suit gtr loom as the main difference between the 2 is just doubling up the the afm signals.

gtr power fc's are cheap as chips i wouldnt bother with a nistune board as they arent that cheep and a power fc is easier to retune if your going to play around with the car

[sav man]

R32 and R33 ECU's are identicle. The PFC has got about 5 different versions, no feature changes just different manufacturing techniques.

If you run a GT-R PFC you need to mod the airflow maps to suit the single AFM. Not hard to do if your tuner has the Datalogit software

[zoidbergmerc]

R32 and R33 ECU's are identicle.

.....wut?

[Clandestine]

.....wut?

I think he's talking about the R32/R33 PowerFC ECU's

Looked into Nistunes, it appears they really aren't that much cheaper if you're starting with nothing (no base ECU, no consult cable etc) and want the tuning software. I also briefly looked into Haltech, but seeing as I'd need to change the loom _again_ to do that I'm pretty hesitant and don't see any major benefits for what I'll be doing.

I called the mechanic up to talk about the Nistune option, and at this point I wasn't certain it would even run with an RB26 PowerFC, but he assured me everything was working except for spark with his mates ECU, and now the ignition module has been replaced it should be good to go. He's getting his mates PowerFC back and will get her started with that over the next week, and will pass on the model number just to be sure.

Does anyone know of any ridiculously cheap R32/R33 GTR PowerFC's around Tassie? If not I think I'll go with a brand new one from somewhere which will give me a 12 month warranty, I want to be 100% certain there's nothing wrong with the ECU when we put it in because of all the dramas we've had up to date.

[sav man]

.....wut?

I was talking about GT-R ECU's.

On the Haltech, you can run a Platinum Pro for the R32/R33, and that will plug straight in.

Edited December 5, 2012 by sav man

[brad 110]

I can supply you brand new power FC unit with no hand controller for 1090$ delivered cheers brad

[Clandestine]

Down for Christmas and just got back from looking at the car, ordered a new ECU from Brad before I came down and it has been installed in the car with no problems. The 6boost manifold has been mounted with the Tial wastegate plumbed in, and the 3076r is hooked up properly as well.

The only thing (that I'm aware of) that needs to be done is building the dump pipe and some of the intercooler piping, then it's a bit of tidy up and a tune. He started it up and it was as loud as hell, to be expected with no exhaust set up yet, but sounds like an absolute beast.

Glad that all the electrical issues are out of the way (or appear to be for the moment) so we can focus on getting everything else set up and running. Once it's all done I'll be catching the first flight down to take her to the track.

Thanks to Brad for a super quick delivery of the PowerFC

[zoidbergmerc]

Yay!!!

How good is brad?! Always super helpful hilarious sense of humor to boot

Edited December 22, 2012 by zoidbergmerc

[Clandestine]

Yay!!!

How good is brad?! Always super helpful hilarious sense of humor to boot

Great to deal with, definitely would recommend to anyone. He was really helpful and very quick to get the PowerFC down to Hobart, also flashed the ECU to the right injector size and AFM before posting it down.

[Mr. Untouchable]

Some say he's wanted by the CIA, and that he sleeps upside down like a bat... with his helmet and race suit on, all we know is, he's called the Stig.

[Clandestine]

The car is now moving under its own steam, dump pipe is all mocked up and just needs to be properly put together.

Slowly getting there!

[Clandestine]

Car is going in for a tune next Monday, finally almost there!

I'll be in Tassie from the 6th-16th of June and super keen to get some track time if anyone is about?

[Bushy]

Sounds promising. We need to pull our finger out and get ours done then we can join you, bloody uni is taking up too much of my time at the moment!

[zoidbergmerc]

15th June, Time attack. Baskerville.

[Clandestine]

15th June, Time attack. Baskerville.

Holy shit, if it's still working at that point that'd be the best thing ever. Need some practice though, haven't driven anything at all in about a year...