Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

i need your help guys. I dont know why but im only running on three cylinders. heres what happened. Yesterday i decided to buy some oil to service the car today. So this morning i went out too the car and take it fora drive to warm up the oil abit. But when i started the car i noticed that it had the distinct sound of a modded wrx with alot of vibrations going on in the engine bay. Immediately i suspected a failed/disconnected coil pack - which i just replaced not long ago. So i opened the bonnet and fiddled with the coil packs. Started the engine again but the noise and vibration was still then, as the engine was running i disconnected each coil pack to see if any had failed. It turned out that coil pack in cylinder no.2 looked to be failed but as i didnt want to spend money on another coil already i switched it with another coil in a different cylinder. I started the engine again but with no luck cylinder no.2 still wouldnt fire no matter what coil i packed in there. So i tried disconnecting the injectors while it was running and again only cylinder no.2 would no responded. I recently had a compression test and all was around 160. What could the problem be, i havent tried fiddling with the wirning harness for the coil packs yet but im stumped. Its a long post but i didnt know how to explain it any better. Any help is very much appreciated.

Only other thing i can think of is what you mentioned at the end of you'r post, sounds like a fault along the wiring harness.

Is the bad idle the only symptom or is their smoke pouring out of the exhaust, does it drive/ missfire at a certain rpm?

prior to this it idled quite roughly with misfires here and there. It also stalls occassioanly when rapidly decreasing speed ie stopping at traffic lights. Now that i cant get spark/fire in the 2nd cylinder the engine visibly shakes. Someone please assure me that compression isnt down on this cylinder and its stuffed.

Ive had the worst luck since purchasing this car. Just when im going to change its oil this had to happen. As i mentioned before, engine shakes as it runs on only 3 cylinders. i think im going to have to get a compression test done again.

When I had a similar running in my RB20DET, turned out I had spat off a chunk of piston that, among other things, hit the end of the spark plug and closed the gap to nothing.

Pull the plugs, and check they're OK.

Check the usual first; Make sure you don't have any vacuum leeks for starters.

How old are the spark plugs? Maybe try a new set of plugs.

Go though and check the coils, look for burn marks / Cracks, anything that doesn’t look normal.

Do you know any one else that could lend you a working set of 4, that you could test?

Check the connectors on the Coils and check the connectors on the injectors?

Also what mods have been done to the car? Eg is it running standard injectors, Is it running an Aftermarket ECU?

If it’s still running on 3 cylinders after changing the plugs and a fresh set of coils, get a leek-down compression test preformed.

See how you go.

Ive recently replaced a cracked coil pack. Im sure none are faulty since i repalced the crakced coil pack as i have ran the engine on while cycling through the coils on each cylinder and only the 2nd cylinder that doesnt seem to respond even when i unplug the injector harness on that cylinder. As for plugs, I havent had the plugs changed since it was purchased although upon looking in the spark plug hole/cylinders there appear to have alot of build up of dust. I have a tool to remove the splug plug but havent been able to remove them yet as the extension isnt long enough.

The only mods that i have are fmic/full exhaust/bosch fuel pump/aftermarket radiator and bov - plumback. ecu and injectors im sure are standard along with anything else that hasnt been mentioned.

Simple and cheap to fix? matt, can you have a look at it for me as it would be very much appreciated.

Yeah sure mate, I can have a quick look if you'd like. What suburb are you in?

The first thing to do is pull the No2 plug and replace it. By the sounds of things it may well be as simple as a damaged plug (electrode and/or ceramic) either that or the plug is so badly fouled it won't fire.

I've got a whole stack of new BCPR6ES's and 7ES's, and even a set of six 8's, so if the SR20DET uses the same style plug then you don't even need to bring a plug :(

If it isn't the plug then we can go back over the coil and injector side of things. Don't stress that it's a internal engine issues just yet matey :D

im not stressing that its any internal damage to the engine although my post may come across that way. Its just that ive had one problem after the other since ive had it. I live in the northern suburbs - pooraka to be exact. thank you in advance as its very much appreciated. ideally i just want a third person's opinion and help.

Yeah I know what you mean re one problem after another... that's cars for you :(

I'm in Golden Grove (and Oakden) so it'll be easy enough to get to you, or you to me. Any time from about 7:30pm on during the week is fine with me.

I'll PM you :D

i still havent been able to get all cylinders firing but thanks for your matt especially in the condition and time that it was looked at. Although i was recommended to check the ignition starter (igniters) since these tend to fail and cause the coils not to spark. Hope this fixes it.

Sh$% man stop making me hyperventilate sorry to hear you've had drama's with it I never had half the problems you've had apart from blowing up gearboxes hopefully this is the end of the problems.

i hope so too mate. Its just these minor problems that keep creeping up now and then that is annoying. oh btw, ive heard that you are the new owner of a nice imported 4 dr line - congrats mate.

sil80 aint that fast anymore. the white r33 you saw when you were here blows its doors off now. hope you enjoy your line and active in these forums particulary the sa section.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Well, I can recommend the partial AV system translation CD I ordered from Car Audio Workshop in NZ. Whilst it didn't address the date issue, it has conveniently translated on-screen menu items into English, and now allows the GPS-received time to be offset in hours rather than minutes, so I can display Eastern Australian time accurately ( and bump it by another hour when daylight savings starts ).
    • Yuh, if it's 45°C outside, my car is driving in it.
    • I'd be curious to hear more. Otherwise, have you driven a modern x-trail? I wonder how it compares. Here in Australia they are/were popular for rentals and fleet vehicles. I have been in some and my impression was they are bad. But, this may have been very different in the 2000s at a good trim level. Twenty years is plenty of time to make the model worse. I do very much agree with the 2 silver cars in the garage approach. But, not driving because it's too hot would not leave a lot of time in the year for many Australians. I don't think you need to worry too much unless the car has actual issues with overheating. 
    • Back again. I returned to Japan in Jul/Aug to spend time with the car on my birthday and remind myself what all the sacrifice and compromise is for. It happened to line up with the monthly morning meet in Okutama, which I have been wanting to go to for a long time. It's a unique event at a unique spot with really rare, interesting, and quirky cars. It's where all the oldheads and OGs gather. The nighttime scene at DKF certainly has its place and should be experienced if you're into cars, but there's too much bad attention and negativity around it now. IMO the better time is Sunday morning at DKF or Okutama; it's more chill and relaxed. I'm glad I was finally able to go, but not sure it's worth the drive from all the way from Nagoya immediately the day before, unless I was already staying in Tokyo for the days right before the meet, because you have to wake up quite early to make it in time. Funnily enough though I didn't drive the car all that much this trip because it was just too damn hot. While there were zero issues and running temps were nominal and the A/C was strong, RBs already run crazy hot as it is. Sure, it took it all like a champ but something about driving these cars in the ridiculous heat/humidity bothers me and makes me feel like I'm asking too much of it. I'm just me being weird and treating the car like a living thing with feelings; I'm mechanically sympathetic to a fault. Instead I was mainly driving something else around - a KX4(silver) 2001 X-Trail GT, that I acquired in May. There's a few different flavors to choose from with Xs, but visually it's the Nissan version of the Honda CR-V. Mechanically it's a whole different story as this, being the top-trim GT, has an SR20VET mated to a four-speed auto and full-time AWD! It was a very affordable buy in exceptional condition inside and out, with very low mileage...only 48k kms. Most likely it was owned by an older person who kept it garaged and well-maintained, so I'm really happy with how it all worked out. It literally needs zero attention at the moment, albeit except for some minor visual touch-ups. I wanted something quirky, interesting, and practical and for sure it handily delivers on all three of those aspects. I was immediately able to utilize the cargo and passenger capacity to its full extent. It's a lot of fun to drive and is quite punchy through 1st and 2nd. It's very unassuming -in the twisty bits it's a lot more composed than one would think at a glance- and it'll be even better once I get better tires on it(yes, it's an SUV but still a little boat-y for my liking). So...now I have two golden-era Nissans in silver. One sports car and one that does everything else; the perfect two-car solution I think👍 The rest of the trip...I was able to turn my stressed brain off and enjoy it, although I didn't quite get to do as much as I thought. I did some interesting things, met some interesting people, and happened into some interesting situations however, that's all for another post though only if people really want to know. Project-wise, I went back to Mine's again to discuss more plans and am hoping to wrap that up real soon; keep watching this space if that interests you. Additionally, while working in the tormenting sweatbox that is the warehouse, I was able to organize most of the myriad of parts that my friend is storing for me along with the cars, and the 34 has a nice little spot carved out for it: And since it can get so stupid hot in there, that made it all the more easy -after I was standing there looking at the car and said 'f**k it'- to finally remove all the damn gauges that have mostly been an eyesore all this time. Huzzah. The heat basically makes the adhesive backing on the gauge mounts more pliable to work with, so it was far less stressful getting this done. I didn't fully clean it up or chase the wiring though; that will happen once I have the car in closer possession. Another major reason to remove all that stuff is to give people less reasons to get in my car and steal s**t while it's being exported/imported when/if the time comes, which leads us to my next point... ...and that is even though it's time in Japan is technically almost up since it's a November car and the X would be coming in March, I'm still not entirely sure where my life and career is headed; I don't really know what the future looks like and where I'm going to end up. I feel there's a great deal of uncertainty with me and as a result of that, it feels like I'm at a crossroads moreso now than any point in my life thus far and there are some choices I need to make. Yes, I've had some years to consider things and prepare myself, however too much has happened in that time to maintain confidence and everything feels so up in the air; tenuous one might say. Simply put, there's just too much nonsense going on right now from multiple vectors. Admittedly, I'm struggling to stay in the game and keep my eyes on the prize. So much so in fact, that very recently I came the closest I ever have before to calling it quits outright; selling everything and moving on and not looking back. The astute among you will pick up on key subtext within this paragraph. In the meantime I've still managed to slowly acquire some final bits for the car, but it feels nice knowing there's not much left to get and I'm almost across that finish line; I have almost everything I'll ever want for my interpretation and expression on what it is I think an R34 should be. 'til later.
    • Thanks for that, hadn’t used my brain enough to think about that. 
×
×
  • Create New...