Carpet looks awesome and those seats are looking minty fresh man!
Ok… Remember I said things were running well? And no issues to report?
Naturally, all of that has been blown to hell.
Today is the first time driving it since the (trouble-free!) 200mile roadtrip. I decided to get all the bug-guts off it and clean it up. Well, that didn’t go nearly as planned.
Started the car up, no problem.
Let it idle for maybe 4-5min? Flawless.
Drive 3 blocks… CEL.
I pull over to check it. I’m getting a 43: Fuel Supply System. Upon searching, this can be virtually anything in the fuel system acting up, causing a fluctuation/issue. As far as I know the fuel pump in my car is original. The O2 sensor is one I had laying around from the previous B18a powerplant. The MainFuelRelay is also original, as far as I know.
When I used to daily the car before the swap, there were a few times when after driving (~30mi to work) the car would NOT start if I turned it off and turned it right back on. It would turn over, but not start. If I let it sit the remainder of the work day, it would fire right up. Does that sound like the MainFuelRelay acting up, back then? That could be linked to my issue now.
The car performs great. No hiccups, hesitations or anything… But the idle is shit. It will die if I don’t feather the throttle. For the past few months, at stop lights or stop signs, the idle would roam for maybe 10-15seconds, feel like its going to die (as low as 400rpm), and finally stabilize at 900rpm. This does not sound like a MainFuelRelay issue, maybe O2? Maybe Fuel Pump? IACV??
I haven’t trouble-shot it yet… kinda ruined my motivation lol. But I plan to do a fuel pressure test, see how the plugs look and swap in the used O2 that I purchased (from Colin, thanks again!) and after doing that hopefully I can rule some things out and find out WTF is going on.
Any ideas or input would be great though!
The no-start issue after driving definitely sounds like a main fuel relay problem.
The roaming idle sounds more like an iacv or O2 sensor issue.
Sorry to hear about the issues man. They’re old cars so you kinda have to expect it, but I’m sure you’ll get it all sorted out!
Sounds like an IACV problem to me but I don’t know if it can be related to your code. OBD0 and OBD1 codes are pretty imprecise. The MFR will prevent the engine from starting usually if the car has been sitting in the sun for a while or it just simply won’t start at all if it is completely defect. I had my IACV go bad last year on the dyno. Turned off the car to let it cool down and it never restarted. It can be many things but personally I’d start by checking the IACV and then go from there. If it’s the original MFR it’s a matter of time before it starts acting up if it isn’t what’s causing your current problem. Fuel pump usually it works or it doesn’t work at all so that’s the last thing I would check. Honestly on these old cars you really can’t go wrong with a brand new IACV, MFR, fuel pump, and distributor if you’re looking for a bit of reliability.
Thanks fellas!
Me and my brother were thinking the same thing about the fuel pump… Typically they work, or they don’t. And I’d think I’d have performance and driveability issues if it were the pump.
I’ll have to take a look in the parts-bin and see if I have another IACV laying around. I would like to think that it would set its own code, but you’re right, the codes can be pretty broad sometimes.
Keep the advice coming!
Just pull the mfr and solder it. Super easy. I’ve done like 3 or 4. It’s 100% perfect after that. If the solder is done and still no clicking the relay is actually dead. I seriously doubt that though as they don’t die.
IACV would def be the hunting idle. No running issues with the CEL would make me lean towards the pump though. As per the turn over no start pretty much 100% lol. You should hear !2! clicks when you turn the key to run. No clicks mfr dead.
I may go yarding this weekend, if so I’ll grab an MFR and send it your way after soldering is done and verify working order.
When my main fuel relay was bad a few years ago, it also caused my idle to fluctate pretty bad.
Hey what kinda of rims are those? Those in white look good as well in black.
[QUOTE=teggyguy;2296974]
I may go yarding this weekend, if so I’ll grab an MFR and send it your way after soldering is done and verify working order.[/QUOTE]
Hey, now that’s an idea! Keep me in mind and maybe we can work something out.
Hey steve, they’re Konig Flat-Out wheels. I like them ok 
…
Great build man!!! Love the grey with red Recaros look!! I’m diggin the wheels too, good choice to go with that blue. 
Thanks man! I really was unsure about the color combination… But once I get the rails all squared away and the car cleaned up, I believe it will look pretty good. If not, sell and re-do stuff!
So… About the whole code 43 thing? Yeah, I’m a moron. It’s not throwing 43… It’s throwing CEL 7; TPS. (4+3=7, for some reason I SWEAR I saw a pause between them… shut up, don’t judge me)
Shitty idle for the past few months, getting worse… CEL, car now dies… Yeah, that makes more sense.
I DO still believe that the MFR has seen better days, so teggyguy, I’m definitely still interested in what you mentioned.
So I’ll voltage-check the TPS and harness, but I’m fairly sure it is toast. Right before the dyno pulls I calibrated the TPS and it was dead-on-balls. Oh well, time for an OmniPower unit!
Harness checked out… TPS had not come loose… I have not done a VM test yet, but decided to get a new sensor on the way regardless. OmniPower sensor to go with the Omni TB.
Hopefully that fixes things… Then I can focus on getting some steel and making some seat brackets!
Finally digging into the TPS tomorrow. Hopefully the install solves the issue.
In the meantime, don’t judge me:
are those the vis replicas? how well do they fit?
nice work…
Yeah they’re Mugen/WingsWest/ViS replicas… Fitment is actually quite terrible. I’ve had to shape every part that touches the car in order for it to match the body lines.
And:
Wow that was pretty bad fitment! Looks good now though, great work!
Carpet turned out great and wow those skirts took a lot of trimming lol. I’m also having a issue with my teg and now I’m thinking I may have read code 43 wrong also and it might be 7 lol.
Would love to not be the only one to make that mistake!
Hopefully you get it sorted out though man. I can say that, overall, the car seems a bit smoother throughout the powerband after replacing the TPS.