Misc. annoyances - videos - would appreciate help

[crappycoco]

Grinding noise when accelerating at low speed, best heard in 4th gear.
I'm suspecting a bearing.


This is pretty recent, like a week or so:
No idea why, or where from - haven't been doing anything electrically.


And the ever so insistent idle problem (which is already a post by itself under the M20 thread)



Thanks for the help =)

[ELVA164]

First off, I would bet the second video is due to a worn voltage regulator in the alternator. You can buy them pretty much anywhere pretty cheaply and they're easy to replace.

[crappycoco]

I love this kind of news. Will do this asap. Thanks elva =)

[AndrewBird]

Doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your idle. What exactly are you referring to? How it bounces slightly on the way back down?

[ELVA164]

Just watched the third video and two things come to mind. Could be a minor fuel delivery issue (gunky injectors, clogged filter, sticky ICV maybe). My car does this a little too, and swapping my 153 ECU for a 173 actually solved it. Power and economy got worse though, so I swapped back to the 153 and forgot about it. Either way, not a huge issue in my opinion.

[crappycoco]

@ELVA
Well, its fairly minor now. But I had to change the ICV, AFM, smoke and seal of all the leaks and change the O2 sensor to get to this state. At this point I'm suspecting injectors as you already mentioned (i have tried pouring the injector cleaning solution together with gas once, but It didn't really do anything) or a clogged or old fuel filter. Maybe even the fuel lines - since i've inspected the filter on the outside and it doesn't look old =)

@Nitro
if you're talking about the third video - the problem is when i blip the throttle, the car drops revs and the lights come on. It used to do this before, but much more severely - the car would almost die when the revs dropped under 400-350.

Fun fact: My car was running with a dead ICV, which was leaking air. Don't know how thats even possible, but when I smoked the system, there was smoke coming out at the back of the ICV, where the contacts are. =D

[ELVA164]

Just as a heads-up, the injector cleaner fluid may help a little but extended use will actually eat away at the pintles of the injectors and can cause them to leak. I would probably replace the filter anyway, since it's pretty cheap, easy to get to, and you can then both inspect the old one and cross it off your list.

[crappycoco]

Yeah, I was planning on doing that when I get my hands on some decently refurbished injectors. Along with the intake manifold gaskets and throttle body gaskets.

[crappycoco]

Replaced the voltage regulator. The idle is a bit better now - i could tell just by hearing it. However, the cold start idle problem (video 3) and the funk-o-rama lights (video 2) still persist.

[ELVA164]

Hmm, your next step might be to check the connections for the grounds with regard to the dash lights. Next thing after that would be to check alternator output at idle.

[crappycoco]

I haven't checked the grounds yet (don't even know where they are lol). I did check the alternator output at idle. Its 13.95 - 14V. I think that's fine, considering ideal is 14.5V right?

[crappycoco]

Still scratching my head about this idle thing. Also, now there's a whine in the engine's vicinity. Not sure .. sounds like the alternator? or one of the belts? maybe the tensioner?

What has been changed:

• New OEM fuel pump and fuel filter.
• Refurbished (stock) injectors, new o-rings.
• New intake manifold seals.
• New TB seal.
• Replaced the voltage regulator.
• Checked fuel pressure. Its k.
• Checked spark plugs. They're k.
• Checked cyl pressure. Its k.
• Found one ground (the short one) that was devastatingly bad. Changed it. (hasn't changed the funk-o-rama lights)
• Changed the DME unit for a known working one. (only thing that changed was the performance and idle got 5% better. Now i know it had a dinan chip in it)

However, the problematic idle persists which can be seen/heard here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i9waqtq0ri...73611.mp4?dl=0 (video is from today, so all of the above were already done/swapped)







After swapping the ecu the symptoms lessened, but my logic tells me they're still there, the chip only made them more prominent.

I've also noticed that if the radio is on a strange (fuel pumpy) whine is coming from the back of the car. If I turn the radio off, the whine disappears.

I also can't find the damned ground above the brake pedal. It's just a bunch of random wires up there.

If someone could help me with this, he would probably save my marriage

[Das Delfin]

My car had video #2 going on where the same 3 lights would glow red and get brighter as I accelerated. They stopped doing that when I replaced the heater blower motor and resistor. I have no idea how they are related but it's what happened. I also noticed the headlights would get brighter as I put more on the gas which made me think it was a voltage reg problem but I'm guessing the blower motor (which sucks high amps as it is) was fucked in such a way that it was messing with the car's on-hand electrical supply. It's one of those.... okayyyyyyy type things.

Your radio problem is most likely a bad ground for the radio. Especially if it's aftermarket. Search around in there and see if you can find a ground wire going straight to earth.

[crappycoco]

Forgot to mention ive done the stomp test and it returns 1444, so supposedly nothing's wrong =)

I'll tear out the radio one of these days and check the ground. I'm a bit more concerned about the G03 (i think its called?) ground. I can't find it in the forest of wires in there, i don't even know how it's supposed to look like =)

[Das Delfin]

Get a Haynes manual for the wiring diagram color codes. And a mnultimeter. Some of the color codes aren't accurate but it's a good place to start, and then test for continuity between a known ground and one you think is ground based on the diagram. But in general grounds are brown or black.