Family Fun Car

[Staszek]

This looks like fun!

[ohthejosh]

Hows the diff working out besides potential bad VSS? Hope its working out for you guys!

Sweet progress tho!

[Danny]

Hows the diff working out besides potential bad VSS? Hope its working out for you guys!

Sweet progress tho!

Threw some new fluid in it and seems to be okay. I’ve only driven it for maybe 5 miles but I didn’t hear any weird noises or anything so I’d say it’s good.

Still don’t know if it’s a bad VSS I’m just gonna try that first lol.

[Danny]

Alright so not much of an update here but more of a call for help. I attempted to remedy the previously documented hesitation at high rpms with a bremi cap and rotor set and some ngk wires and now I have a no start issue. This is what I’ve tested:

-CPS ohms out within spec
-Coil is getting power
-As previously mentioned all cap rotor and wires are brand new
-Plugs are new since the engine was installed
-I’m pretty sure I’m getting plenty of fuel since I can smell it like crazy
-New fuel filter
-New main relay
-New fuel lines

I ordered up another MSD since they’re cheap and it could be the issue. I’m leaning toward DME but I don’t rwally wanna drop the cash unless there’s nothing else I can test. Any ideas?

[CubbyChowder]

Building a track oriented E30 in this fashion is on my bucket list. Simple and fun, nice progress so far!

I know you can smell fuel but have you tested to make sure you're getting ample fuel flow? If I'm remembering correctly I'm pretty sure there's a simple procedure where you power the fuel pump and measure how much fuel spits out in a specified time frame. Could be (and hopefully is) as simple as an old, clogged fuel filter.

Keep it up! Looking forward to track day updates :up:

[Danny]

Building a track oriented E30 in this fashion is on my bucket list. Simple and fun, nice progress so far!

I know you can smell fuel but have you tested to make sure you're getting ample fuel flow? If I'm remembering correctly I'm pretty sure there's a simple procedure where you power the fuel pump and measure how much fuel spits out in a specified time frame. Could be (and hopefully is) as simple as an old, clogged fuel filter.

Keep it up! Looking forward to track day updates :up:

No I haven’t done that yet but I won’t rule it out. I may need to go get me a fuel pressure gauge and see where I’m at. I edited he last post to reflect some other replaced parts.

[Jparkr]

Alright so not much of an update here but more of a call for help. I attempted to remedy the previously documented hesitation at high rpms with a bremi cap and rotor set and some ngk wires and now I have a no start issue. This is what I’ve tested:

-CPS ohms out within spec
-Coil is getting power
-As previously mentioned all cap rotor and wires are brand new
-Plugs are new since the engine was installed
-I’m pretty sure I’m getting plenty of fuel since I can smell it like crazy
-New fuel filter
-New main relay
-New fuel lines

I ordered up another MSD since they’re cheap and it could be the issue. I’m leaning toward DME but I don’t rwally wanna drop the cash unless there’s nothing else I can test. Any ideas?

Did you test for spark at the plugs?
Did the NGK wires have the pulse sensor connector? did you mix this and CPS up?

Common man, this is bushleague facebook worthy "car wont start brah."

srsly though if it ran and you only changed 3 things, inspect your work or reinstall the old shit till you find the issue. Sometime new stuff has been dropped or could just be bad.

Nice to see you working on E30s again though man.

[Danny]

Thanks bubba. No shirt gang for life.

Nope CPS and pulse wire are correct, tried them both ways. I’ll start trying fuel when I get a day or two off.

[Danny]

Alright so it turns out I'm an idiot and I should really be doing actual diagnostic work before I start throwing parts at stuff and costing me money.

Checked fuel pressure and got zero. Checked fuel pump and had no power. Checked fuse and had no power. Jumpered relay and got power to pump and fuse. Checked fuel pressure again and got between 10-20 psi depending on how many times I whacked the external pump with a screwdriver.

Fuel pump, relay and another new fuel filter ordered. Let's see if my high school autoshop pays off for me.

[Danny]

After the fuel pump diagnosis we ordered up a fuel pump and got it installed.



New pump solved the no start issue, and the hesitation up top. Proper diagnosis pays off guys

Spent some time under the car replacing the shift selector and foam piece inside which I stupidly didn't do while the transmission was out of the car for some reason.



Also got a Red46 skid plate installed, in case we end up off track at some point.



Finally swapped some parts around some clusters I had bought and got the speedometer and fuel gauge working. Success!



Now just need to sign up for a track day and go have some fun!

[Melon]

Excellent progress man!

[Danny]

Excellent progress man!

Thanks bud!

Well we signed up for our first event. If anyone is going to be at Thunderhill on Feb 10th be sure to say Hi!

[Danny]

I've been having fueling issues with this thing since it was swapped in.



-New in tank and external fuel pump and filter
-CPS ohms out within spec
-Coil is getting power
-Cap rotor spark plugs and wires are brand new
-New fuel relay
-New main relay
-New fuel lines



Fuel pressure shows ~38 PSI at idle, jumps to ~45 when throttle is blipped. Fuel return gives about 16oz of fuel in ~20 seconds. Pinched return line shows fuel PSI jump to 80+ before I released it. I can sit in the driveway and rev up the car to the limiter with no issues. Hooked up a gauge while driving (under load) and at about 3000-4000 RPMs the fuel pressure drops steadily down to 10 psi or so and then goes to zero. Tach does not die. No vacuum leaks, no fuel leaks. All testing done with a fuel tank. Looking for some insight as I'm signed up for a track day in this car on Sunday.

[Danny]

Update from the track:

My dad, BIL and I talked with each other and it was decided we would all sign up for a track day on the 10th of February (today) at Thunderhill with On-Grid. First of all, I liked On-Grid and enjoyed their organization and will be running with them again.

However, we continued to struggle with fueling issues all day. Car runs really strong! When it's getting fuel lol. We knew that there was rust in tank but we didn't know how much. Our previous struggles had been fixed with a new fuel filter. So we decided to buy about 5 fuel filters and send it.

We changed a fuel filter between each session and our problems continued to worsen until we pretty much had a soft limiter at 3500 rpms (exactly what we had been struggling with previously). As we looked at the drip pan we used to catch the excess gas between sessions it was painfully apparent we had been sucking up rust particulate and sending it through the filter. The decision was made to shut it down and get the car back home with only a few sessions gone in the day. Oh well, such is life and a new tank has been ordered via Amazon (prime shipping FTW).

Other than the fueling issues the car performed admirably. The handling was incredibly neutral and there was no weird noises, shudders, or issues with the suspension, steering or brakes. Once we get the tank installed I'm confident our issues will be fixed and we'll get back out there.

[kronus]

if you were starving the fuel pump (you probably were) it might be going, as well