Help! Engine sounding rough and weird electrical problems
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2014
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From: Australia
Help! Engine sounding rough and weird electrical problems
Hi people,
Just reinstalled my single turbo on to my FD and coincidentally the engine sounds terrible in idle... Almost like a bad apex seal... battery just died as well (only 3 weeks old). Also noticed the power fc hand controller brightness is very dull.. WTF is happening? Bad earth somewhere? Also noticed oil leak from power steering which has leaked on to to a few looms and connectors...
My FD hasn’t been driven much in the past year but had been working perfectly until the turbo reinstall 😒
thoughts?
Cheers
Just reinstalled my single turbo on to my FD and coincidentally the engine sounds terrible in idle... Almost like a bad apex seal... battery just died as well (only 3 weeks old). Also noticed the power fc hand controller brightness is very dull.. WTF is happening? Bad earth somewhere? Also noticed oil leak from power steering which has leaked on to to a few looms and connectors...
My FD hasn’t been driven much in the past year but had been working perfectly until the turbo reinstall 😒
thoughts?
Cheers
Hard to say, you're going to have to go back through whatever you touched from when it was running until now. With the dim lighting, it may be worth getting a meter and checking voltage.
Dale
Dale
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 30
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From: Australia
thanks Dale...
Had a look over the turbo, dump pipe, wastegate etc. All looks good. Have to buy a voltage meter and see if anything funny is going on.
Will post what I end up finding out!
Could also be fouled plugs/slightly flooded if you shut it off cold before you started work. Especially if you have colder/exotic spark plugs.
Also check the dumb stuff - vacuum line to MAP sensor, vacuum leak after the throttle body, etc.
Dale
Also check the dumb stuff - vacuum line to MAP sensor, vacuum leak after the throttle body, etc.
Dale
Racecar - Formula 2000
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,027
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From: Bath, OH
Hi people,
Just reinstalled my single turbo on to my FD and coincidentally the engine sounds terrible in idle... Almost like a bad apex seal... battery just died as well (only 3 weeks old). Also noticed the power fc hand controller brightness is very dull.. WTF is happening? Bad earth somewhere? Also noticed oil leak from power steering which has leaked on to to a few looms and connectors...
My FD hasn’t been driven much in the past year but had been working perfectly until the turbo reinstall ��
thoughts?
Cheers
Just reinstalled my single turbo on to my FD and coincidentally the engine sounds terrible in idle... Almost like a bad apex seal... battery just died as well (only 3 weeks old). Also noticed the power fc hand controller brightness is very dull.. WTF is happening? Bad earth somewhere? Also noticed oil leak from power steering which has leaked on to to a few looms and connectors...
My FD hasn’t been driven much in the past year but had been working perfectly until the turbo reinstall ��
thoughts?
Cheers
How do you know the battery died? You must not have checked its voltage since you don't have a voltmeter (DVM). So there's a possibility that your issues are related to dirty battery cable connectors either on the positive or negative side. Also, since the lights are dim, I assume while it's running, you might have a bad connector to the alternator, or the alternator itself might have failed.
As Dale said get a DVM and start checking voltages with the ignition on with the car not running (1) between the 2 battery posts, (2) between each of the battery posts and its connector.
If #1 voltage is low (less than 12V), you could be right about the battery being bad. If either #2 shows any voltage, you have a crappy connection to the battery.
If these tests don't define the issue, you will just have to start measuring voltage and resistances anywhere you can with and w/o the car running.
Last edited by DaveW; Oct 26, 2018 at 09:30 AM.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 30
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From: Australia
Low voltage can result in all of your issues.
How do you know the battery died? You must not have checked its voltage since you don't have a voltmeter (DVM). So there's a possibility that your issues are related to dirty battery cable connectors either on the positive or negative side. Also, since the lights are dim, I assume while it's running, you might have a bad connector to the alternator, or the alternator itself might have failed.
As Dale said get a DVM and start checking voltages with the ignition on with the car not running (1) between the 2 battery posts, (2) between each of the battery posts and its connector.
If #1 voltage is low (less than 12V), you could be right about the battery being bad. If either #2 shows any voltage, you have a crappy connection to the battery.
If these tests don't define the issue, you will just have to start measuring voltage and resistances anywhere you can with and w/o the car running.
How do you know the battery died? You must not have checked its voltage since you don't have a voltmeter (DVM). So there's a possibility that your issues are related to dirty battery cable connectors either on the positive or negative side. Also, since the lights are dim, I assume while it's running, you might have a bad connector to the alternator, or the alternator itself might have failed.
As Dale said get a DVM and start checking voltages with the ignition on with the car not running (1) between the 2 battery posts, (2) between each of the battery posts and its connector.
If #1 voltage is low (less than 12V), you could be right about the battery being bad. If either #2 shows any voltage, you have a crappy connection to the battery.
If these tests don't define the issue, you will just have to start measuring voltage and resistances anywhere you can with and w/o the car running.
Thanks for the help guys.. checked all vacuum lines.. all seem fine. Checked all the grounding points on the car which are fine too 😒 lol
pulled the spark plugs out last night and they did seem a bit damp..... definitely no serious carbon build ups.
Measured the voltages off the battery alone (12.09v) and then battery to connectors (0.0v). Battery negative to alternator (12.09v). Maybe it is the alternator on its way out!?!?? Recharging the battery today as it’s but dead and will try and get another voltage reading from the alternator w car running (if that is even possible)
Thread Starter
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From: Australia
Quick update
Jump started the car today hoping that some extra amps and voltage might squash all this madness... sadly not. Car still sounded horrible
Measured the voltage off the alternator which was 14.07v (just car running without jumper leads connected)
dreadibg the thought of taking the turbo off again but guess I have no choice...
will insiect apex seals once turbo is off.. fingers crossed they’re ok.
Jump started the car today hoping that some extra amps and voltage might squash all this madness... sadly not. Car still sounded horrible
Measured the voltage off the alternator which was 14.07v (just car running without jumper leads connected)
dreadibg the thought of taking the turbo off again but guess I have no choice...
will insiect apex seals once turbo is off.. fingers crossed they’re ok.
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It may be worth doing a compression test before you go further. If the test is good, look elsewhere. If not, you know what's up. No reason to pull the turbo, nothing on that side should be the problem with it running rough.
Dale
Dale
Apex seals typically chip in the corner. It can be hard to see through the exhaust port. Also if it's another seal problem, like a stuck side seal or a broken corner seal, that won't show you anything.
You don't need a fancy rotary compression tester to diagnose this, you can do it with a piston tester (that's typically cheap or available to rent from a parts store) or even put your finger over the spark plug hole when it's cranking.
Dale
You don't need a fancy rotary compression tester to diagnose this, you can do it with a piston tester (that's typically cheap or available to rent from a parts store) or even put your finger over the spark plug hole when it's cranking.
Dale
Thread Starter
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From: Australia
Thanks Dale
Turned the engine over and checked out all the apex seals through the exhaust port... all looked and felt good. As you say, doesn’t guarantee it has proper compression yet...
buying a a compression tester today and hopefully see even compression 😁
Turned the engine over and checked out all the apex seals through the exhaust port... all looked and felt good. As you say, doesn’t guarantee it has proper compression yet...
buying a a compression tester today and hopefully see even compression 😁
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 30
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From: Australia
Did the compression test and numbers were good and even from front to rear rotor 😁. So that was a huge relief...
Reconnected everything again and started it up... initially still had a bit of a ticking noise but not anywhere near as bad as it was!! Left it idle for a bit and just got smoother and smooother... starting to think the exhaust gaskets didn’t like being reused 🙄 lol. Gonna retorque the manifold nuts today just to give it every chance.
Im so stoked to have my car back on the road...
thanks everyone for your help!!!!! 🤕✌🏼
Reconnected everything again and started it up... initially still had a bit of a ticking noise but not anywhere near as bad as it was!! Left it idle for a bit and just got smoother and smooother... starting to think the exhaust gaskets didn’t like being reused 🙄 lol. Gonna retorque the manifold nuts today just to give it every chance.
Im so stoked to have my car back on the road...
thanks everyone for your help!!!!! 🤕✌🏼
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