If you listen closely you can hear the fluttery idle.

 

Which 12a dizzy is it, the SA or the FB one? The FB is a better dizzy in that the pattern on the
mag pickup wheel has a better design and produces a better shaped pulse from the pickups.

 

J109 12a dizzy.

Im thinking its the fuel injectors. Maybe something in the dizzy. I put about 12 miles on it on the highway. Cruising and acceleration are great, but decel pops quite a bit and idle is choppy.

 

I really think its a bad injector or both. Its eye wateringly rich and theres a grayish haze from the exhaust. My timing light crapped so now i cant play with dizzy adjustments ...

But... Could it be the 1/4 " 12A return line is too small and the injectors are force feeding excess fuel to the engine?

 

So i did a voltage test and the battery and alternator read over 15v while at idle. Not good. Did the extra electronics over tax the 80 alternator and blow the regulator? Could high voltage cause the **** idle and backfires?

 

Ok, theres been a lot of progress made on the cars tuning. I played with the BAC screw, idle screw, variable resister, timing, put a bottle of Seafoam in the fuel, and put RTV on the BAC and ACV block of plate gaskets. Ive put about 55 miles on it now and it seems to get better every time I drive it. It has gobs of power (well compared to a 12A with Nikki), acceleration is very smooth. I eliminated the backfires (I think it was the TPS). It now has a moderately smooth idle at 1000 RPM. There is a little arrhythmic miss and the exhaust still smells rich as *****, but it is now deemed drivable.

I am still missing the IAT sensor. I believe that to be a source of some of my idle issue.

On the list is a new O2 sensor, reman fuel injectors, and new spark plugs (still using the old 12a BUR8s).

The car has been starting easier than at first, but I think it still needs the injectors remanned, new O2 sensor, and new plugs to tighten it up.

 

Put a new o2 sensor on and it seemed to help a little. A bit smoother at idle, but there is still a thin gray haze from the exhaust. Oil and coolant level have not dropped. The engine was filled with straight water for the initial startup and first 25 miles of driving and it still had the emissions smell to it. It has since been filled with 50/50 antifreeze. I know it cant be coolant. As far as oil goes, I guess I should install an oil pressure gauge to see what it reads. Since the SE has an oil pressure sender it shouldnt be hard to rig on up. I should inspect the PCV system. Maybe the OMP is pushing to much oil in, but then i should see a drop in oil level...

Still waiting on the new IAT sensor. After that Ill buy some reman injectors. If that doesnt fix it then I guess Ill just have to live with it

 

Problem solved!

I had the injector air bleed socket nipple capped off thinking it went to the cold start assist. Connected it to the bottom nipple of the dynamic chamber. Car runs much better now.

 

S4 intake swap.



This was a relatively easy swap, although very time consuming. I had to degrease, strip paint, swap my s3 aux port actuators over, wire brush, install all new gaskets, and be creative with vacuum routing.



Thats a RX-8 stock air box funnel BTW. I had to come up with a way to connect the s3 AFM which is 2.75" to the s4 TB elbow which is 3.5 " and still have a port to feed metered pre-TB air to the BAC.



I deleted as much of the rats nest as possible. Less likely to have any vacuum leaks now. Half of the solenoids etc were defective anyway. TPS bracket is custom as I dont have a s4 TPS bracket. I had to custom bend and drill the OMP rod.



My method of sealing that pesky exhaust port...

I shoved some waded up aluminum foil down inside and globbed some Ultra Black Permatex inside.



S3 aux port actuators. Lucky for me I had some gaskets leftover from my Atkins seal kit. 3/8" NPT 8mm allen head plugs for the secondary injector bungs.



Results...

It definitely has more mid to top end power. Id say a good 15 HP gain in combination of the s4 intake manifolds and short ram RX-8 funnel and K&N. Chirps 3rd gear. Scary in the rain and while pulling out into traffic... Im going to have to beef up my sway bars, find a nice front strut bar, and find some stainless brake lines. A GSL LSD with disc brakes and stickier tires will help me put the power down better too. It sounds much better (deeper and louder at WOT). It has smoother startup and smoother at cruise.

Id say the car makes a solid 170 HP. A 70 HP gain over factory so the rear end and stock sway bars are having a tough time putting the power to the road.

Stock RE-EGI =136 HP
+8 HP (s4 intake manifolds)
+20 HP (Full RB exhaust)
+2 HP (MSD coils)
+7HP (RX-8 short ram, K&N filter)
=170 HP give or take.

Engine has 105 PSI compression.

Car weighed 2350 from the factory fully filled with fluids (half tank of gas). I have removed quite a bit of weight.

-40 lbs (AC)
-20 LBS (misc solenoids, air pump, hot start assist, sub-zero tank, washer fluid etc)
-20 lbs (Panasports)
-5lbs (Ground Controls)
-20 lbs (stock exhaust removal)

A good 100 lbs lighter than stock. The 13b shouldnt weigh much more than a 12A with Nikki. Maybe 10-15 pounds. Factor in the Coachman IST for another 5 pounds with half a tank.

Conclusion...

The car makes nearly the same power as a stock s4 TII and weighs 600 lbs less with tighter gears.

 

^^Incredible end result! Great job!

 

i'm sure that car is really fun! next step is the S4 water pump housing, its aluminum vs iron, so you loose ~3lbs from high up in the front

 

It's been awhile since I updated. It was a good day for a Sunday drive, and a good day for a photo shoot (overcast). Testing out the new control arms and alignment settings. They both passed with flying colors. Steering Response is quicker and ride quality and noise has improved. I also got the new T3 strut brace. I'm waiting to hear from Gabriel about some fitment (or user error) problems I'm having. So I'll post pictures and a review of that at a later date. Current mileage is 94,700. Engine was built and swapped at 93,267 miles. For now...

Interior...

 

 

 

Stay tuned for the next couple months... Many goodies to come. I will finish up the suspension with more T3 products. Tension control rods, upper and lower trailing arms, rear shock drop mounts. I have an Atkins cart full too. Competition engine and trans mounts, Racing Beat blue silicon hoses, new washer reservoir. I'll be shopping for a sway bar (maybe Racing Beat or ST). Nardi steering wheel.

I also plan on getting a new OEM Mazda GSL-SE fuel pump. I think the Airtex is running the engine a tad rich. Plugs are suity. The check valve had to be removed for plumbing purposes so the idle is a tad lumpy and you have to prime the fuel system for a few cranks on hot starts. It also needs stainless brake lines and a really good brake flush. Fluid is turning a bit brown.

 

Car looks amazing!! Love those seats!!! Were they original to the car?

 

I picked them up from Chad (fire85gslse). I think they are 83 low backs. I got the rest of the interior from a parts car in Nashville. I got the door panels from a 85 and reupholstered them myself. Rear carpet is new from ebay (great quality). Floor mats are Lloyds from Mazdatrix. RAZO shift ****. Redline Goods FC armrest, shift boot, and e brake boot are from my old FC. Pioneer CD player and Alpine speakers.

Original interior was Wine.

 

Car looks great!

 

Sooooo.... Cookboy and I were discussing this fix for the EGR exhaust port this past weekend. My 12A came with an EGR port center iron, but a non-EGR manifold, and was the source of a really LOUD engine noise that was alarming to me, so I started collecting 12A EGR manifolds to use. Then I saw this post in your thread (love your "wolf in sheep's clothing" build here btw) and felt embarrassed and S.T.U.P.I.D. for collecting EGR manifolds.

My replacement engine has an EGR port so I'm interested to know how this fix holds up over time with the heat that gets generated. Since the aluminum foil is so thin, won't it burn and break down over time and fall back into the engine and possibly get caught up on the rotating bits? I'm thinking of what I see on my grill when I cook on it.

How about the permatex? Won't it dry out and possibly foul the engine if it falls back into it?

Any feedback on runtime and longevity of this fix? I'm all for it and ditching the EGR manifolds I've collected as I really like the non-EGR manifold my car had when I got it.

 

I've used the putty JB weld for the EGR port. Works great.

 

Oh my goodness. Quicksteel is what works and is what I use in the ACV port. I mention this stuff on the forum a lot. Some regions don't have quicksteel but they usually have JB weld's putty which probably works just as well, but I've never used it so not sure.

I just put some quicksteel in the ACV port of a T2 iron being used NA with an NA (6 port) intake manifold. It doesn't cover the ACV port and looks just like the picture NCross posted. Quicksteel is the only solution that lasts because it is a putty and seems to withstand exhaust heat and pressure. I have very little confidence aluminum foil and RTV will hold up for any length of time.

I used I think 2/5 of a stick of quicksteel, or maybe 1/3rd. You could try up to 1/2 stick or more if it's your first time and can squish it all in there. You gotta make sure the port is clean because the putty won't stick to carbon or oil residue.

 

I think there is very little if any connectivity between the ACV port and combustion chamber. Its mainly just there for air pump purposes I thought. So far the "fix" has held up, 6 months later.

 

Beautiful!

 

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it! I'm really glad that fix is possible because I really like my manifold that came with the car.