E6X + Turbo 2 probelms
 

I've got an E6X hooked up to a turbo 2 with a K2RD adapter harness to adapt to the stock engine harness and the rest is normal haltech wiring. The car was running very rich the few times I got it to start and at first I figured it was a loose coolant sensor wire and so I fixed it. It still runs very rich and produces visable smoke. I got it to the point where I was about ready to work on it and get the timing zeroed and now it wont start. I replunged the CAS with the factory setup and tried the hitman setting at it still wont start. I'm getting air to fuel ratio around 15 when the starter is going, injection times around 9 and a vac of about -10-15 on the haltech. It seems like that would be way too rich but after the corrections for coolant and other things that's looking about right. I have not checked for trailing spark but it is showing the rpms bounce as the car tries to start so that should mean the trails are functioning correctly. You can see what seems to be unburnt air and fuel coming out of the exhaust. I shut off the inejection and cranked it and also pulled the plugs and turned it over to see if it was flooded but no vast quantites of fuel came out.

I guess the big question in all of this is, what should the vacuum be when the car is starting and what should the injectors be doing?

This is a link to a data log of me trying to get it started:

http://oregonstate.edu/~barraz/My%20Rx-7/data_file.csv

Any visable problems? The car is connected to a PLX M-300 wideband which I believe is the A:F output voltages. Thanks -Zach-

I am using hitman maps form his setup for the OEM turbo 2. I am using 1600 secondaries but have not started to lean the map out. This shouldn't be having an effect though.

Have you tried to zero out the ignition timing first???
Do you have a timing light???


-Ted

I have a timing light but the problem is that the car wont start up anymore. I got it to run pig rich for a while but now the car wont start. When it was running way too rich, it wasn't holding a constant idle. I just fixed that problem and now it wont start up. I guess I'll try adjusting the angle and see if it starts. Is that sufficient vaccum for cranking Ted? If I can get it to start, I'm going to set the timing but until I get it to, I can't really do so am I right? Unless you can set timing with the engine cranking? It seems like that would be a lot of load on the starter though.

I can get the car to run now. the problem now is that the car is still smoking quite a bit at the tail pipes. I'm not sure if this is normal with a car that doesn't have it's timing zeroed? It is running zero cats and no other emissions equipment and premix but it seems like it wouldn't be making this much. The smoke is grayish white and it fills the 3 car garage pretty well and it stays there kind of hazy with 2 of the garage doors open. It seems like what an oil seal would do or just a lot of unburnt fuel possibly. Any ideas?

Yah, you didn't vent the oil pan when doing the Haltech swap and pulling off the vac rack? I forgot to do that, just capped off the oil filler neck and the lower port by it on the center housing. Turbo smoked like a biatch. Got a tip from nyt on IRC #rx7 to change my oil too... it gets thin if you flood the engine a few times while trying to get it to start. I changed my oil, and vented the oil filler neck to the air intake just in front of the turbo. No smoking problems since, so far (700 miles).

Other things that can cause it: too much or the wrong kind of premix, leaky turbo seals, clogged turbo drain (same basic principle as the blocked oil pan vent), too large of a turbo oil feed (if you modified it), or leaking oil control seals. If its a huge cloud of smoke though, I'd rule out the oil control seals.

Give your car a look and see if any of this rings a bell. We'll go from there.

It doesn't matter.
Once you LOCK ignition timing, it should fire at the locking timing set in the menu.
You can zero out the ignition without the engine running.
Having the engine able to crank via the starter is enough to do this.

Yes, as described above.
Keep cranking times at 10 seconds max and rest the starter about a minute in between crankings.
You should be able to zero out the ignition timing within 5 cranks.
If you're going to crank it more than this, have a battery charger handy or another good battery to swap in.


-Ted

Ted?
with this technique you are assuming that the the haltech is actually sending a spark during cranking right? what if it isn't and that is what the problem is? How then do you zero timming? Or am I misunderstanding what you are saying?

If it isn't then that IS a problem. Zeroing timing will do nothing for you until you start getting spark of some kind during cranking. The spark during cranking it what starts the engine and causes it to run. So, obviously not having spark means your engine is guaranteed not to run at all. :) If no spark, begin troubleshooting why :
1. Does the Haltech pick up an RPM signal while cranking that is stable?
2. If yes, are the coils wired properly?
3. Are the plugs getting a spark when you pull them out, plug them up, and lay them near (not touching) a ground and then spin the cas by hand?

If you are getting a spark while cranking then Ted's procedure is correct to zero your timing.