Hey chris could low fuel pressure such as anything below 23psi be giving me a missfire and excessive smoke? It's just my fuel pressure reg is adjustable and I did have it off but my fuel pressure gauge that screws directly in I have recently figured out reads 23Psi no matter what so I got a new one for Chrissy and it fouls on the actual reg... Sigh and I don't really want to raise the pressure to much without being certain.

Have you performed a compression test? Was this engine rebuilt or just a complete second handy engine? Low fuel pressure may cause an issue as there isn't enough fuel entering the bores. Around 40psi is what I would have expected to be wanting. Somewhere around those figures. Also what sort of fuel pump are you using?

Also what condition is your turbo in? As a poor turbo with knacked seals and leak oil into the pipes. And when hot it will smoke.

Further more what colour is the smoke? As another option is that it's getting too much fuel it will smoke very black smoke.

Ok in reference in to fuel pumps I have a facet 194L/H lift pump into a surge and I have a Bosch vl fuel pump I think it's a 070???? I did rebuild the eninge new everything pretty much and i did it at work with my head tEch so it should be fine from what I understand and the turbo was brand new out of a skyline so the smoke isn't blueish like it's burning oil it's really potent and stings ur eyes quite bad like it's not burning all it's fuel? When I head home tomorrowni might wind my reg up half a turn at a time and see if anything gets better..

Sounds fairly similar to what im running. Only difference is the facet pump. I have some french build pump. Works a treat. VL pump will be flowing more than enough so thats good. Its possible that it just needs to be ran in. What sort of engine oil are you using in it? I used a specifically designed engine oil made for the sole purpose of running engines in. I got it through work. Fuch make it. It smoked a little for the first few starts but soon after became nothing more than a major over fueling smoke. As i was tuning the microtech with nothing more than an WB O2 sensor. The burning of the eyes is definitely a symptom from over fueling or not enough burn. Had that for a long while until i started leaning out the mixture.

For what its worth, bump the fuel pressure up a little. What injectors have you got? Im using clean and tested z18et injectors. If you've got anything larger installed it could be just a over fueling problem. The RX7 injectors some use are pretty big.

As for turbos and jazz, identical to mine. If nearing new, there wont be an issue there.

Have you got a Wide Band Oxygen sensor to use or borrow? If may explain a few things. As mentioned. Bump the FPR up a tad and maybe start driving it. If you're still getting misfire. Try widening the gap, i assume you're using the original dizzy and coils, so they should be powerful enough to create a solid spark.

Its hard to diagnose with out eye balling the issue, but im sure you can get it sorted. Maybe just go for more drives in it and let it heat up and get some load on it. Get the rings burnt in and see what happens. Maybe just growing pains that may go away.

Keep us updated.

When I rebuilt it I took this alfa rebuild grease sort of thing that is ment to lubricate for the cranking while you build up oil pressure. I still have my stocko injectors so there shouldn't be to much flow happening. I played around with the pressure a little and i got it to idle pretty smooth but I think it's a mix of running in and bad timing. It does run a he'll of alot better when it gets up to temp. I'll rip the wideband sensor out of my turbo civic and see what's happening, I think next thing is new set of plugs on my intake bank and go from there.
Hey chris did you have any luck with yours? Last I heard it was muffed still? What u doing to get it sorted? I have a full l18 electric dizzy If that is what u were looking for?

Ok cool. That rebuild grease is good stuff for every rebuild i believe. We use our own branded stuff (john deere) (which is from who knows where in the world) for all the new engines we build here at work or anything we do partial rebuilds too. Definitely a handy product to have on the shelf. Your injectors should be fine than, its what im using still. Although i had mine tested and cleaned. 2 were dicky but came good after a good clean. The other 2 just needed a clean and check. I wouldnt imagine there would be too much over fueling happening, even though the ecus are very rich in tune.

For it to be a dog when starting from cold, it maybe a sticky idle valve. Now i dont have one on my Z18 and nor have i ever seen one. So im not sure how it would work. Either its an electronically controlled solenoid that opens and closes, or is variable. Or whether its a spring operated system that as the coolant passes the housing it expands the spring, closing the air valve off. Either system can be suffering from a sticky valve. This happens over the years with a build up of crap. So maybe worth while dismantling the unit and cleaning it out and going from there. Also check and clean your water temperature sensor, as this maybe telling the ecu that its colder, or warmer than it really is and its using the wrong section of fuel map.

Timing can also cause issues, as again in relation if there ecu is in the wrong section of fuel map, without the timing to back it up, it could be boggy or hard starting.

You chase your tail a bit but so long as its smooth and providing a smooth power band when warm, the rest doesnt matter all that much. Its just little tweaks over time.

My engine with microtech is a dog when cold, its also got a air leak i think somewhere and the dizzy im sure wasnt helping. Timing and fuel maps arent spot on. Just drive worthy.


Anyways, mine is still a no go. The dizzy was cached, so im in the middle or sourcing replacement parts. But all the places are shut for the break. I need new coil wire for the reluctor/magneto coil as thats got a broken wire and also in need of a new IC module. But as mentioned everywhere that has this stuff is shut for another week. Upgrade of alternator is required, which i have i just have to modify it a little, and of coarse rebuild the dizzy's i have (the original BBs2 one i was using and the spare i had on the shelf - both failed). So a note to all, dont break your datsun down 2 days before christmas. As flat out luck getting spares. lol.

That electronic dizzy you have. Is it a proper L18 electronic dizzy or is it just the same as what i have currently L20 Bluebird S2 electronic dizzy? Im interested if it came at the right price Can you take a picy of it for me.

Cheers.
Chris.

About the dizzy I'm not sure what it is really I'll take some photos and you may be able to pick what it is. When I bought my sss bluey from japan we got a whole bunch of stuff in the boot so I can't gurantee it's functionality that's all but I'll grab some pictures tomorrow for you. With the idle control valve mine has one but the valve is just sort of hanging there so the ecu assumes it's doing something but never actually affects the idle. I think I have an rb30 tb so no need for the valve.

Ah nice, that's a handy little score. Be sure to link ne a few pics of the bluey too. I eventually want one for a rally come track car. I have a weird appreciation for them. Thanks in advance for the pics.

hmmm bout the bluey sort of gave it to my friend and it came back with a reallllllyyyyyyy big dent about the same perfect size as a telegraph pole in the front passenger side rendering it very much undrivable waste of a brilliant car there.... worked out well though i got a z18 for my sunny:)
ok engine bay pictures...


this is the idle control valve...
my little fuel system and my surge I welded up...
and this is the distributor i was telling you about. not sure what it is but maybe its what your looking for...

Hi Elliot. Hows everything going?

Thanks for the photos of everything. Ill send you a pm regarding the dizzy you have. As im interested in it still.

Bad news about the Bluey. Would have been awesome to see another hot red one still driving the streets. They have a unique look that certainly catches the eye.

Have you had any more luck with the z18?

I managed to get mine up and going again. After rewinding the reluctor coil. So happy about that. Just took longer than i would have hoped. Ah well.

Updates!

No luck with mine still i have a huge miss fire that I think is orignaly coming from my dizzy I'm not sure if it's not earthing correctly and having troubles making a spark??? But I did take it for a drive it made it down all my steep hills but I had to tow it back with my civic:( it just lost all power. Yea just shoot me a pm oh I also found an ecu out of a turbo pulsar I'm not sure if they are the same but it has the same pins and looks the same?

Ah not a good update at all. I have a rebuilt dizzy that would fit the z18et. Its an 8 plug unit too. I took the guts out of the stock z18et dizzy and transplanted it into the body of a z24 electronic dizzy. New bearing and grease and all. I have it wrapped up and stashed away for a rainy day. Ive not tested it, but it should be ready to go. I rebuilt it like so as z18et dizzy caps are hard to get. Z24 stuff is plentiful. If you need i can lend that to you too. Maybe worth while just as a test. I never used it as i wanted to keep it simple and swapped the dizzy/oil pump drive shaft over to suit the L series distributors.

It is possible that your old z18et dizzy i failing. Im happy to look it over. After all i have now the ability to rewind the cores and source new ic modules etc etc.

As for the ecu, most of the early nissan ecus used the same plug. But its the pins that could be different. Its worth a try, but if its wired differently you may see it fault somewhere along the line, if at worst, not run. ET pulsars also would use a different set of fuel maps. Again worth trying but id hook up a Wide Band O2 sensor and keep and eye on the ratio. Wouldnt want it running lean on you.

pm incoming.

Yea it's getting to me also I go back to work on the 10th and was kinda hoping to have it running, I'll test out your dizzy because all of my fault tracing seems to be coming from mine. I did replace the cap and the rotor but I may be missing something, and by the symptoms something important...
I got a pulsar turbo ecu for $6 from the wreckers so no harm in trying,do you know how much influence the o2 sensor has on the ecu? It's llike a run not run factor?

Haha nice, its good to see the price on ET pulsar parts are still worth their weight at sims metal.

Ill dig the dizzy out tomorrow and blow the dust off it. Ill get it out to you this week, next day or so.

Also, not having the O2 sensor connected wont be a critical part of the ecus functionality. It merely allows the ecu to calculate correctly how much fuel is being unburnt against the data being sent from the AFM and TPS.

For the ecu to at least run it needs to know there is AFM signal and TPS signal. For what its worth i will send you my AFM too. Maybe yours is giving false information. Im not sure though. But i dont think its necessarily the main cause for your problem. For it to run but skip a few beats its most likely Spark related. Also thinking about it, i will send you some spare injectors i have. They're from a CA20, but its what i used first to get my old girl running, as the Z18et injectors i tried to use first without having them sonic cleaned.

At absolute worst, you may be left with the option i took first, and thats change the dizzy/oil pump drive shaft from the Z one to a L series one and use a BBs2 dizzy. May simplify the issue.

Thinking randomly now, hows the dizzy hooked up? Have you made sure that the plugs are set correctly, Intake vs. Exhaust. Also the two coil packs. How new are they? Are they the same? If any of this isnt up to scratch, the engine will skip a beat and fumble a little. If this happens enough it will be enough to stall the engine. As i remember the old Pathfinder we had that had a NAPZ Z24 twin spark engine, when the dizzy started to fail it would skip a beat or two and fumble around and be a dog to drive. A new cap fixed the problem than, but it was still enough to cause grief.

Wish i was local, would be over there in an instant trying to problem solve this with you.

I didn't buy new plugs but I took them to work and cleaned the tips with the spark plug cleaner I know I should have replaced them but I only did them in the bluebird around 700k's before the bluebird was written off. I bought 2 brand new gt40's so I can only assume that they are doing their job they have constnt 12v besides when cranking but it only dips a tiny amount. Injectors well um I don't know they didn't look carbon fouled but question using a noid light how strong should the pulse be??? Because at the moment when she's misfiring the pulse is barley long enough to light it up. It glows and runs but it's not what I was expecting...
Oh and plese feel free to come visit haha