[dbshea]

hey guys, been a while since I posted anything about the car. I'm honeslty really pleased with the build. There have been some hiccups along the way but that was to be expected. I'm to the fine tuning portion now and could use some help. There are a few issues so i'll throw them all out and see what you guys think.

First, I can't get a good idle out of this thing. I've gone thru the base idle reset several times, and while it's close...I know it's not totally right. She stays right around 800 rpm but I'm getting a hanging idle/ surge on occasion only after driving. I've eliminated all of the normal things like vaccum leaks, IACV, fuel pressure, etc. I'm now leaning towards ACT/ECT or VSS. Only reason I think VSS is related is because its generally at a stop and I've noticed if I stop too quickly the rpm will drop almost to a stall. It doesn't happen all of the time, which makes it even harder to track down.

Second, this weekend my wife decided to drive the car for the first time, I wasn't there so I can't speak to how it went. She admitted it was fun but she was scared of it. I get in it the next day and snap by belt, which was 2 weeks old. I'll chock that up to a bad belt and got a replacement from autozone under warranty. The problem now is that my temp gauge is reading about 1/2 way up the gauge HIGHER than it was before. I've verified that the cooling system is fine via thermal laser (190* just where it should be) but the dummy gauge annoys me now. Is the issue usually in the temp sensor or the gauge itself?

Last issue is tune related. I got my "break in" tune from a well know shop here in CA. The place has great reviews in regards to fox mustangs. I've got some issues that I feel might be tune related. First, the car hates cruising anywhere from idle up to about 18-2000 rpm. It will buck like mad. I've also got some heinous pinging, I've found that if I gradually throttle up it is less prevalent but if I hammer down (in any gear but 1&2) i can't get past 3k without awful detonation. Not good if I want to run this car on the strip.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ryanw]

Your first issue is the only one i might be able to help with. I had the same thing going on with mine. I thought it was my vss because it would stall when ever the car was warmed up and i pushed the clutch in to come to a stop. I ran codes and one time and one time only the vss code poped up or maybe i miss counted the check engine light flashes . I replaced the vss and no change. So i put the old one back in. If im remembering right the vss should omg out to about 250 omg. But dont hold me to that.

Any ways it turns out my issue came from my butterfly on the throttle body being closed to much ( i didnt adjust it right) which was causing my IAC to do all the work for idling.

What i did was warm the car up. Then unpluged the electrical to the IAC. My car stalled. I adjusted the idle screw to where the engine would idle with out the IAC pluged in. I then backed the screw out to where the engine almost wants to stall then turned the screw back in ( which opens the throttle blade) maybe a 1/4 turn. Pluged the IAC back in. Reset the tps volt and all was good

 

[flattusmaximus78]

Did the shop ship you a chip? Break in tunes are just that, but CA is hot... every hwere is this time of year. With out having the car there it would be tough to tune, but the car shouldn't have any timing in it. Did you have a any blow bye when seating the rings? I did with my ls1. Got a lot of carbon on the pistons. Had to use a can of mopar combustion chamber cleaner and it cured my ping.

 

[dbshea]

It was not a mail order tune. We had it on the rollers, but it was very conservative I wanted to click off a few hundred miles before squeezing it for what it was worth. However, I was having huge oil consumption issues at the time. No baffles in the valve cover, no baffle on my gt40 lower. I replaced or installed all three of those, as well as new lower intake and valve stem seals (just to be safe) no loss since then. I did run some sea foam thru it, but maybe I need to go a little stronger?


As for the tb Ryan, ill run thru the process one more time and mimic you. IIRC I did just that, but who knows. Never hurts to try again. I do wonder about those sensor act/ect due to how much oil the thing was sucking into the intake tho.

 

[428CJ]

My car had surging and hanging idle issues when I got it. Replaced all of the usual suspects and nothing solved it. Then I replaced the ect and it idled great. You might as well try it, it is cheap and easy to replace.

 

[dbshea]

My car had surging and hanging idle issues when I got it. Replaced all of the usual suspects and nothing solved it. Then I replaced the ect and it idled great. You might as well try it, it is cheap and easy to replace.

I'm usually against throwing money at cars in hopes of repair. But she just clicked over on the odometer, and I know I should have replaced them when I did the engine swap. I think in this case, it's just smart to replace them regardless.


Anybody have input on the rest?

 

[ryanw]

I agree..... you may as well replace those sensors. I did the same thing as you, i just reused my old one which i knew had 140,000 miles on them. ( just for peace of mind i wish i would have replaced them. But i think i might have gotten lucky in this one case.

 

[EscortSportage]

ok ive had idle issues forever im finally figureing stuff out


timing set to 10 degree
fuel pressure with vacuum on 38 psi or 48 psi **** i cant remember right now
adjust TPS till it reads .99 on a digitol multimeter while the IAC is disconnected

to read TPS run off the green wire and the black wire

at idle you want .99 at WOT its 4.56 i believe

once your done connect IAC and let the ecu re learn everything

 

[dbshea]

So, while day dreaming at work I realized something that may be playing foul with my idle. Because I didn't have a baffle in my passenger valve cover my fresh air inlet was pulling in oil. This was verified by copious amounts of oil in the TB. So, once I rectified the situation (sn 95 covers) i pulled the accufab apart to clean it.

In retrospect this all adds up, I can back my adjustment screw out all the way and the idle never falls below about 750 +/-, correct me if I'm wrong but with IACV disconnected and the idle screw being backed out...it should die? If the blade is fully seated no air should be feeding into the engine.

I took the blade OUT to clean it, so what are the chances when i reinstalled it's cocked in its position, and allowing air by? And if so, how would I ensure it is seated properly this time?

 

[flattusmaximus78]

How does the kb work with the factory pcv, and are you using it?

 

[dbshea]

How does the kb work with the factory pcv, and are you using it?

I am still running a "factory" PCV set up. I'm using a valve from a turbo coupe thunderbird plumbed into a pre screw port, the fresh air fitting off the oil neck is run to my intake tubing.

 

[flattusmaximus78]

Okay so it is a check valve running from the oil filler neck to the tb?

Shouldn't that be on the the pcv hose after the pcv? Asking anyone this.

 

[dbshea]

No valve on the fresh air tube. Only on the pcv

 

[flattusmaximus78]

Okay I understand now.

 

[dbshea]

Well, still no joy with a decent idle. I putzed with the throttle blade this afternoon, no change. With iacv disconnected I can idle at 650 just fine. Plug it in...1000 rpm. I've got my spout out, iacv off, base idle to a T. No change in final idle outcome. I'm wondering if the tuner adjusted something.

NXCOUPE!! What say you?

 

[ryanw]

your pcv is still in the back of your lower intake right ? Your just using a different pcv check valve out of a factory turbo car.... right ? Im asking cuz i plan on doing the same thing and then ill run the valve cover hose to my power pipe pre SC but after the maff.

I was just going to use breathers but i figured with california smog nazi that i wont have to swap back and forth if i do the first set up i talked about.

Get your **** running right because we have a trip to make aug 24th

 

[dbshea]

your pcv is still in the back of your lower intake right ? Your just using a different pcv check valve out of a factory turbo car.... right ? Im asking cuz i plan on doing the same thing and then ill run the valve cover hose to my power pipe pre SC but after the maff.

I was just going to use breathers but i figured with california smog nazi that i wont have to swap back and forth if i do the first set up i talked about.

Get your **** running right because we have a trip to make aug 24th

I'm trying! I mean she runs and drives great. It's just annoying. I actually have my iacv blocked off with a piece of thin metal. It's like driving a carb in the morning but once its warmed up she idles great, she doesn't stall out coming to a stop, AC on drops the rpm about 100 rpm but still no stall, and best of all no slow drop after clutching in. My timing light shows it at 750-780 rpm. But i know thats not the right way to do things, and i hate having stuff "bypassed" like that. I'm considering unplugging my chip and seeing how she acts, find out if its mechanical or electronic.

As for the PCV, it's basically the stock set up. Turbo Coupe pcv in the back of my gt40 lower, and the only reason my fresh air is plumbed to the pipe is because I'm using the accufab RACE tb, so theres no provision for the fresh air. Some cats drill a hole and plumb one in, but I was too scared to do that.

 

[ryanw]

I hear ya... thanks for the clairification... got it.

Other then a bad IAC or improper signal going to it, i have no idea. Keep us updated

Are you bringing your wife along cuz im bring mine..... i think mine might need some one to talk to.. hint, hint lol

 

[dbshea]

Are you bringing your wife along cuz im bring mine..... i think mine might need some one to talk to.. hint, hint lol

Probably, she'll be 3 months pregnant and the first 2 havent been much fun for her. Play it by ear I guess.

 

[ryanw]

Probably, she'll be 3 months pregnant and the first 2 havent been much fun for her. Play it by ear I guess.

Mine is around 6 1/2 months prego, so they can rub bellys and let our kids play together