ProwlerGT's 3000GT Revival Thread - Start Up

[ProwlerGT]

I bought an inductive digital tachometer $49 shipped. Whether or not it reaches me before I move I figure is of no consequence if I do the things I've said I will in the past few posts, but if it does arrive by some absolute FREAKIN miracle of the verse after I'm done troubleshooting I can use it on the car in concert with the logger and the dash tach. It clamps to any spark plug wire. I'm sure I'll find use for it in the future too... maybe it won't be that often, but it'll get used.

[ProwlerGT]

Andrew - Wish I would've been ready for ya Monday, but I wasn't. I don't think I feel like messing with ANYTHING else on my car until I get this engine issue resolved. I think too that I've decided I want to raise my front struts up a bit before putting on the new/used rack or getting an alignment. A/C .... well I skipped the summer again. Didn't notice any hot days in the car..... CAUSE I WASN'T DRIVING IT. lol - So I am hoping the next time I'm in town (which hopefully will be around Thanksgiving holidays; if not then Christmas) we can hook up to get those things tackled UNLESS I've made some money by then that I can redirect to getting the stuff knocked out although I think the A/C thing may cost some serious change and may still leave it for later. Have to see how finances pan out over the next couple months.

Anyway, I figure now that I've taken care of a lot of other things I'm focusing my efforts to get this "bog down" (seems like vac leak) issue resolved when I punch the throttle.

[ProwlerGT]

I have finally figured this FIAV ghost out. Throughout much of my troubleshooting I have scoured the service manual ferociously, Googled like a mofo, and had my fair share of waiting for the 3SI forums server to come back with search results for specifics on the FIAV operation. All anyone could ever tell me was that it helps the car heat up faster when its cold and as the wax melts the valve shuts bringing the car back down to normal fully warmed operating temp idle speed. In addition a few people have said (including the 3SI wiki for Basic Idle Adjustment) that cold idle which is obtained by way of a properly functioning FIAV is 1500rpms. I immediately felt this was false cause I've never seen it and I have finally found out why. The service manual should note more about the FIAV I think because the cold idle is not a set number. It is a dynamic number whose MAXIMUM is 1500 and not even so for all 3S cars (but close). Here's why:


YOU SEE !!!! EUREKA !!!!! - That is at least for me its a EUREKA. I have been troubleshooting some MFI related issues and I got to the point where I felt it HAD TO BE my FIAV was messed up because I was NEVER idling 1500 at cold start. If you have done EVERYTHING else to fix your "vac leak" issue or other issue with idling besides the FIAV it leads you to believe its messed up especially if you are testing and meticulously watching RPMs as I have been. The FIAV is like a thermostat and responds accordingly to different temperatures, but unlike the thermostat we all typically know its purpose is for opening and closing an airway and not reporting temperature. I have always lived in a hot climate and even on cold days I've never seen a 1500 cold idle cause it doesn't get NEAR as cold as it does in the North. I bet you North guys/gals have seen 1500 pretty often in the winter. I just thought this was worth mentioning because I feel like this is a major deal especially when you've gone to a lot of trouble to resolve MFI related problems and you can't think of what else you could be missing.

What this enables us to do is get a better grasp for calculating what your COLD IDLE SHOULD BE BEFORE YOU START THE CAR BASED ON OUTSIDE (OR IN GARAGE) AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE. So all ya gotta do is the the degree's F you are working in and check the above chart before starting your car. This way if you are troubleshooting vac leaks or other idle issues and looking at the FIAV or even not so you will know better which RPM to expect and if not then it may point you somewhere else or to a bad FIAV. In my situation I am troubled by my RPM dash gauge not reporting correctly vs the logger vs an inductive tachometer and I've been trying to find the culprit.

What is crappy about these charts I found is that there is no mention of the FIAV where I found them. Those charts are from the crankshaft position sensor pages of the service manual for both NA and TT's. I did a word search for "rpm" looking for 1500 next to it and this is how I figured all this out.

[ProwlerGT]

Currently I'm working a lot in this thread: MirageCorp Hybrid Datalogger; Rear O2 0 volts; Exhaust rich; RPMs no match logger - "MirageCorp Hybrid Datalogger; Rear O2 0 volts; Exhaust rich; RPMs no match logger"

Still pluggin along, but I only have 3 more days before I move and I will probably cease work on the car tomorrow thereby setting it up for another 1-2 months without final resolution. If I can manage it with time I'm going to replace ALL of the 3 intake manifold plenum gaskets. It is the last vacuum zone I have not hit aside from the vic motor which I suppose shares airspace with the upper plenum since its attached to it.

I'm still thinking there is evidence to a vac leak, but FIAV looks to be functioning normally though if I replace the gaskets on the plenum and determine whether the VIC motor area is leaking (if it shares airspace) then the FIAV will be the only thing left to replace.

[ProwlerGT]

I am now going to leave tomorrow morning now that I can just put my laptop in the van and go. Well, I feel like I let Clint down with not posting pics of my current plugs. I will get it up eventually cause with the rich problem (and I really cannot stand the smell of my exhaust) maybe I do have the plugs gapped too high at .042. I guess no one else knows what theirs are at aye (NA ATXers that is)?

Realizing after the vids from rys in another thread below that my car is getting off the line like other NA ATXer's are I took it for a REAL DRIVE today (music n all) after I finally bled the brakes. It was FUN !!!!! ha haaaaaaa ! I really had a good drive. It didn't seem to have the same mid-high end power it used to, but again this could be due to me driving all these other vehicles the past couple years. I was afraid to drive it too hard on turns and too too fast over and over cause I still have the steering rack to replace (tie rod end covers not on) as well as an alignment to get done.

I'd like to see/smell what other ATX'ers exhaust smells like too..... maybe my car is supposed to smell like that. Who knows. The best way for me to proceed at the moment is to get pics of my plugs for showing (Clint), compression tests, and I may regap my plugs.

But first on my list when I get back: Plug pics, maybe regapping and compression tests.

Here are some other threads that helped me realize my NA was driving OK again:
"Off the line faster in an ATX" - http://www.3si.org/forum/showthread....=1#post4570296

"Zero to 20mph times in an ATX" - Zero to 20mph times in an ATX

"Starting problem" - Starting problem

"Air Flow Hz values via datalogger: NAs and TTs" - Air Flow Hz values via datalogger: NAs and TTs

"Car Boggs Out When Pedal Is Smashed." - Car Boggs Out When Pedal Is Smashed.

"TPS at 14% with ignition on and idle" -
TPS at 14% with ignition on and idle

"RPM gauge is off by 200 rpms" -
RPM gauge is off by 200 rpms

[ProwlerGT]

Ksports at the lowest setting and I'm still getting a stomach ache from the jiggles as I coast down residential streets. Unless they soften up a lil bit my vote is that they are for race cars ONLY. For a comfortable daily driver ride I'm gonna have to say stockers are best unless there is some softer springs I can put on to ease up on the bouncey bounces.

Brakes are much better now that I've rebled the lines, but something is still not right. I may end up replacing the proportioning valve at a later date. A bad prop valve (as it would seem to me) might have something to do with why in the past I've seen uneven pad wear on my rear brakes. I also hear the pads scraping the discs when I coast. Again, i've replaced everything on the brakes except the prop valve and brake pedal assembly.

[ProwlerGT]

New thread:
Denso Iridium IK24 GAP: TTs and NAs - "Denso Iridium IK24 GAP: TTs and NAs"

I learned in that thread today something wonderful and which may solve all of my problems and thoughts of running rich and loss of power/accel. Basically I have the wrong plugs in my engine. I spoke with a tech at Denso and he says the IK24's I have in now for my DOHC NA engine are too cold and that I'd need to be making 150 hp more to use them (ie: For every 75 hp you go 1 heat range step colder; rule of thumb he said). In short if I want to use Iridiums (which I do cause I like using metal from outer space) I should step down to the IK20's instead. I'm going to proceed with that when I come back in a couple months and regap again at .042" as I have the IK24's at now and see what the results are. At least this means I'll be getting the pics of my plugs up !!!! LOL - I'll do compression tests just for kicks too, but I am fairly hopeful (for once allowing myself to be hopeful) and confident that this is my running RICH problem along with the loss of power I believe I'm experiencing.

Now all I gotta do is remember to order the IK20's before I come back to mom/dad's in a couple months. lol

[scolex]

hey instead of dumpin a whole lot of cash trying to find the right heat range for your iridiums, try getting the coppers... they are about 1/4th the price for pretty much the same performance. maybe 90% of the performance of the iridiums, but cost/performance value is much better...

[ProwlerGT]

Originally Posted by scolex

hey instead of dumpin a whole lot of cash trying to find the right heat range for your iridiums, try getting the coppers... they are about 1/4th the price for pretty much the same performance. maybe 90% of the performance of the iridiums, but cost/performance value is much better...

When you say coppers which brand you talking about? Got a model number?

[Alex3000GT]

If you ever wanna get rid of your ksports in favor or something better, let me know!

I'll take the harsh ride for awesome handling. I want to be the autoX king!