OK, I'm out of ideas and am totally frustrated.

I got a 97 Sebring LX with the 420A motor. I'm on my 3rd engine rebuild and each one made things worse. I'm now stuck with a car that runs very rich, idles bad, vibrates like crazy at idle, staggers when vaccuum (not boost) goes to about 5psi (sometimes), and stuggles if I try to gun it. Don't get me wrong, it's still faster than stock when boosted, but not running like it should (both either boosted or not).

I'm looking for an S-AFC to adjust my duty cycle to try to help my rich fuel problem. However, I think I have multiple problems and really need a tuner/mechanic to checkout my setup and determine what my problem(s) are.

So, I'm looking for someone to look at my setup and help me fix some, if not all of my problems. If someone is seriously interested, I'm willing to pay them for their time. I live in Southern California (Orange County) so if anyone wants a crack at my nightmare, please let me know. I'm at a point where I either fix this or sell it.


I have the Hahn turbokit with the following mods:
- AEM adjustable cam gears
- Eagle rods
- ROSS forged pistons
- FMIC
- Vortech SFMU
- 440cc injectors
- Turbo XS Dual Stage Boost Controller
- Urythane motor mounts

I've tried numerous places and all give me a sense that they will take my money, but warn that they are not familiar with the Sebring so they make no promises.

If you're interested, send me email at sclieu@yaho.com. I don't normally check this board that often.

Thanks.

did you check spark already? (plugs/wires/coilpack)

prolly not turbo related if it's doing it all the time... did it start acting up at any particular time that you can remember (like right after you did a certain mod)

-marc

='95 RS 5spd Red=
Matrix TypeX CAI
A'pexi Turbo N1
Nakayama GT5 17's
Ractive STB
GSX Calipers
AEM 12.5" X-Drilled/Slotted Rotors

255 is fricken short

Originally posted by sclieu
If you're interested, send me email at sclieu@yaho.com. I don't normally check this board that often. Thanks.

sclieu@yahoo.com ?

i know what it is well i have a good idea what it is i sent you an email

what kind of fuel cut defenser are you using? and did you do the rebuild yourself? im not downing you, but i would venture to say if you cant tune a fuel system....it would probably be out of your mechanical grasp to rebuild an engine properly also. again, not downing you at all, i know how it feels to be frustrated with your car. if you dont already have one, get a Missing Link FCD from group5motorsports.com

1999 Black C5
1997 Silver RS
Wiseco 8.8:1 Pistons(back to low compression!)
Eagle Rods
T3/T4 Turbo
Custom FMIC
Greddy Exhaust
390's
Most current 1/8th mile time: 8.3@90mph 2.015 60'(Nitto Drag radials, i suck)

Originally posted by Nitrous_RS1997
what kind of fuel cut defenser are you using? and did you do the rebuild yourself? im not downing you, but i would venture to say if you cant tune a fuel system....it would probably be out of your mechanical grasp to rebuild an engine properly also. again, not downing you at all, i know how it feels to be frustrated with your car. if you dont already have one, get a Missing Link FCD from group5motorsports.com

word ^^ and also recalculate your fuel pressures and check them. nd your right about the S-AFC, you may need it to fine tune those 440's but I would get it running better before you start throwing more things into the mix...it'll just make it that much harder to tune. Good Luck

:thumbsup

I did not do the engine rebuild. A friend did, and that's part of my worry. He did a pretty decent job, but there are things that I'm a bit concerned about. For one, the engine sounds rather loud now, and I think there's an oil leak somewhere.

Yes, I do have the missing link. I think I remember someone saying that you should clean this thing out once in awhile, so I'll take it off and see.

You guys are right..I'm no mechanic and that's why I'm here asking for help. Again, if someone in the Southern California area would like a crack at this, let me know. Even if you don't fix all the problems, anything you fix, I'll be willing to reimburse you.

I've tried replacing the IAC motor, adjusting my static fuel pressure, and am looking into a vacuum leak. I just don't know what else to look at. I'm not sure how to check if my O2 sensors are bad or dirty. I know that I've been running rich for a long time now and there's probably a lot of buildup in the exhaust system.

Oh, what should my static fuel pressure be anyways with 440's. I dropped it as low as I could using the S-FMU adjustable screw and the lowest it'll go is about 30psi.

Thanks.

you can tell if your o2s bad by looking in the exhaust manifold and on the sensor, if they are coated in a black substance that when you rub your finger on it it comes off on your finger, also when at full throttle it would be puffing black smoke out the exhaust, this is cause the fuel system is just dumping gas into the engine.

Chris:thumbsup

thats your problem. you are over charging the system. 30psi of fuel at idle way too much. i run about 14psi of fuel at idle with 440cc injectors and thats very rich. you need to get the dark smaller spring for the sfmu and use the 2.72" disk.

you can get this kit from vortech for about 40 bux. it comes with all the disks, rings, the dark smaller spring and the restrictor for the vacum lines.

get that stuff, drop the idle pressure down and i bet youll be running much better.

james

btw.. that will be $100 consultant fee.. paypal is james@antsmarching.org lol :thumbsup

But that's my problem. I can't get the static pressure below 30psi. The SFMU came with 2 springs and about 3-4 disks. I'm using the softer spring (the smaller darker one), with the 2.72 disk, and still can't get my static pressure below 30psi. I messed with that screw as much as possible and can get the static pressure anywhere between 30 and 55psi. WHY!!!!!

And yes, if you can figure it out, I'll paypal you...but not $100...we can discuss that later.

the small dark one is the STIFF spring. you need the long silver spring in there to run lower idle fuel pressures. the dark one is meant to be used with stock size injectors. thats your fuel problem.

1999 Black C5
1997 Silver RS
Wiseco 8.8:1 Pistons(back to low compression!)
Eagle Rods
T3/T4 Turbo
Custom FMIC
Greddy Exhaust
390's
Most current 1/8th mile time: 8.3@90mph 2.015 60'(Nitto Drag radials, i suck)

Uhh, you do not have to have that low of fuel pressure always. It varies with car and setup. I idle at 40psi on 525's perfectly fine using a fixed 1:1 regulator.


Check your map sensor.

OK, I went and double check my setup and I AM running with the larger, softer springs. I have the dark springs in my drawer. I also checked my vacuum line and think it's ok.

I just don't understand why I can't lower my static fuel pressure. Does the O2 sensors have anything to do with the fuel pressure? If I run long enough (about 2 weeks) eventually my IAC motor gets all wacked out and either idles at 3K-4K, or dies at every stop light. I believe this is because I'm running too rich and the computer is trying to lean it out a bit, so my idling sucks.

Could I have a bad fuel pump on my return line? My tailpipe is so thick with black buildup that even after I wash my car, a week later

WHY CAN'T I LOWER MY FUEL PRESSURE BELOW 30PSI!!!!

The silver spring for lower fuel pressure? No way! I have always read on here that its the dark spring and thats even what i run. The silver spring is too soft and wont allow you to go lower in fuel pressure..

check your vacuum lines i suppose if you are running the dark spring. could it be a faulty sfmu?

btw.. i was just playin about the 100 bux.. lol

Check your map sensor. It still sounds like a map problem to me.

OK, I changed most of the vacuum lines and I still have the same problem with my static fuel pressure.

I got the old cartech fmu, but forgot how to hook it up. Can someone give me step by step on what lines goes where from the SFMU to the cartech FMU?

Thanks

MuRiX,
How do i check if the map sensor is bad?

siueclipse,
Per the vortech web site, the smaller darker spring provides a more higher static fuel pressure with a slightly faster rate of gain. This would imply that the larger spring allows a LOWER static fuel pressure, right?


If I don't get anywhere with checking the map sensor, or isolating the vaccuum line that goes to the sfmu, I'm going to try and install the original cartech fmu that came with the hahn kit to see if I may have a bad sfmu.

If this doesn't work, I'm going to replace the inline fuel pump with an extra one I have (I think they're both about 136 lph fuel pumps). I hope all I have to do is take the pump out. I think I'm suppose to depressurize the line first, but hope that all that will happen is a bunch of fuel will spill out, right?

While I'm down there, I'm going to try to visually inspect the o2 sensors. Can anyone help me with this as I don't even know where exactly it is and how hard it is to get to.

I hope it doesn't get to this as I hate being under the car!

damn and I was in Del mar this weekend I would have helped you. Just SD is so damn far...

Who said I was in SD? I'm in Orange County. Dude, I'll drive up to you if you live in Montebello... Lemme know....

I think you are way rich. Not to say there isn't a MAP sensor problem, but my car runs for crap if it's rich the slightest bit. I have to run 20 psi of fuel at idle on 30# injectors, so you need to be way lower than that. Which disc are you running in the SFMU? You definitely need the 2.72" disc with 440s. That is the second largest disc with the ring that doesn't seem to fit right. You need to get those fuel pressures down some how. When you say "static" fuel pressure, you don't mean idle, right? Static fuel pressure is when the SFMU sees no pressure (e.g. turn the car on, and unplug the vacuum line going to it). I'm not sure what fuel pressure you need at idle, but it's going to be pretty low, well under 20 psi. I don't know how murix or whoever is running those 500+ injectors at like 40 psi idle or whatever..

Another useful tool is a datalogger. Check out www.pocketlogger.com for some info if you don't know what they are. Keep us posted and good luck.


1996 Eclipse RS / 5-Speed / Aerogear Body / Coated in Magnetic Red Metallic rev.2 / T3 Turbo Intercooled @ 8 psi / More at http://home.insightbb.com/~mgalyan/
Mark Galyan - Indianapolis, Indiana

i gots the logger when do you have time to meet up?