AEM FIC fight for turbo!!!

[ilikerice]

Have you tried closing the gap in the plugs? I think the stock gap is .44? try closing them to .33 or even .25

In my crx, After doing an WOT run it would sputter just a little bit in full boost (10psi). Afterwards, I would have a crappy Idle. I would clean the plugs and would idle fine until boost.

I think the plugs are getting blown out before fuel gets to them and then the fuel will soak the plugs causing your misfires.

Just a suggestion. Its a free modification to at least try. It won't hurt anything if it doesnt solve the problem

[cali yaris]

I think you meant .044, .033 and .025 ?

[thatbryanguy]

Yea the NGK Brk7...something somethins are .033 gap, the last ones were .044. So it definitely runs smoother since I swapped those but I'll try closing the gap to .025 and see what's that does.

Side note I found that if I have the AC on, it will idle just fine at about 950rpms without stalling. My wife loves that part of my problem :/

[ilikerice]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

I think you meant .044, .033 and .025 ?

Yea yea. Details....

[thatbryanguy]

The white plumes of smoke here and there freak me out in thinking my head gasket is leaking coolant in...my coolant levels are low but I haven't checked that in a good while so I'm not sure how long it's been low like that. Guess ill top off the coolant and see where it goes in the next few days

[ilikerice]

I can't imagine 6psi blowing a head gasket, but anything is possible I suppose. Do you have coolant running thru your turbo for cooling?

[thatbryanguy]

Nah not yet unfortunately...I've been trying to figure out what size fittings go to it so I can run a line.

Oh and it wouldn't have been the turbo blowing it directly, I've been having trouble keeping the crank pulley on tight under boost until I got it torqued way down with an impact wrench and at one point it came off and so the water pump wasnt going and the temp light came on but I was on a part of the interstate where I couldn't pull over for about a mile...so I'm hoping I didn't warp the head. It wasnt that long but I can imagine with the heat from the turbo everything heats up really quick in there.

[fnkngrv]

oh crap! yeah, could have done some damage in that scenario. best of luck!

[ilikerice]

Ohhh... yea.. that is quite possible.

[thatbryanguy]

So I was driving today and avoided hitting boost the entire drive for about 10mins to my bank. I then sat in the car and let it idle for 10mins without it stalling at all...so it seems it only has idling problems during a drive after I've hit boost. But if I don't hit boost again the after hitting boost once it will stall the rest of the drive until I shut it off for a while.

[thatbryanguy]

So upon further driving after the bank I noticed my radiator fan came on and then a few seconds after the car stalls out. Turn the key for the fan to come on and cool things a bit waited for it to turn off then cranked the car up again and as soon as the fan came back on it stalls again...hmm, electric load related?

[fnkngrv]

Do any of your gauges or lighting fixtures dim at all? Also you might want to meter your battery if possible when it happens if you can duplicate the issue and see voltage flares in either direction. Scott could have further advice.

[thatbryanguy]

Good call, I'll do that. I've got a spare brand new battery that I'm gonna switch out and see. After a drive from lunch just now it seems its getting slightly better. I put half a bottle of seafoamed in the tank and plan to use the other half in the vacuum lines thinking that when I was misfiring and all it ruined the old plugs, maybe there's a bunch of carbon build up in the cylinders that needs some cleaning out that's causing these strange idling issues.

[cali yaris]

^ Pull a plug and look at it. That will tell you a lot about your AFR and your plugs.

[thatbryanguy]

So after topping the coolant off and watching it as the motor warmed up, I began to notice bubbles coming up to the surface of the antifreeze in the overflow resevoir...correct me if I'm wrong but that's usually a sure sign of blown head gasket as it pressurized the cooling system right?

[mario98c]

Originally Posted by thatbryanguy

So after topping the coolant off and watching it as the motor warmed up, I began to notice bubbles coming up to the surface of the antifreeze in the overflow resevoir...correct me if I'm wrong but that's usually a sure sign of blown head gasket as it pressurized the cooling system right?

It could be but I will do a leak down test just to be 100% sure before disassemble the engine.

[thatbryanguy]

Yea I'm gonna take it to a shop to get tested tomorrow morning. Ugh this is frustrating.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Please, don't make the same mistake I made. Your head gasket is almost certainly fine. Some bubbles and metal shavings in your coolant/reservoir is also completely acceptable. Can you check compression?

I also had some serious overheating problems back when I first installed everything. At one point I had to drive almost 5 minutes with it on before I could pull over, so I can't imagine you did any damage.