kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

[kimokalihi]

K, thanks. I will pm you. Sorry I thought I already did.

[HappyFrog]

What spark plugs are you using? My mapper couldn't go past 14.5 psi on stock spark plugs they stopped firing, so he replaced them with NGK (7 i think). I may have killed them by too much boost and then drowning them, but I would change them anyway.
(Turned out it was the problem I've had for months, he fixed it in an hour or so )

[kimokalihi]

They're brand new. I've only run one tank a gas through them. They're NGK whatever NGK the factory service manual calls for. Ordered them from subaru with a parts order I placed. They're gapped at .39 I think.

[kimokalihi]

I'm getting trouble codes 14, 33 and 45.

14 Injector #1 Fuel injector inoperative (Abnormal signal emitted from monitor circuit)
33 Vehicle speed sensor Abnormal voltage input entered from vehicle speed sensor
45 Atmospheric pressure sensor Faulty sensor

I'll check the injector. It's the front passenger side injector right?

The vehicle speed sensor is brand new. I just installed it. The speedo cable is not connected to the dash. Would this cause the VSS code?

The atmospheric sensor code must be to do with the BCS when I disconnected it and hooked up the MBC. I left the vacuum line hooked up to the bottom nipple on the BCS and I left the other two open. Today I just took it off the intake just behind the power steering pump and noticed there is no vacuum there. Perhaps this is not the right place to get vacuum from?

I'm going to get caps and cap off all the BCS nipples. Do I leave the electrical hooked up to it? Is that atmospheric sensor code part of the BCS or is it the black box next to the BCS?

[kimokalihi]

I pulled each injector connector off one by one and the engine took a dive each time. So they're all working. Why is it giving me that code?

[ericem]

Yes dash needs to be working or else VSS code could even trigger other codes and detune the car. I remember my car would drive alot slower without the speedometer.

Then reset the ecu and see if the codes come back.

[kimokalihi]

Will do. How do I reset the ECU? Unplug the battery and press the brake pedal for a few seconds?

[fatgc8]

Yeah ericem is right if your vss code is on its because your speed cable is not hooked up. Has your car died coming to a stop because of this? I remember mine used to do that all the time. If it was me i would hooked this up and reset the ecu see if any other codes come on first then start diagnosing other cel codes.

[kimokalihi]

Yeah I'll hook it up and clear the codes (gotta find out if I can clear them by unplugging the battery or if there's another method). I'm gonna get pulled over test driving my car. The turn signals suddenly don't work and the driver's side parking light doesn't work either. They did before I took the dash out so something I did messed them up.

[mike-tracy]

Search noob!

http://legacycentral.org/library/literature/codes.htm

;)

[kimokalihi]

It's fixed! YES! It's quick too. I did 120mph at 6500 RPM in 4th gear. That was scary. Probably not smart either. I plugged all 3 factory boost control solenoid nipples. Turned the boost down a bit on the MBC and it's hitting about 17lbs now and holding it without fuel cut all the way to 7500 RPM! Crazy. Came up on a truck at 60mph and dropped into 3rd and in the blink of an eye we were at 80 and then 100 and then 120mph.

I cleared the codes and hooked up the speedo (that was hard to do. Damn thing didn't want to go on the gauges) and connected the battery again. Took it for a drive and the check engine light never flashed once. The wheel bearings are making noise. Not looking forward to that. I can't decide if I'm going to go the junkyard route on the cheap and grab entire hub assemblies to swap out or if I'm going to spend like $400 on wheel bearings and seals and take it the hubs to a shop and have them press the bearings out and the new ones in. That's a lot of money and I need that money for an alignment.

Still have a LOT of work to do before WCSS. My gauge backlighting still doesn't work which means I have to remove the gauges again and try to get that damn speedo cable on again. Not fun. I did fix the turn signal problem though. It was as I suspected. The hazard lights button was not connected because the gauge cluster bezel is still in the trunk. Hooked it up and they work now.

[kimokalihi]

I misread the ECU code too. It wasn't 14 it was 24 which is Air Control Valve reading improper signal reading. I think this was due to the VSS not being plugged in. In fact I think all those codes were from the VSS speedo cable being disconnected. Who would have thought the speedo cable would mess everything up so bad.

[Deride]

^^ dang that pic looks mean!! glad to hear its running great! I would get new wheel bearings if it were my car, but I know people that can press them for me for cheap. I just like knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with those again for quite awhile.

[kimokalihi]

Thanks. It was on a slight hill, it's not actually THAT low but it is pretty low.

Exactly but I don't know anyone. Except Jake...lol but I don't really know him and they're probably busy. I read on a thread here the other day that someone took their hubs to a shop and they charged them $100 to do 2 hubs. Fuck that. I'd rather try my luck with a hammer.

[ericem]

Go to the scrap yard and get hub assemblies from a newer low mileage subie that's all! Good luck with a hammer lmao.

[kimokalihi]

I did that before and ended up having to pull it off again and replace it because one of the ones I replaced was bad too. So I had 3 bad wheel bearings and had to remove 4 hub assemblies. Who knows how long they'll last. I might be replacing them again soon. All the cars in the junkkyard have 150-300K miles on them.

[kimokalihi]

Finally got that rear diff fill plug out. It was pretty empty. Took over a quart of gear oil. When I saw how empty it was and thought about how I drove it over 100mph a few times I thought maybe that noise I'm hearing is the diff and not the wheel bearings. I'm not sure now because it's still making the noise after filling it up.

[Legacy777]

Who would have thought the speedo cable would mess everything up so bad.

Yup....The stock ECU does some crazy stuff without the speed sensor!

[kimokalihi]

Do you guys think I have damage my rear LSD? I drove it probably 300 miles with the rear diff a quart low on gear oil. I don't think it even holds much more than a quart to begin with.

This is a stupid question but there's only one place to fill the trans fluid right? Which is the dip stick tube, correct? I don't need to put any fluid in the front differential because it's part of the trans. I'm just trying to see what this noise is. I guess it's the wheel bearings but it sounds weird. It sounds like it's transmission whine. It's only present at odd times too. For instance if I'm cruising along at 60mph and let off the throttle a tiny bit that's when I hear the noise. Not on when I'm accelerating. Only makes noise at certain speeds.

[Deride]

Yea, the rear diff holds almost exactly 1qt... being a qt low would not be good. As for the tranny.. filling it from the dip stick tube fills the front diff on a 5MT which is a tid bit over 4 qts

[SubOnno]

Hi Kimo, nice build!!!
The VSS is indead important, VW Beetle builders who use a Subaru engine will always need a VSS signal.
There is a product to simulate that.
http://www.enginewiring.com/catalog.htm

[kimokalihi]

Yea, the rear diff holds almost exactly 1qt... being a qt low would not be good. As for the tranny.. filling it from the dip stick tube fills the front diff on a 5MT which is a tid bit over 4 qts

Question is, how bad could it be after 300 miles and several full pulls of up to 120 mph?

[mike-tracy]

The "Lsd" part is sealed inside (ie. doesn't share oil with the diff). I think that if you were bombing down the freeway and not going around corners for 300 miles straight, then worst case your ring and pinion gears may be compromised. Any funny noises from the rear end (of your car)?

[kimokalihi]

Yeah. But I can't tell what it is. I thought it was the wheel bearings at first, now I'm not sure. I jacked the car up and pulled the wheels back and forth and there's absolutely no play that I can feel.

I did go around some corners lol. Some of which were 80mph corners. Well, I took them at 80mph.

Do you think the rear diff could be the source of the intermittent noise? Wouldn't wheel bearings make noise constantly all the time and worse when going around corners? When I go around corners the noise doesn't change.

[beatersubi]

If it is the wheel bearings the noise should change when cornering.
Mine were most noticeable when changing direction slightly at highway speeds. Like while changing lanes.