josh, here is the pliers for those hose clips.
https://i.imgur.com/2aKHwVbl.jpg?1

The brackets on the intercooler wasn't where they are suppose to be. That gave us a bit of a problem. But it did bolt up after figuring it out.

Maybe I should have said if Treadstone welds their **** on correctly, it bolts right up. :icon17:

Betty, thanks for the post! I'll check that out - I'd totally forgotten those.

:iagree: That being said, it was pretty easy to bolt on, we just had to move some washers I was using as spacers for the intercooler.

My pressure tester arrived last night (thanks to Solidus for the rec). I probably won't get a chance to do any additional work until Friday evening, but glad to have it. Hopefully I can figure out quickly if this is a vacuum leak.

The fuel tap should be arriving Friday also.

Got it figured out yet?

No. I actually didn't touch the project at all until Saturday, needing time away from it.

Saturday I went back through, examining all connections. I moved and adjusted all clamps, adjusted piping near the CMAK for slightly better clearance, took my time with it. The goal was to get set for the boost pressure tester; also one of my buddies has access to a smoke machine from his shop, and his plan was to bring that by Sunday. I found nothing obvious Saturday, except that the orientation of the turbo (inlet side) could be improved. Everything appears to have been well seated.

Sunday I went a bit further including adjusting the turbo inlet side and discovered one unusual item. COMP has apparently stopped plugging one port on the side of the turbo. It requires a 1/8 NPT plug, available for about $3 from Lowes, pic attached.

Kauffman (mechanic buddy) unfortunately forgot the smoke machine (the perils of having wife and children) but did stop by. Attempted to start the car. Same basic issue.

Troubleshooting we performed:
-Fuel rail is absolutely pressurized. Madwi and I had previously checked this, but last night we did retest, twice. It gets enough fuel to spray when disconnected.
-To that point, you can clearly hear the fuel pump turn on and run.
-During the brief moments it runs, car is running pig rich. You can smell it, and we pulled a spark plug to confirm. Definitely being fouled with fuel.
-It's not misfiring.
-All cylinders are firing.
-It's not an obvious vacuum leak - car does not rev really high and then die as it would if I were missing a gasket. That being said, I'd previously verified all gaskets were present by the Throttle Bodies and under the plenum, and in good condition. If it was a vacuum leak and it were causing the issue, it should be post MAF.

My wife has a 2013 G37x and is currently away on business, so just to rule them out, I'm going to swap in her MAF sensors, throttle bodies, and fuel rail, in that order, testing each component one at a time to rule it out as a possible cause.

A part of me is wondering if my oversized throttle bodies are a component of this, since the last time I installed them (2018 or so) I had to run through the idle relearn just to get the car to stabilize. I'm wondering if they aren't opening correctly and the car is shutting off before I can do anything about it?

Other people have had issues with the over sized throttle bodies. Might be worth it to swap them out for the stock throttle bodies.

Yeah that was my late night epiphany. Since I have access, I might as well.

Agreed!

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It's not the throttle bodies.

:(

Still doing the same thing?

Yeah, no change. Reached out to RT tuning to see if they can check the fuel scaling on the base map they sent me just to rule that out. If that doesn't yield anything, next on the list are the injectors.

RT sent me a new base map, fingers crossed! I'll load it tonight when I'm home from work.

Car is alive!!! It was the tune!!

:vuvuzela:

Congrats!!!

:happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance:



Now..........did you fix the lift in the mean time? Or is it still stuck in the air?

:rock: :rock: :rock:

Ha still stuck for the moment, haven't tried to fix it. Knew I'd need to be under it 😉 that'll come now that it's running.

It's such a good feeling :driving:

:woot:

Yahoo! Boost problems suck...

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:bowrofl::bowrofl::bowrofl::p:p:p:p:p:p:p awesome!

Hopefully final updates on this part of the process. Saturday, I went through the build, tidying up. Interior is back together. Added wiring has been secured with zip ties behind the dash. Replaced the cabin air filter while I was fiddling around with everything else, since I've had a replacement for an embarassingly long time without installing it. Interior looks stock, except for the gauge pod additions.

Ran the car for a while to check for leaks. Idle is very stable @ ~900 rpms, AFR at idle is about 14:1. After running for 30 minutes, I was still getting single drips of oil at the oil cooler, so I drained the oil, disconnected the fittings from the plate, went back over everything with thread sealant and tightened it all up. Problem solved.

Same thing under the turbo. I could still see a single drop of coolant emerging every few minutes from one of the coolant lines - unfortunately, it was the one I couldn't reach with any of my wrenches. I'd had enough fun for one day, so I went out to Longhorn Steakhouse with the wife instead.

Sunday I dropped the turbo, re-tightened the fittings (one had loosened slightly during install, that was my issue) and took the time to add a few zip ties and heat shielding to nearby wiring. I used my transmission jack to hold the turbo instead of lifting it over my head the entire time. Reinstalled everything, added the turbo blanket.

Last obstacle was the Quickjack. Per the manufacturers instruction, I refilled the transmission fluid in the reservoir although wisely not all the way (more on this momentarily). Since the quick connect fittings were the issue, specifically the short lines mounted to the rails, I disconnected those fittings and allowed them to drain. More thread sealant, tightened the fittings back up, connected the Quickjack, and lowered the car! ... creating as I did so a literal fountain of transmission fluid from the Quickjack reservoir breather valve which sprayed both my front bumper and the ceiling of my garage. After some light panicked cleaning, order was restored.

In hindsight, the fountain was very pretty, but I cannot recommend. Do not refill reservoir. Despite the manufacturers rec, you will not lose enough fluid from the lines to merit a full refilling.

The red dragon is on the ground.

Congrats!

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It's alive.......it's alive!!!! :tup:

Went for a very low speed cruise last night, just a couple blocks. I pretty quickly noticed some resistance when turning the wheel. Got the car back up on the Quickjack, and discovered one of my very clever clamp locations for the piping was interfering. It was a simple fix, but time consuming. I'll try another shakedown tonight.

You are on the downhill slide! I'm quite envious. Congratulations!

Tune is set for the 24th - I'm so excited my nipples could cut glass!

The infamous steering knuckle charge pipe. I hate that one. I've asked Sasha for a set of pipes from the turbo to the one just before the intercooler charge pipe. I'm gonna pull them all and put the new set in because I believe that one is bent and damaged.

In my case, the pipe does clear, it was the clamp that didn't. I found what I thought was a great place for the clamp. Unfortunately, the t-bolt was just a little too close. But yeah, its a very tight spot. Easily my least favorite part of this project - other than my original non-functioning tune and my intercooler with the backwards bracket.

Yeah mone was the clamp too but the tight space is irritating af.

:iagree:

That part was just very frustrating. Windex is not optional there. Without it, you're just asking for pain.

Like JAR's azz - just ask Hotrodz.

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BettyZ dropping bombs in all threads. :rofl2:

Look out below!!!

Well all you need is a touch of dielectric grease! -Joby

First street test tonight! It went great! I only put her into boost a little - just the tip, just to see how it feels - and holy crap! The car drives like NA until abruptly it doesn't! Looks like the tuner kept it pretty rich in boost for safety, but I'll wait the two weeks before I really push it. Can't wait!

Lol!!! That base map is really rich. But you better stay outta that boost. Plenty time for that later. Slow down Tito!!!!

But how'd you like that spool sound!?!?! I kept the windows down and the radio off for weeks.