Back from the mechanic...

[Mark K]

hey guys,
Hopefully, my car is all better.

I took it to the mechanic and explained the problem (the car losing power and revving in short bursts), he said it was the ignition module.
Due to the fact that this problem will stop if you give the car a rest for a little while... but start again after a bit of driving.

$170 for the new ignition module, and $60 for a new set of Bosch 7mm (i totally fogot to get 8mm) plug leads...

The verdict...
The car feels slightly crapper than before
Doesnt have quite the same oomph (not that it had much to begin with).
It seems to take a bit longer to get the car up to speed and it feels kinda, well, empty and gutless.

Could this be from the 7mm wires?
i had 8mm wires on previously, but i didnt know when they had last been changed so i just got new ones.
AND
Is the ignition module the same as what i see you guys refer to as the coil?

Also, i had noticed that the engine was pretty hot after i got home from a drive... I know engines get hot, but this time it just seemed to radiate off it, i could actually feel waves of hot air around the rocker cover...
Is this normal?

Thanks for listening to my crap again

Mark

[bluecube]

Hey man,
Glad to see your car is working now. I have 8.0mm leads on my Cielo. My girlfriends Lanos only have 7.0mm and her car does feel a bit gutless compared to mine even tho hers is supposed to be 8kw more powerful than my car. So yeh I do think the leads can make a difference. Also i wouldn't worry too much about the heat in the engine bay - as long as your temp gauge is still reading OK.

[Mark K]

Yeah ive never noticed the temp guage reading any higher than halfway... even just below halfway.

I just took the car for a quick lap, the car seems to be working fine now, i just need to get the clutch checked out and adjusted or something.

Is it possible that having a cold air intake and NOT having an exhaust can create problems?
I mean, if your getting better/more air flow and fuel mixture... and of course, driving it to enjoy it...
it would seem to me that the stock exhaust wouldnt be able to handle the extra waste (not being designed for so much of it that is). Possibly creating an excess build up of exhaust waste? possibly creating some sort of pressure difference? or something like that?
Could my car problems be because i dont have an adequate exhaust system??

Anyways, just pondering...

[DomWoo]

hmm to bad you had to buy a new coil. it was most likely the leads that was casusing the problem

anyways.. yes i bought a set of bosch 7mm leads and the car felt like crap.. it had no power. i would take them back if you can because they arnt worth it. get your self some 8.5mm MSD bulk wire and build your own set they are the best wires for the price. itsl ike $13 for the wires and parts and you can use the old boots to save money

[bluecube]

Hmm. Im not sure about the exhaust problems. But I do know that if your exhaust has sort of packed it in and nearly died, then it can actually block the exhaust a bit and restrict it - even tho it may sound loud and powerful.

[MMamdouh]

i don't think the 7mm wires would cause problems, OK you will feel the car less responsive when downgrading from 8 to 7 but the qwuestion is: is the car misbehaving wit hthe 7mm wires?? if the answer is no then it is normal to feel it is less responsive.

MMamdouh

[Mark K]

Nah i wouldnt say the cars misbehaving as such...
I just get the feeling that if i had got 8 or 8.5mm leads, id be much happier with the $300 i just spent today on the car of mine
And judging from DomWoo's own personal experience with bosch 7mm leads... well... i think im gona spend a bit more some time soon...

Speaking of which, is it hard to make my own leads?
If i were to get thicker wire in bulk, would the 7mm connectors fit on there? is it hard to do?
I dont actually have the old leads anymore so i cant use them

Thanks for the speedy replies
Mark

[MMamdouh]

i messed arround with an old OEM set that i have and i can see the socket at the spark plug end is easy to do... not sure about the other end as i didn't mess with it.

MMamdouh

[Mark K]

Excellent...
Thanks for that Mmamdouh.

I just experimented with my air intake.
Since tuesday, ive had a longer intake pipe sitting directly over the engine bay hole...

I was thinking about how Audacity is always saying how SRI's are better than CAI, so i thought id try it and see how it went.
It went very well...
Felt a definite improvement straight away, the accelerator felt tighter, punchier and more responsive.
Im thinking, this is because the air didnt have to travel as far to get to the TB?
Also, maybe the filter and heat shield i had over the hole was causing the engine bay to get hotter than usual because it wasnt getting as much cold air in there.
I also fiddled with the hood a little bit... there were these 2 rubber screw thingies at the front, i unscrewed them a bit so there was a gap on either side of the hood... the drivers side gap was directly beside the SRI, so all the cold air would be going straight to it (i know this can be bad for the hood, but it think its pretty effective anyway)

So yeah, thats my rant...
i didnt think the diff between cai and sri would be so noticeable

[FearTheWoo]

Having an aftermarket intake will not create "excess waste," persay, what it does is replaces the factory intake, with a few improvements obviously on the flow of the air. The factory intake is rather restrictive, which you may should be able to see in the various choke points along its track. Removing these bottle-necks reduces resistance of air into the engine, however, without any additional compression, you're not going to be drawing in more air than the engine can dispose of.

Adding an exhaust system will capitalize on your improved air-input, by increasing the volume of the output, which means a few more horsies. Not having one will not hurt your performance, nor *should* it cause any other conflicts with the intake, as the engine will not be able to take in more air than it can properly move through its system.

Also, not as a knock on Audacity (hes been a huge help), but you should really base decisions like CAI vs. SRI on more than one person's opinion, no matter how knowledgeable or respected he may be. Don't get me wrong, in light of the recent encounters with hydrolock CAIs have fallen into a bad light, but it really depends on what kind (i.e. at what speeds, how close to startup, how far into the drive, etc) of power you're looking for.

I'm sure this has been addressed in other threads, but just to recap:
-A SRI will get you better throttle response (shorter path, fewer bends), and more power. However, this power is limited by the temperature of the air, as the engine bay will get quite hot within about 15 min, so you'll notice a power dropoff after that point, assuming you dont have some method of drawing in the air from outside.
-A CAI has slightly less throttle response (although significantly more than stock), slightly less power (usually one to two more bends, slightly longer air-path). Unlike the SRI, it draws air from the fender-well, not the engine bay, so it will be able to maintain the power gain. It also has pretty sweet sound to it (makes our 4-bangers sound much more macho ).

As for the wiring, MMamdouh summed it up pretty well.

Good luck!

Geoffrey

[Mark K]

I didnt base my choice of SRI over CAi based on someones opinions... but of my own experience.
I had a cold air setup which was longer than the setup i have now, it sounded good, seemed more consistent, but it didnt have the response that i wanted.
I was just pointing out that i had remembered what Audacity has said about them being more efficient, and thinking of how my car was behaving yesterday and thought id compare...


Oh yeah, the car started playing up on my way to work this morning... i went from 3rd to 2nd and it started bunny hopping and would bunny hop and have no power when i tried to accelerate. Still revving in short bursts...

Im slowly eliminating all the possibilites, but i get the feeling its to do with my clutch now.
Due to the fact that this problem usually happens when changing gears, and the clutch doesnt make friction till pretty far out.
According to the mechanic, when the fuel pump is gone, its gone... the car wont work, plain and simple.
Apparently its not the injectors (didnt give me a reason for that, which i think is a bit suspicious)

Got new plugs, new leads, new ignition module new oil/oil filter...

So yeah, the clutch and the injectors seem to be the only thing left.

Mark

[FearTheWoo]

Sorry man, didn't mean to come off so aggressive.

I'm a personal fan of the CAI, so probably came off a bit biased. I've seen good results with both though, and glad to hear you're happy with yours.

When the fuel pump siezes up, yeah, its pretty much the end of the line. Car should die and not start.

Its getting late, and I got a long drive in the morning, let me do a bit of asking around and I'll repost this weekend. In the mean time, let us know of any new symptoms or if the mech. has any updates.

Lets get this whole mess sorted out.

Geoffrey

[MMamdouh]

Having an aftermarket intake will not create "excess waste," persay, what it does is replaces the factory intake, with a few improvements obviously on the flow of the air. The factory intake is rather restrictive, which you may should be able to see in the various choke points along its track. Removing these bottle-necks reduces resistance of air into the engine, however, without any additional compression, you're not going to be drawing in more air than the engine can dispose of.

Adding an exhaust system will capitalize on your improved air-input, by increasing the volume of the output, which means a few more horsies. Not having one will not hurt your performance, nor *should* it cause any other conflicts with the intake, as the engine will not be able to take in more air than it can properly move through its system.
Geoffrey

+1

and if you wanna compansate the better inflow you got from the intake; get a high flow CAT or even remove it completly if it is legal so that you end up with better flow for IN and OUT gases.

for me i favour the CAI as it is pointless to suck hot air all the time specially that i live in a relativly hot reagon so my complains will be even more if i had a SRI. i recon the best setup is to use the shortest CAI you can build so you get the most throttle responce and yet enjoy the cold air.

MMamdouh

[Audacity Racing]

if you want to quote me... quote the whole thing


SRI's are WAAAAY better than CAI's but IF AND ONLY IF you can get air to it! do hood spacers, a scoop, a ram-air pipe, something! but just a SRI is NOT the best choice!

[daewoomofo]

SRI's are WAAAAY better than CAI's but IF AND ONLY IF you can get air to it! do hood spacers, a scoop, a ram-air pipe, something! but just a SRI is NOT the best choice!

are you happy now?