Hi all, I've finally had time to pop to my girlfriends for the weekend and have taken some pictures of my car. Im hoping you guys can help me identify the aftermarket mods and any missing parts from my engine bay. I've listed what I can see and what I think stuff is, but feel free to tell me if im wrong! For those that don't know I bought this as a non-runner a few weeks ago and am going to pull the engine out in the NY and find out what's gone wrong. The car has what a few people have described as 'an old school Japanese setup'.

 

Also, can someone tell me how to embed my photos at full size as everyone else seems to be able to do. When I do it I can only get a thumbnail size image you then click on.

 

What's the black cable that comes from the bottom of the picture and goes in under the back of the engine cover? Throttle cable?

HICAS controller has been removed. HID control box in its place.

 

Thermal wrap around the power steering pipe, im presuming its to protect it from what I think is the intercooler pipe?

 

Thermal wrap around the exhaust manifold which I know from speaking to JeffTT that it has aftermarket manifolds and pipes linking to the exhaust. Them being three separate pipes from each port is a good thing right?

 

Hard pipes for intercooler and air intake to throttle bodies with T-section for extra injector on intake. do they look like standard throttle bodies?

 

MAF removed and twin air air filters added. Look in crap condition or are they normally black? Any idea what they are?

 

Nismo aftermarket radiator with air-con rad in front? Is the electric fan in front standard? I've never heard anyone mention one and it still has the viscous fan.

 

Earl's oil cooler with braided hoses right up front for cooling engine oil.

 

Better picture of the other banks extra injector with braided hose running to the other side and T-piece in the middle that runs around the side of the engine and connects to the main fuel pipe that comes into the engine bay from the passenger side.

 

Cam sprockets look aftermarket and I was told when I bought it that it has race cams.

 

Is the yellow sensor on the bottom left of the picture the temp sender?

 

Whats the black box marked Greddy? I has a Greddy boost controller in the dash and there are lots of silicon hoses connected to it, im presuming they are vacuum hoses?

 

What's the silver unit in the top left of the picture with black, yellow and blue hoses connected to it? Im guessing its something to do with boost?

 

What's the pipe for coming off the end of the balance bar for and where does it go when it turns left and goes down below?

 

Just above the balance bar bolt there is a pipe that has been blanked off, any idea what its for and what's the round metal piece just to the right of the brake fluid pot for?

 

What are the other two black hoses that are joined in the top right of the picture and where do they come from and go to?

Edited December 17, 201113 yr by vodkashots
sorting out pictures

ill mirror what smithy has said, id first get it back to a basic zed set up, you have the loom for the MAF anyway, keep all the bits then set about doing what you want from what is essentially a stock engine set up.

 

Would be much easier to deal with than trying to fix an engine around unknown works that most on here will know nothing about.

Ok that shows some light on things, but not all your pics loaded?

 

The HKS VPC explains no air flow meter as it replaces it, the ECU is standard but with god knows what wired into it!

 

Look out for a standard cheap engine, do a simple swap over and get the car running then. That leaves you to open yours up and do whatever you like over how long you like too.

well thats what i'd do lol

smithy

 

Did you get 4 pictures down to the HICAS unit and not the rest? I can see all of them on mine but was messing around to try and get more than five per post and can only see 4 thumbnails.

 

This is what I was thinking, Jeff said put it back to standard with the MAF etc. Ian do mean unplugging the loom from the unit in the footwell for the MAF or did you see it up front by the airfilters? I think I need to buy a breaker if I go down that road, will make it easier than trying to figure things out blindly as I can just swap the bits from the breaker.

Did you get 4 pictures down to the HICAS unit and not the rest? I can see all of them on mine but was messing around to try and get more than five per post and can only see 4 thumbnails.

 

This is what I was thinking, Jeff said put it back to standard with the MAF etc. Ian do mean unplugging the loom from the unit in the footwell for the MAF or did you see it up front by the airfilters? I think I need to buy a breaker if I go down that road, will make it easier than trying to figure things out blindly as I can just swap the bits from the breaker.

 

loom with MAF connector is taped up near your air filters (see image), wouldn't take that much to get it back to standard, and i can supply you with all the pictures you need.

 

if your going down the replacement engine route, a breaker with a known working good engine would be the way to go and most likely the more cost effective route as well. you wont be going at it blind, were all here lol

 

You would definitely benefit from starting from standard though.

 

Edited December 18, 201113 yr by vodkashots

loom with MAF connector is taped up near your air filters (see image), wouldn't take that much to get it back to standard, and i can supply you with all the pictures you need.

 

if your going down the replacement engine route, a breaker with a known working good engine would be the way to go and most likely the more cost effective route as well. you wont be going at it blind, were all here lol

 

You would definitely benefit from starting from standard though.

 

 

Nice one dude, the help is much appreciated and im really excited to get started on it! Something I just noticed on that photo you highlighted the MAF on: Fan blades......

That's all well and good but he has custom pipework so would need the bumper removing and all the stock pipework put back in again.

It's a pita getting it out, imagine how hard it will be getting it in lol

 

The VPC is no biggie tbh, everything else can be stock, can even start the engine with no maff or VPC working, just alter the VPSC settings to suit.

Would save hours of work replacing the stock pipework.

 

Oh maybe you have upgraded intercoolers as well?

smithy

That's all well and good but he has custom pipework so would need the bumper removing and all the stock pipework put back in again.

It's a pita getting it out, imagine how hard it will be getting it in lol

 

The VPC is no biggie tbh, everything else can be stock, can even start the engine with no maff or VPC working, just alter the VPSC settings to suit.

Would save hours of work replacing the stock pipework.

 

Oh maybe you have upgraded intercoolers as well?

smithy

 

well, wouldn't go that far, put the T section in that the maf sits on and go back to maf with the pipe work already installed, im on about going stock after on the other side of the radiator. just to get back to basics then change it to how you want. would make more sense then having to figure out what someone else has done.

 

Then once you have finished at least you know how its all plumbed in.

 

So basically, (engine bay side) go stock, then go back to after market set up.

Erm put the T section to what? look at the pic again and visualise where the t section goes and where the enlarged custom ally pipe is with his filters on, cos it can't connect on there.

smithy

Erm put the T section to what? look at the pic again and visualise where the t section goes and where the enlarged custom ally pipe is with his filters on, cos it can't connect on there.

smithy

 

you cant see that putting a T section in for the maf to sit back on is basically going back to basics once the air filters have been removed?

 

If he removes the air filters, and leaves the pipes they are clipped to, in place, all he needs is a T section to put the maf on, then the air filter on the end, just like the original set up, not that hard. just because a few things have been moved around, my guess is the original way the air comes from the filters, to the turbos and then to the throttle bodies is still pretty much the same.

That's all well and good but he has custom pipework so would need the bumper removing and all the stock pipework put back in again.

It's a pita getting it out, imagine how hard it will be getting it in lol

 

The VPC is no biggie tbh, everything else can be stock, can even start the engine with no maff or VPC working, just alter the VPSC settings to suit.

Would save hours of work replacing the stock pipework.

 

Oh maybe you have upgraded intercoolers as well?

smithy

 

Yeah there are a pair of HKS intercoolers and custom pipework for intake to turbo/turbo to IC/IC to throttle bodies and turbos to exhaust as they are aftermarket turbo's.

 

Did that picture of what I found in the footwell show up? Is it an ECU? Are they seperate fuel and map ECU's already plumbed in?

well, wouldn't go that far, put the T section in that the maf sits on

 

Ah so you meant to say build a "custom" t section as opposed to the stock one then cos the original one ain't going anywhere near it.

 

Turn the custom t section upside down to avoid the new air filter popping out through the plastic guard under the bumper too......

 

As i first suggested yep go with a stock engine and remove all the various gubbins, but i seriously couldn't be arsed sourcing and making pipework up and ideally removing/altering some of that behind bumper custom stuff for the sake of turning a couple of dials on the VPC :-)

Smithy

Yeah there are a pair of HKS intercoolers and custom pipework for intake to turbo/turbo to IC/IC to throttle bodies and turbos to exhaust as they are aftermarket turbo's.

 

Did that picture of what I found in the footwell show up? Is it an ECU? Are they seperate fuel and map ECU's already plumbed in?

 

No mate no pic showed up, however your main engine ECU you posted before.

Looks like all the pipe work to and from your coolers has been custom made and enlarged, which wouldn't have been an easy job tbh.

Some serious money been spent on this baby!

 

smithy

Ah so you meant to say build a "custom" t section as opposed to the stock one then cos the original one ain't going anywhere near it.

 

Turn the custom t section upside down to avoid the new air filter popping out through the plastic guard under the bumper too......

 

As i first suggested yep go with a stock engine and remove all the various gubbins, but i seriously couldn't be arsed sourcing and making pipework up and ideally removing/altering some of that behind bumper custom stuff for the sake of turning a couple of dials on the VPC :-)

Smithy

 

basically yeah lol

 

Ok fair enough, i understand what you mean. was just thinking about that, just to get it back to basics for him. though it is ultimately his car so would depend what he chooses to do (im sure B&Q would do a T section big enough for that already made)

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

 

I've uploaded the pics of the 3 units again and the interior pic. Just so im 100% clear would you mind confirming what 1,2 and 3 is please so there is no confusion. Number 1 was on top of number 2 and number 3 was on the floor.

 

Yeah I see what you mean about it being easier to go back to standard then add aftermarket from there.

 

How does a VPC work and what are you the different things you are actually controlling with the four dials? Is it imitating the MAF and sending a signal to the ECU so it thinks it's still there but without there being the airflow restriction of the MAF?

 

Cheers guys

 

Cheers

1. Main ECU (reprogrammed)

2. PAS & Hicas ECu

3. fuel Pump controller

 

The VPC basically takes in the signals from Map and air temp sensors, and converts them into understandable signals to the Stock ECU.

 

tbh, you have several different pieces of tech to do the job that one single piece of equipment could do. There is not a lot of need for a MAP sensor setup at anything less than 500hp but if you wanted to go that route then I would put the money towards a custom ECU management system, such as Emerald or AEM, instead. Alternatively you could just go back to a remapped stock ECU and MAF setup, which is a perfectly adequate setup when mapped by somebody in the right hands unless your really chasing insanely high number.

Edited December 18, 201113 yr by Yowser

 

How does a VPC work and what are you the different things you are actually controlling with the four dials? Is it imitating the MAF and sending a signal to the ECU so it thinks it's still there but without there being the airflow restriction of the MAF?

 

Cheers guys

 

Cheers

That's basically it mate :-)

 

smithy

1. Main ECU (reprogrammed)

2. PAS & Hicas ECu

3. fuel Pump controller

 

The VPC basically takes in the signals from Map and air temp sensors, and converts them into understandable signals to the Stock ECU.

 

tbh, you have several different pieces of tech to do the job that one single piece of equipment could do. There is not a lot of need for a MAP sensor setup at anything less than 500hp but if you wanted to go that route then I would put the money towards a custom ECU management system, such as Emerald or AEM, instead. Alternatively you could just go back to a remapped stock ECU and MAF setup, which is a perfectly adequate setup when mapped by somebody in the right hands unless your really chasing insanely high number.

 

Just want to check as my photos and thumbnails are in reverse order but the one that says Fuel Computer on the front is defo the fuel computer right? As my reprogrammed ECU is sitting on the floor and not plugged in does that mean there are normally 3 ECU's in the passenger footwell?

 

Main ECU/HICAS and PS/Fuel controller?

 

I remember reading about the steering changing dependant on the speed you are travelling, is that what that ECU does along with the HICAS?

 

Im trying hard not to get into chasing big numbers but I love fast cars and as the car has already achieved decent power and has so much there already to help achieve it it seems a shame not to make use of it so im thinking 400bhp would be a nice start then another 100 when im bored of that!

Edited December 18, 201113 yr by Eggs
Extra info

Nope thats just a sticker someone put on it and yes normally 3.

The pics as loaded is your post above number 39, yowser as detailed them in that order.

smithy

Nope thats just a sticker someone put on it and yes normally 3.

The pics as loaded is your post above number 39, yowser as detailed them in that order.

smithy

 

Well that's bloody stupid isn't it! No wonder I was so ****ing confused!

 

So the fuel computer isn't plugged in because the Greddy unit is doing the job now.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me everyone and thanks for your time its greatly appreciated :thumbup:

You don't have a fuel computer as standard, it's a fuel PUMP controller which is in your 3rd pic mate.

I would imagine the Greddy has been spliced into the ECU or is to simply control the extra injectors through varying levels of boost.

 

Perhaps the silver unit is a fuel controller, as you may have one if you have the sticker lol

 

smithy

Edited December 18, 201113 yr by Smithy

To be honest this looks like one of those things that will be a nightmare to get running without knowing exactly what's been done in the past.

Trying to go back to basic setup may not be too realistic though as at any boost without the additional injectors etc. you may well be in trouble.

The way I see it you have 2 options really.

1) Try to get what's there working then see what you have and decide where to go from there. Just getting it running though assumes that the VPC is working properly as a minimum.

2) Ditch the whole lot and fit an aftermarket system which won't require re-fitting the MAF etc. then set it up on that, if you use something like emerald you can keep the extra injectors too and just phase them in.

 

Good luck with it, should be an interesting challenge!

To be honest this looks like one of those things that will be a nightmare to get running without knowing exactly what's been done in the past.

Trying to go back to basic setup may not be too realistic though as at any boost without the additional injectors etc. you may well be in trouble.

The way I see it you have 2 options really.

1) Try to get what's there working then see what you have and decide where to go from there. Just getting it running though assumes that the VPC is working properly as a minimum.

2) Ditch the whole lot and fit an aftermarket system which won't require re-fitting the MAF etc. then set it up on that, if you use something like emerald you can keep the extra injectors too and just phase them in.

 

Good luck with it, should be an interesting challenge!

 

Thanks alot John,

 

Is the Emerald system the one I saw a thread about recently that you are designing a TT base map for currently using a members car?

 

Are you familiar with Megasquirt? I've been helping a mate build a monsterous off-road buggy and one of the first jobs we did was installing that, the program I have on my laptop for it makes it look very tweekable. Cost him about a grand, is waterproof and gave him nearly everything new for the ignition system.

Oh yeah and I found a Greddy Profec B control unit hiding behind the other control units this morning! Brucey Bonus!

Thanks alot John,

 

Is the Emerald system the one I saw a thread about recently that you are designing a TT base map for currently using a members car?

 

Are you familiar with Megasquirt? I've been helping a mate build a monsterous off-road buggy and one of the first jobs we did was installing that, the program I have on my laptop for it makes it look very tweekable. Cost him about a grand, is waterproof and gave him nearly everything new for the ignition system.

 

Yes, the emerald K6 http://www.emeraldm3d.com Have done 6 conversions on 300s and most are up and running fully now, have one on my V8 conversion too and used them loads in the past on 205s and stuff. Its a good ECU and gives you the benefits of a standalone that a piggy back / reprogrammed stock one just can't do.

I'm familiar with megasquirt but never used it myself, have a mate that builds them and uses them a lot for autograss cars.