First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

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r3bkat
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First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

Hey guys! I recently got a car this last week. Its my first car and when I got it, it was running good, better than other 240s ive seen around for sale and got it. Its pretty clean but after picking up were the owner left off and fixing some of his stuff the engine was running loads of smoke a couple days ago and running extremely rich... like my afr would start at 14.7 then just die to 10. I couldn't stand the smoke so I turned the car off and turned it on again and herd a loud noise. Car wont start or turn over by the crank but thats not the point of this post lol

If anyone wants an explanation why or help me figure out why it locked up just for interest sake, I can copy paste something Ive already written up but TLDR previous owner had a dud ecu and I fixed a dry connection/injectors/took out safc settings and it dumped loads and loads of fuel into the engine (afr was dead on 10 and couldn't lean out the mix no matter how much I leaned it out with the safc) and when I turned it off it was flooded most likely and when I went to started it again there was a big denotation and timing was off and a piston hit and bent a valve. I cant turn it over at the crank and I check the timing belt and looks like my chain jumped a couple teeth, could of been before of after the lockup im not so sure. I could be wrong for all I know but thats what im guessing and reading up on other threads on various forums. I'll only know this weekend when I take the head off. So the car is sitting in my driveway basically dead lol. I was destroyed but now im exited to build my first engine and do everything right.

So long story short im going to rebuild the KA, not sure what parts to pick up besides a felpro headgasket and frsport timing chain. Will be looking up on good companies for internals like bearings, springs, and valves at good prices. Going to stay away from ebay kits while still being good with my money. I want to try get forged pistons since later I want to run some "big" boost on a different turbo other than the ebay one on it right now which i'll replace in a couple months or sooner. Depending on how the engine is, it will be bored out and honned.

If you guys have any recommendation on rebuild parts for the ka, go ahead and speak up! Im open to opinions and any recommendation. My biggest issue right now is do I go back to n/a and ride a couple hundred miles and then go turbo or just go turbo right off the bat?

Bit of a long post so heres some pictures over the past week and from the previous owner. At the end i'll say my goals for this build and exactly what I want to do.

Here it is in my drive, its a bit dirty now from dust and smoke but I think she looks beautiful :P
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Previous owner pic
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Another from previous owner
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Another lol with his stickers, I will be taking them off btw.
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Right when I got it, literally took 3 hours to load onto the trailer since it sat so low :angry-teeth: had to bend my fenders a bit and side bit cracked off also which I cried when I saw it fall off. After getting some wood at homedepo it took like 20 minutes to load and 5 to unload at my house lol. Another thing with the picture, I got two random guys ask me about the car and thought I was going to a drift event with it and said the loved it. Other guy was a honda fan but he said he loved 240s more lol just couldnt find a clean one
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Engine bay before cleaning
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Engine bay after
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Bumper got scratched from taking it off and having it inside my dads truck sadly :c its no biggie to sand down and patch up.
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One with the headlights on, got this one off of snapchat
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Wheel after I spent hours taking of literally one coat of plastidip. Was a cool surprise to see a bronze color under. Think id use the same color on other wheels down the line. These are fine for the time being.
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Dat ass <3, I want to swap some type x lights. Dont like these clear ones too much
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Under body when I was trying to figure out why my car would shake after releasing the clutch. Figured its my mounts and having a stage 3 clutch in, heres a video when it was running and the shake going on at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGJN_SGPR4
http://i.imgur.com/PfvOwqY.png (picture too big)

And the head from yesterday after seeing my timing chain which is off by a couple teeth
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I'll be keeping up with this and dropping pictures whenever I can, my main goal for this build is to have a strong daily driver, so a good tune is a must for milage and some small boosting around 250whp. Then later I will buy a beater honda to daily and go 350-400whp with better internals, bigger turbo. As far as body goes, I want to do a bit of type X and run some 18in wide wheels. I want the interior to look clean and will be keeping the s14 seats in it right now, replace the carpet, do some covering on the door pannels, and have a nice system in the car since I want another place to reference tracks for music since I make music for fun on the side and bit of sound engineering so nice speakers are a given ahha On my youtube channel I basically go over how to make sounds and use a program to make music and other stuff but thats kinda boring to you guys. I might make a separate channel and post just car video there and vlogs with it.

So thats basically it for now, ill be taking the head off this weekend and looking to order parts. Any recommendations or word of wisdom will be very much appreciated!
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S14wayz
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by S14wayz »

In the picture with the timing gears your intake cam has cylinder #1 intake valves open. You want the first two cam lobes faced left so the intake valves in cylinder #1 are closed and your exhaust cams lobes to the right so they are closed as well. Then you can properly count the links properly to make sure timing is good (not sure if you moved the cams after or you checked it as displayed in the picture). Looks like a pretty clean whip though good luck on your build :)
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r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

S14wayz wrote:In the picture with the timing gears your intake cam has cylinder #1 intake valves open. You want the first two cam lobes faced left so the intake valves in cylinder #1 are closed and your exhaust cams lobes to the right so they are closed as well. Then you can properly count the links properly to make sure timing is good (not sure if you moved the cams after or you checked it as displayed in the picture). Looks like a pretty clean whip though good luck on your build :)
No I didnt take the cams out, I will this weekend when I take off the head. The picture is exactly how the chain is on the car right now but once I take off the head ill be sure to redo the timing chain and see the rest of the engines conditions. Then when I get my rebuild parts ill have to do it all over again :angry-cussingblack:
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street_240sx
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by street_240sx »

The pic of timing chain you sure it was at tdc? And not 180 out? The colored links will only link up with the cams when you first set it. The second you rotate it wont line up again. At tdc the first lobes are suppose to point away from each other. Sure those are the oem cams and correct one in the correct spot
03 evo8 gsr: stroker 2.3 ;)

04 evo8 gsr: totalled

96 integra gsr: sold

89 s13 coupe: stock dohc, gt3076, megasquirt

started 3/15/08, running 1/18/09, finally turbo 2/9/14 lmfao
r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

street_240sx wrote:The pic of timing chain you sure it was at tdc? And not 180 out? The colored links will only link up with the cams when you first set it. The second you rotate it wont line up again. At tdc the first lobes are suppose to point away from each other. Sure those are the oem cams and correct one in the correct spot

I did't put the chain on myself, im geussing the previous owner last put it on. Wouldnt the dots on the cams and the paint on the chain always line up?
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diesel240
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by diesel240 »

At TDC the single row chain should line up the dot with the colored link but the double row cam chain will most likely not be lined up. As for NA vs turbo after rebuild I would suggest starting out NA. There is obviously something wrong with the car and someone else put it together so it could be absolutely anything. Starting NA you have a lot more leeway and are less likely of blowing it up again. I am currently doing this after a few rebuilds and trying to chase down an occasional miss. Get everything running perfect then throw the turbo back on there. Nice clean S13 by the way, keep the build slow and steady and make sure you do it right the first time!
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street_240sx
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by street_240sx »

r3bkat wrote:
street_240sx wrote:The pic of timing chain you sure it was at tdc? And not 180 out? The colored links will only link up with the cams when you first set it. The second you rotate it wont line up again. At tdc the first lobes are suppose to point away from each other. Sure those are the oem cams and correct one in the correct spot

I did't put the chain on myself, im geussing the previous owner last put it on. Wouldnt the dots on the cams and the paint on the chain always line up?
They will only line up when they are first set. To check if its properly time after its rotated once you just have to go off the cam lobes. I cant give you a technical reason but all timing chain motors do it. I believe its something to do with the number of teeth and links.
03 evo8 gsr: stroker 2.3 ;)

04 evo8 gsr: totalled

96 integra gsr: sold

89 s13 coupe: stock dohc, gt3076, megasquirt

started 3/15/08, running 1/18/09, finally turbo 2/9/14 lmfao
r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

Nothing really import to a build but a good thing is my engine can turn over! So im 90% that one of my injectors were leaking and caused my engine to run super rich and basically hydrolock and once it was locked my starter blewup and was impossible to turn the engine over by hand.

So instead of originally thinking I had a bent rod or valve, the loud slap noise was my starter just breaking a part.

Im going to get some new o-rings and a starter this weekend and see if she starts up.

Here is a picture of whats left of the starter lol

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r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

So today, I went and picked up some e3 stark plugs just to try out, a compression tester, and some o rings for an injector which basically broke and caused this whole mess of my car not starting, starter blowing, and engine flooding with gas.

Last night I spent about two hours draining and syphoning gas out of my engine and even the throttle body was flowing this gas.

Put the car back together, swapped the o ring in, and she cranked and started up good as new after giving it some gas! Ironically she runs a lot smoother and my afr is a bit more steady now in the 13-14 range, she's not bogging like before, and has better throttle response. Now time to do general maintenance, check out some stuff with a consult cable, get new piping so I can take off this stupid blow through one, and get an electronic boost controller to run a little more boost and have presets. Im looking at the one from GFB for the price and simplicity. Plus you have tons of presets so I can ride off my wastage for daily driving and then run a higher boost on weekend.

One thing I want to sort out is the highish idle, im thinking its some kinda vacuum leak or my iavc since one of the connectors is off and clip is broken. On start up its around 1500 but when its warm its around 900-1000. Is this normal for a turbo ka? Shouldn't it be around 750?
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by supakat »

900 is fine. But if you want to turn down, play with the IACV and make sure the idle screw on the throttle is not bumping it up. I like 900-1000 because when coming down from high revs, the motor catches itself better rather than stalling out.
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r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

supakat wrote:900 is fine. But if you want to turn down, play with the IACV and make sure the idle screw on the throttle is not bumping it up. I like 900-1000 because when coming down from high revs, the motor catches itself better rather than stalling out.
I'll check the idle screw on the throttle and I think 900 is fine, just wanted to make sure and like you said the motor catches itself better instead of dying out and stalling which will probably happen a couple times since this is my first turbo and manual car :confusion-questionmarks:
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by street_240sx »

Ugh why e3 spark plugs?!
03 evo8 gsr: stroker 2.3 ;)

04 evo8 gsr: totalled

96 integra gsr: sold

89 s13 coupe: stock dohc, gt3076, megasquirt

started 3/15/08, running 1/18/09, finally turbo 2/9/14 lmfao
r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

street_240sx wrote:Ugh why e3 spark plugs?!
Was my dads reconmendation, he just randomly picked them up and said he used them back in south africa and saw good stuff with it.
I personally wanted to get the copper nkg plugs but It wouldnt hurt to try them right?

Also something werid happened today, I went to go adjust my idle and got it to stay around 750 but soon as I would switch the car off my rpms would start high and my idle would still be 1000????

I was also getting codes 11, 12, 21, 34 which im guessing is something with the harness and when I went to power wash and clean the bay before must of messed up a ground. I was getting 55 literally a week before my engine flooded. Im going to do an oil change this weekend since I can smell a bit of gas when I smell the oil from the dip stick. I really want to flush out the engine but not sure what to use specifically.
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by SIL8D »

I would do a quart of gm automatic tranny fluid some decent oil and filter for about 500-1000 miles and go from there ..
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street_240sx
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by street_240sx »

Whenever you adjust idle you have to reset the tps. 1000 really isnt a high idle to freak about
03 evo8 gsr: stroker 2.3 ;)

04 evo8 gsr: totalled

96 integra gsr: sold

89 s13 coupe: stock dohc, gt3076, megasquirt

started 3/15/08, running 1/18/09, finally turbo 2/9/14 lmfao
r3bkat
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

street_240sx wrote:Whenever you adjust idle you have to reset the tps. 1000 really isnt a high idle to freak about
Im going to reset the tps this weekend and its nothing major but I want to know exactly why its so high. In the next month or so i'll borrow a air compressor and test for boost/vacuum leaks which im positive there are some by my bov and back side of my engine. The previous owner did some deletion and some vacuum lines are still open.
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

r3bkat wrote: Im going to reset the tps this weekend and its nothing major but I want to know exactly why its so high. In the next month or so i'll borrow a air compressor and test for boost/vacuum leaks which im positive there are some by my bov and back side of my engine. The previous owner did some deletion and some vacuum lines are still open.
I checked the tps and couldnt get any reading on my multimeter so not sure if it my meter thats messed up or its my wiring or knock sensor, all my other codes went away and now I just have 34 knock.

When I went to go check the maf and take it out to get it clean, I saw it was installed the wrong way.... Since it blow through, the air coming from the cold pipe to the maf was hitting the wires and the filter was after it, I switched it around and when I went to start up the car again it felt a tiny bit more responsive.

This weekend im going to a junk yard to see what goodies I can pick up. Stuff like carpets, harness, maybe wheels, and some window trimming if its any good.

Also when I took the car for a drive the other day and went to do a 3rd gear pull on a sorta a main road my boost gauge jumped to around 10psi of boost at 5000k rpm. Normally in 1st or second ill get around dead 0 or around 3-5 since its off the waste gate but it was strange to see it jump out of no wear. I also heard my bov finally which was really faint lol im undecided to get either a hks or tail and VTA. Another thing when my dad was driving around for a bit I had my laptop connected and had ecu talk open and everything looked right besides I had no reading for speed which im guessing is the wiring harness or speed sensor and my timing would jump around to betweeen 20-40. Yesterday we adjusted the timing again for 20 tdc and car idles better but when I have the tps connected my car idles around 900 and with it disconnected it goes down to 700-650? So maybe me tps is messed up. When I went to drive that day also my car would backfire pretty loud every time when you left off from 2nd to 3rd or down shifting. After we redid the timing with a light it didnt back fire when we reved it at idle. Normally when I go to aorund 4k and left of the gas I hear one or two pops of backfire. I have no exhaust so its just an open downpipe so its rather loud. Im going to get a custom one soon once I figure out how to run these ac lines without running on the downpipe.

What rpms do you normally get boost? I know the ka doesnt have the highest rpm limit but driving normally from 1k-3k it should preform like a normal ka right?
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

No real updates but going to be rebuilding my power steering rack and raising up the height on the car this weekend and ordering some cheap tires online till I save up for some decent looking wheels.

Here is a video of my friend on the bus passing my house, he got the driver to stop for a bit to get a video lmao. Its off of snapchat
Anyone know how to embed a video on here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjwRS-R ... e=youtu.be
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Re: First Car and First Build: S13 DD Ka-t

Post by r3bkat »

Small updates, cleaned up my interior, got my wheels stripped and powder coated, ordering some odds and ends around for my car. Everything engine wise is running perfect, still getting the knock sensor but my one is most likely cracked or finally broke. I also went through my whole harness to check why my speedo was working and it was clean.

I took apart my cluster and put it back together and now it some how works... Im not questioning it but its working!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL1M2wLCWaU

Now I need to get some tires, get an alignment, add on my ac compressor, then go in for an exhaust. This should last me for a year or so till I can do a full rebuild and try get 400+ on a rebuild and other goodies.
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