Hi everyone, I'll give as much detail as possible. I recently finally swapped in my rebuilt z6, it was rebuilt with p29 pistons, all new gaskets, seals bearings, other misc stuff that doesn't fit in with the problem.

I started the car for the first time today, The car needed a new battery and plugs and I got it to start. I have to hold the gas down about 2k rpm to keep it running smooth, anything below that its really rough. If I let off of the gas the car dies. Shortly after it warmed up, I got CEL code 43 for the fuel supply system. Could this be whats causing my car to die? If so, what could be the causes of this CEL? I did not drain the remaining fuel when my motor blew last october. It had about a gallon and a half left in the tank. Before the first start I put 4 gallons of fresh gas in. I think the rail and injectors are fine and I changed the seals on those as well.

So, bad o2 sensor? change fuel filter? Possibly bad fuel pump? if it was the pump would it start at all?

My friend says that he thinks I have vac hoses crossed, I used a diagram to install all the hoses back to how they were. The only difference is that I bypassed the front outlet on the FITV with the small coolant outlet on the IM. Thats the only thing I did differently than before when the car was running. That also was on the diagram, so I went ahead and did it.

Any thoughts would be awesome, I have been sitting on my *** waiting to get this done and it is finally done but I can't drive it!

Thanks in advance.

 

Does the engine idle better after it is warmed up?

Is the vacuum hose to the FPR connected and pulling vacuum?

Is the mechanical timing off by one tooth? Does the engine run better when the distributor is rotated to a different position?

 

Its the same after warm up, I'm sure my FPR is ok but I'll check, my mechanical timing is on point, and I haven't messed with the dizzy, I was going to do the ignition timing when my car ran fine lol.

 

To check the FPR vac line do I just disconnect the hose that goes from it to the top of the IM and see if it's sucking?

 

Also i should put that I used a bisimoto cam gear, it doesn't have the TDC mark so I just put the "up" at twelve o clock like my Haynes guide stated, starting to wonder if I can be a tooth off in using this method, that would suck.

 

with out the tdc mark, how can you be sure its at tdc?
also obd2 and obd1 di6's are indexed differently so if you have a y7/y8 cam gear it would also be off.
i would put the stock z6 cam gear back on and check the timing that way.

 

It's a d16z6 cam gear, the book said up at 12 o clock thats what I did. I always have trouble getting the timing belt tight after changing cam gears but I'll probably do that if nothing else works. Would this cause a CEL code 43 though? Because I think fixing the code is my problem, of course I can be wrong.

 

I bought a fuel filter today, I figure thats a good place to start because of the gallon or more of old fuel that has been sitting there for a good 10 months. I'll let everyone know how that goes. I'll see what else I can get done tonight, so far I don't know what else this could be. have to put back on the driverside knuckle too, i had to get a ball joint pressed.

 

Did the old motor actually blow, or just die and not restart? Many things can make it run like crap, including a MAP sensor not hooked up, bad spark, not enough fuel or too much. I have no idea what that code means, but it's not a bad place to start.

 

make sure you put all the plugs in the right place and double check all vacuum hoses

 

Code 43 is fuel supply system, all hoses are good, getting spark everything seems fine except that code.

 

Man, it seems like every time I mess with any ball joint, I have to get them replaced because they wont retighten!!!! I hate them lol. Am I doing something wrong or do they always do that? like the actual nut spins with the bolt when I'm trying to refasten them. :/ no fun at all! I just had to get the lower ball joint replaced but the boot was really ripped so it needed it, thats for sure, but the upper ball joint and the joint at the end of the tie rod are fine looking, but they won't tighten.

Just another thing that I have to work on with this car, still haven't gotten a chance to replace the fuel filter to see if that will work. Car still dies unless I have my foot on the gas a little to keep it going. Still don't know what else it can be. Everything just sucks after all the time I've spent trying to make everything work right it never does. Should have just got a b series and called it good instead of a motor rebuild on a sohc. LOL.

 

try adjuating the throtle caby to get it to say running

 

This is a commen problem. Put a jack under the control arma and jack it up till the weight of the car is on the joint. It shouldn't spin with the weight of the car on it. A impact dose the trick to with a spinning ball joint. Hope this helps!

 

Yeah, I got the lower ball joint replaced anyways because the boot was torn to ****, but the joint at the end of the tie rod and the upper ball joint are both doing the same thing now and the joints look totally fine, that's whats annoying me.

 

you have to put some weight on the ball joint (c-clamp, pliers, whatever)

 

had the same problem with mine keep weight on it and the nut will go

 

I changed the fuel filter tonight, reset the ecu and the CEL didn't come on, I still had to hold down the gas to keep the car running, Had someone listening for vacuum leakcs and not one thing. It would have to be a major leak for it to make the car die right? Anyways, I'm gonna try and swap out my cam gear to the OEM one as soon as I get the chance to make sure the mechanical timing is on point, any tips on how to retighten the timing belt? I really don't want to take off the crank pulley again. I know there is a way to do it without doing that. Hmmm, could anything electrical cause this? I.e. Cap and rotor? plug wires? All of those things are still from my old motor and not sure how old they were they came with the car when I bought it last march. Really need to get this problem solved so I can smog this thing and register it.

 

By the way, thanks for the insight on the ball joints, I haven't tried it yet but it all makes sense to me and I don't know why I didn't try that lol.

 

what motor was in your car before the swap and what ecu are you running

 

jdm d15b and I'm running a stock p28 ecu, Today I took off the bisi cam gear and used the oem cam gear as a guide to make a TDC mark on the bisi cam gear and put it back on, Lined it up perfect where it was supposed to be and put the timing belt back on, I had my wife hold the crank pulley bolt with a socket wrench to tighten the side of the belt opposite from the water pump, and tightened back up the tension pulley. The belt doesn't seem as tight as it was before I did that, but I think the play that it has won't affect anything. I need a new alternator because I broke the ground nut on the one that I have so I have nothing to thread a bolt on. Just another thing to spend cash on :D. I haven't gotten a chance to try to tighten the ball joints I will tomorrow. I haven't gotten to start the car after messing with the timing belt because of the alternator. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

Maybe you need to replace the fuel strainer on your fuel pump? If it's been sitting with old gas it could be totally clogged.

 

That's one thing I will be checking, I know for sure everything else is good. It's either that or I have to change my vacuum routing. We will see what happens.