Big Uno's R26 Project / Engine Build

problem is more if somebody wants a silver one with a load of holes in it
Colour doesnt matter at the moment but do wish I got a yellow one!

 

Got the rear coilovers fitted today, looking to get the brakes fitted soon just trying to leave that to the last minute to stop them rusting.

Had a mix up with the coilovers and these replaced the incorrect ones, ordered 7kg / 7kg but these are 7kg/4kg rear untill the new springs arrive.
Is anyone else running the 4 rear? If so how have you got on with it?

Will be changing the discs just trying to leave it to the last minute to stop them rusting.

 

Added everything I needed to test fire the engine for the first time...

Nervously pressed the start button...



And well... thats one step closer
So happy to see this for the first time in months!

 

Will do a video when I get the coolant system finished not sure if my electric pump is working. Isnt turning, but need to find out if its constant or kicks in at a temperature?

 

Thanks mate, didnt run the engine for very long just seconds to check it.
Resistance accross the motor seems normal, have another pump so will check that tomorrow and compare.
Probably nothing to worry about just me being fussy

 

Havnt had much time over the last few days to make any posts, but I did get the car to a state where it is drivable

Fitted the brakes all round, performance friction "big brake kit" on the front, and brembo rear plain discs with Ferodo DS2500 pads.
Need to get the air bled from the ABS block shortly but it already stops well

Gearbox issues seem to now be fully resolved, my short shifter works and the clutch is probably going to give me a left leg of iron

So over the last few days I have driven just over 50 miles, so far so good, couple of things that need addressing, may need to adjust the ride height at the rear, get the geometry set up, oil and filter change and most importantly get the remap done

Sounds quite good, not really been above 3krpm so far and been monitoring the vac / boost to make sure it stays away from the latter It seems to be trying to produce boost fairly low down the rev range so will definitely be interesting what the G25 will do when mapped.
The fuel system is as predicted f*****g annoying with the 044 sat behind me buzzing away so may look at some sort of enclosure for it, for road use at least

It hasnt been washed for over 3 months now, but surprisingly clean considering but it does feel good to be back behind the wheel!

 

As soon as its mapped

 

Yep it doesnt look much different on the outside
I do have some earplugs handy, but for now I need to make sure im listening out for the engine and turbo unfortunately

 

Thanks fellas!

 

Little uodate on whats been going on.

Have now dropped the fuel pressure to 3bar from 3.5bar, installed and been running a pressure gauge at the rail today and its held 3bar constantly with almost no fluctuation, no issues at all from my rail pressure.
Had a switch around on lines at the fuel tank as I believe the return may have been causing small air bubbles in the fuel, had some constant sound changes coming from the pump which are now gone.

Have now set the ride height correctly, running 660mm floor to top of arch rear and 650mm floor to top of arch front.
Now need to tune the track and camber which I will get done more accurately.

Got a few things to tidy up and a bracket to make for the electric water pump still but so far so good. Car has now driven 200 miles.
Mapping is booked in for 9th July, so now looking forward to that!

 

Booked in at RS tuning.

 

Thank you mate really appreciated, still, the work on your car is in my opinion to higher detail!

No issues with the stretch belt, 200 miles covered now, it hasnt fell off, snapped, and it works, it does also... squeel a bit on start up, not a big deal gives me a few seconds break from thd 044 sound

 

Been trying to iron out a problem with my fuel system since I got the car running, have had some unusual pressure related issues.

As I mentioned earlier on with the fuel system setup, I installed a pressure check point directly after the 044 check valve. I originally intended this point to be for troubleshooting in the case of a issue and to give me an indicator of system pressure loss... and as it turned out I was right to put it in.

I have been watching the pump out and rail pressure quite carefully since I got the car running. Until then it has not really been possible to replicate the system running with rail usage etc..

It is important here to mention at no time have I had anything other than my regulation pressure at the rail, and for many people possibly running the pump in a more discreet place such as under the car they may have not found this type of problem until it was too late!

I noticed on occasion on idle the pump sound can differ but that is fairly normal, the car was stationary for most of the initial start up testing. while running a 3.5bar regulator at the rail, my pump output was at around 3.8bar.

Initially I began driving the car extremely gently, ride height incorrect, geometry could have been set up better by Stevie Wonder etc etc, that plus no long journeys. I noticed the outlet pressure fluctuating massive on some occasions, upto around 4 - 4.1bar, pump noise was sometimes constantly changing and at other times not.
I noticed shortly later that when the fuel / pump are warming up (another problem in itself) during long periods of idling / low main tank volume / hot engine, this seemed to be contributing to the unstable outlet pressure and pump sound.

Last week I finished setting up the handling, finally time to at least see how it can go round a corner since the rebuild.
And almost instantly on entering the first right corner with any kind of speed, heard the dreaded high pitch sound of 044 running dry...

Anyway retrurned quite slowly home avoiding cornering hard, ran some checks over the system, nothing unusual.
Collecter definitely full and returning to main tank, no chance of this running low on stock injectors and me driving like a OAP...

I then thought back to the collector tank first arriving, unfortunately I didnt spec this as it was bought as a kit alltogether (pump / tank / filter) however I do remember thinking about the outlet supply to the pump, and its size.

As it turns out I was right at the time and probably should have followed up on it sooner, the issue is infact being caused by the collector outlet, the internal diameter is that small that the pump is being forced to pull the fuel, and on a hard right corner the force of the fuel trying to pull left in the tank is enough to make the pump whine quite badly struggling to pull fuel.

There is unfortunately quite a lot more to this story, but it is almost rectified now.
I have now collected my new collector tank, with more correctly sized ports.
Anyway I now have gone from the wussy 4.1mm ID outlet to a 12.45mm ID outlet.

So I have changed the top three push fittings with the same ID for -6 JIC, the lower fitting is now -10 JIC - as Bosch recommend.
So I have a new collector, same type made by ARF, which went out of the way to get this sorted for me and in less than 24 hours... so can only recommend them for that.

So now just waiting on fittings and hose to suit the rear of the pump. Then I am hoping the fuel system should be finished - finally!

I suppose the blames partly on me for not picking up on it before, I did give it a lot of thought but for some reason went with it. But I think its fairly obvious a 4.1mm bore is going to struggle to supply 300lph...

Couple of photos of the collector as it was;







And the new collector;







Fairly sure that will fix the problem...

 

What pump are you using?

Really the pump is not meant to be fed in this way, should be immersed in fuel, the -10 is around the same size as the 044 inlet, so should stop the pump needing to pull alltogether.
For the most of the time the pump was actually working fine even with the 4.1mm restrictor but with 2litres of fuel up to around 200mm higher than the pump it shouldnt be a problem as the weight is pushing down and probably just about giving the pump enough fuel, probably a very minor pressure created by the lift pump also, which would help. But as soon as there is any driving force on the fuel in the pot it was going south.
And if its having problems on stock injectors below 3k and probably returning almost all of the fuel, its not going to get better with the 875s on WOT

 

It should be mate. What pump are you planning on then

 

What are you doing with your carbon can? Or to replace it?
The Walbro is more than enough to supply the 044.

My carbon can is off, and the solenoid for it is also not being used, but had to leave it connected electrically for now to stop error codes. Tank doesnt seem to be pressurising so it does look to be fine.

New swirl pot is fitted, that is working. However I now have another problem, fairly sure there is damage to the 044 pump internally, very likely caused by strain using the old swirl pot or cavitation as it is usually called. Pump started making a inconsistant faint grinding noise when warm recently. However it has now quite quickly gotten worse. I think the damage is already done. May be interesting what I find in the fuel filter too so just need to replace the pump and I should be sorted.

 

Can just remove the breather line that goes from the cannister under the car and to the engine bay. Remove that from the solenoid.
The line that goes from the throttle body to the solenoid needs to be plugged (vac and boost) I welded up my temp sensor port on the boost pipe and now just running my temp sensor on the throttle body and extended the wiring.
The second pipe comes off the solenoid and goes to the induction pipe, it meets up with that pointless plastic catch can, this also needs to be blocked (vac only)

Unfortunately its not good news and the pump damage is almost definitely caused by the swirl pot issue. New pump needed.

 

Time for a downdate on my current situation, I am calling it a downdate as unfortunately this post will be in now way positive...and I pre apologise, but it needs to be done.

Im going to be naming and shaming a particular company for a list of reasons here, my loss of time and money, customer service level, general failure to apologise and compensate etc etc, along with an incredibly irritating attitude similar to what I would expect at a primary school, finger pointing all blame away from themselves.

Without further a do, K-tec racing.
I seriously hope you read below.

This saga started when my fuel kit arrived, as I mentioned in an earlier post without names, I was supplied with the wrong pump. I had previously called them to inquire what pump was to be provided, and as I wanted it was to be a Bosch 044, so lets just get this straight from the start Ktec, you knew what you where selling me.

On arrival I noticed quite quickly the box that the pump arrived in looked a little... well..... not Boschy... after opening neither did the pump. It wss infact a Walbro 255.

Quick call to them with what seems to be their favourite quote "can you send us a picture?" Yes I can send a picture... maybe they assume Im a moron, maybe even the "made in USA" should give it away that its not the Bosch.
Anyway this was apparently not their fault, but their supplyers, not the end of the world and they did fairly quickly rectify it so let it slide.

Anyway of course... I posted it back, at my expense.. not a big deal. On arrival they dispatched my Bosch. All seemed fine.

Moving back to the kit which I had bought, I turned attention to the swirl pot, this I had noticed had rather small ports, and yes did instantly raise question could it supply the pump? Yes I did test the pot using water, and actually went with the pot in the end.

Anyway moving on to fitting the system to the car, the fuel filter supplied for some unknown reason with 12mm push fit - NPT (filter housing thread type) no idea why as the OD of the pot I had was 8mm...
As you have seen my entire system is using dash 6, or around 8mm.... so of course bought NPT - -6 fittings (so I could actually fit my filter as you expect)
Now for once again some unknown reason the original fittings of this come already sealed... with some blue non setting type stuff, and seemed to be semi torqued down.
These where eventually fitted to my car.

So moving on to fitting the system and testing, the first time I started the pump I had two quite impressive fuel jets, one from each NPT thread.
Now you would as a retailer expect me to be a moron of course, there is no chance I would have used PTFE 567 (the correct thing to use on a fuel bearing taper thread seal by the way Sytec / Ktec not the blue stuff) no I definitely have no experience in engineering either as you can tell, probably never seen a NPT before either.
Yes it was turned down correctly and sealed. This is quite impressively the first time I have seen a NPT leak by the way.
So what has caused it? Probably them pretorqueing it with the orginal fitting has crushed the threads together with the fitting I removed. Anyway thats my filter and purchased fittings shot... oh and a load of fuel over me and the interior... cheers

Moving on to the last couple of weeks, and the swirl pot.
As you have seen it has been replaced by one that is suitable, and here is the story behind that.
I called Ktec and explained the problem, definitely nothing wrong with it apparently but they did ask the usual "can we have a picture please" yeah sure of course I cant use a vernier... hell you dont need a vernier even a ruler would tell you the holes too small. After much argueing prior to this they finally agreed I had the wrong pot.
Anyway of course this is not their fault, its ARF's, the manufacturer. I was told I should have had the usual swirl pot they provide (with 6mm outlets?) Which are also still technically too small for the Bosch ideally. Not that it matters to me I have the wrong one.
Anyway they essentially fobbed myself and the owner of ARF onto each other to fix the issue ourselves... I called him last Wednesday, we agreed the swap and I agreed to pay him extra for the dash fittings that I wanted as Ktec refused that.
The next morning I removed the pot, sounds nice but there is no nice way of draining it, once again fuel everywhere in the car and on myself. And a fuel system left as safe as I can. Of course what else would I want to do on a Thursday morning?
A call to ARF, I realised he is around a hour away from me, I offered to drop the tank off to him as I couldnt drain it fully and worried about postal danger or problems... he offered to try his best to make my new pot during my drive... outstanding service there I was not expecting that.
Arrived and swapped pots, top bloke and be seriously made an effort to fix the issue here (not that it was even his problem as far as I am concerned) but regardless at once again my time and cost.
Ktec blamed him for incorrect supply? So it seems they dont check anything before sending on.

So now I have my new pot, specced for the pump correctly.
Fitted it all together yesterday, removed the fittings I had now wasted my money on making the wrong tank fit the pump, lovely, oh fitted the new fittings I had to buy to fit the pump to the new tank, lovely.

Quick call to ktec went something like this: I have been up and collected my new tank with the right size ports and fittings, got the pump fitted to the new tank via my new fittings, cheers (let me just explain the term reading between the lines for them here, what I actually mean is) thanks for wasting my Thursday morning and afternoon, thanks for the fuel everywhere, thanks for the £30ish for fuel driving there, thanks for the £25 to spec the tank to what it probably should have been in the first place, thanks for the £45 spent on new fittings not to mention what was spent on now surplus ones... etc etc..

 

Following on... wouldnt let me post in one as its gone over 10,000 letters

Fired her up, and all seemed well.... until the pump warmed up.
Well... Im no big expert on 044 internals but a grinding noise usually means bad... dont worry I pre took a video and uploaded it to youtube, you guessed it, the usual phrase.
Well there isnt much that can knacker a 044 really other than poor fuel supply (LOL) and hot fuel, well ill rule out the hot fuel as its not been a issue and yes I have used a thermomiter, so it doesnt leave much does it. So essentially what Im saying here is the lack of fuel from the incorrect pot, has most likely caused fuel cavitation inside the pump and worn the plates. Otherwords an omission of their previous mistske.

Hang on ive missed some other stuff out wouldnt want to forget anything here would I, during building my car back up, I of course realised I had the incorrect coilovers, which turned out to presumably be for the non sport Megane? Not that it matters they could be for a Enzo for all I care they didnt fit. Being the picky person I am I had ordered 7 / 7kg rates front and rear.
Anyway after the usual phrase, I sent photos of the parts, and the codes (on the outside of the box by the way) and they agreed there was a mistake... but it was of course... BCs error...
So rather than waiting for a load more time to get the right springs rates they managed to source me a set of 7 / 4kg rates that this time actually fit the R26, in all fairness they did make a effor here to rectify. They offered to send me the 7kg rear springs later on arrival. Keep all this in mind for now it will be mentioned later down.

And up until this point I have tried to keep my cool, I really have...

So after speaking with one of the directors, who by the way is very reasonable and proffessional, listened to the issues I had etc at least made me feel slightly more at ease that the problems will be sorted. He offered to send out a replacement fuel filter and my 7kg rear springs that had now arrived. I have now recieved them today.

Yesterday following this call I later had to call again to inform regarding the pump issue....
Now here is why I have now lost my rag.
This issue is undoubtibly caused by the swirl pot error, they want the pump back so it can be sent off and presumably repaired or replaced under warrenty.
However, they want the pump back before supplying me with another or this one repaired. Late yesterday afternoon I received an email saying they had booked a collection for 1, the faulty fuel filter 2, my 4kg BC springs, and 3, my faulty Bosch 044. All to be collected today.

My first thought was simly is this some kind of joke. Bearing in mind they do know both the pump and springs where currently fitted to the car.
Needless to say I did not have time yesterday evening nor this morning to remove them. Not really my problem, I then called and have now been forced to put my foot down, I do not believe my requests are unreasonable, I require a replacement fuel pump to remove the faulty one. I am now not willing to leave my system open indefinitely while waiting for warrenty work or reolacement of my faulty pump. I do not believe this to be unreasonable at all given the above mistakes made by them, and my losses caused by the mistakes.
What did they expect me to down my plans and start ripping my car to bits at 16:00 to meet the 12:45 collection the following day...

Apologies I needed to vent this, if its what I need to do to get an understanding then more will follow and elsewhere also. The above is an example of possibly some of the worst purchase fault resolution I have experienced. This seems to be a problem in the tuning industry.
I seriously hope somebody there reads and takes the below in.

When I buy a product from you, I am your customer and you are my retailer. I am not interested whether you manufactured the product or bought it in from China. You are the retailer and you take responsibility for your sale, regardless of the issue.
Sometimes in business you must make a loss of profit from a sale to rectify a fault, that is business. A happy customer will return, a unhappy customer can prevent your happy customers returning.

You charge by the hour... if you are not happy buying me a new 044 and making a temporary loss of £170 (and thats to the average Joe not trade) then you dont want to foot my bill for the time and loss if I start totting it up.
You know the deadline of my car being ready is July 9th and I have been nothing but reasonable and understanding. If I have to buy another pump elsewhere at my loss... you have lost at least one customer.

 

Thanks mate really appreciated..

Ive come to the end of my teather with it now unfortunately, the money I have spent with them makes this pump issue nothing really...and it hasnt just been on this car either. anyway there is always a way around these things.