First project going terribly need guidance

[Presto]

Okay guys, bought a 240sx off Craigslist that ran like complete shit but I didn’t know anything about cars at the time. Fired on like 2 cylinders and couldn’t idle, backfired constantly and, arrived at my house with a cut open header, wires running to the wrong plugs, I make a tiny check and all my time and money been going into driving this on the road one day

I did work and research over the past 6 months to get this car running nicely, it runs good in IDLE, I can step on it and it will go back to good idle and stay idleing with decent response, little to no misfire

BUT AS SOON AS THE CAR MOVES A FOOT FORWARD OR BACKWARDS IN GEAR IT INSTANTLY SHUTS OFF

Is their something DIRECTLY linked to the car moving that could cause this? It’s so annoying as soon as I think it’s time to drive it after replacing a random part every fucking pay check just to have it die after 5mseconds of moving it’s killing me inside


Sohc ka 240sx 1989

[Presto]

bought headers but didn’t fit right, hammered it in so the steering rack doesn’t grind it so it gets pretty narrow off one cylinder a couple feet down the header
Bought injector rings, but ripped them on installation, replaced them again
Bought all new injectors, one didn’t work right, + fuel rail stripped, had to fix that
Bought new o2 sensor, but connecting wire looks fried, still plugs in and seems to work
Bought tps, but multimeter can’t get reading for calibration so I just have it to the right from when I put it in
Bought coolant temp sensor connector and soldered new one in
Bought a reman maf sensor, but still have intake hissing
Bought a new air cleaner, but still have intake hissing
Pulled out the fuel pump, fixed a wire, but could still be having fuel problems

[Presto]

Replaced iacv gasket/ cleaned iacv, but still have vacuum leak possibly somewhere
Adjusted idle as low as possible, but still have high idle like 1000-1100
Bought bolts to plug holes on intake manifold, but bolts are too long/poke out
Ripped the spark plug wire so replaced all ignition wires

[Presto]

Reset distributor 5 times, but timing still completely off no matter how I do it
Previous owner did emissions delete / egr block off plate seems to not be leaking
Compression test said each cylinder was at 120 exactly so that’s fucked
Searched vin number and it said in mechanics notes that engine caught on fire at some point
One of the coolant hoses under the intake manifold is KINKED
Injen aftermarket intake
Car starts up every time first try though

[Presto]

I have bad luck or I’m dumb as fuck

[brndck]

Sounds like you have a LONG list ahead of you. Fix the easy shit first, like the kinked hose under the intake manifold.

If your compression is that low, you got bigger issues.

[Presto]

Originally Posted by brndck

Sounds like you have a LONG list ahead of you. Fix the easy shit first, like the kinked hose under the intake manifold.

If your compression is that low, you got bigger issues.

I hear hissing from somewhere I think it’s vacuum leak
Also I put tape over the intake to make it run alright haha

If this ends up bad, What is a cheapest engine besides another SOHC (s13 coupe)

[StoobyMcDooby]

Agreed that if your compression is low, this all may be for nothing. I also think there is no cheaper replacement option for you than another SOHC. Where are you located?

[Presto]

I might get ca18

[Presto]

I’m gonna do a wet compression test and if it turns out the piston rings are bad should I look for new engine or pay for rebuild

[Presto]

I looked at reviews for the compression test kit I used and it has 3 stars most reviews saying that the gauge reads low, some actually said the gauge maxed out at 120 psi

[S14rebuild]

Spam bot.....

[jedi03]

lol, get autozone engine and new wiring harness!