Vash's Lean Knocky Story Time

Alright guys, I've been talking with a couple of you about my issues that came up this Friday and I figured I'd write up a post for anybody who might be having a similar issue (RIP) or somebody who just wants a nice little bedtime story.

A few weeks ago I went over to @batmsp6 's house to do a compression test. Did the test and the numbers looked good 162-162-170-170 iirc. The plugs looked a little gross, but they were only 30k old and they looked good. I didn't have a new set at the time so I figured I'd just grab a new set and do it when I decided to do my meth install.

Drove the car around for a couple weeks and everything was normal. Did some pulls with a couple of the guys and lunch and the car ran great.

Fast forward to last Friday. I drove down to Tucson from Phoenix and right as I got into town my car started sputtering super hard. I pulled off to the side of the road and as soon as I got over it went away. I got back onto the freeway and everything seemed normal. Weird.

Got to my lady's mom's house and as soon as I stop I hear this terrible ticking/knocking noise from the passenger side of the engine bay. I got out of the car to try to get a better listen to the noise, but obviously it stopped as soon as I got out. Let it idle for a little bit more to see if it would come back... Nothing. Sat inside at my girlfriend's mom's house for a terrible hour and then we left to head to my Dad's house.

The car started and sounded normal. Waited around for a while to see if the noise would come back, but no dice. Revved a bit and it sounded healthy. Decided to cruise over and see what happened.

On the way over a red wrx hatch decided to try to mess around. I figured I needed to see if it was ACTUALLY running properly, so I got on it a bit and immediately went super lean (14 AFRs) and it sputtered super hard. The WRX guy throws up the dubs as he keeps rolling like he stomped me really bad. I've never been so sad.

I call @Enki and we decide that the HPFP might be the cause possibly due to some black death in the pump. Went over to his place the next morning and cleaned out the spill valve. Nothing too crazy visually, but we cleaned it out anyways. Did a pull and still runs super lean and chugs around. Fuck.

Had other plans that day, so I said fuck it and did my own thing with my slow car...

Hanging out Saturday night with @Enki and we were talking about possibilities for why it might be freaking out. I was pretty sold that it was the ITFP since HPFP seemed fine and normal driving was fine, but I wasn't sure. Plugs were also on the table. Decided to meet up the next morning to completely tear apart the HPFP and to a full cleaning.

Met up Sunday morning and tore that shit apart. Not much black death, but it was still a bit dirty. Cleaned it out nicely and threw it all back together. Had plans during the day again, so I decided to cruise out and test it on my way. Same goddamn thing.

At this point I was a bit bummed out. My dad ordered up a Deutschwerks 65c ITFP for me and I ordered up a new fuel level sender (e killing it slowly), fuel pressure regulator, and fuel filter. They weren't getting here until Wednesday.

On my way out of town on Sunday I decided to pick up a new set of NGK plugs from Orielly. Got home a bit late that night, so I didn't get a chance to install them.

Got home from work Monday and after letting the car cool down I decided to pull the plugs and get the new ones in there, just to rule them out. Pulled the plugs and I find this:



Fuck.

Cylinder 1 was the problem child plug and that's where that noise was coming from on Friday. I pulled out a bendy magnet and dug around in the cylinder to make sure that it didn't JUST fall off, but I was pretty sure that this is what caused the issues on Friday night. Dug around and found nothing. Looked in the hole to see if I could see any obvious damage to the piston, but it looked fine.

Called around to see if anybody had any great ideas (I was freaking out a bit). After a bit I decided that whatever damage that was going to happen would've happened already with a total of 400ish miles driven throughout the weekend. I said: "Fuck it. Witness me." and threw the new plugs in. Bolted everything back up and fired it up. Everything sounded normal and seemed fine...

Time for a drive.

Went out and it seemed to be running smooth. Got on it a bit and it looked good, so I decided to make a turn and get some WOT action.

Valhalla

WOT

AFRs were on target and power was there. No fuel cut, no weirdness. It was like when I first got the car again. I was smiling like a fool I'm sure.

Decided to go to my normal logging spot and get a full pull just to be sure.

Cruising up to my spot and as if it was a chance at redemption a red STI pulls up behind me. I drop it down to 3rd and rip on it a bit. He immediately gets on it and I let him go a little. Then I dropped the rape hammer on him. It looked like he dropped a boat anchor out of his window. He wouldn't even pull up next to me afterwards, he just took the next exit - a broken man.

Checked the logs and everything looks good for the most part. My MAFCAL needs a little work, but the big issue is resolved. It's funny how a few days without boost can really remove the numbness to power that always seems to happen. I can't wait to find that fucking red WRX in Tucson again.

 

Clarifying a few things:
1. I said that fueling issues would show up in the logs but they weren't. ITFP crapping out would have been obvious.
2. Your internals had no black death but they did have deposits that caused them to be practically seized. It was an issue, actually.
3. You owe me another bottle of NyQuil from when you butt chugged all that I had on Saturday night.

 

#justDensothings

 

These were NGKs actually. I've never touched the Densos.

 

No shit! Wow, that's all a Denso thing. Like all the time.

 

They were NGK Laser Iridium ILTR6A-8G plugs. Not some cheapos or anything. They honestly didn't have a ton of miles either. Shit is weird.

 

Almost fairy tale! Man, you're super lucky!
I'd still write to NGK, they need to know about this shit.

 

Just a little fyi. I change my plugs every 12-15k. 30k is a bit long for performance.

 

BTW he did actually go full on Mad Max.

 

*shrug*...I have 105k and I'm on my second set (OEM's). I think I changed the originals out after about 68k, which is only 8k past the recommendation in the owner's manual and FSM. They were working perfectly when removed.

I don't know why the ground strap broke off like that, but sounds like you dodged a bullet.

The car probably wasn't running lean at all. You were probably just seeing uncombusted air/fuel from cylinder 1 flying past the O2 sensor. I don't understand how the conclusion about the ITFP was reached...did you see fuel pressure dropping in your logs, or what? I wouldn't have even pulled the HPFP internals...look at the data available to you, make a determination, and go from there.

Also...no mentions of a misfire anywhere...how was this not happening? Wasn't your CEL flashing?

 

Same here.

 

No misfire codes at all.

With my AFRs leaning out so hard I assumed fueling. Fuel pressure was good the whole time, but unfortunately I was scrambling a bit.

 

That and a V2 AP could very well miss things with its lower resolution during logging.

 

man this same thing happened to @Nox yesterday... the same exact thing... i think he was running autolites though... but damnnnnn

 

Pretty sure he was using NGK.

 

Nah he had autolites... I was there when he installed them...


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They were NGKs with less than 5k miles. I was not running lean. No codes before hand. Cranked the car up for the day and heard the ground strap clanging around in the cylinder. It didnt even throw a code when it happened - only when I boosted to 16psi later. Changed the plugs after a 35 mile drive and that's when i found it fucked. Have boosted to 23psi since, no issues, but saw 3.5KR.

Doing a compression test and going to scope the cylinder tonight.

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I stand corrected... I thought these where the autolites...


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You can see the N...


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Let me know how this goes. I did a compression test right before this shit happened and everything looked wonderful. I'd be interested to see some pics of the inside of your hole