[s-cars] Drastic Power Loss-So Far No Joy

[Manuel Sanchez]

DJ,

I had my car dyno'd (the first and only time) about 6 - 9 months ago.  
As I watched on the first pull, there was lots of dark black smoke. I  
attributed all that black smoke to the following:  I was running a  
test pipe at the time, in combination with Mihnea's programming  
(which is always reported to run rich), the dyno guy commenting on  
the rich A/F ratio, and the fact that I hadn't driven the car  
aggressively for a few months (don't know if this is true, but  
there's that old adage about cleaning out the intake deposits with  
some spirited driving). I have always had soot on the bumper ever  
since I did the RS2 mod's about 3 years ago with Mihnea's software.

Thanks for your thought's on the other items, they are on the list of  
things to try.

Regards,

-manny


I would suggest going back to basics.  Engines function due to the  
presence of 2 things... ignition and fuel.  For the engine to cut out  
as drastically as described, one of these two things must be failing.

I would do everything needed to watch your fuel pressure at the point  
of cut out.

On the other side of the fuel pressure topic, I have seen these FPRs  
fail on the side of full available pressure.  Too much pressure can  
result in overfueling to the extent that ignition is virtually  
extinguished.  With the amount of soot present, this may be a  
possible option to investigate.

You might want to try and observe your exhaust (rear view mirror)  
during full throttle.  If you see a fairly heavy black exhaust output  
prior to cut out, overfueling may be the issue.  If this is the case,  
I would try a stock FPR and test the results of the swap.

The idea of a test light attached to the FP circuit is also a good  
one... to determine if the pump is getting continuous power at the  
point of cut out.

If you don't know how to rig this up, you could try an alternative...  
jumping direct power to the FP (making it run at all times) and  
taking the car for another test run.

With what you've described, I think boost leaks, WGFV, altitude  
sensor, etc... are not within reason.  To have an "on / off" switch  
effect on the engine, you must be loosing fuel, loosing ignition, or  
dramatically overfueling... IMO.

Dave