I have continued to work on the planning of the B14 ECU conversion. Another turbo B15 owner sent me the pinouts that he used in his conversion. The same pinout was also used by at least one other turbo Sentra owner as well. This made me feel better, since I have solid proof that this pinout works.
After comparing the pinout to the one I was originally using, there were a handful of differences. I updated the spreadsheet that I created (Updated link below).
This past weekend I discovered that I had forgot about the connectors for each of the B14 sensors I will be using. When swapping over to a B14 ECU, it is standard practice to also covert to a B14 intake manifold. Mostly this is due to the fact that the B14 IACV is very different from the B15 one. In addition to running the B14 intake manifold sensors, you need to splice the connectors for those sensors into the B15 harness.
My plan is to do the ECU conversion, intake manifold conversion, injectors, and MAF all at once (probably over a few days).
B15 to B14 ECU Conversion Document
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
After getting done everything I needed to Saturday and Sunday, I decided to start on some prep work for the B14 ECU conversion.
If you remember, a month or two back, I purchased a complete harness from a 1996 200SX SE-R. After cutting off the B14 ECU connector and extending the wires that need extending, the harness sat in my closet.
Today, I set out to make an Excel sheet with all of the information that is needed. In the document (a link to a PDF version is below), I included the following information:
- B14 terminal number
- B15 terminal Number
- General purpose
After doing this, I labeled all of the leads from the B14 harness. After I get the Sentra inspected, I will do the same on the B15 harness before making any cuts and splices. My hope is that this will help me out in two ways:
- It will simplify the splicing process, since most of the reference work is done.
- It will allow me to find any mistakes I made quickly. Since both ends will be labeled, this should help me if I think a mistake was made.
B15 to B14 ECU Conversion Document
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
Yesterday the weather people were calling for nice weather, so I decided to tackle installing the new wheel bearings and tie rod ends. The day before was a wash out (literally), so I got up early on Saturday to attempt to finish at a reasonable time.
I started around 8:00 AM, and was done cleaning up by 1:00 PM. It wasn’t bad considering two of those hours were spent waiting for the machine shop to press the old bearings out and the new ones in. The only thing that went wrong is that one of the tie rod end nuts will not thread back on. Somehow the nut was damaged, so I’ll order one (along with a few other parts) from Nissan on Monday.
As I expected, the Harbor Freight tie rod separator did more harm then good. Luckily I only had to use it on the old tie rod ends, which I was replacing anyway. If you are considering using one of these, make sure you prepare for the worst, or look for an alternative.
I also discovered a few things during the instllation that I want to address:
- Ball Joints are torn. I am going to look into Moog ones, instead of buying new control arms.
- I want to clean up and paint the knuckles. They have some surface rust and generally look like crap.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Restoration Project
It’s been a while, but since the weather is warming up, I am starting to do some much needed work on the Sentra.
The E-Bay radiator fans are mounted in pusher fashion. The Passengers side fan is wired correctly, but the drivers side one is giving me some trouble. I can no longer get it to turn on, even if I pull the collant temperature sensor. There is still a bit more investigating to be done, but I think I may have killed the relay that controlls that fan (just a guess).
Yesterday I installed the lower belt mouldings (below all of the windows). It was a simple process that made a very nice improvement since th old ones were worn down to the metal (which was rusting). Now I saw the need to replace the rest of the window trim!
Next on my list is to replace the wheel bearings. I need to do some more troubleshooting in order to be certain which one(s) are creating the noise. Although it’s probably not a bad idea to replace all four wheel bearings, if I don’t have to go through the trouble of replacing the front ones now, I will gladly delay that process.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE
Today I purchased a pair of 12″ fans from E-Bay seller GMotoGarage. I am trying to get rid of my old air conditioning equipment, including the condenser. Since I’m probably going to have to pull the radiator to get to the condenser, I figured I would get the fans out of the way. I’ll be mounting the fans on the bumper side of the radiator and setting them up to be pushers (Meaning they will push air through the radiator rather than pulling it). I will try to detail all of the wiring that needs to be done (even though it should be simple).
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
It seems the sub-prime mess has sent a shock wave through the entire economy. A few people I know said their companies are going through lay-offs. This past week the company I work for went through a reduction in workforce as well. This rattled some cages, and has left me with a lingering feeling that things will continue to get worse before they get better.
What does all of this have to do with my car? Well, I am cutting back on some unneeded spending which includes the purchase of car parts. Progress will still be made and I will continue to post updates as well as other information. Things like buying wheel bearings, a wastegate and blow-off valve (all of which I planned to purchase in March) will be pushed back.
Later this week I received my wire and shrink wrap from Jameco, so today I put it to good use extending some of the wires on my B14 ECU harness. It took me about an hour to extend the wires that I needed to. Tomorrow I will cut the wires down so they are all the same length. I also purchased some larger shrink wrap to clean up the batter relocation kit I built about a year ago.
Last weekend I removed the air conditioning compressor and hoses in the Sentra. Doing so revealed that the system was bone dry, which would explain the lack of cold air! The condenser is still in the car, since I will probably have to remove the radiator to get to that.
New pictures can be found in the gallery.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
My quest to run an external wastegate has led to a bit of a problem that people in many car communities have went back and forth about for years.
Most factory turbo manifolds (including the GTi-R ones) are made from cast iron. When welding other materials to cast iron you run the risk of it cracking. In addition since the two materials expand and contract at different rates you also run the risk of cracking occurring further down the line. Several people have modified GTi-R manifolds for an external wastegate, but I have yet to get a good answer as to how they held up over a long period of time.
The process of welding to cast iron is sensitive as well. From what I have read, the cast iron must be pre-heated, welded, and then allowed to cool slowly. I have found a local fabricator (JM Fabrications) that has been doing this to DSM manifolds for a while with good luck. Their process seems to be spot-on with what I have read as well. Their cost is about 1-2 hours of labor plus the cost of materials (This should be minimal). Once I receive the Synapse Engineering 50mm wastegate, I will bring it along with the manifold and turbo to have everything welded up. The turbo will have the internal wastegate flapper welded shut.
Why go through all of this and set myself up for a possible failure down the road? There are aftermarket turbo manifolds available for FWD SR20′s, but the problem comes with the rest of my setup. I want the turbo to sit in the stock location (IE: The location that the OEM GTi-R manifold puts it). This will allow me to use the GTi-R J-Pipe and downpipe which can be purchased for a reasonable price. I figure the less custom parts I have to have fabricated the less money I will have to spend. I’m not cheaping out (Which can be a bad idea on a turbo setup), I’m just trying not to reinvent the wheel.
The one tubular manifold that will put the turbo in the stock location is some Chinese made piece on ebay. Based on the experience of others, I’m willing to say that the $240 Ebay manifold is just as likely to crack as my modified GTi-R manifold. Someone in the SR20 community is also working with LoveFab to create a tubular FWD SR20DET manifold that will put the turbo in the stock location. I figure by the time the modified GTi-R manifold cracks (if it does) I can upgrade to that manifold once it is available.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Turbo Project
While researching external wastegates on SR20Forum, I saw that Mike Kojima suggested using Synapse Synchronic wastegates for their superior response. Based on this recommendation, I went and did a bit more research. It turns out that Synapse Engineering has a group of great products!
Their wastegates and blow off valves don’t use diaphragms like other products which helps them respond faster to changes. In addition, their wastegates have built in boost adjustment which can eliminate the need for a boost controller for most people. They also have a fuel pressure regulator that will bolt directly to the factory fuel rails of most Nissan engines.
I’m no engineer, so below you will find links to Synapse Engineering’s website as well as links to videos explaining how their products work.
Synapse Engineering
Video: Tial WG Vs. Synchronic WG
Video: Synchronic BOV
More Synapse Engineering Videos
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Parts & Vendors
As I was backing my Xterra into a parking space in front of my Sentra, I noticed something sitting on top of the car cover on the Sentra. I grew angry as thoughts of the neighborhood punks putting stuff on my car flashed through my mind. Once I got out I discovered that my car cover had several small and large holes in it. If someone was out to damage my car they had very sharp and tiny claws. My Mom told me that there was a large group of crows in the area, so I can only assume they did this.
I had purchased “The Max” car cover (by Budge) to replace the thin Nissan one. As I went to put it on tonight, I became very displeased. The cover is one of those one size fits many type deals. I got it on the car saw how it fit, and then discovered that it had not provisions for a cover lock. The torn Nissan cover went back on, and I quickly put in a request to return this cover. After a quick call to California Car Covers to confirm that their covers really are custom and that they had provisions for a car lock, my decision was made.
This blows my “purchasing schedule. I had planned to buy the parts needed for my wheel bearing project next week, but that will have to be pushed back a few weeks. More updates to come.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE
Today I had planned to lengthen the wires on the B14 wiring harness that I had to cut short and possible start to label them. After a late night, I woke up late and never made it out to get a new pair of wire strippers. Today wasn’t totally useless though.
I started to plan out my wheel bearing replacement project. I know at least one of my front wheel bearings needs to be replaced. My plan is going to be to replace both of the bearings as well as the hubs. It will cost a bit more money to do it this way, but it will give me peace of mind and if the hubs end up being in good condition I can sell them. Ordering those parts might be on hold for another few weeks since I spent more then I had planned on the turbo stuff last week.
Chris' 2000 Sentra SE, Restoration Project