Ba xr6t mk1 oh problem after problem

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Hi all.

I’ve owned my 04 (March) manual stock baxr6t for over 10 years. I’ve been a member on this forum for about the same amount of time. It’s a great resource. I have had problems over this time but have resisted asking for help as I didn’t want to waste peoples time with stupid questions. But the time has come. Here’s a bit of back ground. 
probably the worst of the problems I’ve had is intermittent missing under load. It’s been an issue for years. I’ve done all the usual things a few times ….Coils, plugs, throttle body, check for vacuum leaks, engine diagnosis… 

      I have generally used a very well known and respected tuning shop in Sydney for 7+ years now. In the last 3 years I have spent $18000 on assorted things to maintain it and try to ultimately sort out  this intermittent missing.

        16 months ago a had a clutch put in it and they told me to put in a twin plate clutch. I went ahead with it. Rear main seal, flywheel machined, spigot bearing replaced, clutch fluid flush, stud forch, nut-copper crush, racing bolts and spring washers, coolant temp head sensor. Also  plugs, turbo t3 gasket, wastegate actuator, sump plug washer. LHS & RHS engine mounts engine insulator. Dump pipe repair drill and tap (helicoil), hot side intercooler piping kit, tail shaft center bearing, exhaust manifold gasket. When I picked up the car I was informed my car had been overboosting to 16 psi and breaking down. Evidence of vehicle running lean. Wastegate diaphragm was found to be damaged and pierced. Unable to control boost. They were unable to determine if any damage had been done to the engine due to this. So they gave no warranty because if this. (As a side note at this point I should mention I had to REPLACE the clutch 3 weeks ago as it was slipping and worn out!)

      12 months ago I had 4 tyres and alignment, motor and tranny degreased, wipers, headlight globe, coolant turbo pipe, handbrake adjustment. Also rocker cover, spark plug recess, vct valve cover gaskets replaced. When I picked up the car I was informed battery might need replacing, idler pulley was noisy and will need replacing in the near future, one rocker cover bolt was “worn” and was tightened as best as possible and front cam connectors clips broken on harness and re-secured as best as possible. 

         9 months ago I had a coolant o ring replaced and coolant flush, motor and tranny degreased, valve cover gasket kit, timing cover gasket set, ribbed pulley replaced, flat pulley replaced, a hose a sump plug washer and a tensioner belt replaced. I also replaced radiator and hose. When I picked up the car I was told clips broken on ignition coil and vct plugs, also connector to crank sensor not clipping on. They secured all clips as best as possible. 
             5 months ago I had coils and plugs done again and an engine diagnosis. 
I returned the car 2 days later as it was running terribly. Missing badly and breaking down under load. They said it’s the engine wiring. I need a new loom and the ecu probably needs replacing!

          My patience and pocket was empty and I drove the car for a couple of months with a terrible miss and stutter, it constantly died at standstill and was rough as it’s ever been. Then as I mentioned before my clutch died and I got another mechanic to put in a standard one. He told me it was very worn! After 12 months?!!! I rang the tuning shop and they told me I should have bought in to THEM, they said it could have been ANYTHING!  I informed them that the clutch mechanic said it was worn. And was resistant about bringing it to them as it akways costs me thousands of dollars ever time the look at it and I didn’t have a great deal of money.

        My car is currently at a auto electrician. It has 2 error codes reading it’s timing running advanced, and a throttle body code. He discovered the cam sensor exhaust side was broken and the wiring burned  in the harness as wiring was bridged together by hose clamp on water pipe. Wiring behind engine block burnt in harness, cam sensor faulty under testing. He removed wiring harness from vehicle cam sensors to engine ecu and repaired wiring harness with new plugs on cam sensors. He said upon further inspection the water pipe that caused damage near the cam sensor was moving freely by hand and  noted it was not secured to inlet manifold by bolt. He then cleaned , reprogrammed and aligned throttle body. I picked up the car and on the way home it started surging like you wouldn’t believe. It’s a bucking bull. It seems ok under load but when backing off and maintaining speed it is tragic beyond belief. The idle is fine and nothing is showing on the rpm display when it’s jerking like a *#€¥#!.

   I’m a patient tradesman of over 35 years myself, but I am really at the end of my tether. I have spent now over $20000 and my car is still f@$*#!.
 

I’d be interested if anyone has had similar issues or advice on these matters. Your input would be very greatly appreciated. 

[k31th]

 

yeah, well, that's going to be impossible to diagnose without having the car in front of an expert on the platform, with that sort of history... but sounds like your auto-elec was on the right path, at least, even if he didn't solve the problems completely and moved them to a different area...

[arrayconst]

Uhuh. Yes thanks k31th. I live in hope. I hope you weren’t too bored with all the details but I thought the more info I could give would be helpful 

[k31th]

oh, it'll be helpful to have this page to refer to when you tell the next person haha

[BarraT]

What's the go, has this been sorted ?