New Member here all the way from the island of ST Kitts!

Hey all, my name is Brian and I recently just picked up a 1999 VR4. This is a whole new venture to me but im doing a lot of searching and really am falling in love with the car. So my story is that I am actually from New York USA, But I am in graduate school in St Kitts, needed a car for when I got down here and of course I couldn't get a regular POS! I found a pretty low KM(right around 84,000km) VR4 from a local guy to the island. He changed out the clutch for me to an Exedy stage 3 6 puck, and recently put on a bigger intercooler. Besides that its basically stock down to the airbox. My questions are What are modest upgrades(student budget) that I could do to spice it up. Not looking to do turbos. Any ECU stuff that can be done? Also what is the deal with boost cut in this car at like 5k RPM, been reading about that but what is the remedy. I have a theory that a missing pipe may be causing this but im not sure because it doesn't always cut on me. There is a missing pipe that looks like it goes from the recirculating valve back to an intake pipe. Also Is there a known Intercooler pipe upgrade because this set up scares me, Seeing that main rubber hose suck in dramatically under load and having it clamped to another rubber hose could be the site of boost leaks. I am no stranger to boosted cars, or twin turbos for that matter, Back home in New York I have a 600HP 300zx Twin Turbo, built by myself. Its a real head turner, dumped my heart and soul into that one, not looking to go as crazy but I like adding my own touch to the car I own that's all. Also I have an intermittent ABS light that comes on. Not sure what that's about either. Any and all input would be appreciated, I am going to post pictures as soon as I figure that out on here because every forum is different lol. Thank you for letting me into this great online community. Cheers!

-Brian

/Welcome

These cars have fuel cut, not boost cut. The car has no boost reference (no air pressure sensor) so doesn't know what the boost is. It happens when the ecu sees too much air flow over a short period of time. If your car is running stock boost then I would say that you almost certainly have a boost leak. If the bov is standard then definitely replace the missing pipe. Then go searching for leaks.

There shouldn't be any rubber hose to rubber hose connections, the intercooler pipework is rubber pipes between solid ones. At least that is true after the turbos.

The catalytic converter and the stock back box are both restrictive for performance, so the exhaust system is a good upgrade. Also you can flash the ecu, there are many threads about it on here.

Enjoy the car!

Hi Brian, welcome!

As Nick said, boost leak is a thing that is often the cause of issues, I'd also start with that.
Some time ago I made a topic that combines a whole bunch of tests and fixes for common issues that you can check, even if it seems far-fetched, you'll at least know the health baseline of your car after you've completed those.

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...stutter+issues

I would recommend to not change anything performance wise before you've found the cause. After that: downpipes, de-cat pipe, muffler are quick wins, not sure how cheap, but surely a must to have this done before you change anything else to avoid the main bottleneck.

Keep us updated on your progress!

Will be doing all of these tests in the next 2 months as I currently do not have any tools down here with me. The ABS light thing doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. I do have a check engine light but that I think is from the previous owner doing an Auto to 5speed conversion. Boost leak test for sure. Ill share some photos probably tomorrow as I will be doing minimal work on it AKA replacing the battery. What is the preferred Battery CCA for these cars, granted I am in a climate that's basically 35-40C all year round lol. Best I can get where I am are interstate batteries as well. No optimas here. The main 90 degree elbow off of the throttle body goes to another hard rubber hose and its just overtightened on the clamp. I cant hear any hissing anywhere that I can see. I was going to look into this what do you veterans think? It says its only good for models up to 1998 but I don't see why it wouldn't fit a 1999?
http://www.part-box.com/product_info...ucts_id=137261

Will do, Am replacing the battery tomorrow. Whats the recommended CCA for batteries on these cars. My climate doesn't vary much between 32 and 40C. Was also thinking about this part although it says fits model 1996 to 1998 Not sure why it wouldn't fit a 1999? http://www.part-box.com/product_info...ucts_id=137261

Any body know what the proper battery specs are for this car. I want to get the proper battery so that there are no weak starts

Some of the cars in Japan have tiny batteries. You should be fine with anything that fits in your climate.

just get the biggest that'll fit in the tray and budget

just be carful with battery choice from the point of view the terminal are not the normal way round for an off the shelf battery, just make a note of the orientation before buying the battery other wise you will be taking back very quickly, like i did.

buy the way, "Hi and Welcome to the club".

That being said: the original wires are long enough to 'cross-mount' them on a 'wrong' battery :)
I have committed to a Optima Red Top battery and I like it a lot. Never seems to fail me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarkSanne

That being said: the original wires are long enough to 'cross-mount' them on a 'wrong' battery :)
I have committed to a Optima Red Top battery and I like it a lot. Never seems to fail me.

---

this is very true, but if you have the option to buy a battery with the original orientation why not spec that.
i understand that with the very good, very safe gell technology, but very expensive optima red top battery it might not be possible to get a choice of terminal orientation, as they are probably limited. but i bobbed into my local motor factors and had a look at there battery catalogue, there was so many options i could pick from so i picked the dimensionally correct size with the biggest output and terminal location. they orded it for me and i have been using it ever since. i think it was a bosch asia silver battery about £65 i think, but that was over 5 years ago.

however if could have afforded the optima red top battery i would have probably bought that, but at £130 and £200+ it just wasn't an option for me.

they're only long enough if someone hasn't cut them, my first vr4 could only have a battery with the terminals in the correct place