New starter

My efforts to find the lazy starter issue continues. My local O'Riley's tested my starter and concluded that it was bad. Not that they gave me any results or anything; they just took it out back and came back and said "it's bad" so I ordered a new one. It's a Nissan starter. Why you ask? Well, SEO Motorsports' original Delorean conversion project used a Nissan 2JZ engine so the adapter plate between the engine and bell housing was really developed for it. Consequently, the VR6 adaptation is a revised version of it - presumably just a change of bolt pattern on the engine side; there really was no reason to change the design to accommodate a different starter, which is why I have a Nissan starter; model# 17904N, 23300-AM600 to be exact.

Adapter plate with starter recess

Old Hitachi starter with model number

For good measure I also replaced my Optima battery. O'Riley actually deemed it good but I've had it since 2011 so it was probably just a matter of time.

The result? Well it definitely cranks better but it's still not as peppy as I would like. The other day my buddy Marc suggested I run a jumper cable directly from the battery's (-) post to the engine block to see if I may have a grounding issue and it really made a difference. Next up: Improve the ground!

Oil return line

The oil return that runs from the turbo outlet back down to the oil pan had developed a small leak resulting in an occasional drop of oil hitting the exhaust with lots of smoke and smell as a result. The notion of an engine fire is scary stuff so it had to be addressed quickly.

The old hose, taken apart

As I examined the hose I concluded that the O-ring in the upper AN fitting may have taken a beating given how close it sits to the exhaust. I took the hose over to my buddies Brandon and Ryan at BSP Motorsports who agreed. They fabricated a new hose with O-rings rated for the extreme temps. We also added a high temp sleeve to ensure this is addressed once and for all. Here is the result after I installed it:

New oil return hose, upper end

New oil return hose, lower end

Upsized positive cables

The starter has always been a little sluggish. Even Ed made that remark as I picked up the car two years ago, and last month after a full day of driving it stalled at a red-light and it wouldn't crank. I have suspected that the offender is the bundle of small gauge wires that make up the positive cable, so that was replaced with two beefy 1/0 Gauge 0 AWG cables with 5/16" lugs on both ends; one 12" cable from the positive post to the connectors behind the electrical connector cover and one 48" cable from the positive post to the starter.

Stock, starter cables and the new, heavy gauge 1/0 0 AWG cables

I also replaced the stock, single post for the positive cables with a Fuse Block from Blue Sea Systems and a 300A fuse:

New fuse block

Cover removed

And here is a pic with the new cable running to the starter:

New starter cable

The upgrades were really neat and needing to be done - but my Nissan starter is still sluggish. I should probably pull it and have it checked at the local auto parts store.