SMALL single turbo project, thoughts welcome! - Page 13

ZephTheChef · #**181** 12-10-2010, 03:41 PM

I also started wrapping the exhaust last night. I severely under-estimated the amount of wrap I'm going to need. Off to the store. Unfortunately, my local parts store isn't showing any in-stock in black...so tan it is. It'll all look the same when it's topcoated anyway.

I'm also really starting to worry about my cutout...UPS tracking says "out for delivery" but it hasn't showed up yet. Usually they're here by early afternoon.

ZephTheChef · #**182** 12-10-2010, 11:54 PM

Sigh. No exhaust cutout. The UPS status is now "delivered" Location: PORCH. My roommate says it's not at the house. It's definitely not on the porch here at work...nor should it have ended up on the porch if it came here (as it was supposed to), as we were fully staffed until 6:30.

That really pisses me off.

Anyway, I got the exhaust parts that I have done coated, wrapped, and coated again. I've got 2 more cans of VHT flameproof that I'm going to use up when I pull everything off the car again to install gaskets (it's just loosely installed at the moment). I'm putting several coats on the turbine housing as well, although I don't think it'll hold up very well to that kind of heat.

I did have the car idling for about 30 minutes to cure the coating. After this period, I was able to comfortably hold my hand on the exhaust. It was very warm, but not hot enough to burn me. I'm quite pleased.

I ran out of stuff to do exhaust-wise since the cutout didn't show up, so I moved on to intake. I've started fabbing my "cold-air intake"...that seemed to be a more accurate way to describe it until I throw a turbo on there. If I get anything significant done on it, I'll post up some pictures.

ZephTheChef · #**183** 12-11-2010, 12:50 PM

Found it! It was at home, thank god. My other roommate put it inside and didn't tell anyone. Hopefully the exhaust will be done tonight then! I'm out of argon again, so I'll be stick welding it.

ZephTheChef · #**184** 12-12-2010, 01:40 AM

Funny how the simplest things can hold you up for HOURS. I just spent an extra 3 hours over what I had planned on to finish up the exhaust. Couldn't get the old rusty bolts out. Didn't have my big drill. Ended up ghetto-rigging it by welding new nuts to the outside of the flange and rotating my other flange just a little bit to hit them...then tacked it all together once it was tight. Consequently, I'm just now about to go finish it up...just 1 more weld and I'll hopefully have a relatively quiet SVX. It's still going to be somewhat loud, as my wideband bung is still sensor-less, and I don't have enough bolts for the turbine housing and downpipe, so it will probably leak some there.

The intake is about half fabbed as well. If I work at least a couple nights this week, and put in a good effort next weekend...I should have positive intake pressure by the end of next weekend if I don't run into any major problems. I'll snap some exhaust pics here in an hour or so when it's "done". Overall I'm not real pleased with it...but it should suffice for now. I'll re-do it when I'm in better practice at welding. Perhaps I'll use a slightly thicker pipe next time.

ZephTheChef · #**185** 12-13-2010, 12:59 PM

I've finished up the exhaust and put 50 miles on it with E85. Runs good. I haven't gotten the wideband in to dial-in the AFRs yet, but it feels pretty strong. Been so long since I've driven it I can't really comment on before/after E85 power comparison.

Only issue I've run into is that I overfilled the coolant bottle (a lot had run out when I had the plenum off) and the overflow dumps onto my new exhaust, so I've been having some fun smells when stopped at a light. That's pretty well cleared up by now though.

It also seems the stock MAF is very picky. I had to take off the intercooler piping I had fabbed up because it would intermittenly not idle well (idle up and down, as if there was an air metering problem). I think the bend was too close to the MAF and caused some turbulence at idle, so I may have to re-calculate my intercooler piping routing....or potentially relocate the MAF.

The transmission also acts a bit funny until it's warmed up...this is a relatively new development, it used to shift perfectly, just made a whining noise with load. I may have to stop putting off the 5-speed swap.

1986nate · #**186** 12-13-2010, 04:12 PM

If it is whining with load, it sounds like the pump is starting to go out on it. Also, it will have more issues with cold fluid since it will be a thicker consistency and even harder to pump, so harder to get the fluid where it needs to go to apply the proper parts in the transmission.
I have a buddy's car that is getting a 5 spd done and when its below 25 degrees, it's so bad that it has to spin up to 3500 rpm when first put in gear in order for it to actually start moving. In the warmer weather, there aren't any issues at all other than the whining.

ZephTheChef · #**187** 12-13-2010, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1986nate

If it is whining with load, it sounds like the pump is starting to go out on it. Also, it will have more issues with cold fluid since it will be a thicker consistency and even harder to pump, so harder to get the fluid where it needs to go to apply the proper parts in the transmission.
I have a buddy's car that is getting a 5 spd done and when its below 25 degrees, it's so bad that it has to spin up to 3500 rpm when first put in gear in order for it to actually start moving. In the warmer weather, there aren't any issues at all other than the whining.

Is pump noise a speed-related noise as opposed to RPM related? I was thinking it would have to be in the differential or something since it's speed dependent and doesn't seem to change pitch when gears are shifted, just gets louder and higher pitched with more vehicle speed. Didn't change a bit after I changed all the drivetrain fluids. Not what I'd consider an unusual amount of metal in the old fluid either, considering this was likely the first time the diffs have ever been serviced (49,000 mile car).

Doesn't really matter I guess, I really want to do a 5-speed anyway and already have a wrecked donor car.

lazer · #**188** 12-14-2010, 11:16 AM

Pump noise should be RPM related

ZephTheChef · #**189** 12-14-2010, 12:06 PM

That's what I was thinking. And it's definitely speed related, but almost goes away if you're off the throttle. The service manual states that it could be either differential noise, or final drive noise.

Anyway, I got the stage1av1 adapter in, loaded with a JDM tune in the first slot, and my own tune in the switchable slot. It seems to run a little better, but I didn't notice a huge difference. I attempted to alter the K value, but evidently I edited the wrong address, because when I tried to fire it up with my new base pressure of 50psi, it wouldn't hardly idle, I had to turn it back down to the 25psi I had it at. I'll have to look over my coding again and see what I did wrong.

The other cool part of that is that now my check engine light isn't on all the time. It doesn't come on until after you've been driving maybe 5 minutes. I based my tune off the JDM map, so evidently the EGR and evap stuff either wasn't there, or wasn't checked the same way.

I'm still having idle issues...and I don't know what's causing it. It'll idle like a dream for a few minutes and then start hunting up and down, sometimes to the point of stalling out. It SEEMS like any small change in throttle, or vacuum leak that opens up (such as if I unplug my FPR) clears it right up. Also, the problem seems to have gotten worse since I sealed up what vacuum leaks I did have. It's no doubt some kind of idle control issue, but I have yet to figure out what it is, or why it's intermittent. The car runs like a dream otherwise.

I seem to have misplaced my wideband sensor...so rather than buy a new one for $80, I just bought a whole LC-1 with gauge and sensor...got a deal for $145 shipped from an evo guy who was changing over to AEM (since he just bought an AEM ecu). That way when I find my sensor (I KNOW it's laying around the shop somewhere...I've seen it) I'll have two wideband setups. Point of that story is, I still haven't gotten my AFRs dialed in because not only have I not found my wideband stuff, I can't get evoscan to connect to see what the stock O2s are reading either. It seems to run pretty good the way I've set it up...but with E85 you're only going to see a couple % HP difference anywhere from low 10s to high 12s AFR-wise (on a gasoline scale, of course...for those who want to get smart about it).

ZephTheChef · #**190** 12-14-2010, 12:24 PM

I would really like to get the idle thing sorted out before I put the turbo on (hopefully this weekend). I guess I'll pull the plenum again and inspect/clean the idle valve, and check the TPS calibration.

It seems to me like it has to be an air metering or idle control problem...perhaps my MAF is going bad and doesn't read right with such little airflow. It certainly seems to run good at WOT. I may go ahead and wire in the Z32 MAF and change the scaling in the ECU to eliminate that possibility as well.

Anybody else have any other ideas? I absolutely don't have any vacuum leaks...checked thoroughly with starting fluid. There's nothing left to leak really. I have the PCV blocked off at this point...and everything else. The only things I have hooked up are the idle control (to the factory location on the intake pipe) and a vacuum line from my intake manifold to the aftermarket fuel pressure regulator. The fuel stuff is thoroughly silicone'd up just for good measure.

1986nate · #**191** 12-15-2010, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazer

Pump noise should be RPM related

Yes, I must not have read closely enough

I've been crazy busy these days so I try to help out where possible and don't read as closely as I probably should.

And, if it is speed related and goes away when on the throttle, definitely would sound like a differential issue.

And JDM engines do not have any EGR system as well as a couple other markets.

As for the idle, Where are the possible air leaks? It will go to a default tune until fully warm I believe so check both the intake side as well as the exhaust side of things.
Since it is a JDM tune, since it does have the EGR, perhaps it is unable to cope with the EG coming into the intake, or otherwise the o2 sensors are seeing things off as the system is not used to the EGR setup as well...

I'm just throwing ideas out there and not 100% on this...

ZephTheChef · #**192** 12-15-2010, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1986nate

As for the idle, Where are the possible air leaks? It will go to a default tune until fully warm I believe so check both the intake side as well as the exhaust side of things.
Since it is a JDM tune, since it does have the EGR, perhaps it is unable to cope with the EG coming into the intake, or otherwise the o2 sensors are seeing things off as the system is not used to the EGR setup as well...

I'm just throwing ideas out there and not 100% on this...

Those are some good things to think about and I appreciate the input. The intake is completely, absolutely 100% sealed up. As far as the exhaust side, I still have small leaks all over because I didn't want to install the new gaskets until I had everything for sure done...so there are no gaskets at all at this point. However, I don't see how that would be an issue, so long as I'm not sucking any exhaust gas in through the intake...which I'm not ruling out 100%, but I don't think that is the case.

As far as the JDM tune being a factor, that's ruled out as well. I just changed the tune the other night, and it does this on the factory tune as well. As far as the O2 sensors being a factor, that's also not possible as they are not plugged in, so I'm in forced open-loop.

The things I can say for certain about my idle issue are as follows:

1. It's somewhat intermittent in nature.
2. It has gotten significantly more frequent since I fixed my vacuum leaks.
3. It seems to be worse at richer mixtures (higher fuel pressure).
4. ANY throttle input whatsoever, or purposely opening up even a very small vacuum leak stops it almost instantly.

I'm kind of hung up on it most likely being an idle control issue. TPS is on the list as well, or perhaps the MAF just isn't reading accurately enough at idle. Like I said, it seems to run fine with any throttle input whatsoever...just breathe on the pedal and it clears up.

I found my wideband sensor, so I'll be getting that in tonight. It might help shed some light on the situation to see what my AFRs are doing when it starts hunting for idle.

ZephTheChef · #**193** 12-15-2010, 10:24 AM

I'm also going to plan on lengthening those O2 harnesses so I can get those plugged in...this 10MPG **** just isn't working for me, lol. I may just pull the whole exhaust so I can put the gaskets in and lengthen the O2s/install my wideband. I also need to seal up the dummy turbo a little more securely...it's just got a thin plate tacked on right now.

The new fuel rails are also getting finished up tonight and probably going in...although, go figure...I haven't had any more leaky o-ring issues the past 3-4 days. I was probably just in too big of a hurry the first time I put it together...the o-rings were such a tight fit with the size bit I had used that it really took some installation effort. I'm sure I just kept damaging that last one during install.

LetItSnow · #**194** 12-15-2010, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephTheChef

...this 10MPG **** just isn't working for me, lol.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

ZephTheChef · #**195** 12-15-2010, 11:59 AM

Still beats the hell out of my old supercharged Z28. The one time I took that beast to the track I drove it there. It was a 36 mile round trip. I filled up on the way out there and had to fill up on the way back. Only made 1 pass, lol. IIRC, I calculated it to something like 3MPG.