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Updates on the Turbo Monte...


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I spend the last week or so working on my car. Here's what I did

 

New fuel pressure regulator- the old one was leaking fuel into the vacuum feed (causing severe fuel pooling in the upper intake manifold)

Removed FMU (removed one fuel line return hose and rerouted the other)

Replaced stock injectors with 42.5 lb/hr injectors (replaced upper and lower intake manifold gaskets also)

Fabricated an EGR block off plate

Fabricated radiator cooling ducts

Replaced the thermostat

Uninstalled, then reinstalled tranny cooler

Installed color matched 3 gauge pod with old boost gauge, new AEM WBO2, and new Intercepter - this pod replaced my old custom 2 gauge pod with AutoMeter A/F and boost

Ran a relay from the fuse box for the AEM WB and cleaned up my old wiring

Replaced a failed fan relay

Added a bung for the stock O2 in the downpipe & installed O2

Began tuning fueling- this Split Second FTC1 really works well

Redone heat shielding in engine bay

new vacuum line from turbo to WG (old one melted)

new vacuum line for transmission (old one cracked)

 

I've been tuning for the last 30 minutes or so and got it to start and idle. For some reason, it goes up to 3000 rpm or so before dropping to idle. If I don't put it into drive, let it settle down, and then shift back to park it dies. I think the sudden drop from a high vacuum, high rpm, high MAF to a very low rpm, low vacuum, low MAF is a bit too much for the stock computer. By shifting into drive or reverse, it seems to buffer this change enough that it doesn't matter. I'm hoping that I can now break 9 psi without running instantly lean.

 

I'm gradually leaning it out under boost, but so far it's safely rich and feels pretty good.

 

The gauge pod looks great and the WBO2 is absolutely critical. I probably could not have gotten it to start, idle, and run without it.

 

The radiator ducting seems to really help keep temperatures down, though I haven't really flogged it yet.

 

I'll try to get some pictures up before Monday morning.

 

I would not recommend running 42.5 lb/hr injectors on a stock ECU to anybody else. It is not easy to tune this combo and the idle issues are probably more than most want to deal with. GTP injectors are probably a good upgrade if you have a mini-AFC or FTC1 to tune with (or can reprogram the PCM). At 7 psi, you're running roughly 50% higher pressure (21.7 psia vs 14.7 psia) so you need 50% more fuel. So for a 7 psi setup, 36 lb/hr injectors should be perfect since they're 50% larger than stock.

 

 

Tim

 

BTW- I do have a 96 ECU + harness with a PowrTuner, but it won't come until later. For now, I want to try the Split Sec FTC1 and see how well it works. Idle's a problem because there isn't enough room in the stock ECU to properly tune for injectors that are twice as large.

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Guest TurboSedan

sounds good Tim. man, i wish i could afford WBO2 right now :( i'm going to be tuning my EPROM (well, soon to be EERPOM) with GMPCM this fall. right now i'm just gathering the hardware and trying to iron out other little issues. we should try to meet up at PFI or DynoPros sometime. i take it your transmission is holding up?

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I'll be gone for the next 3 weeks on business, but should be back in October. I'd be up for a meet. I'll probably be going to Super Rupair in Boulder for a half day or a day tuning session at the start of October.

 

The transmission has been fine except for the day after I took off the tranny cooler. I put it back on and will be monitoring how it's working. Hopefully it was a non-issue. I also replaced the vacuum line that runs to the vacuum modulator because it was severely cracked...

 

How's the Cutlass doing? That thing terrorizing Gillette yet?

 

Tim

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Guest TurboSedan

haha yeah. i've probably only put maybe 300 miles on it since the turbo. right now i'm probably only running 7psi with a MBC. the only car i've actually raced so far was a 2005 Grand Prix (see race section), but i did put some distance between us from 30-80mph. i'm surprised it did so well ecspecially with the issues i still need to sort out and lack of tuning. it's a nice change from driving my GTS...no lag is fun :) and the turbo is way more noticeable than the GTS. it's also alot easier to launch and shift.

 

i'm hoping i can make it to PFI or possibly even Douglas soon, but i definately need to get some work done to it before then.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Quick update.

 

Overheating problems are gone.

The car starts instantly and usually idles well. WOT has perfect A/F ratio now and part throttle is very good (both are 10x better than the FMU setup ever was).

The FTC1 is a quite a bit more difficult to tune than a standalone, but costs 1/3 of what a standalone would. With that said, I was still able to do quite a good tune (fuel only for now) in about 2-3 hours.

The car's having power steering lines replaced right now, but should be running again by tonight.

I'm hoping to remove the cat soon and see what 11 psi feels like when you actually have enough fuel!

 

Tim

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Quick update.

 

Overheating problems are gone.

The car starts instantly and usually idles well. WOT has perfect A/F ratio now and part throttle is very good (both are 10x better than the FMU setup ever was).

The FTC1 is a quite a bit more difficult to tune than a standalone, but costs 1/3 of what a standalone would. With that said, I was still able to do quite a good tune (fuel only for now) in about 2-3 hours.

The car's having power steering lines replaced right now, but should be running again by tonight.

I'm hoping to remove the cat soon and see what 11 psi feels like when you actually have enough fuel!

 

Tim

 

sweet man, hows that trans holding up?

 

im going for a built t60 myslef before i consider boost again

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Your one busy guy tim. Can't wait till you get it dialed in. Wanna see pics to.

 

Were you running an FMU or an adjustable RRFMU?

 

That is an excellent price. Does it use USB for the interface or does it have to be serial?

 

Jud

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:twisted: Thanks for the complements!

 

The transmission is holding up great so far and it was an Aamco rebuild (that guy knew more about the 4T60E than anybody else I talked with except ZZP). I believe ZZP is under $2000 installed.

 

I believe the idle problem is a relearn issue. It will stay perfect for days and then suddenly start to hunt. After hunting for a few minutes, it always stabilizes. I really need a scanner to check STFT and LTFT, but for now I'm just going by what the WBO2 says. I would bet that my STFT and LTFT are both subtracting fuel from everywhere. I was trying to tune carefully to avoid leaning out. If I was going to keep this piggyback on there, I would DEFINITELY buy a scanner and use it. The FTC1 uses a serial port interface. I'm using my work laptop for it (it's a Dell with a serial port- we program our legacy downhole tools via serial port). My personal laptop doesn't have a serial port. I'll probably try the USB-serial adapter I have tonight. I've heard that the PCMCIA serial adapters are virtually bulletproof.

 

I was running a fixed 12:1 FMU. It's gone now and leaves quite a bit more room in the engine bay. I also noticed that there's plenty of room for a 3" downpipe IF you bend the transmission dipstick out of the way.

 

Pics- I have more that I can upload if necessary. I haven't taken any new ones of the entire thing put back together yet though (my STB, passenger brace, and fuse box cover are still off).

 

719379_91_full.jpg

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719379_93_full.jpg

 

Tim

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719379_95_full.jpg

719379_96_full.jpg

 

I cleaned everything today, swapped out the cat, and put back on my stock wheels. It's much more fun and more powerful now! I was actually spinning the tires when the turbo spooled and I'm at 9000 ft. I couldn't even get them to squeak yesterday at 5000 ft.

 

Tim

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