Im new and i have questions

[TGPnewb]

Hey guys im new to this forum and ive only had a TGP for about 5 months now and i have a few questions. first off about a litle about me. Im 17 and go to school and work so upgrades i can afford it just takes time i kinda have a problem where i like to have better things than others it gets me in trouble. anywhays about performace ive been reading that a chip is the way to go. so its what 275 for everything for the chip is that right? secondly about exhaust should i just get mufflers or do i need to get new pipes and stuff.also is there anything else that i can do relativly easily because im not a machanic so dont give me complicated things. my uncle is thoe so maybe some hints. also i have put a new K&N air filter on the turbo but i feel as the hot air in the engine compartment is killing it, is ther anything i can do for cold air. when i bought my car the previous owner said he had done a few things but the car still feels sluggish to me. it looks like a custom y pipe and he said the bearings in the turbo had been replaced or something. oh and a problem when my car downshifts it clunks rather hard WTF is that it drives me nuts. and how much for the upgrades and stuff would it cost me thanks... oh and sorry for my bad speling. plz i need info LOL

[Garrett Powered]

you need a CAI, drop the cat, the hydraulic engine mount, washers for the dogbones.

[Bossman429]

Getting a TG 160 chip in combination with a 160 degree thermostat will reduce the under hood temps by quite a bit.

 

I would probably stick with the stock exhaust pipe size, unless you plan on going crazy with mods, but it doesn't sound like it. Some high flow mufflers would help a bit in the power arena, but will also make it sound a little more aggressive too. If you don't have vehicle inspections in your state, you could consider removing the catalytic converter in place of a straight pipe. This will free up your exhaust more than anything. Keep in mind that removing emissions equipment IS illegal, but if no one is checking, I wouldn't worry about it.

If you do have inspections, or just want to keep things legal you could get a high flow cat from somewhere like Summit, or Jegs.

 

There are many people on here who run the air filter on the turbo as you are doing. If you decide to rig up a cold air intake I'm sure there are people on here who could CONTRIBUTE and post some pics of some ways to do it.

[Garrett Powered]

[TGPnewb]

Alright i can tell this site is gonna be my best friend.

i see there is some heatshielding where the air comes out of the intercooler does it help alot? is there a noticable difference for cold air induction?

and a tg160 is 275 or so how long would it be to get one i live in Georgia. oh and has anybody lowered thier car beause i was wondering about handaling upgrades with out killing my wallet. but the front end of the car is so low mine is all scraped to hell. oh and does anybody know what a tgp with the tg160, exhaust, adds to your hp i was just wanting to know some numbers...has anybody dinoed ther car with just those mode? wow i feel like i dont know anything. thanks again guys.

[Garrett Powered]

this is the heat shield. a shop ordered it for me, they are out of business now though. the orange fire sleeve is from a fluid coupling warehouse in town.

[TGPnewb]

hows that working for u does it seem to be worth it also where is the filter located know. did u notice any performance gain? oh this car is whel my daily driver but since i only drive 10mi a day i really would love to get this thing in shape. there are so many cars around where i live that i would love to smack around. i live ina rich area outside of Atlanta i park right next to a brand new 350z at school and an older m3. just like to show these people what american cars can really do. stupind imports

[Garrett Powered]

 

 

 

this may answer your question.

 

 

a better shot of the upper charge pipe with fire sleeve taped up in it near the TB. It gets heat soaked without that wrap. especially if you threw out the turbo blanket like I did.

[TGPnewb]

hey these are pic of my car just to show yall, looks familiar doesnt it

i dont know if there anything good just to show yall lol

as u can see thoe my front end is all scraped to hell on the tip of those ground effects.

and my filters boot that attaches to the turbo riped a little when i finaly cranked down on it.

but it hasnt moved in a long time so all is good.

 

[attachment deleted by admin] Removed to free up storage space.

[Garrett Powered]

is that a jeff m x-over? theres braided flex bellows.[br]Posted on: May 05, 2006, 01:14:46 PM_________________________________________________looks like you need some 3 " silicone tubing to replace your throttle body coupling. that stock one looks pretty well hashed.

[TGPnewb]

i wouldnt know what is on this car because the only thing ive done to it was the air filter. the previous owner sopposedly did some things to it(not sure what).

now whats this about throttle body coupling???? im pritty car ignorent

 

oh man i feel like ive got the slowest tgp its so unresponsive

 

and the tranny when it down shifts it clunks really hard sometimes but if i pound the pettle from the get go it runs smothly with some slight hesitation

[Garrett Powered]

from the picture you can see the thermostat housing bolt that clamps the upper charge pipe down is totally loose and the throttle body coupling is leaking there. those worm gear clamps need tri flow sprayed on them, there all rusty and wont get tight enough. get that silicone coupling.... seriously. its blue outside and orange in the middle.

[TGPnewb]

ok ill get that fixed in a little. alright what should i replace my engine mounts with?(brand, costs, etc...) and how much for a tuned chip for this car?

does jeff m still make them??? or can i get someone else to make one for me? now is thee anything else i should be looking at here?

 

is that tin foil over the heat shielding ???

 

[Garrett Powered]

the dealership is your friend for parts around your motor including hydraulic motor mounts, just dont let them touch it, or even look at it, that will jinx it for you my friend...

 

 

that foil lookin stuff is a product called reflect-a-cool. its like 60-70 dollars for a sheet big enough to do 2-3 cars. worth it though because its actually a t-shirt thin layer of fire retardant cloth with foil on one side and adhesive on the peel/stick side. I put a layer of firesleeve on the hot spots and taped it down with strips of reflect-a-cool. I have tried many insulaters and this is definately the best working/looking combo of products so far. hard to get used to the shinyness, but very good at reflecting heat.

 

the chip..... seek out a Jeff M 180. I hope hes alright!!!! kinda worry about him sometimes.... but he will dissapear a few months at a time the last few years. I got lucky and he helped me with a egr tube, oil return tube, chip, pipe. and tons of "just-in-time" help before I blew up my motor. he's basically saved my motor and tranny. It ran so bad for so long, jeff just kept promising it would get better and I knew it had potential but thought it maybe had internal problems. wasnt so, just common sense type stuff every time.

 

....keep asking questions and good luck.

[TGPnewb]

thanks this is really shining some light on my car. so the tg 180 is better than a 160? does it do anything but change the psi on the turbo??? so should i get different engine mounts or just replace the ones i have? and thank again

[one_fast_prix]

PM sent

[Garrett Powered]

thanks this is really shining some light on my car. so the tg 180 is better than a 160? does it do anything but change the psi on the turbo??? so should i get different engine mounts or just replace the ones i have? and thank again

actually the top gun 160 chip is the best one. The hydraulic motor mount is the one under the motor on the power steering pump side, if your pump leaks power steering fluid or you spill some, it will drip down on the rubber and your motor mount will blow out. try to fix oil leaks before this happens. are you used to changing power steering fluid in the reservoir? I use a syringe type fluid extracter to change the fluid. If you hear a whine coming from the pump, that may be whats leaking and ruining the motor mount. it will ruin your rack and pinion too. on my car, the pump went out because nobody changed the fluid, then it foamed out and leaked on the motor mount then shavings went down the line and made the rack fail too.

[TGPnewb]

oh uh thats not good i recently had to replace my pump and it was leaking everywhere. ther is hydrloci fluid driped to the bottem as i can still se it when i looked under my car. would the motor mount have anything to do with the hard downshifting of the engine????

[TGPilot]

Most likely the hard shifting hs to do with the T check valve that is in place at the transmission vacuum modulator. Look down at the modulator and make sure there is a T there and nothing is obstructing on port of the three. [br]Posted on: 08 May 2006, 17:04:43_________________________________________________Downshift issues are related to the T check valve on the vacuum modulator. I have attached a picture of the check valve. As you can see the orientation of the valve. It goes to the vacuum modulator then it comes to the T going left and right. To the right it should be wide open to air! Not blocked or connected to anything. I have a hose on it to prevent water from splashing on it and drawing in water. To the left it runs up to a hard pipe and goes to the throttle body to sense vacuum and boost.

 

Make sure the T is in this position! If it is any other way it will not work correctly. If something is blocking the T on the right it will not vent the way it should and not work properly. If you do not have a T check valve you can pick them up at an aiuto parts store real CHEAP!

 

If you need more help locating this or figuring out how it works...let me know and I can explain it more.

 

Take care,

-Kenny

 

[attachment deleted by admin] Removed to free up storage space.

[Garrett Powered]

yea really hard downshifts.

[TGPnewb]

i looked at my t vavle and i looked fine but i just took a qucik glimps. it looked kina oily ond or gooky.

im gonna try to clean it when i get home

 

thanks i hope this fixes the problem, that would really make my day.

does anywon have or is selling a tg 160?

 

[GutlessSupreme]

thanks i hope this fixes the problem, that would really make my day.

does anywon have or is selling a tg 160?

 

Look through the for sale section, pretty sure I saw a few there in the past few weeks.

 

http://www.turbograndprix.com/driveability_and_performance_chip.htm

 

that's a breakdown of Jeff's different chips.

[TGPnewb]

what is the differnece between the tg 180 and 160 is it just the t stat thats lower on the 160???

and i looked at the t valve and i looked fine but im going to stare it down when i get off work and make sure its not cracked and stuff.

i have been offered some poly dogbone mounts and a upully for 90 each is that good?

thanks guys.

[Jeff M]

Going to be heading out for a few days so might be a delay on replies.

 

The difference between the 160 and 180 are stat based and chip based, stat does its thing to try and maintain the engine at its temperature value by sucking more or less coolant from the radiator, while the computer runs the fans to try and keep the radiator with a good supply of cool fluid….yea that’s a funny way to look at things and not exact but true enough to give an idea of the correlation. Not a huge difference on running any chip with either a 160 or 180 setup, its only 20 degrees, besides, the 2 cooling fans have to have a range such that the “On-and-Off†are not cycling excessively, and from this there is no true 160 or 180 temp going on with their control, its always going up and down. A 160 stat is not fully open till 175 degrees so somewhere in there you try to get the 4 Fan On and Fan Off settings coordinated, pretty tight like I said to not have the fans cycling too often! As for the engine running cooler, debates are about the only constant that everyone will agree on , but fact is all turbo cars prefer cooler temps to perform best, the worries about a cooler engine/combustion chamber meaning less power are quickly disclaimed when you’re reminded that the turbo will heat the air up for you so no need to worry about the air being too cool when it enters the combustion chamber, if that were the case then in the frigid winter temps we should provide some way to heat up the air ??....seems to me that is when our cars grow an extra set balls that I don’t want lose, and the air is getting heated when the turbo is not boosting either, crunch on that thought. Just a side note, there are very few TGP/TSTE owners that frequent the boards as compared to how many owners there are out there, so its pretty hard to get any good wide consensus on ideas, suggestions and such, though that does not lessen the experience based knowledge of those few here . Out of the 300+ chips I have sold since 1996 only 5 where 180 temps versions, I have sold more Stock Performance Chips (to old guys or women owners) than 180 versions. And like it’s said, the extra power is only there when you need it, no extra wear on the engine or lesser gas mileage having a 160 chip (a good share from the corrections done to the stock chip’s fueling), thinking about it the typical driver (even us guys) only spent about 2% of our driving with our foot to the floor, with traffic and speed limits (or limits of the road the speed we can handle ) and cops its pretty hard to be full throttle for much time as compare to our more constant speed getting to a from our destinations. Those owners that have taken the time to check have found that even with their new found power levels :wink:that their gas mileage has increased, again since the corrections in these chips effect the 98% of cruising that we do.

 

So, pretty much everyone goes with the 160 chip, that someone years ago affectionately named the “TopGun†chip, based on Tom Cruise’s movie TopGun which was done around the same time as another movie he did where he spent hours trying to catch a Pace Car TGP and never caught up to or passed it .

 

Jeff M[br]Posted on: May 10, 2006, 01:50:14 PM_________________________________________________

I looked at the t valve and it looked fine but im going to stare it down when i get off work and make sure its not cracked and stuff.

i have been offered some poly dogbone mounts and a upully for 90 each is that good?

thanks guys.

 

Quick easy stuff on the parts you mention, save money to get a 16 year old car running good first, ever one here will agree with me on this, besides you would be surprised how much harshness is passed into the car and you feel it when the front dog bones are not stock rubber Also I would NEVER suggest under-drive pulleys for any car, especially ours ....just ask how many guys here have not liked the output of their alternator and how many have failed from working too fricking hard all the time keeping up with the electrical load (ABS Pump Motor, Stop Lights, Head Lights, Blower, new killer sound system!), if anything I would get a smaller pulley for the alternator to help it out!!! And do I want my power steering pump turning slower at parking lot speeds, not with these big fat 245mm wide tires, AND (don't get me going ) do I want to slow my water pump speed down, oh no, even if my radiator was not half full of 16 years of sediment/coated/gunked up I would still prefer to have all the cooling I can get!! Ok, done ranting

 

It is very common for the Transmission Vacuum Modulator "T" Check Valve to cause this problem. The Check Valve is supposed to bleed pressure from the vacuum line there so that the tranny vacuum modulator does not get a pressure signal when boost is going on in the engine where the vacuum line source is tapped from. So if someone has blocked the “bleed†end of the Check Valve, this causes boost pressure to enter into the tranny vacuum modulator making for a nasty harsh shift. Also when the Check Valve is leaking there is atmospheric pressure getting into the vacuum line, which is a “pressure†as compared to the vacuum the engine might be having at the time i.e. light loads/all non-boosted loads, and is where the excessive harsh shifts come from. So, first check to see if there is a plug on the bleed end, if so take it off, next is to pull off this little guy and test if the “check†is working, block one port and then suck-then-blow on one of the other ports, it should not allow you to blow and suck, if you can suck and not blow or blow and not suck, then the “check†is working. If it allows both then move the check valve around and test another port to suck and blow on while blocking the other, if it fails to check then its failed and needs to be replaced, GM discontinued these years ago but Shawn Linn our board owner found and suggested a replacement that many have used with great results, GM Part Number 14056648, about a $5 piece.

 

Talk again later, good luck till then.

 

Jeff M

 

[TGPnewb]

thanks i love this site.; gonna play with my tcheck valve tomorrow when im off work.

other than that the car runs great with 150k miles on it it runs strong...but at higher speeds it seems to choke to death

i was just wondering if that was due to the tiny ass turbo. had anyone lowered the car? im thinkind of suspension upgrades to, cuse the w body seems to have alot of body roll and just wanted to stiffen the front end and keep the power down. another thing im gonna need is gonna be a high output alternator for my goodies but thanks guys