Next the EA82 Header upgrade .

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:42 pm

If you look at the first pic in post 19 you can just see the boss on the side of the AFM . I'm not sure if a hotwire AFM is shorter than the earlier vane type one but it would have been a bonus if it was .

Cheers A .

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:16 am

Yes the hotwire MAF is shorter

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:09 am

hotwire AFM is 126mm long with the hose flange taking up 25-26mm

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:21 pm

Ok , hopefully the last update before Ellie comes home with a new set of lungs .

Arts found some production rubber duct/hose that's 70mm and will I think be a right angle forward off the AFM towards the radiator . Then I think its into a mild steel bend with barbs for the breather and canister hose aiming downwards parallel to the rad core . Off the steel bend will be a silicon right angle reducer from 70 to 60mm which feeds the turbo inlet boss . Would be a good place to vent a throttle closed recirc valve as well .

I managed to find my previously modified wheel carrier/turbo heat shield so I'll take it in and get them to make it fit .
With luck the "lobster shell" heat shield will hide most of the turbo and thankfully the hose off the AFM won't be a gaudy blue silicon eye magnet shouting death is imminent .

Hope this thing goes like that Ant Eater REX , sick em REX .

A .

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:59 pm

So close , engine has been running but it has an oil leak where the turbo oil line goes into the cylinder head . Hard to get at with the header in place I'm told .

Fingers crossed will be on the road in an hour or so .

Later , cheers A .

Edit : Up and running and in Arts words goes like buggery . Comes on boost reasonably early and it hasn't picked up any more noise in his opinion .

Enroute to pick it up .

twilightprotege · Post by **twilightprotege** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:06 pm

how early does it get to full boost? (and what boost are you running?)

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:30 pm

First impressions are that it feels torquey off boost , more so than the std manifold/turbo but isn't boosting properly for some reason .
I have not had time to do anything with it - started at 5 am this morning and same tomorrow , Wednesday was 2.21 am - feel so tired .

I have been here before with custom turbo installs and usually things like actuator not tensioned properly or just very low poundage ones opening very early .

Car did not pick up one extra Db of exhaust noise which is great . If anything it idles a bit smoother and more evenly .

Under the lid it looks quite inoffensive which is another bonus , all that stands out is the blue silicon hoses at the turbo inlet and outlet .
Poor Art did himself some kind of knee injury working on Ellie so the RX Turbo spare wheel support brace heat shield has not been refitted . Surprisingly the brake master and booster are not getting hot but I'd like the heat shield there for extra stealth .

Water cooling is thermosiphoning properly at shut down and you can hear the coolant gurgling through the turbo's core for a minute or two till it gets below 100 deg C .

Now , I don't have a boost gauge in my car so can someone tell me at what pressure the boost light illuminates in an RX Turbo L . It can't be real high as mine lights up but there's no turbo rush happening yet .

Pics soon to Gannon and he may be able to link them up here .

Cheers Adrian .

PS I seem to remember GCG saying my actuator was the one off an early spec Ford XR6's GT35R and from memory they only had 4.5-5 lbs boost .
It probably needs an 8-10 lb actuator but then I suppose the over boost diaphragm will do the boost cut thing .
I may be able to tease it by temporarily removing my actuators pressure line .

Cheers A .

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:59 pm

My green dash boost light comes on at about 2psi.

Sounding positive there Adrian. Anyone leave a rag in there? Done it meself - affects boost a little bit

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:24 am

Well I'm back in the land of the living - I think . Great at 4am staring at some stranger in the mirror with a toothbrush in is face .

Thanks for the tip off with the "boost" light , its the answer I was hoping to hear .

I don't know if I can do anything with Ellie today as I've arranged to see another whiz about ECU tuning and the other car . I'll have to get the part number off my turbos actuator and find out exactly what rate it is .
Do you happen to know at what pressure the fuel cut thing spoils the fun ?
Can it be sorted by cutting off its manifold pressure line ? It think there is a "T" piece feeding it and the boost light pressure switched relays .

Cheers A .

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:58 am

...yeah man, just disconnect it, or plug the hose with a bearing. From memory it cuts around 10psi

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:43 am

Sounds good Adrian

You are mad not to have a boost gauge on a modified car.

As for playing with boost levels, these are your best bang per buck Turbotech manual turbo boost controller
It is a ball and spring construction type so it prevents wastegate creep too.

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:58 am

you can get those bits off-the-shelf at any hoses fitting places (enzed,pirtek etc)
cheaper too IFIRC

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:50 am

Gannon I'd be the last person to have a boost gauge and unless you're talking about much of an increase they don't tell you anything very significant .
Most people should be able to hear and feel the difference if they get a sudden unexpected boost rise . My idea has always been to avoid boost increases - gotta run more later A .

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:46 am

Gannon is right, and the more indicators of how the engine is running the better in my opinion. I keep an eye on my boost/vacuum gauge knowing egr is working at zero to ten inHg, etc. i'd love one of those screens that have an image of all your gauges and all hooked up to monitor everything. Adrian, ya boost gauge don't have to be on public display. Reckon my engine watchdog temp gauge is great and use it in conjuncton with manual fan on switch. Someone so technical as you Adrian, i am surprised

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:07 am

Same bat hour ...

I've taken some pics of the final result of this turbo and header install and sent Gannon five of the better ones - but there are more .

This car at times now has drivability issues and I'm putting that down to the 23 year old computer etc struggling to cope with the non std spec of this engine combination . It may be having issues of its own as well .

I had the chance to drive it yesterday evening in slightly cooler conditions and I can now tell that turbo response won't be an issue when the fueling and timing settings are more to its liking .
Later in the evening I used the highly scientific method of pushing on the waste gates linkage with the pry bar end of a Subaru wheel brace and can confirm that the actuator is a low boost rated one - opens very easily meaning a light spring . The flat valve opening at low pressure is what would be preventing the boost/torque rise/rush .
Also I noticed something I forgot since last time I played with one of these Garrett GT BB turbos , when shut down you can hear the turbo spinning for about 20 odd seconds if its quiet around you .

I tend to think that my setup will ultimately come on boost a little later than a standard car but it makes more torque off boost now so it can only get better with a tunable engine management system .
A more suitable waste gate actuator won't be hard to get and probably needs to be at least rated to 8 pounds if not more .
Electronically controlled boost usually works better because solenoid valves can be made to block positive pressure until it's close to the target boost pressure . Also that works better if the actuator is set just above what the controller is pressure wise , silly to have a 4 lb actuator and controller set to 10 + .
I prefer the engine management system to do boost control because it simplifies things and I don't need more than one setting at a time . They also read off manifold pressure in kpa if MAP sensed .

Another thing is the L Series handling - or lack of - problem . I get the feeling that it won't be difficult to have more than adequate performance but still have to get around the bends so need more front end grip . My R33 Skyline absolutely destroys the L handling wise though they are a much more sporting oriented vehicle and its suspension setup is intended for livable street and club race work .

Possibly all I'll have time to do today is screw in the wide band probe and connect the Tech Edge so I can see what's going on mixture wise .

Back to the grind stone at 2am Monday so hopefully an easy day today .

Cheers A .

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:38 pm

If you can find a set of 14"s and say 175/70 -14 tyres it'll help greatly with the handling. I am about to try 185/60 -14 on these rims of mine as my fronts are getting a bit low and left rear about to die. The Michelin developed a bubble when on the front, I shoved it in storage, forgot, Mr Bean comes out and finds good looking Michies to shove on the back and five days later I got really weird feeling in front caused by LHR bubbling out max and wire coming out of good tread - ply separation ! My spare set are thirteens, they'll take me back a few years in handling I am sure.

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:16 am

I havent received an email of photos yet Adrian

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:46 pm

185/60 - 14's are fine, speedo is GPS correct

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:49 pm

Ok Gannon I'll try again . Looks good .

With the drivability problems I was a bit concerned because my car goes into "mad mode" at times and tries to run real lean like 15 - 18-1 AFR and not surprisingly it doesn't like that . In better moments its more like 13.7 - 14.3:1 AFR .

I noticed yon ECU light flashing and had a closer look this afternoon . It was doing real long slow flashes so I connected the green plugs togeter and it did three slow and five longs which the WSM reckons is 35 or EGR solenoid issue . My EGR solenoid is "fully floating" if you know what I mean because its an L one and not exactly the same as a Spider 4 plug ECU type one . It isn't actually bolted down and I suspect it needs to be to earth properly .

I don't know if connecting the green "jumper plugs" - going to D check mode clears any codes but it is behaving itself better ATM .

Also I dug out the other Garrett GT2860RS BB turbo I have and the waste gate actuator has a LOT more tension than the Subies one does , I think it was rated at 11 pounds but have to look it up .
While ever she runs leans for no obvious reason at times I'm in no hurry to use a higher rated actuator .

Cheers A .

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:16 pm

Gannon you should have six now in two Emails , replies to that Qantas thing you sent me .

Hope it works , cheers Adrian .