Hey guys,

I have the Turbonetics Kit on my A/T. I have the Valve Body upgrade from ZPI.

I recently installed a Megan Racing S-Pipe and a Dezod Turbo Exhaust system.

I am having my AFR gauge hooked up this weekend, so I can't give you any specifics regarding AFR at the moment, but i'm sure most of you can tell me if these are related to a lean/rich problem.

1. Sometimes when I am driving up an incline or even on flat ground, between 4-5PSI with about 25-50% throttle, my car seems to get bogged down, the exhaust gets really low and groany sounding and I have to punch the throttle to make it feel normal again.

2. As well, when I accelerate from a stop at about 85% throttle, a few moments before my car begins to shift in to 2nd gear it shakes... I do not know how else to describe it, it feels like you are doing a burn out but the tires are trying to grip, kinda imagine shaking the steering wheel a little back and forth, thats what the whole car does, but as soon as it shifts to second the problem diminishes. It seems to do it more frequently when the car is weighed down by more people.

3. There is a faint rattling sound that sounds like it is coming from one of the pulleys... maybe the alternator? I can't really tell... It did this even before F/I, so I dont know, any clues as to what it may be?

4. When I punch it, my Boost gauge seems to read 9PSI but the turbonetics kit comes preset to 8PSI am I correct? Is this my eyes playing tricks on me or is there a little room in there for error?

I am still on the Pre-Tune from Turbonetics, I am waiting on the Dezod Black Box before I go take it to be tuned, should be in the next two weeks.

Thanks in advance.

 

anybody?

 

Keep in mind I don't have a turbocharged tC, and haven't diagnosed problems with any F/I system before, but here are my opinions. (Wrong as they might be...:D)

1. Sounds to me like you're running rich. When you floor it, the throttle body opens fully, letting more air in and gets better combustion, and better acceleration.

2. That's something I'd be concerned about...possible compressor surge, or maybe a loose mount? I really have no idea, but I'd get that checked out...

3. If it's a loose mount, it could rattle and be causing #2. If it is, fix it immediately.

4. I believe the wastegate spring in the Turbonetics kit is a .6 bar spring, which equates to roughly 8.5-8.7 PSI. You're probably not going insane, and Turbonetics might have just advertised 8 PSI rather than saying '8.5 PSI', like GReddy did. I don't think there's anything to worry about unless you're going way over 9 PSI.

Again, not an expert...waiting for an expert to correct me.

 

I have the ZPI stage 1 on my A/T and the issue you describe in number 2 happens to me too. I belive that the transmission doesn't really like all that power and has a hard time shifting under that much pressure.

I'm not sure how to go about fixing it other than a valve body upgrade and then adjustng the shift points.

Sorry I'm probably not much help but at least your not alone in your problem.

 

You will see more boost with that nice exhaust system you have. Get that wide band installed ASAP the kit will start to lean out after 9psi on the stock tune.

 

Thanks for pointing that out, I kinda had a feeling this was the case, I am scheduling a tune as soon as I get my Dezod Black Box installed.

haha, yea it does feel good to know I'm not alone. It started after I got my new S-Pipe and Exhaust which gave me a pretty enormous boost in power, so I'm with you on the auto tranny having a hard time.

I thought I may be running rich too, but since I am no mechanic I wasn't sure if what i was describing was a lean condition
Thanks for the info on the wastegate spring I appreciate it.

 

with the first problem, it seems like you're running lean, cause you're not getting enough fuel/air mixture....too much air, and not eough fuel will cause you to bog down, and feel like you're gonna stall, or have no access to power.....

with your auto tranny, i'm pretty sure that the auto tranny cannot handle easily 250 whp.....8.5 psi or so will yield at least those numbers......

with the boost gauge, check your wastegate setup and ask people with the turbonetics what the normal spring should be at.....i would've assumed that the base map turbonetics gave you should run rich and not lean, for more safety.....

seeing how i had some of those same issues with my turbo install on my zpi kit, these would be normal things to check out first.....also, get those your wideband up asap so you can really tell what going on!!! good luck!

 

thanks

 

yeah, np.....thats what we're here for right, to look out for each other.....but do get that wideband up and you'll know for sure whats up with your car, and a tune too!!! happy boostin'

 

This is undoubtedly tuning related from the sounds of it.


This may be torque steer if it makes the TQ very quickly with the huge onset of throttle change.

This can be a numbers of different things including the injectors, piping rattling, dentonation etc....you need to be more specific.


This can be possible due the lack of exhaust restriction now with our exhaust.

 

Thanks for the info Paul.

Another issue I forgot mention... Since my install of the S-Pipe and the Dezod Turbo, At WOT When my car shifts from 1st to 2nd it backfires... Is this also tuning related?

Its like Accelerate.....Shift.... POP! Anything I should be worried about do you think?

 

Well, I had my turbo replaced by Turbonetics about a month ago.

After replacing it, I ran for about 1k miles pretty soft and did an oil change just for safety. I have been running pretty well for the past couple weeks.

This saturday, I took my car to my local dyno shop. They loaded it up on the dyno and started their runs. During the first run I was standing behind the car and noticed lots of exhaust smoke, Mostly a Blue/Gray exhaust. At the top of the 2nd/3rd gear, my exhaust backfired and a big shot of Black Smoke came out for a moment (Assuming this is a Rich Condition, It was about 10.2AFR)

During the 2nd pull, I noticed when he was revving the engine at Mid RPMs (3-4k) when he would let off puffs of blue/gray smoke would come out.

Now when I turn my car on after about 2min from a cold start, I have a lot of Condensation or Water coming out of the exhaust, When I hold my hand in front of it I get little water splashes with either Carbon Deposits or Oil in it... After about 5-6min after cold start I start getting white/gray puffs of smoke... The exhaust mostly smells like Fuel.

After the dyno day, I noticed my AFRs at idle were more in the range of 15.5-16.5 rather than 14.7-15.0 which it was before the dyno pulls.

Any ideas for what to troubleshoot first would be appreciated. I have had a blown seal before and it was a lot more blue smoke than this... And it smelled of oil rather than fuel.

Thanks!