When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I had to replace my junkyard Taurus alternator this weekend. It started putting out less than 13V Thursday, then 12.5, then 12.0, then basically running on battery.
I got a new one at the parts store and it was ever-so-slightly different than my old one, which required a new belt. 3 different trips to the parts store and I finally had it back and running right with a new belt. Unfortunately, the new alternator also had a different offset and chucked the belt after 5 miles. Megasquirt has a temp-dependent rev limiter that saved my engine by cutting spark when the engine went above 220F. I was able to get the somewhat shredded belt back on and limp it to get a replacement. I added a washer between the alternator and water pump housing and all seems good again.
I also increased the spring pressure in my Turbosmart dual-port wastegate actuator. This thing has been a disappointment since day one. It looks like a nice piece, but I have a laundry-list of complaints about it. First, it has a giant “nut” that holds the top of the gate to the bottom. It has the little spanner notches similar to a coilover collar. For $180, they don’t even send the correct wrench. The instructions say to use a screwdriver and a hammer! Better yet, there is no convenient way to stick it in a vise to hit it with the for mentioned screwdriver and hammer. Even using a piece of leather and brass vise jaws, I still marred the anodizing. The best part is, IT LEAKS! I can blow into the bottom port of the gate and feel air leaking around the shaft/bushing. That’s with a fraction of a psi of pressure from my lungs, not 20+ psi! At least the top port doesn’t leak.
I’m also pretty disappointed with how much creep I’m getting with the EFR IWG. With the 14psi spring and boost controller off, the car will come onto boost quickly and plateau at 13psi, but immediately starts creeping. In 3rd gear on a 80F afternoon, it will hit 16psi boost cut by 5000 rpm! That’s also with practically no pre-load on the actuator, which should allow for more stroke of the internal gate. There is absolutely no way I could drive this car safely without water injection or ethanol. I know I having a 4” downpipe isn’t helping, but I also have a 3” resonator, and the Racing Beat 3” dual exhaust (like the Rev II, but really old). I would wager that it is THE quietest rotary car with an EFR 9180. Today I’ll raise my boost cut and see exactly how much it creeps with the 14 psi spring.
On a positive note, the car has been driving well and has been mechanically reliable (minus the junkyard alternator). I’m still daily driving and it hasn’t been off a day since I pulled it out of the garage 6 weeks ago.
I'm planning on using the IWG-75 from TurboSmart with 10psi spring. That could solve your boost creep issues as well as give you some more safety buffer since you don't want to be running higher than 13-14psi it seems.
Pretty sure it's direct bolt on for your application too.
I AM using the Turbosmart IWG-75. With the 7 psi spring it was creeping to 17+ psi in 2nd+ gear. With the 14psi spring, the creep isn't noticibly worse, but at least it starts creeping from ~13psi, not 7psi. With the 7psi spring, my boost looked like a straight line from 7-17. It started creeping almost immediately.
The IWG-75 is waht I'm so unhappy about. It's a pain in the *** to change springs, it's overpriced IMO, and it LEAKS!
I emailed back and forth with them several times yesterday. Basically, they said that there is no positive seal between the shaft and the bronze bushing.
Basically, they said that it is a tight fit and leakage should be minimal, but there is no o-ring or scraper seal. They said any kind of seal would impede the wastegate. I asked what their acceptable leak rate is, I have access to calibrated pressure gauges, flow meters, ect. I could easily measure the leakrate, but they told me they cannot give out that information. I would have to remove it, ship it to them, and they would test it and determine if it’s bad. If it passes their top secret specs, then I have to pay them $25 and return shipping. If it doesn’t pass, I get a replacement. Either way, I’ve had it off the car twice and I don’t feel like doing it 2 more times. It is a royal pain in the *** to remove and I have to wait for the car to cool down which is inconvenient as it’s my daily driver. It takes a good 2 hours before everything isn’t too hot to touch.
I’m not sure what to do. This morning it was 55*F and dry out. With the 14psi spring and the controller turned off (100% of pressure going to the top of the gate which DOESN’T leak), it made 19.5 psi at only 6500 in 3rd gear! Don’t get me wrong, the car is a blast and it really moves out, but I have no safety net if my water injection fails. I have my AEM water meth Failsafe gauge wired to switch to my low boost map if there is a water injection malfunction, but apparently 19.5 psi IS my low boost map! The lack of boost control on the EFR IWG turbos is really disappointing. I have a good friend with a EFR 8374 IWG on a 3.2L S52-swapped BMW E28. He’s having the same issues. His makes 18+psi with the OEM BW 8psi gate in warm weather. Maybe I should stuff a racket ball on one of my mufflers…
Port your wg the way we did phils. He was seeing 17 psi, and now holds 11. Just remove both wg and t4 divider. Will slow response a little below the 3500rpm region.
I'm 100% certain I'm not going to port the exhaust housing and wastegate runner. It just seems like a hack thing to do. It’s such a nice piece and I paid good money to have it ceramic coated. I did trace out and plasma cut a “restrictor plate” I made a 1/8” plate with a 2.5” ID to put between the 3” catback and midpipe. I’ll probably install that over the weekend and see if that helps. I also have a 60mm wastegate I’m going to install in the downpipe as a mechanical exhaust cutout. I would imagine any restriction I add would be offset and then some by the additional flow of the large gate. I also have a spare 4port solenoid I can use to open/close the valve at different boost pressures so It won’t negatively impact creep. At least it’s reversible and basically free.
I also removed my Turbosmart wastegate and am in the process of returning it. I have an RMA#, but it has to be received by TS and deemed defective first. The thing pisses air out the actuator shaft BAD. I will say that going back to the stock actuator, the car spools slightly slower. I have WG duty cycle to 100% until approx. 3500 rpm. With the leaky TS gate, I was able to make 20psi in 4th by 3500. Not exactly sure what it is with the single port Borg Warner actuator, but it feels slower anyway.
Other than that, the car has been running great. I need to get a catch can still. I noticed quite a bit of oil residue under the car near where I have the breather tube vented to atmosphere. I would expect it from nearly 2 months of boosting the car with no catch can lol. I’m pretty limited for space which is why I don’t already have one. I think I might just hang it off of the water pump as that’s about all the space I have other than by the downpipe :/
I've also attached a could of photos of the Water-2-Air intercooler setup and the turbo stuff and new filter.
I'm 100% certain I'm not going to port the exhaust housing and wastegate runner. It just seems like a hack thing to do. It’s such a nice piece and I paid good money to have it ceramic coated. I did trace out and plasma cut a “restrictor plate” I made a 1/8” plate with a 2.5” ID to put between the 3” catback and midpipe. I’ll probably install that over the weekend and see if that helps. I also have a 60mm wastegate I’m going to install in the downpipe as a mechanical exhaust cutout. I would imagine any restriction I add would be offset and then some by the additional flow of the large gate. I also have a spare 4port solenoid I can use to open/close the valve at different boost pressures so It won’t negatively impact creep. At least it’s reversible and basically free.
I also removed my Turbosmart wastegate and am in the process of returning it. I have an RMA#, but it has to be received by TS and deemed defective first. The thing pisses air out the actuator shaft BAD. I will say that going back to the stock actuator, the car spools slightly slower. I have WG duty cycle to 100% until approx. 3500 rpm. With the leaky TS gate, I was able to make 20psi in 4th by 3500. Not exactly sure what it is with the single port Borg Warner actuator, but it feels slower anyway.
Other than that, the car has been running great. I need to get a catch can still. I noticed quite a bit of oil residue under the car near where I have the breather tube vented to atmosphere. I would expect it from nearly 2 months of boosting the car with no catch can lol. I’m pretty limited for space which is why I don’t already have one. I think I might just hang it off of the water pump as that’s about all the space I have other than by the downpipe :/
I've also attached a could of photos of the Water-2-Air intercooler setup and the turbo stuff and new filter.
Agree! Such a nice turbo/unit, and having to modify it just to make it work?? I don't like that idea.
I like the wastegate idea on the DP
Did you relocated the fuse box in order to mount the intercooler in that position? God a pic of the intercooler connection to the TB hat?
Agree! Such a nice turbo/unit, and having to modify it just to make it work?? I don't like that idea.
I like the wastegate idea on the DP
Did you relocated the fuse box in order to mount the intercooler in that position? God a pic of the intercooler connection to the TB hat?
I did "relocate" the fuse box.
I basically rotated it 90* and moved it a couple inches. The OEM fuse box bracket wouldn’t clear the IC. I didn’t have to extend any wiring. I also repinned one of the spare fuses in the OEM box for my electric fan. Makes it nice not to have to use those shitty little inline fuse holders. I’ve seen 2 of those CATCH FIRE powering Walbro 400lph pumps and they’re only 20A! It didn’t even pop the fuse!
Here’s a picture of my throttle inlet. I’m using the Rotary Works TB adapter which is a pretty nice piece and 3” inlet. Tapped the stock IAT location for ¼” NPT and am using a DSM IAT sensor. GM sensors are more standard, but they’re a bit bulky with 3/8” NPT. I have a 3.5-3” reducer connected to a ~30* bend in a short piece of 3” tubing and a 3” silicone 90* bend. To check plugs, I undo the clamp at the 3” side of the reducer and undo the clamp on the throttle body side of the 90 elbow. Comes off in about a minute with a ratchet and I have easy access to plugs, coils, and breather. I’m using $3 NGK BR10EG plugs gapped at around 0.020” and injecting 1000cc/min of water. With the weaker Chevy truck LS coils (non-heat sink), I have zero ignition break-up at over 20psi and 8500rpm. AFRs are in the mid/low 10s up high. I paid $40 for the coils on ebay and reused the original wiring from the truck lol.
See attached photo.
I’ve also dialed in the boost a bit better with the stock Borg Warner actuator. Makes 21psi initially, tapers to 18 and back to 20ish (at 0% solenoid duty cycle). It’s still difficult to get a flat boost curve in
I basically rotated it 90* and moved it a couple inches. The OEM fuse box bracket wouldn’t clear the IC. I didn’t have to extend any wiring. I also repinned one of the spare fuses in the OEM box for my electric fan. Makes it nice not to have to use those shitty little inline fuse holders. I’ve seen 2 of those CATCH FIRE powering Walbro 400lph pumps and they’re only 20A! It didn’t even pop the fuse!
Here’s a picture of my throttle inlet. I’m using the Rotary Works TB adapter which is a pretty nice piece and 3” inlet. Tapped the stock IAT location for ¼” NPT and am using a DSM IAT sensor. GM sensors are more standard, but they’re a bit bulky with 3/8” NPT. I have a 3.5-3” reducer connected to a ~30* bend in a short piece of 3” tubing and a 3” silicone 90* bend. To check plugs, I undo the clamp at the 3” side of the reducer and undo the clamp on the throttle body side of the 90 elbow. Comes off in about a minute with a ratchet and I have easy access to plugs, coils, and breather. I’m using $3 NGK BR10EG plugs gapped at around 0.020” and injecting 1000cc/min of water. With the weaker Chevy truck LS coils (non-heat sink), I have zero ignition break-up at over 20psi and 8500rpm. AFRs are in the mid/low 10s up high. I paid $40 for the coils on ebay and reused the original wiring from the truck lol.
See attached photo.
I’ve also dialed in the boost a bit better with the stock Borg Warner actuator. Makes 21psi initially, tapers to 18 and back to 20ish (at 0% solenoid duty cycle). It’s still difficult to get a flat boost curve in
I doubt that intercooler will work for me. I am running a flex a lite black magic fan, which is shrouded, plus I am running the battery in the stock location.
I doubt that intercooler will work for me. I am running a flex a lite black magic fan, which is shrouded, plus I am running the battery in the stock location.
Your setup looks good!
Yeah, probably not. I moved the battery a long time ago. I had a Taurus fan, but had to ditch that for a 16" Spal to clear the intercooler and piping. I don't have any coolant temp issues currently, but I haven't tracked the car yet. My oil temps will creep up a bit if I'm beating on the car at low speeds and higher ambient temps (85F+), but I haven't seen over 215 oil temp. I think I'll probably go dual coolers on the sides and duct in the heat exchanger and radiator a little better. The oil cooler is between the HX and rad at the moment and has no flow priority. It looks like the letter A.
Over the holiday weekend, I was finally able to do some body work.
The car overall is pretty straight with just light dents and scratches.
But the paint was VERY heavily oxidized and has extensive heat checking from
sitting uncovered in the sun. I'm not exactly sure how long the car sat before I
got it, but the driver's side of the car is much worse than the passenger.
Both look like OEM paint, so I don't thing it's from a partial respray, more
from sitting in one spot for a long time with the sun beating down on one side
of the car.
Anyways, i spent about 8 hours this weekend washing, wetsanding, cutting, buffing, waxing, ect.
This was my first time really trying to restore a paint job and I'm happy with how it came out.
In some ways, the blemishes are bit more noticeable up close now that it's shiny,
but it looks pretty good from a distance.
The last picture is what the car looked like BEFORE! Big improvement!
Over the weekend I also made an effort to fix some of my boost creep issues.
I made a quick and dirty exhaust restrictor with a piece of 1/8" plate a a plasma cutter.
I just used a gasket as a template and decreased the ID to approx 2.5".
It's installed in the car but I wasn't able to get everything done before I had to call it a night.
I somehow managed to strip the bolt on the turbo V-band trying to get the downpipe back in.
One of the things I did manage to finish was weld in a 60mm wastegate to the downpipe to act as a cutout.
It's right in the second bend of the 4" DP where it should have decent flow priority.
I'm not a fabricator and I was in a rush, so I'm not exactly happy with the amount of gaps I had to MIG close or the general uglyness of it, but at least it's under the car lol!
Nice job on the paint, it looks so much better! I agree I don't like the idea of porting a new turbo either, I have an IWG 8374 with TS BOV and WG also it's concerning to hear that TS has such a weak stance on the warranty of their products. I hope I don't run into the same problem. Keep up the great work (our builds are very similar so) I'm interested in any updates
Nice job on the paint, it looks so much better! I agree I don't like the idea of porting a new turbo either, I have an IWG 8374 with TS BOV and WG also it's concerning to hear that TS has such a weak stance on the warranty of their products. I hope I don't run into the same problem. Keep up the great work (our builds are very similar so) I'm interested in any updates
Thanks,
My wastegate actuator was received by Turbosmart for RMA on Friday. Hopefully they'll have it tested this week. If no problem is found, I have to pay a $25 fee and return shipping to get it back. If it is returned as-is, be sure I'm going to plaster a video of it leaking like a sieve on every form of social media. I already have a SCFM calibrated flow meter and all the equipment to quantify how much it's leaking. Hopefully they make good on it. Good luck with your build.
Seen the Instagram pics of paint. Came up mint I'm comparison . finally found your thread and have subbed.did wonder if you were on here.
Thanks for the kind words.
I did hear back from Turbosmart. They said my wastegate actuator was "half and half" and that they replaced the lower bushing and it seemed to fix the issue. Not exactly sure what half and half means, but I'm assuming it has something to do with the top port sealing and lower port leaking like crazy. Either way, it should be on its way back to me!
I ended up stripping the bolt on the V-band clamp at the turbo-downpipe on Monday. I think my new cutout is acting like a counterweight and making it difficult to line up the downpipe v-band. I use the "male/female" v-bands on the rest of my exhaust and they make it 10x easier to line up and tighten, I wish the same could be said for turbos. I picked up a new clamp last night but likely wont have time to get the car back on the lift and running till the weekend.
Small update:
I haven’t actually driven the car in about a week because I broke a v-brand clamp when reinstalling the downpipe after adding a cutout.
I used a 60mm ebay wastegate, welded right in the outside bend of the 2nd bend of the 4” downpipe. I also install my ghetto restrictor plate between the resonator and cat-back.
I have it plumbed to the intake manifold via a 4-port MAC solenoid. The vacuum/boost source is tee’d into both inlet ports of the solenoid, but each line of the tee has a check valve, one in each direction. This configuration allows the wastegate to hold shut with vacuum and keep shut with boost whenever the solenoid is off.
When the solenoid is ON, the ports “flip” and vacuum holds the valve open and boost keeps it open. This allows it to work like a traditional electric cutout, but without the chincy electronics to burn out.
Everything is either stainless steel or Teflon tubing (450F rated) with some ceramic wool matting added to try and keep everything happy.
I’m a little worried that the actual exhaust gases when the valve is open will damage something, but it’s basically exactly where I had my old wastegate dump pipe.
There is a pretty noticeable difference in power with the valve open/closed. This could be accentuated since I added the restrictor, especially at 20+psi of boost.
I’m pretty happy with the restrictor as well, a quick test last night with ambient temps around 70F it made 13psi at 8000rpm in 2nd. A decent improvement.
With the dump valve open, it creeped to 20psi lol
Very interested to see the difference in power open vs closed with that orientation.
I got the idea from a DSM forum where it made 65whp more with the valve open at the ~500whp level and a 3" exhaust. I would be ecstatic if I could stay under 16psi in 3rd gear on low boost but keep the high flow capacity a larger exhaust with the valve open.
It also a lot more pleasant sounding than my old 46mm external gate, bit louder!
You were having boost creep so you put in a restriction to fix that.
Then you put in a wastegate cut-out on the downpipe to relieve that restriction.
How do you expect this to work?
Why did you not put the wastegate on the exhaust manifold to stop the boost creep and increase flow.
You could keep the downstream exhaust restriction (or use a butterfly valve) and use the internal WG most of the time to keep it quiet and then have a switch to enable the external wastegate (and butterfly valve if you do that).
Open dump wastegate on a rotary (versus same wastegate plumbed in) is usually good for 10-30rwhp.
I imagine it would be the same internal WG versus internal WG plus external WG dumped.
You were having boost creep so you put in a restriction to fix that.
Then you put in a wastegate cut-out on the downpipe to relieve that restriction.
How do you expect this to work?
Why did you not put the wastegate on the exhaust manifold to stop the boost creep and increase flow.
You could keep the downstream exhaust restriction (or use a butterfly valve) and use the internal WG most of the time to keep it quiet and then have a switch to enable the external wastegate (and butterfly valve if you do that).
Open dump wastegate on a rotary (versus same wastegate plumbed in) is usually good for 10-30rwhp.
I imagine it would be the same internal WG versus internal WG plus external WG dumped.
I don't intend to open the cutout in low boost, only high boost.
I added the restriction so I could have a boost map safe to run without water injection.
What will probably end up happening is, I'll use a spare ECU output to turn the valve on over a certain psi and thorttle%.
Currently, I have 2 boost maps on a switch, one which is 0% duty cycle and is basically wherever the IWG creeps to and "High" which is dialed in to around 20 psi, which is where I'd use the cutout to mitigate the restriction added to reduce boost creep.
The whole point is I did not want to add internal gates or modify the manifold or turbine housing. This setup only cost about $120 and I can hopefully have my cake and eat it too
Welp, my cutout stopped working. I’m not sure if it’s the wiring, the tubing, or the solenoids dead. It worked for the first hour, so I’m confident I can get it working again.
I’ll throw it on the lift tonight and see if it’s something dumb. If it’s the solenoid, I’ll probably put a 3-port on and run it directly to the bottom port of the “wastegate” and wire it up to an ECU output. I could have it turn on over 20psi or something.
I drove the car about 100 miles last night to help my friend tune his 800+ E30 BMW. (Wasn’t able to get my car on the dyno)
Averaged almost 17mpg @75mph on the interstate. Not great, but better than the 12ish mpg I usually average lol.
On the way home, I took advantage of the empty late-night interstates to test rolling anti lag. That **** works!
It would lock whatever mph I engaged the RAL at and would make over 10psi with no foot braking or effort.
It also makes huge bangs and shoots massive flames that light up my mirrors.
This is not good for a lot of things, gaskets in particular. I blew out one of the brand new restrictor plate gaskets doing just that.
BANG BANG BANG, third gear pull, and then the loud buzzy drone of a bigass exhaust leak.
I was using Remflex compressible graphite gaskets, which I’ve had great luck with on block-to-turbo manifold gaskets (particularly previous eBay manifolds).
They seal great, but they’re not the most robust. I was hoping they would work to seal my ghetto restrictor, but I think having 2 of them was too much for the flange to compress properly.
If a metal gasket doesn’t seal properly, I’m going to ditch the restrictor idea for now.
There are some tricks with Megasquirt that I can do to make failsafes for water injection. Basically switching ignition and fuel tables if I don’t have a certain water-injection flow over a certain boost level. The tank level sensor is already interlocked with the ECU and will cut spark if I try to boost with a low tank, or if the tank sloshes momentarily and lifts the low level sensor. If I had both of those working, I wouldn’t mind being able to run low boost.
08-15-16, 02:10 PM
