Best of the best (reliability) mods...
 

Guys,

I was reading back on some of my earliest posts. Just another D/A noob, I sure had some stupid questions. :biggrin:

And every time I get on this board and read, I realize that I don't know jack, and you guys amaze me with all the knowledge you've picked up on. That said, since I started reading the stickies (reluctantly to start with) I now find it hard to put them down.

So, more 3 year noobie questions. I'm fascinated with the reliability mods section. And if I had it my way, I'd stay at home all day long and work on the FD. But with a limited budget, work, and yes kids, I don't have much time to spare.

I initially just got the car running well, but then the priority went to the body cause it was so ugly, now the priority has swung back to the drivetrain. The car is going to be finished painting hopefully this week. The body still won't be perfect, but it will be a damn sight better than it was. So, beginning this weekend or so, I finally get to start spending some time and money on what's going on under the hood.

So here's the question: Regarding all the reliability mods (OK, you don't have to be familiar with ALL the mods), I wonder if you guys have some advice for this 3 year noobie regarding the chronology of the reliability mods.

Which mods would you definitely do first? At this point in my ownership of the car, I plan on making it run on the stock twins (until they break maybe) as reliable as possible. I'm fine with making ~300 h.p. Don't know that I'm making that now, but maybe in the neighborhood. Right now, I believe the car will drive a thousand miles with zero issues if driven easy. But that's not fun.

Here's a hodge-podge list of mods - These were done by the previous owner, and I want to build / replace / make reliable from here:

intake, mid-pipe, tail pipe, ~muffler (I'll have to look again, I think it was something from Pettit, but not sure), blow-off valve I think is stock, and an autometer boost gage all added by pettit racing in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.


I think it's on the stock or remanufactured ECU. I've got the boost creep under control with my own boost creep plates. And the spike I still need to tune a bit to get to 10-8-10. I've got a needle valve plumbed into the actuator line for now.

mine would be a downpipe, and all fluids flushed/changed..

Downpipe - I meant to list that ... it has a downpipe.

I have flushed and filled the coolant, oil and filter are fresh (and will always be) running Castrol GTX 10W-30 as per the owner's manual. Spark plugs just replaced with the correct plugs in the correct position (leading/trailing).

When I flushed and filled the coolant system, I mixed the coolant 50/50. Seems I read yesterday that Mazda recommends 30 / 70 (coolant / water). I'm going to look for that again, and will flush and fill again. 70% water mixture will pull heat away better than 50 / 50, and that's what I'm most scared of, is overheating the engine.

The times I've cranked then engine while checking the car at the body shop, it just sounded so good, I want to keep it that way.

then my next would be an intake system or a radiator.. or if your upping the boost id be getting a new intercooler..

ast, radiator, intercooler, and Pfc. But what do I know. I'm a 3 year newb too.

v8 SWAP * puts on fire suit*

radiator and AST first

pfc is a must-----after each and every mod the EMS relearns your set up. HKS TWINS ignition amp. second car when the bitch FAILS.

Let the fun begin. About three years ago, my FD was pratically stock. It only had a dp, and a koyo. It is a LONG way from there now though =). You will enjoy this process. Just take it slow, do your research, and mod carefully and both you and your car will be happy.

As others have suggested, cooling would be a concern. I would recommend an upgraded radiator, and ast to get the ball rolling. Since you said you have removed the cat, with a mp, perhaps air pump and e-removal would be near the top to clean up any possible rats nest problems. and a BIG :icon_tup: for a PFC w/ commander. It is vital in making tuning easier and keeping an ever so vigilant eye on the temperatures.

An $800+ PFC w/commander might be necessary when adding on performance mods, but IMO it's NOT a reliability mod.
Change fluids, plugs, plug wires, AST, radiator and add that temp gauge. All the real reliability mods first. Get the car on solid footing, making sure you have both spike and creep under control. No idle, starting, boosting, cooling, or other issues. Until then, adding a PFC onto a car that's shaky is like putting a $800 saddle on a $50 horse. You can brag to friends about the cool saddle, but you ain't gonna ride it very far. My .02.

It seems to be a pattern here. Upgraded radiator and AST. So, yes those will go to the top of the list.

When I bought the car, it had some good, and some bad. The good - The front end was all F'd up (basically fixed). The front wheels were WAY out of alignment (fixed). It wouldn't make boost (cracked Y-pipe, fixed), it was leaking coolant (fixed), it would boost creep (after fixing the boost leak, fixed), it would boost spike (still not fully contolled but will be working on that when I get it back).

The good, when all was fixed the engine pull strong, interior in pretty good shape, lots of front end stuff wasn't broken and I reassembled, rat's nest had already been done, some mods already on it (meaning I didn't have to buy them, but may replace them with better).

Now the fun stuff begins, once I get it back and it's not embarrassing looking to take out on the street. I've already had 2 guys try to buy it from me while it's been at the body shop.

Sgtblue - Your right on the money. My thinking is right in line with you. I've got a $50 horse right now. I think the PFC Commander will be later, and I'll have plenty of reading to do, to understand it fully, when I get to that point. My car is not quite solid enough for that yet, IMHO.

You guys should know, I'm not interested in pulling more than 10 psi. I'd be tickled to hold my foot on the floor and get 10-8-10. As it is, I'm getting about 10-12-10, and I'm working with my valve to tune it back. It's overly sensitive. Much of turn at all and it goes to 10-8-8 (from what I remember, I haven't drove it on the street much, it's been too ugly).

It idles good, starts easy, boosts all day, and now seems to cool really well.
I forgot to mention in the previous post that when I bought it, it also would not run the cooling fans at all. I replaced a relay, and replaced the thermoswitch with the FC thermoswitch while I had it apart doing some other stuff.

As it goes now, the car is in pretty good shape sans the boost spiking I need to tune.

From what I've read, it seems like pulling the air pump is complex. I'd like to do it (I'm not in love with the moooo) and some of the other non-needed stuff. I forget what it's called that revs the motor on a cold crank. But I'm always expecting that so I give it a quick blip on the throttle and it idles down.

My ultimate goat is to: a) run the twin set-up, probably at 10 max boost, b) free up all the un-needed junk under the hood (no emissions tests in Montgomery, AL), and c) tune my set-up to run as efficiently (meaning max power combined with max reliability) at 10 psi boost max as possible.

I don't know what h.p. I could eek out at 10 psi on the stock turbos, but that's about all I care about. And the ability to do that without too much worry.

I'm going to get there. I'll mod beyond the twin turbos and 10 psi ... as things break. :biggrin:


P.S. - The things you guys are saying, are exactly what I need to hear. Thanks!

The first/best "mod" for an FD is to buy a honda civic for a DD :lol: For real.....

-J

^ cannot argue that one bit!

If my memory serves me right I think the first thing I bought that was aftermarket was a AST and then a boost gauge. So I'd definately say Boost gauge first.

I think PFC is a great reliability mod.
-It can be used as a minimal monitoring tool,
-You can use it to change the activation temp of the fan (lower than 95 needs a tune I think) and you won't need a new thermoswitch
-It fixes the abrupt change over to the second turbo
-You can get your car tuned easier (even when your not over boosting your car this is important to change the AFR and that alone will increase reliability)

if im correct the stock radiator doenst do a half bad job for a stock setup.. aluminum of course is better but, id get an ast and downpipe and intercooler before getting a radiator personally.. just my opnion tho..

If you get an IC you have to do a tune though don't you (since your messing with the flow)? Changing the radiator is free.

Im building my car to be reliable as possible with 0 power mods. Alot of people have told me that the rad should be one of the very first things you should do. I was thinking about a new IC as well but have been told that its a waste for my purposes.

In my first round of mods it was the PFC, rad, AST and downpipe. The efini y-pipe is a relatively cheap upgrade so I would do that to. The intake got added for convenience and and the other stuff was already present on the car.

If a 2004 Corolla 5 speed that's been paid for for a while will do, then I'M SET! 40 mpg, and reliable as all get out. If it breaks, I'll drive the truck. If the truck breaks, I'll take the FD.

yeah that corolla should suffice :)

but i dont see why you would need a tune if upgrading intercooler? ive seen a bunch of people running smic's with the stock ecu with no issues..

i agree radiator would be on my list cause in reality it was one of the first but then again for a street car id push it down a bit and get a few other things first.. AST however def is 1-2 on my list.. the stockers if they break will take ur motor out in a sec!

I wish I knew more about this stuff (I dont Im pretty n00bish) but I think its because it cools the air going into the turbos or it leads to a leaner AFR that could increase chances for detonation. Its still very confusing to me the exact reason, I have been told so many things. Hopefully someone will chime in and set us straight.

I've already got a boost gauge, that's why I know I've got spike problems, and can tune it.

Supernaut - I see what you're saying. I think a PFC would be good as well. But I'll probably do a few other things first.

Supernaut - It may throw it out of calibration some, but I suspect a bigger/better intercooler would change things (as far as tune) fairly minimally. The experts on here will know. If a person's set-up was already on the side nearest having some detonation (which is not what I will target), putting a bigger/better intercooler may cause them to run even a bit leaner I would imagine.

If it cools the air off more than the previous intercooler, the air becomes more dense, which in turn should have the ability to break-up the fuel some small percentage better. Which would result in a slightly leaner mixture (I think this is how it would work). For someone who has the software to tune their AFR's, this is a good chance to throw a skosh more fuel at it to get the AFR's back to a preferred setting.

I'm eventually going to get to that level, once my horse is worth more than $50. :D

I don't want to waste bandwidth to start another thread;
1. but do these reliability mods help the engine get to it's 60,000 mile life, or extend it beyong 60K? I'm saying 60K as a bench mark btw.
2. I'm getting a rebuilt engine, (hopefully in this lifetime) and I was going to get a fluidyne radiator/pettit ast as my reliability mods.
3. I've read that the PFC can control the fan switch so no need to get the aftermarket switch like someone said earlier.
4. maintenance items shouldn't be listed under reliability, should be listed under maintenance :) imho of course<----
5. so should driving etiquette-agressive drivers with inconsideration should also be a reliability mod...
Maybe I'm rambling but I am still interested in answers to question 1. Think it would help the original poster and myself.