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.
When I first started this build, it was 7 years ago and I was fully capable to do everything I wanted to with it. Well, I'm now in my 50's, job requires a lot of focus, new priorities with the house, and I just want to get this damn thing on the road. I am abandoning the vertical door kit and the active aero which means I no longer have the justification for the dual battery kit. I can still do everything else, including the song and video.
In this update I verified oil and water temps and how far off the gauges are. I'm going to put the blame on the sensors and or sensor location. I am happy that the gauges show hotter than the actual temps. I also addressed the rear blown Tien Coilovers and the dying batteries. On with the Update.
01 - Oil Cooler Temps
02 - Coolant Temps
03 - HKS Hypermax Coilovers
04 - Front Shocks
05 - Rear Shocks
06 - Ride Height
07 - Dual Battery Kit = Dead
08 - Single Battery Kit
01 - Oil Cooler Temps
I added oil cooler fans to keep temps in check on hot days, traffic, and when I will have fun at the track in the future. The concern I was having was the Oil temp gauge showed 224F when the oil cooler fans would kick in, but I had a thermo switch set at 200F. I tried moving the thermo switch between the 2 coolers, I tried a 190F switch and the fans did not turn off because it could not cool down to 175F to turn the thermo switch off. I even questioned the quality of the temp sender for the gauge. I finally picked up a temp gun and took some readings with the front bumper off. I checked the first cooler on the right side and it read 187 then I checked the one on the left and it read 185. I honestly thought there would be a bigger delta. I checked the temp a few minutes later on the left side and it was 192F while the gauge showed 208F. Thats a 16F delta, at least the gauge shows hotter.
The oil cooler fans with the 200F switch actually turn on when the cooler shows 209F on the temp reader, the gauge shows around 224F. This is worst case scenario while idling for 30 minutes and no airflow. I read on racing beats site that the oil should not be hotter than 205F when entering back into the engine, I also got lost going down a few rabbit holes while searching for oil cooler temps. Anyhow the whole point of the oil cooler fans is to help cool the oil when there is poor airflow. I'm calling it good, they turn on at 209F and off at 190F ish while monitoring the coolers with a the temp gun.
02 - Coolant Temps
It was relieving to see that with the coolant seal leak my car was able to stay around 185F per FC-Tweak Master Controller while the gauge read 192F. The fans are set at 85C to keeps temps down, when I use the recommended 90C the car overheats due to the combustion leaking into the coolant jackets. When I'm on boost, the coolant is pushed into the overflow and the add coolant light/buzzer goes off.
03 - HKS Hypermax Coilovers
I picked up a really nice set of used HKS Hypermax Coilovers. Apparently these can be recharged with dry nitrogen with a fill nipple on the bottom. You can read all the benefits for single tube vs twin tube in the link provided. I got these because the rear TIEN's on my car blew out from sitting too long and then using them. Comparing visually the HKS vs the TIEN, the HKS have longer springs, smaller diameter body, the lower section where it bolts to the control arm is fixed on the HKS vs the TIEN which can be rotated and locked in place with a collar, and the HKS did not have the brake line bracket on the front shocks like TIEN did. Since the HKS coilovers were used I had to buy some locking wrenches off Ebay, I already had the Allen wrench to adjust the shocks, I set them to 7 clicks on all corners for a less bumpy ride. I took it around the block and smiled from ear to ear. The HKS coilovers are much smoother and no more squishy sound from the rear blown TIEN's.
I was relieved to see how easy the suspension can be changed on the FD. I'm sure everyone has their own way but I decided to do some extra disassembly steps to make it easy instead of playing twister with the shocks to get them out, specifically the front shocks.
(Verify the new and old shocks are the same length while they are being swapped out.)
04A - Front Shock Removal.
1. Unbolt the ABS bracket from the upper control arm and the ABS sensor from the hub, let them hang down away from the suspension.
2. Pull out the brake retainer clip and pull the brake line out of the bracket and lay it on top of the bracket. This will protect the brake line from being stretched out when you take off the upper control arm causing the hub to rotate towards you.
3. Remove the bolt holding the shock to the lower control arm.
4. Remove the bolt holding the upper control arm to the hub. Use a rubber mallet and tap on the underside of the upper control arm to pop it up and be prepared for the hub to rotate towards you.
5. Use a big flat head or crowbar to slide the shock out from the from the lower control arm.
6. Take the 2 bolts out holding the upper control arm to the body.
7. Unbolt the 3 nuts holding the shock on the top of the shock tower and you should be able to pull the shock right out and slide the upper control arm off.
04B - Front Shock Install.
1. I recommend to loosen the front lower control arm anti-sway bar bolt to allow the aluminum cast to flex open if your new shock will not slide in.
2. Put the upper control arm around the new shock and install the shock with the 3 nuts on top of the shock tower holding it in place.
3. Install the 2 bolts to hold the upper control arm to the body, do not connect the hub side yet.
4. I used a floor jack to raise the lower control arm to seat the shock in the lower control arm. If it does not slide right in you will need to get one side started so that the flat face of the control arm and the shock bushing are touching. Then with a flat head and a hammer tap the other side of the bushing down until the 2 flat faces on that side are touching.
5. Raise the lower control arm and install the lower bolt. Continue to raise the lower control arm until you see the car raise a little, now you can tighten the bolt under its loaded resting position. Tighten the anti-sway bar bolt at this time as well.
6. Rotate the hub forward and install the upper control arm onto it.
7. Install the ABS bracket and ABS sensor.
8. Verify the locking jam nuts on the coilovers are still tight.
05A - Rear Shock Removal
1. With two wrenches, loosen the nut on the rear anti-sway bar endlink. You will need to hold the back side near the rubber boot with the open end of the wrench to stop it from rotating and use the closed end on the nut side.
2.Loosen the big nut and bolt holding the rear shock to the upper control arm, this is also part of the rear anti-sway bar endlink.
3. Pull the endlink out by rotating it down out of the anti-sway bar and then pulling it back out of the rear upper control arm. The rear suspension will drop a little.
4. In the rear hatch area pull the cover to the rear strut bolts off.
5. Unbolt the 3 top strut bolts and pull the shock out.
05B - Rear Shock Install
1. Install the rear shock into the shock tower and Install the 3 top strut bolts.
2. Pop the strut tower cover back into place.
3. Raise the suspension by hand and push the endlink assembly through the upper control arm on shock.
4. Rotate the endlink so the top bolt goes into the anti-sway bar and tighten it with the 2 wrenches.
5. Use a floor jack and raise the rear control arm until the car lifts a little, now tighten the upper control arm shock bolt while its under resting load.
06 - Ride Height
The car sits at the same ride height as before, the front might be 1/2 inch lower than before. I am able to get in and out of the driveway without scraping. I also cleared the neighbor hood speed bumps so that all good to.
07 - Dual Battery Kit = Dead
The Champion AGM batteries I had came with a 48 month warranty. They were dated 4/20 and 5/20. The car sat for months at a time without a battery tender, and with the dual bat kit it was kind of a pain to charge. I had to disconnect the VSR to get them to charge individually. I probably could have gotten a replacement for one of them in 2023 when they died the first time. When I would jump the car, the batteries held voltage but after 2 days they would need another charge. When I drove the car after changing the shocks the FC Master was screaming at me about battery voltage, it made me wonder if this is why the car wanted to die coming to a stop so I drove with my lights on to raise the rpm, it worked for a little while then it started to die coming to a stop as well. I did buy a charger that said it was rated to charge AGM batteries so I decided to charge the main battery first since it read 9V. I was thinking maybe one of the glass mats inside was damaged and I used the recondition feature on the charger. The voltage did come back to 12V. After charging for 3 hours I noticed the battery was hot. I used the temp gun and it read 115F. The battery was starting to bulge on the negative terminal side. Yeah this battery is done. The second battery showed 11V so I just decided to get new AGM batteries.
08 - Single Battery Kit
After much thought, having a home changes priorities, considering my age (51 today..lol) and time needed to finish the car, I decided to abort the reason to need the dual battery kit. I pulled out the deadish AGM batteries and all the electronics associated with them. I reconnected everything up to the new AGM group 34 NAPA Legend single battery. I still have 1 fuse box for the ACC power and the other fuse box for constant 12V. In the future I will put both fuse boxes in the space where the 2nd battery was, remove the rivnuts, weld the holes closed, and re-wrap the panel so the rear panel will be clean. I put the rear speakers back in since I can charge the car from the front.
Now I have this bucket of TIEN shocks that I don't know what to do with. Any ideas? I also drained the coolant reservoir only to find a little oil in it. The coolant o-ring leak is so bad I can see it dripping outside the engine near the exhaust. I still can't believe how well this engine runs. Earlier when I changed to the Greddy boost controller I could not get to target boost without cranking up the low and high settings. With the controller off I only got to 5 psi. I remember I had the silencers in so I took them out. After changing to the single battery I tried to start the car and it was no good. I thought I did something wrong. Then I heard the IAC buzzing like crazy. I saw the AFR gauge and it was pegged to 10 AFR. Damn too much fuel?, No spark?. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked it until AFR was back to 20. I tried a few more times turning on and off the ACC and heard the IAC stop buzzing and reinstalled the fuel pump fuse. I finally got the car to start and the AFR showed 10.6 and voltage was 14.6. I let the car re-learn the idle. When it hit 185F I turned it off and I was able to re-start the car!!!. Sure it had trouble this time but before I had to wait for the car to cool to like 165/170F to restart it.
I filled the coolant to the top and I took the car for another drive and I was able to get to target boost quickly. Boost Controller off it's about 7 to 8psi. Low boost is 12psi and high boost is 14psi. Man this car freaking moves !!!. I noticed I was running richer, probably the new battery giving more voltage to the fuel pump since it has the fuel pump 12V mod. FC Master is no longer screaming at me about the voltage. I took the car onto the freeway and it felt solid as hell to the top of 3rd gear. 5th gear cruise is so smooth. Another amazing thing is the car no longer tries to die when coming to a stop. The add coolant light/buzzer did come on right around the corner from the house so I made it home just in time. With the new shocks and FC Master, this thing felt so amazing to drive. And just now I went to start the car and she fired right up. I guess she just had to get used to the new battery voltage.
This is the best Birthday present ever - a great running project car !!!
Thanks for the read.
01 - Oil Cooler Temps
Last edited by rotaryextreme; Dec 15, 2024 at 11:56 AM.
When I first started this build, it was 7 years ago and I was fully capable to do everything I wanted to with it. Well, I'm now in my 50's, job requires a lot of focus, new priorities with the house, and I just want to get this damn thing on the road.
Anyhow the whole point of the oil cooler fans is to help cool the oil when there is poor airflow. I'm calling it good, they turn on at 209F and off at 190F ish while monitoring the coolers with a the temp gun.
totally agree on both points!
Tein has a rebuild facility in LA, so you could have them rebuilt, which imho a big reason to use Teins.
i want a set of HKS dampers too, but HKS doesn't sell parts, and not sure they can be rebuilt, if needed (there is a local place, https://www.performanceshock.com/)
Tein has a rebuild facility in LA, so you could have them rebuilt, which imho a big reason to use Teins.
i want a set of HKS dampers too, but HKS doesn't sell parts, and not sure they can be rebuilt, if needed (there is a local place, https://www.performanceshock.com/)
wow thank you so much for the link. I looked on hks's website and they do sell replacement parts for the rebuild. If I rebuild the tiens I'll probably rebuild them to sell or sell as is. The HKS coilovers ride so smooth I freaking love it. Thank you again for the link.
Final touches for 2024, no more touching (working on) my car until C.Wan's car is done.
I addressed some annoying visual things, the battery negative terminal connection, midpipe, installed correct bolts for rear hubs to control arms, and also some things I noticed on the rear HKS coilovers during their install.
I also put the Greddy Profec B boost controller and the Bonez racing cat back on and reloaded the map from 3 years ago when Daniel Kuo tuned my car with this configuration to 350whp / 312tq during Sevenstock 24.
OK, "Let's get it on" - Marvin Gaye.
01 - Hood Damper Nuts
02 - Battery Negative Terminal
03 - Battery Fuse Boxes
04 - Rear LRB Base Panel
05 - Rear HKS Coilover Spacer
06 - Rear Suspension Bolts
07 - Bonez Racing Cat
01 - Hood Damper Nuts
A few years ago when I went ham and used a wire wheel to take off some paint on the hood hinge nuts. They looked all nice and shinny at the time but now they are all rusted and look like Mater's nuts. I installed some new zinc plated serrated flanged nuts that I found in the metric hardware section of Home Depot of all places. What a difference a nice pair of nuts make, that's what she said.
02 - Battery Negative Terminal
My battery negative terminal clamp has a threaded post which is flat and smooth at its base. The flanged nut I use is also flat and smooth on the underside. Because of these 2 flat surfaces, it makes it difficult to secure the flat copper ground bar. I fixed the situation by using a inner-toothed washer on the battery terminal side that the ground bar can grip onto. The negative ground cable has a thick square shaped eyelet that grips under pressure onto the top of the copper ground bar which is all secured by a new zinc plated serrated flanged nut.
03 - Battery Fuse Boxes
In my last post I mentioned I wanted to relocate the rear fuse boxes at a later time, but it was bugging the heck out of me so I took care of it now. I need to remove most of the rear panels to get the LRB base panel out for 2 reasons. First is to clean up the fuse box situation and second is to clean up the LRB rear base panel. I used the second battery tray, some spare metal for the shelf, door guard protectors for the metal edges, and Mater's rusty nuts to make a fuse box tray in the second battery location. I installed the fuse boxes and turned the key to ACC to make sure everything worked and verified 12.3V on the PFC Master. It's incredible how many screws and clamps came off this rear panel now that I'm back to single battery with a hidden fuse box tray.
04 - Rear LRB Base Panel
I wanted to clean up the rear panel so pulled all the black vinyl tape off, I drilled out all the rivnuts, and cleaned the holes with a de-bur tool. Then I put aluminum tape on the underside of the holes and filled the holes with JB Weld. After an hour I shaved off the excess JB Weld with a razor blade. I re-wrapped the panel in flat black permanent vinyl tape and re-installed it. It's not perfect but it look a lot better at a glance. With all the rear speakers and bass re-installed I listen to some of my favorite CD's. For this night it was JADE, "Dont Walk Away".
05 - Rear HKS Coilover Spacer
During the install of the rear HKS coilovers, I noticed there was a slight gap between the coilover bracket and the metal insert in the bushing on the control arm. It was about a normal 1/2 washers thickness. When I tightened it down I just felt a constant very strong resistance but the hardware did not want to abruptly stop like it was fully tightened. The feeling ended up being the U-bracket being flexed inward at the bottom where the hardware was. I took pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. Anyways I took out the anti-sway bar bolt assembly and checked the width at the top and bottom of the bracket, thankfully the compression was spring loaded tension and the bracket measured 2 inches at top and bottom. I re-installed the hardware with the washers in the forward position and now everything fits solid with no play. I cleaned the threads, put a little removable thread locker, and this time when I tightened the nut it stopped like it was supposed to and then I snugged it with some elbow grease.
06 - Rear Suspension Bolts
A while back while removing my rear axles to have the diff worked on, one of the rear control arm to rear hub bolts broke when I was trying to unscrew them. I replaced all 4 with some new "similar" hardware. The nut hardware I used a lock washer and then a normal nut. Dale Clark flagged this as a temporary fix and to watch out for the black oxide, I agreed. This hardware has held up fine but I have been wanting to replace it with OEM hardware. Well, thanks to Tomsn16 on the RX7club, I now have the OEM replacement bolts. I quickly swapped out the 4 bolts. I noticed the stock bolts have some type of sealant on the threads and do a really good job of locking themselves down, the resistance felt kind of like I was screwing down a Stover nut.
07 - Bonez Racing Cat
I spend a lot of time with the car idling in the driveway and the smell is horrendous without the cat. I have several reasons to put the cat back in. 1 - The neighbors wife is pregnant soooo, you know. 2 - It stinks like crazy without it. 3 - The 3 inch Cat is louder and flows better than the 2.75 inch midpipe on the car now, it even looks better with less bend radius. I know it's weird, but the Bonez Cat performs better on the car. Does 3 inch vs 2.75 inch really make that much of a difference, I guess so. It's also crazy all the wrenches you grab to make sure you dont have to crawl out from under the car again. LOL. Now that I have the Greddy Profec B boost controller and the Bonez cat I reloaded the older map from DK tuned the car. I verified in FC Tweak it was the right file, saved it to a USB drive, and then transferred to the PFC Master. I started the car, let it warm up and go through 1 fan cooling cycle. Turned off the car after it was fully warmed up and was able to restart the car once again. Before the PFC Master, the car would never re-start once warmed up.
Thanks reading. Merry Christmas everyone !!!!!!!!
01 - Hood Damper Nuts
Last edited by rotaryextreme; Dec 24, 2024 at 11:04 PM.
