Altered Mental Status (1G AWD 5spd)

[bastarddsm]

No its not bad for power exactly. A smaller gap exposes less of the fuel air mixture to the spark, so it starts less of it. Which leads to a longer flame development period - delays peak cylinder pressure - and makes for reduced peak cylinder pressure - decreased thermal efficiency. In essence a small plug gap retards the ignition timing. Non projected plugs move the gap out of the center of the chamber, which makes for a slower heat release as well. Wider gaps can make more power out of the air/fuel mass - but the difference is probably low enough that it's not measurable by any tuning shops dyno.
In that same vein, the small gaps do also narrow up the lean/rich misfire limit at low loads. The charge density is low, so there are MUCH less fuel/air molecules in the spark when it happens. And you have a much greater probability of none of them being suitable to light off.

I run non projected plugs BR9ES and BR10ES and like 0.02" gaps. That's worked well on my setup and doesn't seem to have issues with low load missfire. I'm also trying to make 800+hp with $26 head gaskets and not work on the thing every day. Sacrifice some efficiency, and just make it up with a bit more airflow.

In this case stock plugs, stock gaps, stock boost, get the car stock, make it run 100% then, do mods. It's not rocket appliances. If the car is sooting the plugs the tune is f***ED. new plugs won't fix that. A good tune and like 3miles will clean them right up. Innovate widebands are trash, they barely can control the heater circuit and free air calibration is dumb. My ancient ass autometer wideband is a better choice than an innovate. At least they had the brains to use the bosch chip and datasheet it's just slow. The AEM X is a good one as well. They went through the work to develop a real wideband control that works.

 

[curt-s]

You have SD problems? Shit, I'm a little surprised I made it back home even around the block

 

[CrackedDSM]

You have SD problems? Shit, I'm a little surprised I made it back home even around the block

Nah no SD problems anymore son. At least it drove though!


Also would like to state for anyone who missed it in the previous post the first time, those plugs were BEFORE any kind of tuning was done. And the innovate wideband is a hell of an improvement over the 12 year old aem uego 4.2 I had.

 

[CrackedDSM]

New plugs came in today. I am sick as f*ck so I just slept for 14 hours straight, but this was nice to wake up to.


Also, this is an interested development. I bought these from a vendor I know deals with NGK directly, and it looks like they're gonna start trying to fight the fake NGKs out there. When you scan it, it takes you to a site that has a bunch of Q&A stuff. They're sooooo shiny. Gonna install them probably next week when I don't feel like the living dead.

 

[DreamChaser7]

Where u get em?

 

[CrackedDSM]

Where u get em?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M5GTCO2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Got 'em from that Amazon seller. Came in like a day, too. Arrived a day early.




But, I felt a little better today so I threw them in. Something really nice about new plugs. Look how shiny.

Now off to go sleep for 12 more hours.

 

[92AWDHX40]

A friend picked some up too from amazon great price.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Where u get em?

I get mine from my local auto parts store unless I am looking for 9's or 10's, but my cars use 6, 7's or 8's. Just FYI.

 

[curt-s]

Yeah or rockauto when one eventually orders parts

 

[CrackedDSM]

Finally starting to feel human again. Today was the roughest sickness wise, by far. I don't say stuff like this often, but no joking or exaggerating, I thought I was dying today. Crazy. But the fevers finally broke and I feel somewhat normal again.


Gonna send my spare clevis for the clutch master out to someone who can throw a couple tac welds on a nut to give me more adjustment. After extended drives(30min+) in stop and go traffic, I can smell clutch when I get home. Not good. I only need a few more threads honestly because it's almost perfect at the end of its adjustment on the unmodified clevis, but I can't just throw it into gear as soon as the clutch pedal is pressed. Which makes me think it's still slipping just a hair in those instances.

Gotta say though, the clutch has held up great so far in less than ideal conditions.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I don't want to Jack this thread, but if anyone needs Parts Store #'s for their NGK Sparkplugs, I have a good thread on them HERE with some additional comments and #'s.
@CrackedDSM , get yourself healed up and feeling better. Rest, chicken soup and Sprite.
Marty

 

[CrackedDSM]

Clevis has been shipped off to a buddy whose gonna weld it fo' free for me. So that's exciting.


Also feel human today. Still pretty dizzy, and even just walking a fair distance is a challenge, but I'm here.


Just because I was curious, I stopped by our little EMS clinic and had some tests run/blood drawn and such. I'll spare the nerdy details, but yeah. This sickness almost killed me. Apparently there's a ton of shit leftover in my lungs too that I didn't know was there, and my oxygen saturation was in the high 80's. Not good. I had them do a real covid test too which again came back negative. So whatever this was...yall about saw the end of ol' Cracked here. Jesus that was nuts. The craziest part was a few days ago I started to feel a little better, then the next day it got 10x worse and I crashed out of nowhere. Nuts.


COVID 2.0? COVID 21? DIVOC91. That's what it was.


Anyway. More progress posted when the clevis is back in my possession and I feel like driving the car again. Which isn't gonna be until I get the modified Clevis so I can be 150% sure there's no clutch drag.

 

[1cleangsx]

Glad your still with us

 

[diambo4life]

I get mine from my local auto parts store unless I am looking for 9's or 10's, but my cars use 6, 7's or 8's. Just FYI.
View attachment 746855

Damn. I remember when those were $8 for a set of 4.

 

[curt-s]

Clevis has been shipped off to a buddy whose gonna weld it fo' free for me. So that's exciting.


Also feel human today. Still pretty dizzy, and even just walking a fair distance is a challenge, but I'm here.


Just because I was curious, I stopped by our little EMS clinic and had some tests run/blood drawn and such. I'll spare the nerdy details, but yeah. This sickness almost killed me. Apparently there's a ton of shit leftover in my lungs too that I didn't know was there, and my oxygen saturation was in the high 80's. Not good. I had them do a real covid test too which again came back negative. So whatever this was...yall about saw the end of ol' Cracked here. Jesus that was nuts. The craziest part was a few days ago I started to feel a little better, then the next day it got 10x worse and I crashed out of nowhere. Nuts.


COVID 2.0? COVID 21? DIVOC91. That's what it was.


Anyway. More progress posted when the clevis is back in my possession and I feel like driving the car again. Which isn't gonna be until I get the modified Clevis so I can be 150% sure there's no clutch drag.

Holy crap

Yeah we have built up immune now but I do not look forward to getting that shit or the next version of it again. I used up my luck already on that.

Glad to hear you're still with us, buddeh.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Holy crap

Yeah we have built up immune now but I do not look forward to getting that shit or the next version of it again. I used up my luck already on that.

Glad to hear you're still with us, buddeh.

Trying reaaaaally hard not to make a "I'm not your buddy, guy!" reference here.


But yeah...I've had the 'rona before and it (at least in my specific case) was a joke. Felt a little under the weather for a day, then sniffles for a couple days after that. This though...no clue WTF it was. So I think you and I are in the same boat. Lol.

 

[pauleyman]

Damn. I remember when those were $8 for a set of 4.

They still are if you shop around.

 

[curt-s]

Trying reaaaaally hard not to make a "I'm not your buddy, guy!" reference here.


But yeah...I've had the 'rona before and it (at least in my specific case) was a joke. Felt a little under the weather for a day, then sniffles for a couple days after that. This though...no clue WTF it was. So I think you and I are in the same boat. Lol.

I'm not your guy, friend

I had it, lost 100% of my taste, smell, sweet/sour senses, everthing. Never had that before. I could (did) drink lemon juice and scotch like water and not know the difference. Hoped it would return, and it eventually did.
My wife's care home, from where she brought it home one day, had it just rip right through and it killed over a dozen people in a just a couple weeks. It was nuts.
It affects people differently but we seem to get this culling via superbug every couple decades. It'll probably speed up now that everybody is told to wash their hands fifteen times a day.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I'm not your guy, friend

I had it, lost 100% of my taste, smell, sweet/sour senses, everthing. Never had that before. I could (did) drink lemon juice and scotch like water and not know the difference. Hoped it would return, and it eventually did.
My wife's care home, from where she brought it home one day, had it just rip right through and it killed over a dozen people in a just a couple weeks. It was nuts.
It affects people differently but we seem to get this culling via superbug every couple decades. It'll probably speed up now that everybody is told to wash their hands fifteen times a day.

Yeah it ran through nursing homes bad where I worked in NC and in FL. I never lost sense of taste or smell when I had it, thank God. But TONS of people I know that had it, that was their main complaint. The sickness itself sucked for them, but the months long without sense of taste or smell they hated. I'm so thankful I never got that part. Ugh.


Also: freakin' love it.

 

[1cleangsx]

It’s crazy you guys bring this up , I remember Thanksgiving 2020 I had it, couldn’t taste or smell $hit but the natty ice went down good

 

[CrackedDSM]

It’s crazy you guys bring this up , I remember Thanksgiving 2020 I had it, couldn’t taste or smell $hit but the natty ice went down good

Mind blowing to me that it’s been four years. Damn.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Ordered some coolant for this thing since I'm confident in the cooling system and stuff. I've flushed it enough I think that it deserves some good stuff. Although I really don't think I'll ever be able to get it to not be at least tinted brown. Alas. Either way, good stuff.


Also ordered a replacement for my BLT because it's suspect. When it comes, I'm gonna try out the "truck tire pump" I have and use to air all my tires up and see if it works. If it does, I think that's great info for future BLT'ers not having to mess or fight with a compressor or getting a shop to do it. A cheap amazon tire inflator with gauge is much cheaper than even the cheapest and smallest air compressor + tire inflator fitting/gun would be. And it's way more portable too. We'll see if it actually works though.


Advice request: Do vacuum manifold/blocks actually work well? I am not pulling my IM just to drill a spot for the MAP Sensor alone...would a vacuum block/manifold work fine? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that T = Worst Sin Ever but Giant Block divided into 6 ports = perfectly fine. Someone convince me.

 

[Anfurnyy]

Ordered some coolant for this thing since I'm confident in the cooling system and stuff. I've flushed it enough I think that it deserves some good stuff. Although I really don't think I'll ever be able to get it to not be at least tinted brown. Alas. Either way, good stuff.


Also ordered a replacement for my BLT because it's suspect. When it comes, I'm gonna try out the "truck tire pump" I have and use to air all my tires up and see if it works. If it does, I think that's great info for future BLT'ers not having to mess or fight with a compressor or getting a shop to do it. A cheap amazon tire inflator with gauge is much cheaper than even the cheapest and smallest air compressor + tire inflator fitting/gun would be. And it's way more portable too. We'll see if it actually works though.


Advice request: Do vacuum manifold/blocks actually work well? I am not pulling my IM just to drill a spot for the MAP Sensor alone...would a vacuum block/manifold work fine? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that T = Worst Sin Ever but Giant Block divided into 6 ports = perfectly fine. Someone convince me.

I run a vacuum block. I think all I have on it is my MAP sensor though. Map sensor body was just too large for the bottom side of the manifold plus I didn't want it sitting inverted for condensation to be able to get inside the sensor.

I feel like Ts are okay but it depends on what you're Splitting off of. BOV and Brake booster seem pretty important but if you just had a small dedicated port for like a boost gauge and also map reference then I'm not sure I see a problem with that.

 

[curt-s]

Ordered some coolant for this thing since I'm confident in the cooling system and stuff. I've flushed it enough I think that it deserves some good stuff. Although I really don't think I'll ever be able to get it to not be at least tinted brown. Alas. Either way, good stuff.


Also ordered a replacement for my BLT because it's suspect. When it comes, I'm gonna try out the "truck tire pump" I have and use to air all my tires up and see if it works. If it does, I think that's great info for future BLT'ers not having to mess or fight with a compressor or getting a shop to do it. A cheap amazon tire inflator with gauge is much cheaper than even the cheapest and smallest air compressor + tire inflator fitting/gun would be. And it's way more portable too. We'll see if it actually works though.


Advice request: Do vacuum manifold/blocks actually work well? I am not pulling my IM just to drill a spot for the MAP Sensor alone...would a vacuum block/manifold work fine? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that T = Worst Sin Ever but Giant Block divided into 6 ports = perfectly fine. Someone convince me.

Vacuum blocks work but you have to be mindful of the total volume you're trying to fill or evacuate, which includes both the block and all of the lines. If you have a block fed via from something less than the internal volume of the block+lines, you're going to experience a delay in pressure/vacuum readings. You need as large a line as you can get away with from the manifold to the block in order to have responsive measurements. You want a large cross-section with a short run.

Same reason why the general consensus is that don't tee the BOV or AFPR signal lines. A vacuum block takes that to a whole new level. A -6 to the vacuum block from the manifold would help alleviate response delays

 

[CrackedDSM]

Thanks for the info, guys. I think honestly I'll just pass on the vacuum block. Probably just pull the IM one of these days and drill/tap for a couple new ports. Meh. Lol.



Also: got some continued education/in-service shit today so I'm gonna drive the Talon there. Hopefully I can narrow down that burning plastic smell. Not sure what I hope for more, slipping clutch or the LED bulb related shenanigans. Either way, I'm gonna take a log and throw it up once I'm done and back for ya'lls perusal.


I think what I'm gonna do is get this tune sorted where I can rip to redline and cruise/idle are all perfect AFRs, then save these settings and start over just making the changes @Stapl3 and @steve recommended ages ago. Use deadtimes to get it idling even if it takes -800 deadtimes, then use the VE map to adjust and make it perfect. I think honestly I can use the MAFcomp settings this guy used as a "guideline" of how much % to pull out of what VE cell.

I'm way more confident now though seeing his initial setup where he wasn't afraid to just pull deadtimes down to like -800. Lol. But yeah, I want it to be tuned "the right way" and not just "whatever works". And this is a good segue to me doing my OWN tuning. It just won't ever sit right with me if I sit back and let someone else do all the hard work tuning for me, when I've done everything else with my own two hands so far.


Anyway, thanks for all the advice, critiques, and comradery. I appreciate it all and take it all seriously and to heart. Even if it doesn't seem that way!