Car is WEAK!!! Please help, somebody.

[kchaazz]

Hello there. Well, my car just doesnt feel as fast as she should be, you know?
First off, some info.

1. Just did compression test, yielding 150 psi across all 4, this was with 4 revolutions of the engine per cylinder.

2.Motor pulls 20 inches of vacuum at idle, which i believe is due to having a new head with less than 10,000 miles on it.

3. No smoke whatsoever

4. New plugs and wires, timing set correctly, and, of course, ngk bpr6es, (oem style 7mm wires though.)

5. Boost is set at 16psi.

6. On the logger, im getting from 18 to 25 degrees of timing advance and no knock anywhere at all at wot. My 02 voltage seems to change from .89v to .91v,every now and again to .93v. I know .91v is a tick rich, so .93v is for sure? (93 octane gas.)

7. Havent done a boost leak test for a week, but have never gotten above 6 psi though, (i know, thats horrible) however, the only place i could find a leak was the seals where the injectors go into the head, but i just got new seal from rre a few days ago.
Also, i put in new gaskets at the bov, the turbo outlet, the intake mannifold, and the throttlebody.(not tb shaft seals though)
8. Now, my car doesnt throw any codes for this, but it does miss randomly if i hold it at 1500 rpm or so in neutral, however, i cannot hear this random miss at 750 rpm idle.
Also, i cannot feel any stutter or bucking at wot or otherwise.

9.Also, my afpr is set at about 38- 39 psi with vac line off, safc 2 set at -30 across the board, only mod to mass is the lower hc is out, car idles great and runs just fine other than the power issue.

Conclusions, anyone?

 

[justin0469]

so have you done another boost leak test after you got all new gaskets?

 

[heppm01]

6. On the logger, im getting from 18 to 25 degrees of timing advance and no knock

That's fantastic.

7. Havent done a boost leak test for a week, but have never gotten above 6 psi though, (i know, thats horrible) however, the only place i could find a leak was the seals where

That's worse than horrible. I'm going to assume that you had some valves open when you did the test - there's no way you'd be seeing 16 pounds from your turbo if you can't even hold 6 pounds during a leak test.

Could it be that your expectations are just too high?

M

 

[funniegus]

Youre probably used to how fast youre car is going. Everbody on here probably goes through that phase. Thats why people still keep on modding their rides to make them go faster and faster.

 

[oldman]

so have you done another boost leak test after you got all new gaskets?

Well did you?

 

[sYnOnYx]

Youre probably used to how fast youre car is going. Everbody on here probably goes through that phase. Thats why people still keep on modding their rides to make them go faster and faster.

i recentley went through that......

when i got the stock car , felt fast as hell then i started driving it alot , didnt feel as fast , but everytime i would look at the speedo , id be like " it doesnt feel like 75mph " or shit i got to 75 that quick ?? sure didnt feel like it, then i modded a lil bit , and felt like a new car.....

did your car feel slower anytime after you installed a new mod??

 

[funniegus]

I had an adrenaline rush the first time I stomped on the gas and the turbo kicked in. After a while I got used to it until I started to mod it.

 

[kchaazz]

WELL, I DID THE BOOST LEAK TEST and it holds 20 psi now. however, i now get crazy phantom knock so i bought new lifters 3rd design of course. havent put them in yet, but perhaps the collapsed lifters not giving me full lift from my cams is degrading my performance? i had a mechanic friend of mine use a stethoscope on my valve cover and he says i have a bunch of collapsed lifters. well, any comments will be appreciated.


thanks, charles

 

[kchaazz]

Update. i put in my new lifters and i have to say, my motor is quieter than that of any dsm ive ever come across now, it revs a lot nicer and revs more freely as well. it also seems to have a little more power at least. i think perhaps its all in my dead that the car is slow, i dont know. its in the body shop getting painted and will be gone for two weeks and next month im getting a front mount ic- (20+ psi, here i come!!!)

 

[kchaazz]

UPDATE # 2

Well, i re adjusted my timing and holy sh%t, its running like a raped ape!! problem is, im getting about 17 counts of knock now and i lowered the boost to 14 from 16 psi and no change in knock count. What the hell? Thing is, the car feels WAY faster with between 15 to 19 degrees of timing up top over the previous 23 to 27 degrees of advance i was getting before with no knock at all, so whats up? am i just heat soaking my side mount that bad all of a sudden? i mean, the 18g is really efficient over the 14b so youd think the heat would be down a bit? i mean, ive never gotten knock other than phantom knock with this turbo until today and even with the knock my car is just so much faster. any help?

 

[oldman]

Let's focus on the OBX AFPR. You said you set it at 38-39 w/o vacuum, where is it with the vacuum line re-connected? I would also pressurize your fuel system using the fuel pump check connector while boost leak testing. Observe your boost and fuel pressure gauge, make sure that 1:1 intake to fuel pressure ratio is well maintained.

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

Let's focus on the OBX AFPR. You said you set it at 38-39 w/o vacuum, where is it with the vacuum line re-connected? I would also pressurize your fuel system using the fuel pump check connector while boost leak testing. Observe your boost and fuel pressure gauge, make sure that 1:1 intake to fuel pressure ratio is well maintained.

Sweet tip! I was wondering how to check the 1:1 rising rate.
You Rock!

 

[razorawd]

Ok let tell you this get rid of the OBX it will fail and you A/F ratio will distroy your motor we had one on my brothers car and if we were logging the car when we were adjusting the FPR then his car would have gone boom. What you need is a Aeromotive AFPR part number 13109 the regulator is boost referenced as you boost goes up so does your fuel look into that regulator and have your car tuned for knock that should get all the bugs out with the phantom knock thing you got going on