Losing power past 5500 RPMs

[95DsManiac]

Hey all. Before the bashing starts let me state that I have been reding and searching for 2 hours and haven't found anything close to what is happening to me.

Well yesterday I got my hafe manifold in the mail and got my throttle body elbow back from getting meth bung welded on. I install the manifold and hook up everything for my meth kit. I drive to get some cruise logs and then after about a couple hours of driving and some little tuning I get on it for a bit. Instantly I notice that when the car gets around 5000k RPM and higher it starts to climb really slow and feels like even though boost is holding at 20psi and it is still climbing I am getting less power. Today I go and buy some NGK BPR7ES and replaced the 6ES. On two of the spark plugs there was a little oil where the threads are. Not on top, I had that before and I know it was from bad spark plugs seals. This time it was actually on the threads. Not a lot but it was there.

Now my instant thoughts were;
1. Bad spark or spark plugs. (This is when the loss of power occurred, before I even touched the plugs)
2. Might be getting valve float, but I read it is unlikely. (I'm revving to 7k. Head was rebuilt 4k miles ago and only two springs were out of spec and I changed them. Also two new valves and all 3 angle grind. Also shims were added when cams were installed)
3. Another thought was blow by. I don't know much about it but I know the term. (The block is stock and has 141,xxx)
4. My last thought was that my head was lifting from the block. (All new gaskets from head up and new oem felpro replacement "bolts")

Am I close?

 

[636chris]

Im confused at what exactly you are asking man. Lets start with the basic's have you checked the spark plug gap ? If so what is it . Are you logging ? What Turbo ? What supporting mods do you have. What do the plugs look like at the ground strap and white porcelain area? Are you getting any knock , if so how many counts . Please post more info.

also to add. oil on the threads could be due to the fact that if the spark plug tube seals are leaking , while your unscrewing the plugs oil could be seeping onto the threads even if it doesn't appear to be in the tube. i hope this all makes sense.

 

[Boosted187]

A/F gauge? Was the meth on? Could be flooding.

 

[95DsManiac]

Sorry for not stating enough info. Like stated above I was kind of tired . Well first off, all my mods are in my profile and are up to date besides now I have a hafe manifold instead of DNP, and meth/water injection is installed and I'm running snow performance boost juice 49/51 mixture. Start psi is at 7 and full psi is at 15. And I'm running 20-22psi boost. Afr's are between 11.2-11.8 when WOT. I know it isn't perfect yet but I'm still tuning it. I don't want to do more pulls because of the loss of power feeling. Turbo is mhi 20g. I do get knock but I pull timing and it gets rid of it. At most it was pulling 2 degrees. I think that's 6 counts. But I get blimps here and there when I down shift or just doing a pull of 1-4 counts. But when I get knock I stop and pull timing and it gets rid of it. I think once I get afr's and meth dialed in right I won't have knock and I will run more timing then I have now.

Now to your questions;
I just purchased the plugs BPR7ES today around 2pm pacific time. I didn't check the gap because I didn't have my gapper tool with me. As for the ones I took out (BPR6ES) they were also installed with the gap they came from the store new, but I never had the loss of power issue I am having now. Before I installed the hafe manifold and meth kit I had the dnp manifold. It cracked on the weld were the external Wasteagte flange was and I still had the power there. Note: I didn't keep getting on it when I found out it was cracked but I kind of knew it was cracked before checked and before I found out I went to the local races and still had power to redline. I hope you get what I'm trying to say.
Then I installed the HAFE manifold and meth kit (snow performance pump, boost juice and tank, devils own nozzle, nozzle holder, check valve, and tubing, AEM controller and RTM weld on nozzle bung). I installed both in one day and then this happened. I should also mention that the only coupler I took off was the one from the throttle body elbow to the other Intercooler pipe. I should also mention that I didn't change the gaskets on the throttle body. The one on the manifold to the throttle body was good, but the one to the elbow was in "ok" shape but I didn't have one nor did any stores so I sprayed copper gasket and torqued it down to spec. I also did the same with the exhaust manifold gasket and turbo gasket. They were both like new with less than a 1k miles on it and I sprayed both sides of both gaskets and torqued them down to spec. I'm not trying to blabber, but I'm trying to explain in depth everything that has been done before the loss of power and everything that has happened since.

Ill check the gaps tomorrow. They should be .28 or .028 or something like that right? If not what should I shoot for? Note: boost on the streets is 18-24 and rarely will see 25-28ish at the track once I get v3 full to have dual maps.

I will do a boost leak test but I don't think that is it. My wastegate opens because it is loud as fxxx. And the boost holds and would only drop 1-2 psi if that rarely, but I will do one soon.

Anything else that you all need to know to help me figure this out just let me know and I will try to explain the best I can. Thanks so far and I hope we can figure this all out.

Boosted187 I think you may be on to something with that. The only reason I say that is because this is the first time I used/installed one of these and don't really know how to use it . But one thing I do know is that the controller that I am using keeps blinking and blinking. 5 blinks means controller, but a million blinks I don't know . I know the thing is working though because its pumping the meth because I went through a gallon and a half already in two days. And the first drive I took I left the tune how it was and when I got into boost my afr's shot strait to 10.xx:1 so I know it was reaching the Intercooler piping. I checked for leaks and found none. So I don't know what to do, but your flooding guess can be it. Ill have to look into the AEM controller and maybe call them up.

 

[636chris]

I don't recall the exact gap off the top of my head but I do recall I have had to run a smaller .26 or .026 (sorry i just got up) . To avoid spark blow out. Can you post a log with your knock count , afr's assuming your loging your wideband and also your air flow numbers. Although you say you doubt there's a boost leak test anyway. I've found a few small leaks in a couple seemingly perfect running set up. Also to add to the spark plug thing I've had numerous if not all sets up plugs with inconsistent gaps out of the box

 

[95DsManiac]

Here goes a little log that I clipped to a smaller size so you all can see what a pull looks like when I get on it. You can see that it holds boost and flows in the upper 40s. But when I start off the pull it is pulling real hard up to around 4-5 thousand RPMs then it just falls off. I literally just shift because it feels like a waste to even keep going. I don’t even redline it in this pull. Also I have another thread going title “Do I have a blown head gasket/Valve cover gasket????”. Im getting oil on top off my valve cover and upper intercooler pipe coupler. I think this all has something to do with my loss of power in the higher RPMs. Im thinking if I do have a leak somewhere (head gasket, vc gasket, PCV Valve etc etc….) I think it is in the higher RPMs and is causing me to lose power by pushing air out???? Or even blow by????

Im really confused and really don’t know what to do. I went out and got a gapped for the spark plugs and im going to gap them today and see what happens. But I still don’t know what to do about the oil being sprayed on top of things.

Any and all help is much more than appreciated. Thanks again.

There are pictures here in this link as well as the log in my last post. The log is really short I clipped it to just the pull.

Do i hve a Blown head gasket/valve cover gasket/???? - DSM Forums

Ok. I just read a whole article on spark plugs and what to look for etc etc.... I'm starting to lean towards that my issue with lost of power has something to do with spark. Check this out and tell me what you think. Ill try to get pictures of my plugs today.


Spark plug reading
plug chart

I can atleast tell you mine has a whitish coat on the timing indicator as they call it in his article. Also I would suggest reading it for yourselves. It is very interesting and good reading. Just a suggestion. Thanks again.