Picked up my first DSM

[1SloEvo]

So, I have owned an 06 Evo since October of 06. It's been through lots of stages and is currently fully built. It was running a custom 6262 setup on E85 and making 620whp on a Mustang Dyno but is getting some changes and upgrades to try to make a little more power. At any rate, I have been looking for a civil daily driver for a while. I was looking for a DSM a few months back but everything I found was either highly molested or too expensive. Last week I came across a Laser RS turbo on the local craigslist. Only downside ended up being it's FWD. However, that's not that bad. The car is a 1990 Laser w/ 143k miles on it. Compression test checked out fine, but there was oil on the spark plugs. Car ran fine but had some bad hesitation after about 5k rpm or so. I checked the spark plugs and they were some random Champion spark plugs gapped at .050". So I went and picked up some NGK iridiums and dropped them in. They are pregapped at .032". Car runs much stronger and smoother and pulled great to about 6k or so when I let off.

My goal is to keep the car fully streetable. All interior, all creature comforts, etc. I plan on converting the car to E85 and pushing the 14b as far as I can. My main question is just what you guys would suggest about tuning? The car doesn't have an EPROM. And to buy one alone with DSMlink and whatever else is needed would cost close to as much as a standalone...but the standalone would be much more flexible. Or would you guys suggest a jumper harness and use an Evo ECU so it will help me with tuning and tweaking my Evo? This car will be the first car I have ever tuned and the car I will be learning to tune on. I don't mind it being more difficult to learn if it's going to help me learn more in the long run. Thanks for any input!

Here are pics of the car and the first mod I did. I picked this car up for $1700.

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[JRSTANGE]

looks very nice. I can dig it! Best of luck on the tuning. Not totaly sure about the jumper harness but, i'd probably stick with the standalone or dsmlink.

 

[JStrateger]

Great find, that thing is clean. Wish there were clean DSM's like that around here. Good luck with your goals, everythings possible if you have time, patience and money.

 

[1213579w]

Very nice find. Looks like you got a very good deal. I like your goals you have set too. As for tuning, go with ecmllink. I just got mine and its fabulous. And your 1g ecu can be converted to eprom. I'm not sure on the price but it has to be cheaper than buying an eprom. Good luck!

 

[StManTiS]

Very nice find. Looks like you got a very good deal. I like your goals you have set too. As for tuning, go with ecmllink. I just got mine and its fabulous. And your 1g ecu can be converted to eprom. I'm not sure on the price but it has to be cheaper than buying an eprom. Good luck!

If i recollect correctly, you have to unsolder the chip and then solder the socket in its place. If you're good enough with a soldering gun you can do it yourself.

 

[kottyking]

It's more then soldering the spot where the chip sits. You have to solder a whole eprom board to convert the non eprom. ECM offers this service for around 150.

 

[1SloEvo]

Thanks for the replies everyone. That's my point with the whole ECU thing. To have this one converted is going to be $100. To buy DSMlink (ECMlink) it's going to be another $500+. And then I still have to work with doing away with the stock MAF as I've heard from a lot of other DSM guys who are now in the Evo community that they are the biggest POS ever. And after I saw it, it's very understandable. So it's going to cost me in the $700+ range to do the ECMlink and I can get a standalone for a few hundred more that will me to tune whatever I might want to upgrade to later on and eliminate a lot of bottlenecks like the stock MAF from the start.

The car is in good condition. Some of the clearcoat is gone. If you are up super close, you can see some of the first layer of paint flaking. The driver seat is worn on the edge, but no big deal right now. I've only noticed a couple of things that are of some concern. The passenger seat belt motor to run the latch along the track doesn't work. Luckily it's locked to the rear position, so you can just unlatch the belt. The stock temp gauge is acting weird. It's like it's getting two signals. The first day I bought the car it ran great. The needle was just above the second line on the gauge...just shy of the center. On a warmer day, the needle was right on the edge of the "H" zone on the far right. But after driving for a couple minutes, the needle would jump right back to where it should be. It's like it was reading air temp around the engine, then when the air got to moving around and cooled down, it got back to reading the coolant temp. Last thing is the right axle making noise when I turn. I figure it's probably an axle or CV joint. Probably get that taken care of when I swap out the clutch.

 

['97boostinGST]

the bay seems pretty darn clean despite being a 19 year old car. and for the miles. damn. like everyone else have suggested go with dsmlink. thats pretty much the most common way to tune these cars.

 

[Achelea]

Put coolant in it NOW! ! !

What's happening is it's reading airpockets! I am willing to bet you put more coolant in, the jumping will stop.

As for the stock MAF, a lot of tuners switch over to a GM maf or a 2g when they get DSMlink, because they can adjust fuel trims for the flow.

 

[sexi_beast_95]

Looks clean! Nice find!

 

[DSM1G90]

Definitely a nice find ! Good luck with it, for I'm all stock as well and it's my DD

I checked the spark plugs and they were some random Champion spark plugs gapped at .050". So I went and picked up some NGK iridiums and dropped them in. They are pregapped at .032". Car runs much stronger and smoother and pulled great to about 6k or so when I let off

Iridiums are really not made for the DSM motor's transistor ignition circuit. Best are the classic copper core plain NGK BPR6ES (even though I cheat and went with BPR6EY - the plugs with the groove in the electrode for a more rounder spark which burns more complete), and gapped .028" I'm quite surprised that the thing could run with .050 gap in a turbo.

On a warmer day, the needle was right on the edge of the "H" zone on the far right. But after driving for a couple minutes, the needle would jump right back to where it should be. It's like it was reading air temp around the engine, then when the air got to moving around and cooled down, it got back to reading the coolant temp

You got an airlock in the cooling system where the T-stat isn't opening until the air under the T-stat is hot enough to make it open to allow coolant to flow normally. You need a new t-stat and then drill a .050 hole in the T-stat flange which removes the air lock bubble condition and your system will then operate normally.

Good luck - DSM

 

[1SloEvo]

Thanks for all the info. I'll be sure to take care of those issues as soon as I am back home. I had planned on a new T-stat.

 

[1SloEvo]

Here's a quick rundown of parts I have so far. Prior to doing any performance mods, the car will get some baseline runs for a starting point. Then add the mods, tune and run the car again. Then strip some weight. Then convert to E85 with a tune and run it again. I'm hoping at that point I'll be well into the 12 second range on slicks.

Here's the list:

RNR 3" turbo back with test pipe and o2 housing
AEM EMS V1 (got it for a good deal...considering I'm planning a full build later, I couldn't pass it up)
unported 2G e/m
stock Evo T/B (from my Evo 9)
Evo fmic
stock gauge cluster (replacing water temp, oil and boost w/ aftermarket gauges in the stock dash)
QM twin disk (for when the stocker goes out) awaiting delivery
FIC 850s (awaiting delivery)
ARP head studs

Probably a couple other things, but that's all I can remember for now. Along with all this, I will be getting some intercooler piping for the Evo fmic, porting the turbo, 2G e/m, porting the stock i/m, have the t/b ported to 65mm and making my own intake setup since it will be running on the AEM and no need for the MAF. Only other things I plan on picking up in the next couple of months are a thermostat, maintenance parts, coilovers and some wheels and slicks with skinnies on the back. I also plan to run ECU boost instead of a boost controller!

Please let me know what other items you guys feel would be good for my car as I'm sticking to a somewhat low budget. All the parts I bought were used. I have a total of about $1800 into these parts listed. If you bought the twin disk new and the AEM new, you would by far exceed that price.

Forgot about the fuel pump. I have a friend that makes upgraded single pump and double pump kits for the Evo and is starting to make kits for RSXs and other platforms. He'll be making me a single pump setup that will be used with a fuel cell with -8 feed and -6 return lines. The pump he's using should be able to support about 15% or so more power than a standard 255lph h.p. So it should be able to support about 550awhp on a Mustang Dyno. I would guess it should support around 600~ish fwhp.