Tune/dyno before or after increasing boost?

[iwalton]

I have just a couple questions. I have a 6 bolt 1990 Tsi engine in a 1994 n/t shell and i just bought a manual boost controller. Firstly, if i take the car into a tuner, can they tune the stock ecu, or do i need to get an ecmlink/other before this is possible? Secondly, can i increase the pressure slightly, reliably, without doing a tune? And thirdly, would it be better to do a base tune before bumping the pressure up even just a couple psi?

 

[NylenS]

I don't know about getting your stock ECU tuned. i know you can buy pre tuned ECUs from the marketplace here but why spent money getting it tuned. Just get ECMlink and do it yourself then you can change it in the future without paying to get it re-tuned (it could take lots of time and money getting someone to tune it for you cause you probably want to keep upgrading in the future)
You should be able to increase pressure slightly to around 16psi.
You shouldn't need a base tune just for a couple psi. the stock computer should be able to keep up.

 

[iwalton]

I don't know about getting your stock ECU tuned. i know you can buy pre tuned ECUs from the marketplace here but why spent money getting it tuned. Just get ECMlink and do it yourself then you can change it in the future without paying to get it re-tuned (it could take lots of time and money getting someone to tune it for you cause you probably want to keep upgrading in the future)
You should be able to increase pressure slightly to around 16psi.
You shouldn't need a base tune just for a couple psi. the stock computer should be able to keep up.

Ok, i getcha. i guess the thing is that i don't have a bunch of extra cash to dish out right now and so i'm slightly hesitant about goin straight to getting the ECMlink, b/c i'd also need to get the ENPROM kit, unless i'm mistaken (b/c it's a 1990 ecu). And i've also figured that someone more experienced with tuning would know how not to blow up the car, b/c this is my daily driver. Do you figure that I can throw 16 psi at it and maintain reliability?

does anybody else have any ideas on this subject?

 

[NHerron]

Wait...which ecu are you using for the turbo engine? Yeah you'd be fine turning it up a couple notches. In fact, I believe that's the first thing RRE says to do in their book. Theres lots of free mods to find here so check it out. But once you start doing major changes like turbo, injectors, fuel pumps blah blah that's when you'll need to tune things. The ecu will be able to run more stock boost but once you swap turbos (more boost), the stock injectors will max out. Check your ecu for eprom: socketid [ECMTuning - wiki]

 

[iwalton]

Wait...which ecu are you using for the turbo engine? Yeah you'd be fine turning it up a couple notches. In fact, I believe that's the first thing RRE says to do in their book. Theres lots of free mods to find here so check it out. But once you start doing major changes like turbo, injectors, fuel pumps blah blah that's when you'll need to tune things. The ecu will be able to run more stock boost but once you swap turbos (more boost), the stock injectors will max out. Check your ecu for eprom: socketid [ECMTuning - wiki]

I am using the stock 1990 TSi ecu.

 

[NHerron]

A 90 turbo ecu in 94 n/t roller? I didn't know that works! So, everything is stock on the engine? Yeah as long as the turbo is stock (14b manual trans) , you wont have a problem with a 'little' extra air (17psi max on stock 450cc injectors). The ecu can keep up. Get a boost gauge though to keep track

 

[iwalton]

A 90 turbo ecu in 94 n/t roller? I didn't know that works! So, everything is stock on the engine? Yeah as long as the turbo is stock (14b manual trans) , you wont have a problem with a 'little' extra air (17psi max on stock 450cc injectors). The ecu can keep up. Get a boost gauge though to keep track

Ya, with the n/t wiring harness as well... i had to do quite a few mods on the electrical to get 'er to run, but she's a real gem now. i had to wire in a resistor pack for the injectors as well as switch ignition coils and cam sensor... kind of a crap shoot, but hey, it worked!

So, you figure that 17 psi won't induce fuel cut? what about stock internals and stock head gasket? i've heard you don't wanna throw too much pressure at those...

 

[NHerron]

Someone back me here but yes definatly the stock internals and hg will handle that. Lots of people hit 400hp+ stock. That's a big reason why people mess with these engines. I honestly don't know much about that swap but that sounds like it would be a nice sleeper! You don't need to worry about fuel cut as the 1g maf can handle that turbo. Ecmtuning (dsmlink) limits the 1g MAS around 28lb/min.

 

[airmail96]

BAHAHHA the stock 6 bolt is tank, the headgasket shouldn't be a concern it is more of the headstuds, those usually get replaced as a piece of mind when you start wanting to crack the 20psi barrier on the bigger turbos, stock internals have handled well over 400hp, the 14b isn't taxing the motor that hard at all. 17psi on the 14b shouldn't be enough to induce fuel cut.

 

[iwalton]

BAHAHHA the stock 6 bolt is tank, the headgasket shouldn't be a concern it is more of the headstuds, those usually get replaced as a piece of mind when you start wanting to crack the 20psi barrier on the bigger turbos, stock internals have handled well over 400hp, the 14b isn't taxing the motor that hard at all. 17psi on the 14b shouldn't be enough to induce fuel cut.

rock on! i'm a total nube in terms of engine work, so could someone recommend a site/page that shows how to do headstuds?

 

[NHerron]

Lol bro you are here, just hit 'install arp studs dsmtuners' under google. How did you NOT know about dsmtuners when you swapped engines?

 

[iwalton]

Lol bro you are here, just hit 'install arp studs dsmtuners' under google. How did you NOT know about dsmtuners when you swapped engines?

kay, cool. to be honest, i had just crashed my first mint dsm 5 days before uni started and i found a shell and went to work! And i was working full time- so i did the swap totally inexperienced in 5 nights with next to no help. I got referred to dsm tuners later... it would have helped a ton.

 

[NHerron]

Yeah anything you need will be on this site. I usually put "how to blah blah blah dsmtuners" under google and never had any questions that weren't already answered. That's pretty impressive IMO 5 days to do that swap from scratch. You can me if you have any ? about the site. Oh yeah make sure to hold on to that ECU if it is indeed, an eprom

 

[iwalton]

Yeah anything you need will be on this site. I usually put "how to blah blah blah dsmtuners" under google and never had any questions that weren't already answered. That's pretty impressive IMO 5 days to do that swap from scratch. You can me if you have any ? about the site. Oh yeah make sure to hold on to that ECU if it is indeed, an eprom

kay, thanks for the tips dude!