What's your MAP values at idle with XFI?

[S2V6RACER]

I'll bet Otto has plenty of tune ups in his flash drive for just about any combo. I remember him at BG a couple years ago cleaning up another tuners mess and it only took him about 10 mins to make it better than what the other guy took days to do.

 

[turbojimmy]

Got the FP and EGT logging set up today. For those that stumble upon this thread in the future, here are the details:

Fuel Pressure:
Autometer #2246 0-100 PSI sender (standard issue with their electronic gauges or stand-alone replacement).

Sender is 0 PSI at .5 volts; 100 PSI at 4.5 volts.

Using the formulas in the FAST software:

Sensor gain is 25.000
Sensor offset is -12.500

The dashboard reads pretty darn close to the gauge.

EGT:
Type K thermocouple
Full Throttle Speed's amplifier

Sensor gain: 370
Sensor offset: 0

Seems to be accurate, but I have no way of knowing for sure unless I pull the thermocouple and test it against ambient temp. I don't feel like doing that :tongue:

I cut into Casper's harness since I had already brought the sender wiring inside the car. He's pre-wired C11, C12 and C13 on the FAST plug so I clipped them and used C11 for the grounds and C12 and C13 for the FP and EGT, respectively.

My aux inputs were already named in my .GCT file so it took me a minute to reconcile the names in the FAST help files and what I saw in my list. But since the inputs are presented in order (C12-C19) in the configuration list, it wasn't too tough to figure out.

And, I ran over my droplight. I heard the light bulb pop and stopped. I got out and saw it was crushed, but probably salvagable. Then I realized that I also set the lift down on the power cord for said drop light. Squashed it like a bug. I'm now in the market for a new droplight.

I'm now going to tuck the rats nest of wires up behind the glove box, mount the box on the kick panel and stick a fork in this one.

Jim

 

[turbojimmy]

He's pre-wired C11, C12 and C13 on the FAST plug so I clipped them and used C11 for the grounds and C12 and C13 for the FP and EGT, respectively.

Just a point of clarification so I don't mislead anyone: C11 is the ground return for all of the sensors so when you tie into it you need to make sure that you retain the connection to the Casper's harness. The other two (C12 and C13) just dead end under the hood so they can be clipped and not connected to the Casper's harness.

Jim

 

[HighPSI]

Did you get the car sorted out? I know Otto was busy tuning a couple of cars.

 

[Otto J]

Did you get the car sorted out? I know Otto was busy tuning a couple of cars.

Damn track wasn't there today.

 

[turbojimmy]

Did you get the car sorted out? I know Otto was busy tuning a couple of cars.

Yes and no. I was only there about 2 hours. I looked for Otto periodically but didn't find him until I was leaving (actually spotted him earlier but he was on his phone).

I rolled up to Jack's trailer a few minutes after he got there. Even though he was busy getting the car ready for tech inspection, he took the time to greet my family (son, dad, brother) and let my 7-year-old son sit in his car for pics. My son had an ear-to-ear grin on his face until he got into bed last night. Jack also immediately took a look at my .GCT file. I have to say that I did pretty well with it by myself (with help from everyone here). There was no sense in messing with it since the car ran fine so I lined up for my first run.

Now I have to pause here and ask if anyone remembers me saying a few posts back about that subtle knock I thought I could hear? It had been there since I first fired this engine up. It's one of those things that no one else could hear but I swore was there. I need to learn to trust my instincts. The 100-mile trip to Atco was my first extended trip with the new engine. I had about 500 miles on the engine before I set out. Through all my trials and tribulations with the tune, it's never run lean or detonated. On the highway on the way to Atco I noticed that when the converter locked, the oil pressure would drop to about 30 PSI. When I let off the throttle and let the converter unlock, oil pressure would INCREASE. Strange, but oil pressure was still high enough to not be a concern. I decided that I wouldn't be locking the converter at the track, though. So I'd be off 2-3 MPH and a couple of tenths right out of the gate.

So, back to the first run. I should have realized that since there were 15 cars lined up for the right lane and none for the left that the left lane must suck. It did and I launched with a 2.3 60' time. I let off the throttle and eased into it again to get traction. Still, it ran 115 MPH which was encouraging. AFR, timing and boost were all at levels WELL below any 'race' chip I had ever run. To eliminate the boost creep, I have the wastegate rod turned the whole way out so that the puck is barely closed. It took about half track to reach 20 PSI and finished at around 22 PSI. Oil pressure looked good.

Second run we took a little fuel out in the mid-range where it was really fat and added a little at launch where it went a little lean. It ran 117 MPH, and I had one 'blip' of knock about mid-track. It had 2 degrees of retard, yet it was still rich and MAT temps were very low. This, I think, was my first indication that that deep knock I heard was getting worse. Oil pressure looked a little low, but still jumped up when I loaded it up.

For the third and last run I turned the wastegate rod in a little. It still took forever to build boost and I ended the run at 24 PSI. We also took a little more fuel out in a couple of spots but was still pulling fuel during the run. It ran 118 MPH.

At the end of the 3rd run, however, I noticed oil pressure was around 25 PSI on the return road, which was really low considering I was going about 30 MPH. I wound the engine against the brake and that subtle knock became very pronounced.

To make a long story longer, I decided to drive the car 100 miles home. I checked the oil before I left and periodically on the way home. Level was good and there was no metal in it. But, oil pressure got worse and worse on the way home and the knock got louder and louder. It's only knocking under a load - still quiet at idle - but there's clearly something wrong with it. Oil pressure is down to like 9 PSI at idle and struggles to reach 25 PSI at any RPM. On the way home I took it easy and kept it in high gears to keep the RPMs low. I really didn't think I was going to make it.

So, we left a lot on the table with regard to the tune. I was really disappointed because we hadn't even begun to push it at all, but there was no way it was going to hold together for any more runs.

Last, with regard to the transmission, I have to retract my earlier statements about 3rd gear. 3rd gear is holding just fine. After speaking to several people about it yesterday, I seem to have what they refer to as a 'flare' on the 2-3, which is evidently pretty common. My Level10 trans didn't have no stinkin' flare, but that's another topic. It has to be hurting my ET and MPH, though, because it feels like I'm stepping on the brakes for about half a second between 2 and 3. I can see it plain as day on the logs, too. 1-2 is a sharp, crisp drop in RPM, 2-3 is more of a curve. Once it decides to shift to 3rd, however, it stays there solidly.

Anyway, I was happy that the car had so much potential. Grateful to Jack for his help. Great to meet Otto again. Fun to watch the other Buicks run. Sad to come to the realization that I once again have a 3,500 lb. paper weight in the garage.

Jim

 

[norbs]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but just be glad it didn't spit a rod through the block at top end. I have never heard of a flare from 2-3 being normal, I would have the trans looked at again too. Hopefully it shouldn't cost too much to fix your motor....

 

[turbojimmy]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but just be glad it didn't spit a rod through the block at top end. I have never heard of a flare from 2-3 being normal, I would have the trans looked at again too. Hopefully it shouldn't cost too much to fix your motor....

Hopefully it shouldn't cost anything to fix the motor since it's been like that since I got it back from the rebuilder, but we'll see what happens. He stands by his work and I trust him to determine whether it's something in my combo that did it or if it was something he did.

I know the trans needs gone through again - I'll have to do it while the motor is out.

Jim