HELP! - Something is going on

[Jerryl]

Still have some KR issues.
O2's are 790 - 810 WOT

So, as a good starting point, I would like to see what some of you have your settings at running 93 Octane with Meth on a non IC'd car for;
1. Ignition Timing
2. Boost level
3. PAC gain knob

The IC'd cars run high timing and I realize it is not possible on a HA.
There JUST is not much data on "HA settings" out there.

The car has basic upgrades;
Hot wired Walbro, ported intake/heads, gutted cat, TT, 87 ECM/MAF, AFPR, 212/212, PAC, 160 term, F-body Rad, TA33, 14” K&N, Coil air kit, 2.5” DP, Autolite 23 @0.032

 

[Jerryl]

This may be a big cause of the problem.
About time my bad luck ran out.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Jerryl- Get your car tuned pursuant to Razor recommendations first. BLM between 118-138(128 is best), TPS.44, IAC 20-30.

In my car the timing is set by Eric at Turbotweek for my setup.

Razor knob is on full.

I chose to stop raising the boost at 19psi. I do not need it any higher.

I also went two levels cooler on the spark plus. I chose NGK6.

I also get low levels of knock until the Alcohol(I use denatured alky mecause meth is hard to find) stops the knock.

I also have found that the F-body rad. with the 87 fan doesn't cut it in 95 degree and up while driving in traffic. I saw 210 degrees last summer. I will go to the dual ramchargers from GBODY before next summer.

Good luck. Brad

 

[Jerryl]

Jerryl- Get your car tuned pursuant to Razor recommendations first. BLM between 118-138(128 is best), TPS.44, IAC 20-30.

In my car the timing is set by Eric at Turbotweek for my setup.

Razor knob is on full.

I chose to stop raising the boost at 19psi. I do not need it any higher.

I also went two levels cooler on the spark plus. I chose NGK6.

I also get low levels of knock until the Alcohol(I use denatured alky mecause meth is hard to find) stops the knock.

I also have found that the F-body rad. with the 87 fan doesn't cut it in 95 degree and up while driving in traffic. I saw 210 degrees last summer. I will go to the dual ramchargers from GBODY before next summer.

Good luck. Brad

Brad,
Thanks for the response!

BLM's are at 129, TPS 0.45.
Alky knob at 6.5 right now.
Boost 18, timing is 15-16 *actual*

Coolant temp dropped 13-17 degrees with the F-bod radiator in 100F weather.

I need DS!

 

[6SENSE]

Havent run the car at the track in over a year but I can tell you how I did run it which is pretty much how it is all the time, set on kill
TPS @ .42~ base and >4.7 WOT (I think usually about 4.8). NGK UR5 plugs have proved to work best for me set @ .030. Still have the same old Joe Lubrandt street chip that I have had for years, timing at 20 degrees. FP set at 38-39psi static has worked best. Never had knob on PAC set higher than 2 o'clock position. Changed turn on from factory setting of about 5lbs boost to 2~lbs. Successfully ran as high as 26lbs at track before (I spoke to John Craig in the past and was told that the TA33 really starts kicking in closer to 30lbs). No knock on the top end O2s were still over 800. This is with 37# injectors and 93 octane with straight methanol for the alky injection. Found out earlier this year that I had a leak from my alky pump and that connections were corroded bad and was not getting full voltage to pump (pump finally stopped working all together because of this). Fixed problem and now noticed that I can turn the knob down to 12 o'clock position. Hit it up WOT on the highway a couple of days ago while already going close to 80mph and no KR with 22lbs boost and pulled like a mule. O2s shoot to 870s then come down but still over 800 (820?). I need to get back to the track since fixing the problem, should be a bit more room for tuning now with my old + tired setup .

P.S. as far as IC cars and higher timing. I know early on with alky injection that adding more timing to "alky chips" was the initial idea but more boost was where the power was at. Even with the Joe Lubrand chip that I have, JL told me that he usually put 18 deg on a custom hotair chip but since I had alky he would just bump it up a bit to 20 and then Id just play with the boost from there. Not sure that there is much concentration on timing with the IC cars either.

 

[SLOW_85]

Go AC Delco Plugs.

 

[boostmaster]

Plugs

Nothing wrong with Autolite plugs. I and many others have run them with much success. I personally run 23's gapped @ .30-.32 . That ashy film you see on your plug, that's from detonation. 6sense good to hear from you how has your 4.1 project been coming ?

 

[Jerryl]

........... That ashy film you see on your plug, that's from detonation.

Agree, so are the cracks!
The picture was actually lightened up to increase the contrast of the cracks.
What are your settings at?

 

[6SENSE]

Nothing wrong with Autolite plugs. I and many others have run them with much success. I personally run 23's gapped @ .30-.32 . That ashy film you see on your plug, that's from detonation. 6sense good to hear from you how has your 4.1 project been coming ?

Sllloooow. Should be moving along real soon though (hopefully). The way things have been going just not sure if I will have it all together before the track closes.
Cant believe how time has gone by since last time I raced the car. Ive been so busy with work and kids but I am going to try to get out there next week if I can and really push the old stock 3.8 block. Maybe I can cram 30psi through it

 

[Jerryl]

Got some DS help from a local member. THANKS AGAIN JD!
Some weird stuff. For example:

1. Sometimes you can actually “hear” the knock, but DS does not register. Casper gage goes into red. ESC has been replaced and is connected, clean and solid.
2. Sometimes, Casper knock gage goes to yellow and DS indicates the KR.
3. All 12 BLM cells are pretty close to 128, except the first cell (within 10)
4. Voltage looks good, as does everything else.
5. O2’s are pretty constant. No obvious fuel issues.
6. MAF looks like it may have some issues (suddenly)


Stay tuned!

With the DS run, I know I am not the one who is crazy, the car is however.
Yes, you can guess the name she has now! (Starts with a "B")

 

[boostmaster]

Maf

If all readings look good and your still getting major kr you can bet your bottom dollar the maf is the problem. Just last week I lost the # 3 piston after losing the # 6 the week before. Finally after the maf literally came apart on me I should have realized that that was the problem all along. The maf sensor on our cars is one of the most overlooked sources of kr. I have about 6 gm mafs and out of those maybe 2 are good. Start adding upgrades and that makes the calibration issues even worst. I was fine @ lower boost levels but as soon as the boost came up, kr crazy and that's no matter how much octane I was running or alky. Because the maf can't calibrate the correct fueling for the amount of air flow. I'm putting my car back together this week end and already have the Translater Gen II ready to go with the LS2 maf. Tired of coasting to 13.0's @ 92mph after running 8.0 @ 83 in the 1/8 .

 

[turbo6x2]

A bad maf will make the car run like crap. It will back fire and run like it's only using 2 cylinders. Try swapping with a known good one, or maybe go translator plus and get the new style mass air flow sensor. As far as running ac delco's my car hates them. I have nothing but great success using auto lite 23's and know of several who have no issue with them.

 

[turbo6x2]

Have you tried the tap test? While the car is running tap on the mass air flow sensor with a screw driver and see how the car runs. If it starts to miss or hesitate chances are it's going bad.

 

[Jerryl]

Swapped MAF's and still have KR.
A local member will be assisting soon.

As far as the DS files go .....
No obvious issues noticeable.

The only thing I figured out is that the KR is ignored in first gear per TT.
So, the audible will not show on DS.

Noticed last night that I consistently get KR in third gear.
Increased the fueling and O2's got to 820's. No change in KR in third.
Going to look at fuel issues, i.e filter (2K miles), Walbro (3K miles) etc.
Last time I checked, FP went up with boost.

Stay tuned and keep the input coming.

 

[Jerryl]

Interesting update:
After a blown PS HG (Of course, what would you expect?), I pulled the motor and changed both HG’s.
Noticed some carbon deposits on the pistons and heads. This was on a 6K mile engine, running alky. The carbon on this fresh motor was the result of 3 blown turbo’s and a faulty ECM. Cleaned it all up and added my custom/modified ATR up pipe and 3" DP. Bumped the FP about 3 PSI to 46 static, but, I am unaware of the actual number since the gauge is “un-calibrated”. I will get a reference and see how accurate it really is. Maybe get a glycerin filled, fuel compatible 1% gauge. :biggrin: Of course, some new plugs were added, gapped at a loose 0.035 vs the previous "tight" 0.032.

Put my old 87 MAF back on and took her out.
With temps hovering around the lower 50’s, no more KR at 13 PSI with PAC is set at 1-2 (for now). Pac come on around 3 psi (for now)
O2’s are about 790’s, MAF 255. Working on a WB purchase and install before I turn up the boost.

So, what was the cause?
Not sure but it must have been mainly carbon and FP related since my FP gauge is most likely off.

For now, I am going to enjoy this 15 second ride.
Thanks for all the input everyone.


Interesting side note(s):
There was kind of like a puddle in the intake from the alky system. I had turned it up quite a bit to combat KR, AND, was priming the system before stepping on it.
So, I try washing it with some methanol. Meth is VERY poor at cleaning off any oil. This is VERY surprising as the brake cleaner works GREAT! I had poured some in a can to wash some bolts and it did not do much. Bad meth? Not sure. It is the VP stuff. Old? I have had it in a closed container for about 4 months.
Found out that Carb cleaner works better. Xyelene works AWESOME in removing any noticeable trace of oil!
Guess I should run a bit of “Xyelene” through the PAC (after clearing that with Razor) JUST for oil film removal purposes.



Conducted another tests a while back.
Took a piece off carbon (from an old piston) and soaked it in pure “GM Top Engine Cleaner” for about a week. The carbon did not dissolve, nor did it feel “soft” to the touch.
Most likely some heat will loosen it up and then dissolve the carbon. I will conduct some addition testing on this subject some time in the next couple of weeks.