Not sure what I have.

Timecode

New Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
New to the forum. I just picked up an 87 Grand National with 67k on the clock. The previous owner had passed away and it was left to his father, whom I bought it from. Needless to say he didn't know much about the car. It has the scanmaster and gauges. There was what I believe I'd the factory turbo in a box and the model on the box is te44c. I was wondering if there is a way to tell if injectors were done or fuel pump, chip etc. I'm not even sure where to look for the chip. I apologize for my ignorance.
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Well you have a few worth while mods. I see a duty neck on the intercooler which is useful, the turbo is a te so I will guess that label on the box is for it which would be a te44 which with the right supporting mods can easily make 11 second power, it's got 3" downpipe but it's a 2 piece job probably a Kirban's which tend to leak and use the stock elbow which is not as free flowing as a one piece. There's a hocky boost control valve on it and an ugly tie down strap. It's got an adjustable fuel pressure regulator which is helpful. You'll need to drop the tank to see what pump is in there but I suspect it's old and should be replaced anyway. Doesn't look like a hot wire kit is on it. You'll have to pull the chip to see what it is and get some numbers off the injectors. Not a bad start but it needs some updates I suspect.
 
Check for a relay connected to the fuel tank wire harness, it shoud be located drivers side of the gas tank. If it's there you have a fuel pump hot wire kit.

Nice GN!
 
Thanks guys for the input. There is also a wire attached to a dial that is run next to the driver seat. Any idea what it could be? Also where is the chip located?
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Thanks guys for the input. There is also a wire attached to a dial that is run next to the driver seat. Any idea what it could be? Also where is the chip located?View attachment 319373
Chip located inside ecm, remove the passenger side kick panel you’ll find it there. Remove the small cover on the ecm, both cal pack and chip are there.
Btw nice ride brother. Welcome to the forum read the stickies, do your spring cleaning, learn these cars. Spend time reading not money on head gaskets. This site is full of useful information and people willing to help one another.
 
Two things I see that are problematic are the powermaster brakes and the factory maf. Do some research on them and decide if you want to keep them or replace them before they fail. Nice looking car.
 
Thanks guys for the input. There is also a wire attached to a dial that is run next to the driver seat. Any idea what it could be? Also where is the chip located?View attachment 319373

If you follow that wire you will see that it goes to the passenger side kick panel and the factory (ecm) computer where the chip is located. There should be some info written on the chip to tell you who made it,what injectors its for,etc. Like already said it's probably made by Casper's electronics but MaxEffort also made an thumbwheel chip also. Easy way to tell which one it is, is to turn the wheel on that controller,if it has 8 positions it is a Casper's and if it has 16 positions then it's a MaxEffort. If it is a Casper's chip you can contact them and give them the numbers off the chip and get all the info you need for it.

https://turbobuick.com/threads/caspers-thumb-wheel.381747/#post-3063277

BTW nice car,congrats!!!
 
Thanks guys, I really do appreciate all the information.its been a life long dream to have one of these cars. I was 13 in 87, so when the opportunity arose I couldn't pass up the incredible deal I got on this car. I'll be reading through these threads. Is there an easy way to check to see what injectors I have without pulling one out. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.
 
The injectors should have a part number on them a bright light and some magnification should get it, with some patience.

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Congrats on the car! The factory powermaster brake system can be fussy even under the best of care. Your fluid appears to be very dark. Dirty fluid is the worse thing for this particular system. If you like being able to stop I'd put a fluid change at the top of your list until you can figure out if you want to keep it or go vaccum or hydroboost like most here do. Best of luck on the car. She looks like a beaut (y).
 
Awesome. I appreciate it. I will do a break flush and eventually upgrade the system. I took it for a ride the other day and according to the boost gauge it hit 25 lbs. Is that too much. Will the TT injectior/chip setup be the same or less? Just curious.
 
Awesome. I appreciate it. I will do a break flush and eventually upgrade the system. I took it for a ride the other day and according to the boost gauge it hit 25 lbs. Is that too much. Will the TT injectior/chip setup be the same or less? Just curious.

25 lbs is race fuel or Alky injection! ......or blown head gaskets!
What fuel is in the tank?
 
No idea. It was in a self storage unit for god knows how long. I'm pretty sure that's what it read. The car seems to run fine. Seemed pretty high to me. My diesel ram hits 55lbs but that's a different animal.
 
Was that on old fuel???? :eek: You need to turn down the boost to 15 until you do the spring cleaning and upgrade the fuel system.
 
12-14 lbs is stock with 91-93 Oct. I have a stock car that sometimes hit 14 on 91 and will knock.

There is a wastegate actuator rod just below the turbo heat shield, it is adjustable. You might want to adjust it all the way out to the point the arm it connects to just stays closed, or disconnect it from the arm until you know what you have?

I had a fuel pump hose break at 24lbs on run it took the head gaskets out. It was not noticeable until I started to loose water from the radiator.
 
Awesome. I appreciate it. I will do a break flush and eventually upgrade the system. I took it for a ride the other day and according to the boost gauge it hit 25 lbs. Is that too much. Will the TT injectior/chip setup be the same or less? Just curious.

Yes 25 lbs is way to much on old gas,even on new gas!! I suggest along with what others have said. Turn the boost down and learn about the car and what it has. I would hate for you to break it so soon after getting it. That looks like a nice car you have there and they are fun to own,modify and drive but they have to be cared for.

If the car doesn't have a Scanmaster,that should be the first thing you get for it before trying to see what kind of performance you can get out of it. You will be a lot happier with the car if you don't blow a head gasket or worse.

Here is another link that will hopefully help.

https://turbobuick.com/threads/how-much-boost-for-the-street.456382/
 
Yes 25 lbs is way to much on old gas,even on new gas!! I suggest along with what others have said. Turn the boost down and learn about the car and what it has. I would hate for you to break it so soon after getting it. That looks like a nice car you have there and they are fun to own,modify and drive but they have to be cared for.

If the car doesn't have a Scanmaster,that should be the first thing you get for it before trying to see what kind of performance you can get out of it. You will be a lot happier with the car if you don't blow a head gasket or worse.

Here is another link that will hopefully help.

https://turbobuick.com/threads/how-much-boost-for-the-street.456382/

It has a scanmaster and knock light/alarm. The car is in amazing condition. T-tops, no rust, no rips or tears in the interior. Very well taken care of. Also got it for a steal..
 
First off, Congrats Timecode on the GN and welcome to the best Turbo Buick site on the net.
You have come to the right place. I must warn you ahead of time, these cars are very finicky and will definitely test your patience. Not to mention SUPER addictive once it's running right. Just read as much as you can on here, and never be afraid of posting up any questions. We were all new at one point and are here to help you get your new fun car squared away. Also, where are you located? You might just have someone local that knows their stuff with these cars and is on here.

Just at a quick glance, it looks like someone was taking care of issues and getting ready to start some hot rodding, but with it sitting for awhile, you definitely need to go over it with a fine tooth comb.
One thing I just noticed, your radiator overflow bottle looks to have orange'ish red coolant. Hopefully.... it's not Dexcool poured into a standard green radiator system. Check your radiator for signs of fluid gelling up as the two coolants are not compatible. If you do see signs of gelling, a complete system flush is in order and you might need to replace the radiator if it can't be completely flushed.

And absolutely stay off the loud pedal until you get at least two tanks of known good 93 octane run though it. You might want to run a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner through one of those tanks. And you must get the boost turned down. As has been stated earlier, adjust the wastegate rod out, so that it is longer. When you disconnect it, you will see how the wastegate flapper valve works. You want to adjust the rod so that there is just enough pretension to keep the swing valve snug up against the turbo. Also, you can remove the home made bleeder valve knob that is behind the turbo next to the upper plenum and simply run vacuum hose from the turbo down to the wastegate actuator after you re-adjust the actuator. Remember, the longer the wastegate rod, the lower the boost, the shorter the rod, the higher the boost. You probably have the equivalent of 85-87 octane in the tank if it's been sitting for a while.
Here's the links to the "Spring Cleaning" as was mentioned earlier, and one of the sticky posts.

http://www.gnttype.org/maint/basics.html

https://turbobuick.com/threads/info-for-new-turbo-regal-owners.380856/

On your Scanmaster, if you have it mounted on top of the radio pod, I highly recommend that you relocate it to the top of the dash, so that you can see it while driving. The first screen that pops up after it initializes is the O2 milivolts and degrees of knock. This is your number one screen that you need to watch whenever you start tuning/running the car/making wide open throttle blasts or WOT.

Here is a quick video that will help, along with a little bit more involved tuning step by step.
But you need to give it a thorough Spring Cleaning before you start tuning and cranking up the power. The TE44 on it now, will support enough power to get into the low 11's.
Keep the boost turned down, down, down with 91-93 pump gas. Typically in the 14-16psi range. But once everything is squared away and running good, you can turn it up to 17-18psi with good 93 octane.

The thumbnail image on this video is dead, but the video does work.


These next two links are older, and info was published by one of our OG board members :D but it absolutely applies with today's tech.
http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com/Scantool_Readings.htm

http://vortexbuicks-etc.com/TuningBasics.htm

There are tons of other very helpful videos on youtube as well as the treasure trove of info on this site.

One more tid bit, you might actually have a Maximum Effort chip as the dial style wheel was what was used on my Max Effort chip circa "99-"00. I just sold a Caspers Ultrachip that was in my GN when I got it and the dial had two push buttons to move the selector. Pulling the ECM from the kick panel, removing the cover and popping the chip that the grey harness is connected to will reveal the label with the info we need to ID it. Disconnect the orange single ECM power wire located behind the battery and use care when rocking the chip length wise to remove it from the ECM. You will see the sandwiched secondary chip that the grey harness connects to on top of the main chip.

Take a well lit, close up pic of the fuel injectors, and the back of the turbo and that boost control valve, and we can help narrow down what you have and what we recommend to help keep you from blowing a head gasket or worse. Heck, anytime you have questions or concerns, snap a pic and post it up. Detailed pictures help us immensely when diagnosing or figuring stuff out.

And one last big piece of advice.
When you change the oil and filter, and I hope you do this asap, make sure you order a bottle of ZDDPlus additive from Kirban. One bottle will give your oil enough zinc / phosphorus ppm that the stock style hydraulic flat tappet cam and lifters need to survive. This is crucial and I would not drive it another mile before doing this. You have no idea if any additives or ZDDPlus were added in the current oil and there's no sense in you wiping a cam lobe or lifter because lack of protection.

http://www.kirbanperformance.com/product/445/ZDDPLUS+4-OUNCE+BOTTLE+(1)+#7176.html

Congrats on the new to you GN, welcome aboard and hope some of this helps.


-Patrick-
 
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