R32 GTST - 600KW+ RB28/CD009 Build

[Komdotkom]

Doesn't the 370z box have a gear position sensor? Worth looking to see if it can be retro fitted

[TurboTapin]

I was just doing some final checks before the dyno. While checking timing, I noticed my belt seems a tad loose. I'm probably over thinking this but what's everyone's thoughts on this? 

I had originally tightened it as per manual. I also noticed that with engine running, the belt between crank and intake cam shakes back and forth. 

Should I tighten her up a smidgen? 

 

Edited April 23, 2024 by TurboTapin

[GTSBoy]

That is way too loose. What is the state of the tensioner?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Looks a bit loose, follow the manual again, crank the motor by hand so everything is loaded up and lock in the tensioner.

[TurboTapin]

22 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

That is way too loose. What is the state of the tensioner?

 

22 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Looks a bit loose, follow the manual again, crank the motor by hand so everything is loaded up and lock in the tensioner.

 

Thank you both for confirming! Happy I caught that before the dyno. I've put ~800kms on the new engine since, just street tuning it. Luckily it didn't skip a tooth. 

I only had about an hour tonight to work on it after my daughter fell asleep but I just have the pulley and lower cover left to remove. 340ftlb torqued pulley bolt came off much easier then expected.. Tensioner was new and seems fine. I had originally tightened it as per manual (2 full turns on spring then tighten). I'll give that another go hopefully tomorrow night if I have the pulley off by then. 

[TurboTapin]

On 4/11/2024 at 6:30 AM, Komdotkom said:

Doesn't the 370z box have a gear position sensor? Worth looking to see if it can be retro fitted

I ended up looking into this and you're absolutely right. The sport models with Syncro Rev Match(SRM) have a gear position sensor. 

[TurboTapin]

I got that timing belt wrapped up last week. Engine actually sounds much better; I'm presuming the belt may have been slightly slapping the top belt cover. Now onto my next unexpected issue... I can't find a Dyno that doesn't lock up the ecu once done.

We have what seems to be 6 local tuners who do Haltech, One is an RX7 specialty shop so I'll avoid them, and so far three of the others have stated they password lock the ecu once complete, which I refuse to accept. I'm waiting on responses on the last two... I was hoping to get it done on May 17th. 

[Duncan]

I understand a shop being concerned "their" tune will be taken and used by another shop, but assuming you are paying by the hour access to their existing skills and IP should be included in that price. 

Password protection would be a total deal breaker for me as it locks you in to them forever, what if they go broke?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

10 hours ago, TurboTapin said:

and so far three of the others have stated they password lock the ecu once complete, which I refuse to accept

Could you ask them to give you the tune file?

I know why some shops lock their tunes, so their customers don't fiddle with it and cause future issues/problems.

Too bad you don't live in Sydney, could have hired a dyno and tuned the car together.

[GTSBoy]

Hire a dyno in Canadia and tune over the 'net?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

6 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Hire a dyno in Canadia and tune over the 'net?

I prefer to be in the car to hear/feel it, remote tuning isn't the same. Also when something goes wrong I can back off the throttle much quicker than trying to relay that to the dyno operator.

[TurboTapin]

5 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Hire a dyno in Canadia and tune over the 'net?

 

5 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

I prefer to be in the car to hear/feel it, remote tuning isn't the same. Also when something goes wrong I can back off the throttle much quicker than trying to relay that to the dyno operator.

I might be old fashion, but I hate remote tuning/programming. I'm a PLC programmer in the oil & gas industry where we work on turbines and large compressors and as Dose stated, it's much easier to backoff or catch an issue quicker in person. My ass on site detects compressor surge or a leaned out popping fuel map from the ground shaking well before alarms pop or someone can scream on the phone to stop. 

[TurboTapin]

15 hours ago, Duncan said:

I understand a shop being concerned "their" tune will be taken and used by another shop, but assuming you are paying by the hour access to their existing skills and IP should be included in that price. 

Password protection would be a total deal breaker for me as it locks you in to them forever, what if they go broke?

It's also a total deal breaker for me. I've been teaching myself to tune and so far, seem to have done a good job up to 14psi. I want to continue learning. I found another tuner that I used many years ago that did a great job, so I'm waiting on the response from 3 places. Hopefully one of them doesn't lock it up, if not I'll start looking out of province. 

[TurboTapin]

Finished street tuning it to 20psi with WMI. Haltech really makes it easy for you with those 4D maps. I have 17psi springs in my gates but they seem to only start cracking around 17 and taper off around 19/20psi. I was originally on 14psi springs but I'm expecting to need ~35-38psi to hit my goal and I was worried It wouldn't make it.

Dyno's booked for next Friday. All I have left is to replace my el cheapo amazon special type k connectors on my EGT's. They have no strain relief and well are just all around cheap compared to what I use at work. I had the wires in one get lose and I don't want a repeat of that on the Dyno. I also want to figure out why I have 4 cylinders that are perfectly identical, one that's 30C over and another that's 30C under. I'm chocking this up to EGT position in the runners not being identical and will verify that as well.

Wish me luck! Hopefully I make all the power with no bang. Question for the group, I have my rev limiter set to 8000rpm. I have a fully built head and new lifters but I stuck with hydro's. Is 8000 fair or am I being to cautious? 

Edited May 7, 2024 by TurboTapin

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Feels like most tend to keep it under 8000rpm for hydraulic lifters.

Quick search on the net and those on Rennlist like to keep theirs under 7500rpm, Speed Talk under 8000rpm.

Perhaps start to take timing out for 7250rpm and soft cut it by 8000rpm.

[TurboTapin]

11 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Feels like most tend to keep it under 8000rpm for hydraulic lifters.

Quick search on the net and those on Rennlist like to keep theirs under 7500rpm, Speed Talk under 8000rpm.

Perhaps start to take timing out for 7250rpm and soft cut it by 8000rpm.

Thanks. I adjusted my soft cut to 7600rpm and if I see I'm still making power there, I'll consider readjusting to possibly 7800rpm while on the dyno. 

Edited May 7, 2024 by TurboTapin

[TurboTapin]

While going through data logs late last week, I spotted a small issue with my WMI. My WMI starts to progressively inject at 11psi of boost. I'm using a 25psi cut in pressure switch on my WMI as an added safety and if the curve is linear, I should hit that 25psi on my WMI system around 13-14psi of boost. 

As per my data logs, my WMI pressure switch only activates around 19psi of boost. This is causing my non WMI 4D map to trim for WMI. I'm presuming this is caused by the mechanical switch response time, injection curve not being linear or both. 

I ordered a 2-10psi adjustable cut in pressure switch which should correct this. If this doesn't resolve it before my dyno appointment on Friday, I'll just remove the pressure switch temporarily and more than likely replace it with a pressure transmitter afterwards. 

 

BTW Speedtek has yet to refund me.

Edited May 13, 2024 by TurboTapin

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

On 14/05/2024 at 1:05 AM, TurboTapin said:

BTW Speedtek has yet to refund me.

Did you pay using a credit card? If so, possible you could do a charge back?

[TurboTapin]

I finally got it on the dyno today and luckily it stayed in one piece! It wasn't without its dramas though. First off, sent my power steering belt to the moon around the third pull. Scared me half to death. Tuner laughed and mentioned that often happens with RB's... I may need to look into adding the Ross power steering idler, or something a long those lines. 

Second issue that came up was about 2 hours in, we realized the VCT wasn't working and had to go back through the timing and knock threshold once it was fixed (I had botched setting up VCT). That waisted a good hour or so. I was surprised to see that with VCT working, we saw a ~38rwkw difference across the powerband. More then I would of expected. 

Without further ado, made 463rwkw@27psi. Not the numbers I originally set out after, but still more then enough to kill myself and I'm very happy. Mustang roller dyno's are known to be heart breakers compared to other dyno's. Two things that limited me, first was the hydraulic lifters/7600rpm cut. Tuner was adamant that I was losing out on a lot of power up top because of it. Second was the pump gas & WMI. He wasn't 100% comfortable tuning with WMI, and was honest about it. He stated he's more confident on E85/Race gas. I look at this as a positive as it leaves me a lot of room for improvement.

All in all, very happy! I need to see what I can do about that rev limiter... I use to rev my stock RB20 to 8000rpm and now I have a fully built head that I only rev to 7600... It's bugging me. 

Don't mind my fantastic picture/filming skills. 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2024 by TurboTapin

[TurboTapin]

I thought I would share a few fun facts about Haltech products that I've learnt with their use that they don't share on their website.

Haltech GPS speed - Extremely slow to react. It's fine for puttering around but I have no idea what speed I'm driving when in WOT due to the slow response time. This was always going to be temporary as I need mechanical wheel speed for eventual torque management, but it has just been bumped up a priority or two as it's a nuisance. 

Haltech I/O Expander - You often hear the response time is slow due to canbus comms, but I could not find concrete evidence and Haltech makes no mention of it. We'll now I have it. I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought my WMI mechanical pressure switch was causing a delayed response from my AEM WMI Controller to my ECU. My WMI begins to operate at 11psi, but my ECU was only getting an "On" signal around 19psi. After removing the pressure switch, there was no change. Luckily I connected my WMI Controller directly to the ECU the morning of my Dyno tune and there was a large improvement. I get the "On" signal around 13-14psi now. These remote IO boxes should be marketed for only non-critical I/O.