Another Powerlab install
07-14-2011, 07:30 PM
#1
Another Powerlab install
Well, to start off, the install was finished about 8 hours ago. The whole install took almost a month, and was more difficult than I had originally thought it to be. This isnt the first turbo kit I have installed. I'm no master mechanic, but I have done my far share of bolt-ons. I had quite a few problems. The first problem I ran into was getting the plenum apart. I had installed a spacer about 2 years ago, and getting some of the bolts(the two on the outside that are star-shaped) was a PITA. I actually drilled the passenger side bolt in half to get it apart. The first up-pipe took some time to install due to me not being able to find out where to put it( I had instructions and pictures of installs from this forum). The next problem was oil fill line fitting that bolted into the turbo did not bolt to the fill line....at all. I spent two days in SoCal looking for a shop that was able to help me out. After that, I thought the oil pan was never going to come off. I had to pry it apart with a scraper and a screwdriver. After the turbo went on, it was smooth sailing until we attempted to bolt the midpipe to the downpipe. I successfully broke two vbands at that point. On to the fuel pump. Swapping the pump was quite easy...finding it however took forever. There is only one thread that I could find in multiple forums that even mentions that it is behind the passenger seat
. After getting that out, which was easy, I swapped the pumps, drilled the regulator and yellow piece on the bottom of the basket, forgetting to swap the grey boot that creates the seal. After getting all of the little things done, i.e. gauges, UTEC, PCV line, wastegate line, and boost line I attempted to start the car. I then spent a day troubleshooting to find out the grey boot that I could no longer find was the reason my car was getting no fuel. I waited a week to get another one in. Bolting that up, the car ran and I was finally able to drive it to a shop. I took it to The Dyno Shop in Santee, CA. They tuned it in about 6 hours, charged a reasonable amount, and IMO did a great job. Its reasonably conservative in timing, running 7.5psi(intense sent me the wrong spring....twice) I hit 387whp and 342wtq with the turbo, headers, and spacer. It was ran on a dyno dynamics, which I have heard seems to read low. Total time spent working was close to a week, two at the most. I'm overall happy with it, and can't wait for the break-in period to be over. So that was my experience, just thought I would share it with the community. Oh yea, before I forget, I gotta thank JonnyC for hooking me up with a map to start with.
. After getting that out, which was easy, I swapped the pumps, drilled the regulator and yellow piece on the bottom of the basket, forgetting to swap the grey boot that creates the seal. After getting all of the little things done, i.e. gauges, UTEC, PCV line, wastegate line, and boost line I attempted to start the car. I then spent a day troubleshooting to find out the grey boot that I could no longer find was the reason my car was getting no fuel. I waited a week to get another one in. Bolting that up, the car ran and I was finally able to drive it to a shop. I took it to The Dyno Shop in Santee, CA. They tuned it in about 6 hours, charged a reasonable amount, and IMO did a great job. Its reasonably conservative in timing, running 7.5psi(intense sent me the wrong spring....twice) I hit 387whp and 342wtq with the turbo, headers, and spacer. It was ran on a dyno dynamics, which I have heard seems to read low. Total time spent working was close to a week, two at the most. I'm overall happy with it, and can't wait for the break-in period to be over. So that was my experience, just thought I would share it with the community. Oh yea, before I forget, I gotta thank JonnyC for hooking me up with a map to start with.
07-15-2011, 04:20 AM
#3
hatersgonnahate
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^you'll be saying that for months
Op it sounds like you needed a bit more z knowledge before attempting the install.
Good job on the diy though. Be sure to check back under the hood for leaks of all kinds. Proper maintenance will keep your z running strong.
Op it sounds like you needed a bit more z knowledge before attempting the install.
Good job on the diy though. Be sure to check back under the hood for leaks of all kinds. Proper maintenance will keep your z running strong.
07-15-2011, 08:31 AM
#5
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yep.. its been 5 weeks so far. Its 5 miles from my work, i go at lunch 3 times a week to check up, and the price is right too.. cant complain yet, but it needs to start comin together soon for sure.
Last edited by bmccann101; 07-15-2011 at 08:37 AM.
07-15-2011, 05:11 PM
#6
Maybe I did. I had done what I thought to be enough research. I believe most of the problems that I ran into was a lack of room due to my headers. Speaking of those, the header-crossover gasket burned out on the dyno. I will be replacing that this weekend. I also had a very small oil leak that was caused by semi-loose bolts on the pan. Everything else still seems fine. I also had a CEL caused by misfires in cylinder 1. I'm sure it was cause by starting it when it was still running extremely rich. It was cleared and hasnt came back, even under boost. I'll be posting some pics up as soon as I can get all of them together.
07-17-2011, 02:51 PM
#7
So after two days of driving, the CEL came back. I havent had it read yet, but I figure its the same one. If its the same code, I'll be checking the spark plugs. I didnt replace them with the kit, and I think I might have fouled them when i started/drove it before the tune while it was still really rich. Any thoughts on what else might be the problem?
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07-19-2011, 06:32 PM
#8
So I checked the plugs, and they seem fine. I had no oil in the wells, so the valve cover seals are still good as well. Im assuming I need to check coil packs now. The code I'm getting is P0300(now cleared), random misfire. Is there any way to tell which cylinder is the one that is actually missing? I drove for over an hour today on the way home, and I didnt miss once. I drove normally, and went under full boost twice to see if the SES light would come back on. It didnt come back on, so I'm not sure what the hell is causing it. I am wondering what the idle A/F ratio should be, because at idle after its warm is at 17.3 . I feel like thats high, and if it is, I clearly need to call my tuner. Can anyone give me some info on idle A/F for forced induction cars?
07-20-2011, 05:44 AM
#9
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Sorry- you keeping stock plugs in for your FI setup? Not sure if theyre the same as the g35s stock ones but that may be worth some consideration... Not sure if hot plugs could be causing the misfire but figured id throw it out there. I had issues when the plugs were overlooked... Wasn't throwing codes but there were signs of badness.
07-20-2011, 08:11 AM
#10
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So I checked the plugs, and they seem fine. I had no oil in the wells, so the valve cover seals are still good as well. Im assuming I need to check coil packs now. The code I'm getting is P0300(now cleared), random misfire. Is there any way to tell which cylinder is the one that is actually missing? I drove for over an hour today on the way home, and I didnt miss once. I drove normally, and went under full boost twice to see if the SES light would come back on. It didnt come back on, so I'm not sure what the hell is causing it. I am wondering what the idle A/F ratio should be, because at idle after its warm is at 17.3 . I feel like thats high, and if it is, I clearly need to call my tuner. Can anyone give me some info on idle A/F for forced induction cars?
07-20-2011, 10:16 AM
#11
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So after two days of driving, the CEL came back. I havent had it read yet, but I figure its the same one. If its the same code, I'll be checking the spark plugs. I didnt replace them with the kit, and I think I might have fouled them when i started/drove it before the tune while it was still really rich. Any thoughts on what else might be the problem?
07-21-2011, 04:37 AM
#12
I should've been more clear when I said I didnt replace them. I put NGK step 1 plugs in 16k miles ago. I checked all 6, and they are fine. However, I have found a point, about 2800rpm in 4th(It never misfired in any other gear), roughly 30-40% throttle, my A/F drops to 10 and it misfires. This is the only place I seem to get a misfire. I still need to take care of the high idle A/F. Thank you G3po for suggesting the UPREV, I'll take a look at it. As far as my map goes, Im going to take a look at that point and adjust til I get about an 11 instead of <10.
07-21-2011, 08:17 AM
#13
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I should've been more clear when I said I didnt replace them. I put NGK step 1 plugs in 16k miles ago. I checked all 6, and they are fine. However, I have found a point, about 2800rpm in 4th(It never misfired in any other gear), roughly 30-40% throttle, my A/F drops to 10 and it misfires. This is the only place I seem to get a misfire. I still need to take care of the high idle A/F. Thank you G3po for suggesting the UPREV, I'll take a look at it. As far as my map goes, Im going to take a look at that point and adjust til I get about an 11 instead of <10.
07-24-2011, 08:34 AM
#16
I dont think I have a vacuum leak. When I go into boost, it holds steady at 7psi, which is where it should be. I know for a fact that I have a bad exhaust leak at the header/crossover pipe, where I blew the gasket. I have been unable to confirm or deny if this will cause a misfire/unsteady A/F ratios. The only thing I can do now is fix it. If it still misfires, I believe the only thing left to do is work on the tune.
01-02-2012, 01:44 PM
#17
Just thought I would give an update on how everything is going with my boost. One thing I had not put on while doing the original install was the recirculation pipe for the wastegate. I didn't put it on the first time I installed the exhaust because the clamp wasn't wide enough to go over the wastegate/recirc pipe. I did finish this two weeks ago. I ended up having to take over 1/4 of an inch off of the pipe/wastegate in order to get it to actually fit. It has made a huge difference in the sound when I'm in boost. No longer will I go deaf due to the extremely loud wastegate. I know there is some modification involved in pretty much anything, but for a kit that is supposed to be top of the line, and costs 7k, the amount of cutting and modding I had to do in order to get this to work just seems a bit ridiculous to me. Either way, on to other things. Not too long after I got the kit on, tuned and running the wastegate stopped working. I sent it to TiaL to be rebuilt, and at that point they put in a 4psi spring. After that, I noticed the BOV wasnt working, i.e compressor surge. I did, however, notice that if I quickly got into the throttle, followed by dropping it completely, the car would stall. I unsuccessfully attempted to get a -7psi spring from Intense Power, for roughly a month. I broke down and bought a Synapse Diverter Valve. I am extremely pleased with it, as the car no longer has compressor surge or stalls at all. I am also very happy with that staff at Synapse. They were very knowledgeable and happily answered all of my questions. About 2 and half months ago, I noticed other members of this forum had received a coolant reservoir tank. Discovering this, I called Intense Power to get mine(of course they hadnt sent it in the original kit). They have yet to send it, even after guaranteeing me they will send it, multiple times!!! I have decided I will never purchase anything from them(intense power) ever again. Even though it has been a hassle, and still has yet to be completed, I am very happy with the car and really enjoy have the power of the turbo kit. If I had to do it all again, I would still go with the single turbo. I would probably buy the SFR or Momentum kit, but a single turbo with the same basic design nonetheless.
Last edited by woody03; 01-02-2012 at 01:52 PM.
01-02-2012, 01:59 PM
#18
hatersgonnahate
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Just thought I would give an update on how everything is going with my boost. One thing I had not put on while doing the original install was the recirculation pipe for the wastegate. I didn't put it on the first time I installed the exhaust because the clamp wasn't wide enough to go over the wastegate/recirc pipe. I did finish this two weeks ago. I ended up having to take over 1/4 of an inch off of the pipe/wastegate in order to get it to actually fit. It has made a huge difference in the sound when I'm in boost. No longer will I go deaf due to the extremely loud wastegate. I know there is some modification involved in pretty much anything, but for a kit that is supposed to be top of the line, and costs 7k, the amount of cutting and modding I had to do in order to get this to work just seems a bit ridiculous to me. Either way, on to other things. Not too long after I got the kit on, tuned and running the wastegate stopped working. I sent it to TiaL to be rebuilt, and at that point they put in a 4psi spring. After that, I noticed the BOV wasnt working, i.e compressor surge. I did, however, notice that if I quickly got into the throttle, followed by dropping it completely, the car would stall. I unsuccessfully attempted to get a -7psi spring from Intense Power, for roughly a month. I broke down and bought a Synapse Diverter Valve. I am extremely pleased with it, as the car no longer has compressor surge or stalls at all. I am also very happy with that staff at Synapse. They were very knowledgeable and happily answered all of my questions. About 2 and half months ago, I noticed other members of this forum had received a coolant reservoir tank. Discovering this, I called Intense Power to get mine(of course they hadnt sent it in the original kit). They have yet to send it, even after guaranteeing me they will send it, multiple times!!! I have decided I will never purchase anything from them(intense power) ever again. Even though it has been a hassle, and still has yet to be completed, I am very happy with the car and really enjoy have the power of the turbo kit. If I had to do it all again, I would still go with the single turbo. I would probably buy the SFR or Momentum kit, but a single turbo with the same basic design nonetheless.
Crazy man. GL in getting the rest of your parts and wrapping her up.
01-03-2012, 01:38 PM
#20
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For boosted applications and you power level, you will need to replace the plugs to a 1 step colder NGK coppers. Surprised they didnt go during tunning. A fouled or melted plug will can cause damage to the cylinder. That may not be your problem now but it will be if they are not replaced.
375hp is not even close to being enough to harm the stock heat range spark plugs. I ran up to almost 500hp on stock heat range on 93 octane gas.
There are so many misconceptions and myths circulating about this and about 99% of the people that circulate it can't even explain why there are different heat ranges let alone the physics behind it.
The car will demonstrate pre-ignition due to a hot spot on the plug WAY before it will be hot enough to "melt" a plug.
A stock block car will blow up before it reaches a power level that will cause problems with the stock heat ranges.
That being said. If you were changing the plugs on FI i would recommend going to 1 step colder since they operate just fine and don't foul under daily driving situations but it will not be a danger to the engine to run the stock heat range.
