i got the vaccumm leak on the throttlebody gasket... i got a new one from nissan will that do the job? or do i need to use this "RTV" stuff

 

Use a new gasket if the old one was damaged, but that is probably not enough for the SS to throttle body and I would recommend RTV. RTV is usually a good idea anyway, as long as the right RTV for the specific application. Here, the grey will work fine.

 

I also got the leak at the TB. I first had rough idle, then high idle. I tried to tighten the bolts and got a horrible high pitch whistle. So, I took it off, cleaned it, used RTV, left it to dry, and... next morning it was perfect.

And of course some pics :

 

And now for the "not so good" news.

That morning I went to a dyno event near my house. Note that the night before after adding the RTV etc, I did the ECU reset, so my ECU is learning. I wasn't going to dyno. But I was curious to see what the A/F was doing, with the new IM and headers and cats I had installed recently.

Bad results. Lower than a stock 350Z with a CAI that dynoed right before me.

I have been reading a lot about EMS lately, the ECU, reflash etc and I wasn't that surprised. Disapointed, but not surprised. Can ECU learning mean that much to our NA mods that it can actually negate them totally?

The A/F did show very lean. The runs are all over 13, some almost reaching 16.

Right now, I think most of our HP gains are hiding behind the ECU.

 

you really can't compare your car to a stock Z dyno numbers

there's so many factors

some stock cars dyno 10-15whp higher than other stock cars

did YOUR car gain power?

 

No. My car had dynoed 245 a long time ago. With the added mods I was expecting to get 260, maybe 265... I think expecting 20 to 25 HP from an IM, Headers and HF Cats is not much to expect.

I got a 238 (best of 3 runs).

 

Lookin' good Slaponte
I definetly agree that the ECU is hiding some horsepower, I was a little disheartened at first when I heard about the manifolds hp #'s, but it is a great looking piece and I plan to go FI sooner then later, so I'll keep it and have my car tuned after the FI with a good tuner, then reevaluate.

 

my car runs damn rich! at WOT it drops into the 13's then high 12's near redline... i dunno its a weird car. i wish i found like 15K outside so i can get APS and a standalone

 

Anyone looking to buy a soul or any premium used organs so I can finance my turbo kit? I don't smoke and I'm very athletic...come on guys!!!!

 

lol -- yeah, my last dyno was extraordinarily lean -- 3k and under was around 17, then dipped to stoich at 3k and stayed above 14 to 6k where it went to 13.5 until redline...

i've got a reflash / custom tune session set up with AAM for the 1st of july, so i'll see how that goes... i'm going forged/TT in a couple months at any rate, but i'd really like to see this IM kick *** NA (god knows we need some N/A lovin' for these cars).

EDIT, i was only pushing 253 in my dyno, but i have no reference (no prior dyno), so it's without frame of reference. seems low though. hopefully the reflash will fix things

 

Keep us informed, I'm going to be up near AAM this weekend, it is taking a lot of restraint not to do the same.

 

what time of the year did you dyno last time? yesterday was pretty damn hot and humid, so i'm sure that would hurt the dyno numbers a bit.

 

Yes, the weather is a big factor, but when there is a 350z with just an intake dynoing 245.xxhp at the same time, something is definitely not right in slaponte's car

 

Two of my buddies have just a nismo intake and they both dynoed at 242...so that 245 seems to be just about spot on.

 

I got a 245 just with the Y and mid pipes. So this would not only say the IM didn't do anything, but actually negated all the gains from headers, HF cats, the Y and mid pipe and the pop charger?? no way. Something has to be wrong. And all the arrows point to the ECU, that just got reset, and the car running very lean because of it.

This could be a good test of how much the ECU really learns. I will go back in a couple of weeks and see if it does any better. I think I need a reflash to really get going, but it is not happening right now.

 

I highly doubt it was due to the ECU "learning" that you had poor dyno numbers. On a dyno you should be using the WOT mapping which is not the same as the partial throttle mapping where the ECU is learning. Either you have created a bad combination of mods, you have some leaks in the system (intake or exhaust) or your WOT mapping needs to be addressed to take advantage of the current mods. In the end it may be a combination of the stated. I would recommend a wideband 02 install and potentially an ECU reflash.

 

i can see my car dip into the 10.x AF range near redline! i wish i had money for a flash

 

How long is install time? And is the heat issue really a big thing for every1?

 

Install is not long. I took my royal time (had the day off), breaks in between, and did the extra work for the thermoguard gaskets and had it done in a couple of hours. I can be as fast as 1.5 or less.

I don't know if there is a heat issue. I got the gaskets because I was going to be in there so might as well put those in. I also ceramic coated my headers, cats and Y for the same reason, had them out, right time to do so, I don't think it would hurt and it might help. To me, the cost of the parts is not as important as optimizing the labor time.

 

You know guys, I may be selling my manifold. I don't have any ill will against it, but I REALLY want to go F/I and every little bit could help