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The $1500, running, driving, turbo Miata. Boosting like it’s 1996!
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This will chronicle our ongoing adventures with Ratchet Morgan Shitkicker III. A wonderful little 1991 SNC Miata that my friend picked up for $1500 after declaring he “wanted to buy a turbo Miata”. The world decided this was meant to be and one popped up locally for $1500 the next day, causing a mad dash to get the money together and go look at it.
What I was expecting to find was something that was almost ready for the death bed, with rust holes and oil burning and the works. What we found was something completely surprising, a running, driving, halfway thought out turbo Miata that my friend drove almost all the way home (60 miles) the same night it was bought. The only reason it didn’t make it was a stretched out alternator belt slipping too much to keep the battery charged. So without further blathering on, here is the little shitkicker himself, along with his band mate's cars. Slight size difference! https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 The next section will be in the form of an interview.. Is that truck bedliner!?! Yes, yes it is. Why!?! The previous owner decided that $150 worth of roll on bed liner was better than going to MACCO. It is actually kind of fun since it can’t be keyed and you can draw on it with chalk! This is what happens when you let the people at the Miata meet have at it (Surprisingly few dicks actually, but it was a family event...) https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 (My friend heard the rims were nicknamed "daisies" and went to town :giggle: ) Is there rust? Some! Not much though, a little surface rust on the control arms, some water pooling rust in the trunk (the roof was FUBAR), and a bit where the seam sealer has lifted over the years. It was a Delaware and then a Florida car, so for the salt belt, it is what would be sold as “rust free”. Any fun mods done to the car? Well, the owner in Florida was a cop, so it has red reflective stickers everywhere. He also had a viper alarm put in… and an after-market cruise control… and extra lighting under the hood, and maybe in the trunk… and there is a lamp switch behind the one seatbelt tower… No, we have no idea what it does. There is just a ton of extra wiring in this car that will need to come out. *shudders thinking about it*. So umm… the actual answer is, other than the turbo and a head unit, it was bone stock. Factory shocks, 10 year old all seasons and everything. Fairly sure the radiator and coolant hoses are factory original too. The PO also removed the AC, power steering and bypassed the heater core. (Bypassed heatercore....) https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 (How the PO dealt with the ISVC...) https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 (Wires, wires wires...) https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 Oh... well then… How about the turbo system then? The turbo system is fairly basic. Ebay t3 flange turbo, water cooled though! It has a stainless steel ebay manifold and a custom made turbo back using lovely crush bent tubing and no flex pipe! Muffler is solidly attached to the engine... https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 You know the ebay mani is going to crack right? Yup. We will address that when the time comes. Well, what about supporting modifications for the turbo? ECU? Clutch? Dif? Oh boy… Well, at least the previous owner though some about what to do for fuel. It has a VooDoo box in it! Could be worse, could be better. And he mercifully installed an Inovate LC-2 with DB gauge, so we have some idea of the AFR! (though it needed calibration when the car was bought, it insisted it was running at 22.4afr out of boost and 7.5 in boost, and nothing in between).He also added an MSD for timing! Clutch… factory, diff? Factory. Fuel injectors are the stock 1.6 ones. The previous owner was attempting to run 10PSI on them… 10!?! Didn’t that break something?!? Yes, 10, and no! Suprisingly! It seems the PO only put about 800 miles on the car in the 3 years he owned it and installed the turbo system! So no damage done! Well… How is the motor health? Did you do a compression check? Motor runs very well! No compression check yet, we are kind of afraid of what it may tell us… Well? Let’s see the engine bay! https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 Umm… there is oil everywhere? Yup, there is a slight leak… https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 With that little fun done, a bit more about the car. We had the waste gate wired open to keep it from building too much boost. It was making about 2-3pst from 4500-5500 and then ramping up to 5-6pst at red line. AFRs are high 17’s at idle, low 16’s in light cruise, low 15’s in heavier cruise, 13.8 at WOT outside of boost and high 12’s ramping down to mid 10’s by redline once in boost. We moved the wastegate actuator reference back to the compressor outlet (it was reading on the little port just after the throttle body) to induce intentional boost sag at redline to deal with only having 1.6 injectors. We have some 1.8 tan tops that will be going in over winter for now. Other winter projects involve: 1. Ripping out all the wiring and doing it nicely. Scotch clips should be illegal. 2. Rebuilding the exhaust. There is no flex pipe, it is done with crush bent tubing and the O2 sensor is only 6” from the turbo outlet… 3. Deal with all the leaks. After that, we are going to run it on the piggy backs for a while and get everything sorted mechanically. It will likely need a new clutch sooner than later, so that and a torsen is in the books. After that it needs suspension. If we can do 160hp with the current setup and 1.8 injectors that would be good, 180 would be amazing. Future plans are to build a weld-el based manifold and install a Niasan Juke turbo that my friend picked up NIB for $100. It is a Mitsubishi TF035 which has a compressor map that looks perfect for the little 1.6L and about 180-200hp. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450313957 My knowledge about turbo systems comes from a ton of reading here and some books. So I have zero practical knowledge, I am asking that if you see us doing anything really stupid, please let us know! The goal for this car in the near future is to get it to the point where it won't break itself during autocross next year. My friend also wants to try his hand at drifting (in for broken diffs), I will do my best to try to keep him from breaking it. |
Fun. I bought a basketcase (admittedly for quite a bit more than $1500) and got tired of chasing down problems. I traded it off and was happy to be rid of it. Hope you have better luck.
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Originally Posted by mgeoffriau
(Post 1292707)
Fun. I bought a basketcase (admittedly for quite a bit more than $1500) and got tired of chasing down problems. I traded it off and was happy to be rid of it. Hope you have better luck.
I have also forced my friend to read Street Turbocharging by Mark Warner, so he has some idea how all this stuff works now. I don't get the deer in the headlights look when I explain things anymore. So, updates to where we are now (I typed this up a while ago, had to wait for pictures to get taken, and then finals hit!). We ran for a while with the waste gate tied open to make sure nothing crazy was going to happen and figure out how to work the wideband that was in there. After a while of checking everything out, we hooked the waste gate back up and it is running happily at 5ish PSI. Spool is terrible since the WGA hardly even holds it closed, but with 1.6 injectors and a voodoo, I am abrade to run much more without increased fuel pressure or something. The roof was replaced over memorial day weekend, what a PITA that was, but it looks good (the roof it came with, the back window had torn out, so that was priority #1). My friend got laid off 3 weeks after getting this car, so we have been working on it lemons style. It needed new window guides something bad (windows weren't sealing against the top), so we made some (my dad has a garage full of shop tools!). https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 The clutch is slipping something bad now, so new clutch needs to happen sooner, rather than later. New suspension happened already, managed to get 80k mile front shocks and springs off a friend's 93, and 40k mile rears for the cost of shipping, total outlay was $35 and the car doesn't try to kill you over every bump now. Other than drinking oil and having terrible idle (need to get the ISCV hooked back up!), the car was dead nuts reliable for the last 3k miles. Until November 13th (a Friday) when I told my friend he should go through the records he has and see if the timing belt was ever done. That evening, I got a call that the car had just died on the highway... You get one guess what the reason was. Thankfully, they were only a few miles from a friends house. So the next evening, in the dark and cold... https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 Turns out a stock timing belt can last 123,094mi (for those keeping score, the car was bought with 119,600mi, and other than the slipping alternator belt and some loose header nuts this was it's only failure! not bad for $1500). Also, neat fact about the SNC, you can change the timing belt without taking the crank nose bolt off. Good thing I had one in my stash, my friend owes me a belt now (doing mine this winter). As far as I can tell, the leaks are coming from the, valve cover, cam seals, CAS o-ring and the turbo drain line made from two pieces of cooling hose spliced together (on the list to fix). Haven't found any cracks in the block or anything yet! So the car also came on Falken Azin 912k (or whatever the 14" all season was the m.net boner back in the mid 2000's) date coded 03/05.... They were wearing fast and sucked in the rain. My friend managed to score a set of four, 15" stock Holies from a Mini with 205/50 DZ101's in the front and 205/60 Dunlop somethings in the back, date coded from 07 and 08! For $120, no a deal he could pass up, other than a bit of plastydip overspray (will be dealt with) they are in nice shape and only weigh 12lbs. So, with 94+ shocks in the rear and 93's in the front, and 60 profile tires... https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450317822 And that is how the car sits today, we will hopefully be doing an alignment this weekend so it stops causing so much toe wear. |
Man, now I feel like an idiot for changing my timing belt 50k early! :vash:
Looking forward to seeing what you guys do with an almost basket case car! |
My god that is a spectacular amount of oil leakage.
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My first miata had like 238,000 on it or close before it blew the timing belt. My current miata has 164,000 on it, I owned it since 103,000, and never changed the belt. Doubt the previous owner did either, cause I have all the records. No interference, no care.
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Originally Posted by matthewdesigns
(Post 1292761)
My god that is a spectacular amount of oil leakage.
The guy selling it to us said it "has a small leak from the turbo drain, just needs the hose clamp tightened". Riiiiight....
Originally Posted by thirdgen
(Post 1292777)
My first miata had like 238,000 on it or close before it blew the timing belt. My current miata has 164,000 on it, I owned it since 103,000, and never changed the belt. Doubt the previous owner did either, cause I have all the records. No interference, no care.
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That turnbuckle is the most confusing thing I've ever seen. It's so janky I love it. Looks like you got a bit of time to invest in it, but it looks like it could be fun if you have friends and your pops shop tools to use.
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Originally Posted by psyber_0ptix
(Post 1292804)
That turnbuckle is the most confusing thing I've ever seen. It's so janky I love it. Looks like you got a bit of time to invest in it, but it looks like it could be fun if you have friends and your pops shop tools to use.
The shop tools are wonderful, I have everything I could need on hand for 98% of working on a car. Just need to finish learning to use it all (need to learn welding, my own car has some rust holes starting to show up...) The turn buckle is held by a valve cover bolt and one of the downpipe bolts. It did not last long at all, props (cats now I suppose?) to the previous owner for trying at least. I am still amazed we have had to do almost nothing for 4k miles now, as far as the turbo stuff is concerned. I was serjously expecting something to have gone wrong by now. Thsi car is just the perfect amount of jank, everyone loves it. Eventual plan is to try to keep the character of it, but get it in tip top shape mechanically. |
I'm sure a simple heim joint and threaded rod (think ultra long endlink) would be great for that application since it allows enough articulation to not bind but still hold tension.
Can I drive up to use the tools? There are so many mounts and brackets I want to make and using tax dollars for personal projects in the machine shop is generally frowned upon at my work. Also poscat for helping a buddy learn to wrench. That's awesome. World needs more people like you. |
Originally Posted by psyber_0ptix
(Post 1292814)
I'm sure a simple heim joint and threaded rod (think ultra long endlink) would be great for that application since it allows enough articulation to not bind but still hold tension.
Can I drive up to use the tools? There are so many mounts and brackets I want to make and using tax dollars for personal projects in the machine shop is generally frowned upon at my work. I would invite you up if it were my house and my tools. I still have a lot to learn about operating them. They are just small chinese ones though, google mini lathe and mini mill. Various places they can be had for $300-400, and with a bit of clean up, they are decently useable machine tools, just don't plan on making anything too big. Yeah, my friend is picking it up quick though, not many people just get how to use tools like he does. |
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So finally got ratchet to my garage for an alignment. Used the string method, we ended up doing 1.25* front camber, max caster (still not sure how to measure exactly, I just made sure the wheels had the same camber gain), 1-7/8* rear camber and zero toe all around. It drives much, much better than it did before.
My little alignment jig setup. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450593561 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450593561 And did someone say oil leak? My friend has gotten a new job, so hopefully, in a couple week, he will have the money to start fixing all these leaks and the cooling system. Also, there is a nut welded to the exhaust? No idea why. And note the fun lack of a flex pipe anywhere. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1450593561 SO I finally got to drive the car with the waste gate closed. What my friend thought might be clutch slip (a studdering/slipping with the tach moving different than the spedo) is, as far as I can tell, spark "blow out". Popping, decrease in power, AFR going richer, any time north of 4-5 PSI (it is building up to 7ish) with heavy throttle. Sound like spark blow out? We gaped three of the plugs down to 0.030" and that seems to have helped some. Plug #4 just refuses to come out though, engine cold, engine hot, doesn't matter, we cannot get it to break free. Any suggestions on that? I will tell my friend to start trying some p-blaster on it since that worked for mine. Anyway, I haven't done much reading on blow out since I wasn't expecting it to be an issue until well north of 10psi. Apparently the coils on the 1.6 are weaker than I thought. What can we do, besides gapping the plugs way down, to help? New plugs are on the list, gap them to 0.025 maybe? Going to go with NGK BKR7E-11 for now. |
My friend got some money from tips and finally got to do new plugs and an oil change.
New plugs gaped to 0.030" solved the misfires. Oil had sparkles in it. I am hoping they are from when the previous owner drilled the oil drain return. I told my friend to pull a sample and send it to blackstone after 1k miles or so. We will see what comes of it. Worst case, 1.6's are cheap. |
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Quick update. My friend finally got the parts and money to do the full timing belt change (seals, gaskets, water pump, idlers and other things up there) so he started on that today. Asked for a picture of the crank nose and key...
:ohnoes: https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453953784 :mad: https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453953784 Whelp, new key, crank-bolt, some 660 and some 243 it is then! And then run it till it pops. :hatecat: Anyway, while my friend had no money, he found some fabric he had laying around and decided he needed new door cards... :greddy: https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453953784 And a used ebay aluminum radiator. Though, and I take full responsibility for this, it is for an NB. Woops. We needed to come up with a new mounting solution for the intercooler anyway, will just make a combined mount. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1453953784 |
I trade you a used Ebay aluminum NA radiator for your NB radiator!
(Located in general Princeton area) |
Originally Posted by stefanst
(Post 1303314)
I trade you a used Ebay aluminum NA radiator for your NB radiator!
(Located in general Princeton area) |
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My friend has spent the last week tearing everything down and cleaning. I dropped by to help him remove some stubborn cam seals, explain the coolant rerout we planed out, and then help with the short nose crank fix.
I threw together a quick cam seal install tool out of some 1.5" PVC pipe and a coupler. Just banged the pipe in, cut it off and then faced it on the lathe. Turning is so much fun. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 Current state of the engine bay. And yes, this is cleaner, you should have seen it before. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 Contrary to popular belief, climbing into the engine bay is actually an option on a Miata. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 The cam seal after 3 days of my friend trying every tool he has to try to get it out. This thing was in there very, very well. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 Five minutes later with my new tool. It's a Lisle 58430 and costs $16. I highly recommend it, it works exactly as advertised. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1454651431 We then put the new crank nose parts back on. A bit of filing to remove burs and the new key, bolt, and sprocket went on with loctite 660 and loctite 243 in all the right places. Hopefully it will hold. My friend is now halfway through the 1.6 spacer-less rerout. We are moving the temp sensor to the front in the block off plate, removing the waterneck and leaving the fan thermoswitch in the back. There will be a total of 5 hoses in the system. Two for the lower radiator, one upper radiator hose, a turbo feed line, and a turbo drain line. The simpler, the better. |
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Quickish update.
My friend is currently most of the way done with a spacerless coolant rerout. There will be a total of 5 coolant hoses in the car after words. Two for the lower rad, one upper rad hose that goes to the back of the head, and then the cursed water plug port will be feeding the turbo which then runs to the mixing manifold. He found a neat place to run the turbo coolant line across the front of the engine. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455057840 He has fabbed his first piece, and I couldn't be an prouder. He made (with direction) a block off plate for the front water neck and to hold the coolant temp sensor. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455057840 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455057840 Finished and installed. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455057840 Timing belt on and wires extended for the thermo sensor. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455057840 |
Very Very good build thread
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After cleaning up all the slop and lubing the hell out of everything, it was surprisingly capable for the price. Used to to make spring-perch spacers for my Bilsteins, a hub to mount a 36-1 crankwheel on top of the stock pulley, to flatten the (originally triangular) teeth on said wheel, a bunch of random little spacers and threaded adapters for custom projects at work, and so on. Not much swing, but a great little tool for working on little parts. |
Originally Posted by Joe Perez
(Post 1306323)
I used to have that exact same lathe. Homier Tools, right?
After cleaning up all the slop and lubing the hell out of everything, it was surprisingly capable for the price. Used to to make spring-perch spacers for my Bilsteins, a hub to mount a 36-1 crankwheel on top of the stock pulley, to flatten the (originally triangular) teeth on said wheel, a bunch of random little spacers and threaded adapters for custom projects at work, and so on. Not much swing, but a great little tool for working on little parts. It is my father's, but I use it more than he does for various little projects here and there. I actually had designed and bought the materials for spring perch spacers for my Koni's on my car, but ended up just getting some ebay sleeves and non sagged springs (better all around). |
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Quick update.
My friend found some NB lower radiator mounts for $25 and picked them up. They bolt into place, still need to check the radiator fit and then upper mounts will need to be made (easy). The under hood theme of this car is going to be white, black and a splash of red, so my friend painted the valve cover. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455214162 He also fabbrd his first piece all on his own. A block of plate for that warm up idle thing (since we are ditching all those coolant hoses). https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455214162 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455214162 Also, what the heck is that thing called? We have been calling it the warmup thingie. I know what it does at least... |
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Turns out NB lower radiator mounts and NB radiators will drop right into an NA. Just going to have to make some top mounts (easy). I couldn't find anything verifying they fit by searching, so cool to see they do!
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455232768 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455232768 |
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Quick update.
Warm up thingy block off plate done. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455646357 Timing belt, coolant temp sensor, and block off plate done. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455646357 Rerout done, valve cover reinstalled. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455646357 Everything but the fans and intercooler reinstalled. Getting close to done. My friend will be working on the intercooler and piping for that today. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455646357 |
Mmmm, I love to see cars resurrected. Keep it up!
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Warm up thingy = Air valve
Its a thermostatically(wax pellet I believe) controlled idle valve. |
Originally Posted by hi_im_sean
(Post 1308251)
Warm up thingy = Air valve
Its a thermostatically(wax pellet I believe) controlled idle valve. |
It lives! A bit tappy, but we are just going to assume that is the HLAs since it hasn't been run in a while.
Still some things to do, the top of the rad is held by zip ties, as is the intercooler since my friend had to move it a bit to clear the new rad. Big news is that it will be getting a new ECU come spring. You guys may boo, but my friend got a good deal on a compleet Link setup. Not the best, but I have ridden and seen plenty of cars running well on them, so I know they work fine. He should be able to sell the Doodoo box and MSD for around double what the link cost. It will be nice to get rid of the AFM. That said, since we changed so much around, we are going to run it on the voodoo for a bit to make sure everything is working well mechanically before diving into electricals. |
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Sent the link out today and he should get it on Wednessday. i look foreward to seeing this car running on it. Should be a good improvement over what he has now even with it being old. It ran fine in the car it came out of but we changed it over to a MSPNP. Seems to be one of the most complete links i have found around although it does need a new ribbon cable. It even comes with the USB link box.
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Originally Posted by mmmjesse
(Post 1310000)
Sent the link out today and he should get it on Wednessday. i look foreward to seeing this car running on it. Should be a good improvement over what he has now even with it being old. It ran fine in the car it came out of but we changed it over to a MSPNP. Seems to be one of the most complete links i have found around although it does need a new ribbon cable. It even comes with the USB link box.
Ribbon cables are easy. Worst case, I found a display and cable in minty shape we can snag for cheap. I will be jellous that it can be tuned without a laptop. I will have to see about MSDroid for my car. |
hell, i would get that other controller and cable if it is cheap. always good to have spares of something that is no longer made. The disc for the tuning software is coming with it also so he can use the usb link to tune with the laptop.
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Originally Posted by mmmjesse
(Post 1310018)
hell, i would get that other controller and cable if it is cheap. always good to have spares of something that is no longer made. The disc for the tuning software is coming with it also so he can use the usb link to tune with the laptop.
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So, a Greddy kit popped up local. Blurry/darkish phone pictures for the add and all that. Manifold, TD04-15G, downpipe, intake, heat shield, and oil lines. Guy wanted $300. Didn't look that rusty from what I could see in the pictures. I told my friend to go take a look, since it would at least be better than the Chinese stainless steel tube manifold on there now. Figured some relief cuts and it would last decently.
He went to go pick it up today, said it looked to be in very good shape, so I asked for some pictures. Hang on, that's not a cast manifold... What? https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457043923 So I did some research. Turns out it is an ARTech greddy replacement manifold. 0.145" tubing, full welds, laser cut flanges. The works. Nice! Doesn't even look like it has ever been bolted up to an engine. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457043923 So, looking at the rest of the kit. Hang on, that doesn't look like a Greddy downpipe either. Turns out it is a Turbo Tony downpipe (that took a bit of searching to find). Score! https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457043923 So really, it is a "formerly" Greddy kit. Only part left seems to be the TD04-15G. Is the actuator supposed to be mounted with only one bolt for this kit? https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457043923 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457043923 Also, rebuild the turbo just because? Or should I check it out and see how much shaft play it has first? |
Ok, looking around, I am not 100% sure this is an ARTech manifold. I do think I found this exact one on another forum though. Looks like it is ceramic coated?
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/fo...d/70564/page1/ |
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So, updates. I have confirmed that that link above is the kit/manifold that my friend got. We found the guy who bought it from the person in that thread, turns out it has changed hands 5 times since coming off that car! Price dropped each time it changed hands until my friend got it for a steal!
Anyway, we found a great deal on some two season old NA HDs off a spec Miata. Super cheap shipped, less than the cost of a single Koni yellow new. Got some coil over sleeves off amazon, they came with ~~350lb/in springs and I should be picking up the springs from a set of blown Raceland Ultimo this wednesday. That will give us helper springs and 485/350 spring rates to throw on the billies. Decided to machine the sleeves so they sit over the clips, don't want them to pop out. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461715033 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461715033 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461715033 Also discovered the voodoo box was flaking out. Turned out to be a bad connection by the ECU. Apparently, the previous owner thought that it would be just fine to twist and electrical tape critical wiring.... As soon as my friend's daily gets a new wheel bearing, he will begin fixing the wiring and getting the Link in. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1461715033 |
That lathe is fuking cute!
Also, great idea. Although i dont think you needed to go so deep. :giggle: |
Originally Posted by hi_im_sean
(Post 1326939)
That lathe is fuking cute!
I am planning on doing the acetel bushings on it in the future. Also, great idea. Although i dont think you needed to go so deep. :giggle: Actually, I just wanted it deep enough the top of the sleeve didn't stick up past the top of the shock. It's 12mm on the front ones and 10mm on the back. |
The turbo mani is a work of art.
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So after having the power to the wideband and auxiliary gauges go dead the other week, my friend has decided it is time to start dealing with the wiring in this car... I believe this sums it up nicely. :giggle:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462379978 Attachment 232423 They cut the stock radio harness off and just twisted and electrical taped a new one on. :eggplant: :facepalm: :vash: https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462379978 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462379978 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462379978 |
Looks like a fine red-tail feather you got there. Hawk's nest come free with the car?
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Lots of things came free with the car, the feather is my friend's though, it did not. He put it in there for luck. Seems to be working since the car generally runs well (except when it doesn't.)
So the Link has been mostly installed, few things left for my friend to do and it should be drivable again. He also had to get a new rear caliper and put that in. Fun fact, you can idle a 91 with 1.8 injectors on the 440cc turbo base map, without an O2 sensor or IAT sensor. This is done by switching it to sequential injection mode. Don't ask why my friend tried it this way, but he did. I am baffled as to why it worked. For those keeping track, even with the new tires that were just bought, and all the things bought but not installed yet, he is still only at about $3k into this car total, and he will have the VooDoo, MSD and Ebay manifold/churbo/downpipe to sell when he gets the new stuff in. Not bad! |
Link ecu is in and the car will start but not stay running. I am 98% sure the fuel pump is not staying on and also 98% sure I know why, after lookjng over the wiring diagrams.
The trace that connects 2P and 2R in the Link is cut. This is the mod needed for using a wideband (which gets sent to 2R). The wire in 2R gets moved to 2P and a new wire added. This wire has not been moved, and it runs to the A connected. I am betting that 2P (and unmodified 2R) run the fuel pump. Fingers crossed that is all it is. I will know tonight when I can get over to my friend's for some hands on with the car. |
Let me look at my notes from the car the link came out of to see if i noticed anything in regards to that. It must have had something different as it ran fine before i swapped it to an MSPNP2.
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looking at the schematic, 2r is not used from the factory and 2p is for the mass flow signal.
LT green is the fuel pump switch wire that goes to the MAF but it goes to your circuit opening relay(under dash at steering column) and the diagnostic port. Make sure it is seeing a ground signal when starting or just ground it and see if the pump runs.Grounding the LT Green wire in the diag port(while key is on) SHOULD cause the relay to kick on for the pump. There is nothing in the Link documents that say that other wiring has to be changed when adding the wideband. Just have to swap a wire. I will try to give you any support you need to get this going! |
Fuel pump problem ended up just being a wire in the wrong place (which has come loose again, will fix it later, just jumping it in the diag box). O2 is hooked up and reading nicely in the Link. All the sensors are reading well and all that jazz.
The problem, that I am utterly baffled by, is that the car starts and runs wonderfully with the NA OEMinj base map loaded. We can adjust master fuel from 140 to 124 (difference between 1.6 and 1.8 injectors) and the car idles right at 14.7 with no tuning and everything is fine. The moment we switch it to any of the other base maps that expect bigger injectors, no amount of changeing the master fuel setting can get it to idle below 18ish AFR. It runs super lean no matter what. Even with MF cranked up to 140 (max). We can lean it out even more by turning master fuel down more. Is there a setting somewhere we are missing? fuel injectors idle at 4.3% duty cycle on the OEMinj setting, but idle is at 2.7% duty cycle in any of the other base maps. Even the NA440inj one. Anyone seen anything like this before? |
What injectors are you running? I seem to remember there are certain limitations to the changes you can make to each basemap.
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Tan tops from a 95 1.8. 265cc.
Calculated master fule is 123-125, when set to the OEMinj base map, 124 nails us right at 14.7 in cells that should be. We need to look at injector offset and injector offset slope as well as a few other things, didn't get time lasy night, but I don't think they would make a huge difference? |
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So my friend couldn't get the USB link working (probably something to do with windows 7? will need to look into it) and dumped all four base maps into excel by hand. When he is motivated he can get anything done. Rather impressive, I would not have had the gumption to do that.
Anyway, I compared them all for differences trying to figure this out and really can't find too much. Couple things dealing with start up, the throttle position sensor zones are way different between the OEMinj map and all the others. TPS low and TPS High are 225 and 71 in the OEMinj map and 22 and 34 in all the others. Changing all those settings over from the OEMinj to the NA 440inj map made it idle closer to where we want, but doing the same with the Turbo 1 map did nothing. Odd. All that said, my friend found out that while you can't raise the master fuel setting above 140 in the main menu, if you raise it in the zone edit menu you can go to the full 8 bit value. So a bit of math based on % difference between the AFR we had and what we wanted and he punched in 173 for master fuel. Seems to be working and tuning ok. Only issue is, while it will run with that value while it is on, it resets back to 140 when you cycle the ecu. I think we will just try scaling all the fuel zones by 140%. But that can wait until we get DLL working since the intercooler and IAT sensor are currently not fully installed. Speaking of those, I made a modification to the IAT so we can install it easier. a 1/2" NTP Male to Male pipe fitting and pipe cap, some big heat shrink, a bit of the old valve cover and bam, protected IAT sensor that we can screw into wherever we want. Probably the end tank of the intercooler, there is no other metal I feel reasonable threading between that and the throttle body. Also, the sensor would just have to be tugged lightly and then have the heat shrink cut off and it would be 100% back to normal, no permanent mods and it is suspended all with flexible material to not have to worry about heat stresses. I wish I had remeberd to take a box of the wiring and bits my friend has taken out of the car. So much random stuff in there! Picture of the sensor sans pipe cap: https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463458422 Updated engine bay shot with the AFM delete and new "intake" from the greddy "kit". https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463458422 My friend working on repairing the stock harness... https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463458422 |
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My friend dropped by with Ratchet this evening. I am impressed how well the base map for the Link runs, certainly not perfect, but totally driveable. Anyway, goals for the day were to get the IAT in and the intercooler more solidly mounted. We also adjusted some of the intercooler to throttle body piping to get it tucked up under the car rather than being the lowest thing on it.
So first we drilled and tapped a large (1/2" NPT) hole. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463724034 and loctited the sensor in. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463724034 bent up some threaded rod https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463724034 And added some hardware and an intercooler. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463724034 It all fits nice. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463724034 https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463724034 I am curious as to why the bumper support and baby teeth spots are so rusty though, the rest of the car is not that rusty at all. So with all that done, the car is running and driving well and we are on to tuning! Also, the turbo now makes a slight fluttering noise when letting off the throttle? I mean, it sounds amazing, but it really shouldn't be doing that. Any ideas? We have the BOV as loose as it will go. |
You are making good vac between shifts and stuff? If your idle valve is causing things to stick at higher KPA the BOV will resist opening some.
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Originally Posted by deezums
(Post 1332990)
You are making good vac between shifts and stuff? If your idle valve is causing things to stick at higher KPA the BOV will resist opening some.
Boost gauge says -20inhg (we weren't on the MAP display for the link, I will have my friend look at that). I am fairly sure the gauge is not reading correctly though since it flips between -20 and -10 like the hose is pinched. That said, the BOV hisses even if you let off the throttle a little, so it is definitely making enough to actuate it. Not a huge concern since my friend has another turbo and manifold ready to go in soon and is making maaaaybe 6psi right now. (gauge says 10psi, but I don't believe it since the 1.8 injectors are flowing enough to hit 9.5afr at full boost on stock pressure). I am mostly curious about the surge starting after installing the new ECU. Maybe it is just that we can actually hear it now that the AFM is out? |
I see more than -20 when I let off throttle, but I idle around -20 on the gauge or ~28kpa in the logs. My valve is closed fast at that pressure, the only way it will open is with pressure in the intake. I can make my turbo flutter when I want like a true ricebro but it still works whenever I want it to, or when it really needs to. All I have to do is hold the throttle a bit.
Just an idea, if the tune isn't letting the car run down into vacuum right it will probably mess with the bov. |
My friend is seeing 13kpa on throttle lift, should be enough I would think? yes? No?
Also, it maxes out at 160kpa under heavy load up hill. So about 8.5psi. Not bad, more than I expected, and the gauge says 11psi for that, so it is off. |
Yeah, that should be enough. I never see much less than 18kpa.
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Well, odds are it is a cheap ebay HKS SSQ knock off so who knows if it works right to begin with. We will have to poke at things and get logging working.
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Still having the compressor surge. We are continuing to ignore it. The car is otherwise running well, though spool is getting later and it sounds like it has an exhaust leak. ~7k miles on the ebay header at 8psi or less. I bet it will be cracked when it is swapped out.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1465080738 |
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We have confirmed danger to manifold!
Was fairly sure I heard a leak on it and my friend has been noticing later and later spool. 7k miles and less than a year at 6-7psi. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1466089552 |
:dunno: Not surprised, it's thin junk.
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Originally Posted by Girz0r
(Post 1339119)
:dunno: Not surprised, it's thin junk.
My friend is already half way throigh removing it to put the artech/greddy and the td04 on. |
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