Dude, O2 clamp is for going into boost. if you get past 4000 rpms you don't need it.

Basically you are probably running lean, NEED 93 OCTANE! Make sure your lines are on correctly. If they are backwards it will act like this.
I would first guess too lean for your boost.

Swap your fpr with a buddys that works right. It sounds like your fuel pressure may not be rising, or your boost is to high for the injectors and pressure you are running.
For 5psi do not do 6*

But you need at least a boost gauge to see what boost you are hitting..........

And afr would be great too... once you can aford it.

AND GAP your plugs .28.

It really sounds like you are running lean. Boost is probably too high.

Once you figure out how much boost you have. We will then talk about timming. Timming could be doing it as well. BUT PROBABLY THE LEAN FUEL AND 87 OCTANE.

 

I still can't get over the fact he's got no gauges and trying to boost on 87 octane and wonders why his car is messed up. Good luck though.

 

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Detonation.
Detonation who?
*bang-clunk-paw*
****


OP needs to listen and take advice. Just because it's ran 40 miles like that doesn't mean it's ok, nor does it mean it's safe to continue. Detonation will break your **** and you'll never know it happened till it's too late.

 

In retrospect, I've surprised myself that I even spent the time to write a detailed response to such an absurd thread.

 

NO ****?

Of course you don't have enough fuel... that's why it feels like you're hitting a wall around 4k rpm. Your T3 comes up on boost and immediately runs out of fuel. Which kills your power, skyrockets your EGT's, and starts melting your pistons... I guarantee this is happening. With the stock fuel pump blue-tops, even with a 12:1 disc, I bet you're out of fuel before 5psi, especially considering this next paragraph...

The stock fuel pump on it's best day ever gives 80psi... but yours is 19yrs old... guess how much it probably gives. I'd say you'd be lucky to see 60psi... but you need a fuel pressure gauge to see that. What it means is that you're OUT OF ******* FUEL!

The turbo you have is probably a TBO363, the standard turbo Volvo has used in just about every car in the 80's and 90's... but I don't think Volvo was turbo'ing in the 70's. In any case, it's a good bet the thing is over 20yrs old. If so, the wastegate is probably shot. If it came from the factory with a 7psi spring (as it probably did), then age and several thousand heat cycles means there's not telling what it's going to give you. As wastegates get older, I've seen them get both weaker and stiffer. You might be getting 10psi+ from that thing.

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about this except get another wastegate. If anything, I'd remove whatever piece of **** manual boost controller you've got installed (no matter how "low" you've set it) so you know for sure exactly what the wastegate actuator is doing.

Another hint. The fact that you've repeated several times, and seem to be lending some heavy weight to your plug-wires and iridiums, means you've bought into some hype about how significant they are. NGK BKR7E or Autolite 3922 and Magnecore wires (NGK wires are fine, but they don't necessarily do anything). The plugs are like $2 each and the wires can be had at any of the standard autoparts stores. DON'T CHANGE THE GAP, USE THEM EXACTLY AS THEY COME OUT OF THE BOX. You're not running near enough boost to have spark blowout, you're just not running enough fuel.

Here's what you need to do... in this order.

#1: Pull the wastegate actuator arm off the wastegate.
#2: Drive to Autozone gently and buy a couple small bottles of OCTANE BOOSTER (enough small bottles to make a gallon).
#3: Drive to gas station, pour in bottles, fill up with 91.
#4: Drive home, park car.

#5: When boost gauge arrives, install and go for a drive (WITH WASTEGATE ARM STILL DISCONNECTED). See how much boost you get doing 4th gear pulls... should still make 1-2psi. See how car feels. If OK, connect arm... make some very gentle pulls in 2nd/3rd. If you go over about 6psi, LIFT THROTTLE. Don't boost over 5-6psi, you certainly don't have the fuel for it... probably not even for that.
#6: Come back here and report your findings... until then, there is no more help to be given.

PS: Unless you have a fuel pressure gauge or wideband, even if we manage to get you a wastegate actuator that will only make 5psi at WOT in 4th, you're still gonna want a reliable source of used motors.

 

update:
Got the boost and A/F gauges installed. It seems as if I had forgotten to turn the MBC all the way down and was boosting ~8 psi. I was experiencing fuel cutout via maxed out fuel pump. I turned the MBC back down to stock wastegate which was ~5psi. The fuel system did much better handling this, but barely to 5 psi. I may be seeing a 190 HP Walbro pump in the near future. Another thing that worried me was that when I pulled out the plugs, and they were black with a white tip. I did expect rich conditions due to the Vortech ,but did mot expect that the indiums may be running too hot. I have changed the plugs back to plain ones and we will see how that works out.

 

 

You were in no way running rich, you were in fact running extremely lean. Reading the plugs is useless unless you shut the engine off during a 2nd-4th gear pull above 5k (where your problem is.) DO NOT run above 4.5-5psi with your stock injectors and fuel pump. Make sure your AFR are no where near stoich, and borrow/buy a fuel pressure gauge to verify your pump is working correctly.

And why the **** do you care so god damn much about these shitty iridiums?

 

**** iridiums

I had one experience with them in the Miata. I always ran NGKs, and car ran great. Some guy at ORrly recommended them to me, and said I'd love them.

Me and the car both hated them. Folks underestimate just how great regular, cheap, easy to read NGKs are.

Better to put in new $2 plugs every six months than $8 plugs once every two years IMO.

 

Have you thought about larger injectors?

 

typically, which maxes out first, original fuel pump or stock injectors? I will most likely do both at the same time, but just out of curiosity.

 

Injectors.

Your still pushing the same pressure through them. One set of injectors let more gas through.

Like my car with MS, I have a stock fuel pump. But I am running RC440cc injectors. And I can get too much gas at 13psi.

 

I am just beginning to max my stock fuel pump at 16psi with 460cc injectors.

 

With proper engine management I am doing 7 psi with stock 1.6 injectors and stock fuel pump alongside the greddy's vortech fpr. Aside from the fuel map looking goofy (numbers get smaller the more boost pressure is seen rather than larger), it is running like a champ at 12.2:1.. nevermind the 105% theoretical duty cycle In fact I could do richer if I wanted.

+1 on going with NGK's. But NOT THE STOCK ONES. With a turbo you MUST get the NGK-BKR7E plugs (stock is BKR6E).
-Ryan

 

Great, I was trying to not give him any ideas that its possible, way to go

 

The ring lands.

 

lean is mean.

 

I'm not sure how old this kid is but I just wanted to state (in defense of my age, 17), we're not all this dumb. Been on the forum for about a month with a low number of posts due to my eagerness to learn. Not due to an eagerness to be a pain in the *** or to blow up my engine.

 

LOL, good job newb, I know you're trying to say you're not dumb, but go and look at the date of the post above yours.

 

lol, dumbass.



I'm not sure how old this post is, even though there is a date on it, haha!

Perhaps a teeny bit more reading and a teeny bit less posting would keep you from coming across so... seven-teeny.