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What did I mess up during drivetrain re-install?

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Old Mar 27, 2026 | 03:44 PM
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Default What did I mess up during drivetrain re-install?

Soooo? what did I mess up

Long story short, I just reassembled the whole car. I had the motor, trans, clutch & flywheel taken out to do a wire tuck and fix some seals. After reassembly, the car makes some god awful noises and does not want to accelerate. For example I used to be doing 70-80mph at the end of 2 gear. I?m now only able to get it to 45-50mph. It did none of this before disassembling, so I know I messed something up. Just can?t quite pinpoint what. The car does drive, however has horrible acceleration

I attached a data log to show that the clutch isn?t slipping, I think. Don?t mind how bad the AFRs are currently, I have it on low boost until I get this sorted. I?ve also attached videos of it currently and the sounds it?s making. I do not have a video of it doing a pull, but my data log shows the pull I did. I?ve also attached a video of it doing a pull, before disassembly, on the street from about 3 weeks ago

What do yall think of it?
Datalog from 1-2 pull
Datalog from 1-2 pull
Attached Files
File Type: mov
IMG_0883.mov (17.16 MB, 3 views)
File Type: mov
IMG_0884.mov (17.61 MB, 3 views)
Old Mar 27, 2026 | 04:03 PM
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Don’t attach a screen shot, attach the actual log and tune. The noise and acceleration are most likely two different problems. Hard to tell from video, but maybe brake backing plate or something rubbing on the driveshaft. As for the power, was a timing belt removed and reinstalled? They’re commonly installed incorrectly, which would have a huge affect on power.
Old Mar 27, 2026 | 04:12 PM
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Originally Posted by curly
Don’t attach a screen shot, attach the actual log and tune. The noise and acceleration are most likely two different problems. Hard to tell from video, but maybe brake backing plate or something rubbing on the driveshaft. As for the power, was a timing belt removed and reinstalled? They’re commonly installed incorrectly, which would have a huge affect on power.
I didnt remove the timing belt or CAS.
here’s what I had removed & reinstalled/replaced

Engine & trans from car
Clutch & Flywheel (for rear main seal)
Crank Pulley (replaced with a newer one)
AC Motor
Powersteering pump
Coilovers
Dashboard
Heater Core
Thermostat Gaskets for reroute
Bumper & Fenders
Replaced hood latches
Replaced Diff axle seals
oil pan gasket
Installed COP plugs

I got under the car while it was in gear and did not see anything rubbing on the driveshaft. However I’ve re-aligned my PPF about 3 times, which has helped with the vibrations, but the acceleration is still bad. It almost feels like it’s missing teeth on the gears. But it revs and spins the wheels just fine when I have up in the air on the lift.

I’ll also update the post with the datalog here shortly


Old Mar 27, 2026 | 04:39 PM
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heres the data log and tune I'm currently using. Im on a speedyefi ECU
Attached Files
File Type: mlg
2026-03-27_13.01.53.mlg (1.25 MB, 3 views)
File Type: msq
2026-03-27_15.27.53.msq (91.8 KB, 3 views)
Old Mar 27, 2026 | 05:22 PM
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You're running E85 or race gas I presume?

What's going on at the end of that log? The RPM is jumping all over the place and it's reading ~100 MAP like the car is shut off.

Battery voltage also pegs to 0 V and sends some of your compensation's (dwell and duty cycle) through the roof.

Maybe there was a ground that wasn't reinstalled properly or maybe it's just a glitch in the log?
Old Mar 28, 2026 | 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by SimBa
You're running E85 or race gas I presume?

What's going on at the end of that log? The RPM is jumping all over the place and it's reading ~100 MAP like the car is shut off.

Battery voltage also pegs to 0 V and sends some of your compensation's (dwell and duty cycle) through the roof.

Maybe there was a ground that wasn't reinstalled properly or maybe it's just a glitch in the log?

i turned the car off at the end of the log
Old Mar 30, 2026 | 02:42 PM
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Gotcha, I forgot that the Speeduino could take power from the laptop with the car off. Still, I wouldn't expect to be seeing an RPM signal with the car off, but maybe that's a Speeduino oddity that I've forgotten about (I haven't ran Speedy in a couple years).

Otherwise, I know you mentioned not worrying about the AFRs, but you're dipping into the 8's and 9's on some of those pulls. I wouldn't expect the car to be very happy accelerating being that rich. Did the car run fine on this tune before you pulled it apart?
Old Mar 30, 2026 | 07:58 PM
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Originally Posted by SimBa
Gotcha, I forgot that the Speeduino could take power from the laptop with the car off. Still, I wouldn't expect to be seeing an RPM signal with the car off, but maybe that's a Speeduino oddity that I've forgotten about (I haven't ran Speedy in a couple years).

Otherwise, I know you mentioned not worrying about the AFRs, but you're dipping into the 8's and 9's on some of those pulls. I wouldn't expect the car to be very happy accelerating being that rich. Did the car run fine on this tune before you pulled it apart?
so I have since found the issue. It was a trifecta. 1st, yes the car wasn’t happy accelerating at such low AFR (which is understandable)
2nd, somehow my motor & trans were sitting 1/2 inch forward (most likely worn out motor mounts.
3rd somehow I installed my custom exhaust & downpipe rotated to the right 1/8th inch too far. So the main issue was the PPF not being able to be aligned properly & the car running damn 8.7 AFR when building boost.


i did expect the tune to cause it to slow down by a decent amount, however if you listened to the videos, that clunking sound concerned me quite a bit. The clunk was caused by my downpipe smacking the frame & my trans & diff not being properly aligned. The trans & diff issues were more than likely caused by worn out motor mounts.

I knew the issue was definitely something I caused, and yea 2/3 of the issues were by me. But I always post on here with any issue I have so that if someone needs it in the future, they will have my mistakes to refer upon lol.

Last edited by Robert.lawrence74; Mar 30, 2026 at 08:12 PM.
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