Dyno results

[kjewer1]

Went to the dyno today. Not too dissapointed, but not too happy either. I accidentally filled the tank yesterday at the pump. So I was pretty much stuck with pump unless I drained it into the other car or something. I said the hell with it and just ran pump. A decision I think I regret now.

I made some pulls and the car was too rich. I have no idea why, but my settings were about 4% richer than where I usually am. Must have left in some settings I was experimenting with while I played with boost. And the weak results showed it. I leaned out and the power went up. I added two degrees timing and power went up again. Small increments though. The 4th run ended with 430 whp. I then tried going back down to 20 psi (from 22-23) and lost power, so the extra boost was in fact making more power. Good test just to make sure you arent getting too greedy.

So 430 to the ground isnt bad for some run of the mill Shell 93... But I want a higher number. Which it seems is going to require race gas. Though while doing some highway tuning at 2am, I noticed that above 23 psi, I dont gain anymore airflow, and I start to see small amounts of knock. Another reason I decided to get lazy with the race gas. The turbo seems to be at its limit. I dont know if there is any power to be gained from going up in boost, but I wish I had brought the race gas to try anyway. A leaner mixture could get me some more power, but I dont think it will get me to 500.

The issue I see is not in the low (relatively speaking) power numbers, but in the discrepancy between the power numbers and the much higher airflow numbers. From what I see in the datalogs I dont have any intake leaks. It would have to be a leak that was only an issue under boost, and not vacuum. Entirely possible, so its time for a serious effort with the boost leak tester. If I was moving 50 pounds per minute and making these numbers I would be happy. But at 60 lbs/min, something is amiss. When other poeple max out a turbo of this size, the power numbers are much larger as well. So the fact that its maxed out in flow and not maxed out in power is another way to look at it and see that there is a problem.

If I find something this week that reveals where the issue lies, and i can fix it, I may go back as soon as next week. The good thing is that its now clear that there is a problem, and I know about how big this problem should be. I'm still happy with a 30 hp gain, and with less boost too. As power goes up it gets harder and harder to find 30 hp gains, so I'll take it

[JoeWagon]

Sweet, are you waiting to max out that turbo on race gas before you plan on another? It's going to be interesting to see your 1/4 mile times drop so much in the off-season.

[kjewer1]

I wanted to max that turbo out to generate some nice numbers, just to make it easier to sell. We all know its a badass turbo, but poeple like to see numbers. 430 on pump is still very promising though, of course.

Looking into the situation today, I found the problem in the first 30 seconds. The turbo is crankwalked. Thrust bearing failure This happens every single time I put a new motor in the car. I thought this one would be clean enough, so I didnt invest in a seperate filter for it. Wish I had. Everyone learn from my mistake. Breaking in a new motor will kill the turbo. Takes 500-1500 miels in every case for me so far.

Turbo, manifold, external wastegate, dump tube, and O2 housing are all for sale. The turbo will be fresh from a rebuild, zero miles. So this could be a good thing for the buyer in that sense. It will no longer be a "used" turbo. I'd still like 1200 for the whole setup, I'll eat the cost on the rebuild. (man that hurts...)

New turbo will get ordered this week. Going to keep the specs under wraps for now, but we all know its going to be a substantial size...

[JoeWagon]

You aren't going to be one of those 'T4 Secret' guys are you? I hate that Do you have a video camera? I want to see the next setup if it's possible. I'd buy that package if I had close to that much lying around Good luck selling it.

EDIT>> What are the details on what happened to the turbo? Did metal hit the turbines and wear the bearings?

[kjewer1]

It wont be a secret for long, its still a t3/t4. Though it does resemble more of a t4 than 3. I'll put up some pics of both setups on the site when I do the swap.

Everytime I break in a motor I lose the turbo. Motor break in is a mchining process in itself. And there is always some debris left in the motor after its assembled. The turbo is the first thing to eat shit when all this metal starts to circulate. It either wears the bearings itself, or clogs the tiny inlet hole in the center section and the bearing fails from starvation, not contamination. Thats my latest theory since the last turbo supposedly didnt die from contamination, but starvation. I changed the oil and filter at 100 miles, 500 miles, and 1000 miles, and it still didnt last. There will be a seperate filter on the turbo oil feed line from now on.

[JoeWagon]

Do you suspect this could happen to my rebuilt 7 bolt and t25? I am at 6000 miles now, with no problems that I know of.

[kjewer1]

If the turbo is fine now, you are probably ok. It has never taken that long for me.

[kjewer1]

I'm not sure what to hope for for pump. All I Can do is look at what others have accomplished and say that at least that much is poosible. I know Dre is at 503 on mobil 93. So I would like ot match that. Supras put down huge HP numbers on pump gas so the gas itself isnt necessarily the limitation. ITs hte seutp, displacement, etc. A lot of which I have taken care of. A few supra guys run the turbo I'm buying, and do 600+ to the wheels. So I know whats possible, its just a matter of how much of that power can I reproduce in my car... Time will tell. New turbo should be in by the end of the month.

[95_GSX]

cant wait to see what the new turbo will bring to the table, are you going to dyno with pump or race first???

[kjewer1]

I'm just hoping it was the banjaxed turbo that was the problem. If its something else entirely, I wont make any more power on the new turbo than the old. I'll run pump first. If it does well right away and i still have some time left, I will probably switch over to race gas and do that as well. It'll be a month or so now of waiting though...