Elecronic Diesel Tuning Devices

[Shayne]

Sprung ball bearing? could that be similar to using a washer? , if you placed the right sized ball bearing into the end of the wastegate spring the ball would be pushed inside the spring under pressure but the spring would push it out again when the pressure was released . Sort of a mechanical fail safe . Just thinking out loud ?

 

[silvercruiser]

i think its a right ballache to get the waste gate off to play with it, with the bleed valve you only need to T into the 4mm hose that runs to the actuator. when i had my RS in my younger days i used to change the standard wastegate actuator to a -31 that was rock solid to move and i used to run that up to 30psi but i had also done a lot of work to the engine and replaced the turbo with a super silly one.

Also if you take off the wastegate actuator and put washers in, once its all back together you could drive down the road and its overboosting then you have to strip it all down again. With the bleed valve you just wind it out again and out it back to standard.

 

[silvercruiser]

http://images.matthewsvolvosite.com/wastegate-diagram.jpg

it works off a diaphragm so not as easy as putting a ball bearing in that.

 

[Shayne]

You posted the links while i was typing Joe and they pretty much answer every question i had and it can't be difficult to fit . I'd buy the one with a gauge attached , turn it up to 15psi and drive around for a month with my heart in my mouth until i forgot about it

 

[silvercruiser]

don't forget you need to up the fueling to match the boost though.

and if it goes bang don't blame me

 

[Shayne]

I will have detectives searching for your address so i can send a bill lol . I cant help thinking i've heard some good things about Charlie at Prospeed in Cardiff and boosting power is what they do . If i could go to him with a genuine understanding of what i want armed with that in-line manual pressure boost gauge , he might be encouraged to set the whole thing up for me . It would after all make the most of the new and expensive exhaust he had just sold me . It takes the satisfaction away from doing things yourself but when the ultimate result could be a happy achievement or an absolute disaster resulting in the need for very expensive repairs with not much between them perhaps it would be the wise thing to do

I think what bugged me most is i believe these electronic tuning devices are just a shortcut rather than anything else , what i mean is if the engine was set up properly in the first place they would not actually do anything and just sit dormant which is insane when you look at the prices .

 

[fridayman]

I've done most of this on mine. To up the boost I have used a Turbotech manual boost controller that uses the spring loaded ball - very simply it stops the boost from getting to the wastegate until the boost gets up to the level that you want it at. So it won't bring boost on any sooner, or create more boost at lower revs, it simply lets the boost pressure build higher before passing through to the wastegate actuator where it bleeds off. Mine is set at around 14psi.

Regarding turning the fuel up - on a diesel you can't just turn up the fuel and assume that the excess will return to the tank. What happens long before the excess is returned, is that the engine tries to burn the diesel, and if there isn't enough air (boost) it generates heat instead of power - this is bad for any diesel, but especially risky on a 1kz-te.

If you are going to play with fuel and/or boost, you really should fit both a boost gauge as well as an egt gauge (this will change how you drive!!). The egt gauge should go pre-turbo if you can, but post turbo will do (you just have to allow for a 100-150C temp drop) - mine is post turbo in the dump pipe which is much easier to do.

 

[Shayne]

Change how i drive in what way ?

Wouldn't blocking the EGR considerably lower exhaust temperature and allow fuel to burn better ?

 

[fridayman]

Change how i drive in what way ?

It shows you where you are generating too much heat (by too much right foot) which means you are wasting fuel. I thought that I was a reasonably good at conserving fuel, but I was still surprised to see how often I was just generating heat. I've learnt that low down acceleration (even moderately hard) doesn't waste nearly as much fuel as gently accelerating at 70mph up a big hill.

 

[Shayne]

I dont want one of them then , if my rev counter could speak i'd have been nagged to death already !

 

[fridayman]

I dont want one of them then , if my rev counter could speak i'd have been nagged to death already !

 

[Beau]

Doing the washer mod does work, however in the past people have placed too thick washers without using a boost guage and over boosted. Now, on these 90 series cruisers, due to having a ECU, the boost is measured and sent back to the ECU and if this goes out of it's perimeters which I believe is around 15psi it'll go into limp mode to save the engine/turbo which is a pretty good feature, meaning there is no way you can "blow" these turbos. Many people have done testing to ensure the maximum amount of washers you can place. I believe a 3mm washer on either side brings it up to 14psi. So 2mm on each side is good. This is of course subjective to the fact the spring compression and strength would vary across difference engines due to there life span and usage so appropriate testing is again best.

Yes, you can over fuel which will generate more heat which is especially bad for these hot motors, but a puff of black smoke every now and then is fine and wont do much harm. I've read many threads about these motors overheating any many people think it's due to high EGT rather than anything else. Off topic, but if you're going to up the fueling and boost it's a good idea to have a bigger exhaust to get rid of the heat quicker.

Yes, I know quite a bit about these engine, last week I did a engine swap and stuck a lower cleaner 1kzte back in very happy with it! I've got lots of spares, including a complete engine!

 

[Shayne]

OK Beau so
Block the EGR and fit a manual boost controller on the turbo . Would you say both are fairly easy jobs even for those with little experience ? and do you agree neither carry any real risk of causing problems because cleaner air never hurt anything and the turbo is protected by the ECU anyway ?

Increasing the fuel seems to me a very hit and miss process and so is best left to the pro's , I guess Prospeed have the means to test emissions given they manufacture exhausts and would it not be fair to assume that upping the fuel while testing the new exhausts emissions would likely result in the most accurate setting being achieved ?

Can anyone recommend a trustworthy brand name that sells manual boost controllers , plenty out there but with names like super sonic racing and the like i have little faith in the accuracy of them . I would rather pay a few quid more to buy from a name i recognize though it needn't be Lotus or Rolls Royce lol .

 

[Beau]

Blocking the egr off is fairly straight forward once you have small hands, it's one pipe along the back of the engine with 2 nutshell either side which are hard but possible to get to, once out stick a plate in between and bolt it back!

Fitting a manual boost control is easy and doesn't require removing much, I will take some photos tomorrow of what needs to be done! And no I don't believe it will do any damage although in the long run having a turbo boost higher than normal may produce ecsseive wear? I really couldn't tell you, however I've never heard of these turbos failing

I have a turbo smart boost valve (spare) and fully working that you can have for £40! Bought it originally for £90 from Australia, highly used and recommended! You should also get a boost gauge and have a look at what it's boosting at at the moment too

 

[Shayne]

I understood blocking the EGR can be achieved by just blocking the rubber pipe ? at least thats what they all seem to do to the American 4runners . Is the boost valve you have one of the spring ball bearing type ? do you have a brand name so i can read about them ? . I don't see the point of buying a boost gauge as surely that will be tested when the new exhaust is fitted and once its set up i doubt very much i will alter anything .

 

[fridayman]

I don't think that the exhaust place will look at boost. They might not even look at the fueling and expect you to do it - have you discussed this with them?

 

[Shayne]

No not yet Lincomb is only a week away so its too late to start messing with things . I'm trying to learn enough to discuss the whole thing with at least some insight when i go in to ask for the exhaust . Of course i expect to be charged for these extra's and if they won't do it then i will have to learn to do it myself anyway .

 

[Beau]

The reason for buying a boost gauge is purely for setting up the vehicle to the appropriate boost and making sure the boost is held and does not fluctuate at various levels, of course you can set up the car without one and that's how I did it but to do It properly I would advise a temporarily boost gauge to monitor the boost and then slowly wind it up the the maximum limits in line with turning up the fuelling,

The boost valve I used was called turbo smart boost tee and is a smart piece of equipment, it has a ceramic spring loaded ball inside but doesn't produce boost leak due to its design meaning the ball will not lift up and leak boost until the set boost level is reached!

And yes Shayne I have heard of messing around with the vacuum lines to block the egr but firstly I have heard this throwing error codes and setting off a light on the dash on the colorado models, not sure with the surfs ect
Secondly I believe even when the valve is fully shut its not 100% sealed meaning that its not fully blocked

And I also doubt the exhaust people will touch anything to do with the engine, are you getting a new down pipe as well?

 

[Shayne]

I spoke to prospeed a couple of months ago , i think they said about 350-400 quid for a full 3" stainless exhaust made to order , Chas suggested them .

If i bought an in-line manual boost controller could i not just put it in and turn it up to (for example) 14psi and forget about it ? . My thoughts are it is most likely the wastegate leaks and so the turbo is not working as well as it could due to age and an in-line manual boost controller would stop the leak allowing pressure to build forcing the turbo to function at its max before the wastegate opened and the turbo stopped spinning .

I can't find anyone selling blanking plates thats why i hoped to just block the vacuum pipe . I spent 3 hours driving around workshops the other day just looking to buy a bit of scrap metal to make brackets for lifting my fuel tank guard without success . Ended up going to the local dump and climbing in a skip to salvage a bit of old bed frame . They don't do metal in Wales it seems ?

As far as upping the fuel goes (i still have no idea how to do it but i'm guessing there must be an adjustment screw on the fuel pump somewhere?) . It seems to me how much to turn it up is complete guesswork unless you can test emissions and know what to look for that will suggest its getting too much fuel . Is there any other way of testing ?

 

[mrdelmonti]

You can't really just whack in a boost controller and forget about it as you'll need a boost gauge to set it up in the first place, you won't necessarily need one once it's set so you could always borrow one and temporarily install it.

And sorry to divert a little but where is the best place to tee in a boost gauge, I've only ever done it on intercooled engines and so I've taken it from the intercooler feed, I'm guessing you could put it after the boost controller on the actuator line?