Time to learn...

S2X01

New Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
So I recently got my hands on an 85 WH1, and I'm trying to get to the bottom of just what was done to it, so I can move forward.
I'll start with what I noticed driving it home:
While sitting at a stop light, it seemed to idle a little high. One "notch" above 1,000 on the tach. And it's not seeming to build boost like it should. I don't think it ever got above 7ish psi.
Also...I had to jump on the brakes on the way home. Not necessarily slam on them, but a little aggressive. The rear right wheel locked up really quick, and smoked while pulling me to the right!
But I'm more worried about mechanical right now....

The car came with a whole pile of receipts. Here's what I gathered so far:
The engine was completely disassembled and rebuilt about 8,000 miles (in 2001). Bored 30 over, balanced, blueprinted, valves...the whole deal. An Isky 119125 cam was installed, and the turbo was rebuilt. Heads and intake were ported and polished. Tube headers and full dual exhaust. New gas tank too...
The guy I purchased it from says that it has "bigger injectors and fuel pump"...but I have no papers to confirm this.
He also told me that the guy that sold it to him said "it needs a tune", but neither of them ever did it.

So here I am. With a car that I'm not positive what parts it has, or what exactly my next step should be....
 
Tuning is accomplished by having a chip programmed for the mods Chip must be matched to injectors used
Low boost and high idle. Indicates a possible vacuum leak. Not all rubber lines are vacuum some are manifold pressure. Top of throttle body is vacuum only. Manifold pressure port is at back of manifold
 
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Full dual exhaust ?? Proper exhaust routing is driver side header then crossover to passenger header then up pipe to turbo then single down pipe to cat then a split to a dual
I have seen posts where the exhaust was improperly made
 
You next step is to read and read more. The 84/85 has several systems that are different than the 86/87 but function in the same way. Some however do not.
Example. A reference to an up pipe in a 84/85 is an exhaust function to operate the turbine side of the turbo.
In a 86/87 it is a reference to the charge pipe from the compressor to the throttle body with the inter cooler in between
 
Read the stickies in this forum. There's vacuum routing in the section labeled basic hot air info people always goof up the vacuum lines on these cars. Did the car come with a scan master or powerlogger ?
 
Get the part # off one of the injectors check to see off they're all the same and contact Eric with turbotweak he can tell you what injectors you have but you need to pull the end and chip to see what chip and Ecm is in the car, get a real scan tool and go from there
 
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Thanks guys!
I'm gonna try to ID the injectors and pump this weekend or next, and go from there.
I'll keep you guys posted as I know more!
 
Post pics of your set up when you get time, what maf are you running? Don't forget about the ecm and chip. Pull the orange wire by the battery and the take the ecm out and check to see if it's an 84/85 or 86/87 and the chip, write down what's on it. In order to use a scanmaster for tunning you need a 86/87 ecm first. Good luck
 
It's being stored at my buddy's house for a few weeks. I'll slide over there and snap some pictures/write down some numbers in the near future to see what's going on with it.
 
Quick question that I can't seem to find an answer to.
Is the scanmaster or powerlogger ABSOLUTELY necessary? The reason I ask, is it came with a lot of gauges.
Knock, AFR, boost, etc. With all these gauges, does it replace the scanmaster? Or do I still need to invest in one?
 
If youre talking about the LEDs for the dash RPM and boost gauge, theyre inaccurate, and arent true to what the car is doing.

But thats why having a scanmaster is important because it will tell you what really is going on and help you find problems.

I would not floor the car at all until you can confirm all vacuum lines are routed properly to the diagram, and probaly replace them all if theyre old.
 
Based on what you are saying, you could have a chip and injectors problem. If someone upgraded the injectors and fuel pump without upgrading the chip, it would run as you say... Please take pics of the ECM and chip inside of the ECM. Take pics of the car as whole: Dash and gauges, under hood and exhaust. We will try to point you in the RIGHT direction...
 
So I might pull the ECU this morning for identification.
To my knowledge, it's behind the passenger kick panel?
How do ID the ECU once it's out? Also I should probably try to ID the injectors as well.
I drove it home the other day with absolutely no issue. Tried to start it up a couple times since then, and it refuses to. Almost does, but never quite catches. Smells really gassy.
It's definitely time for a tune!
 
Pulled it. Service number is 1226559.
Through some Googling, it seems to be an 84/85 ECM, and the chip in it has an orange sticker that says 84/85.
So it looks like I'm running a stock computer.
Now my next issue, is the previous owner claims it has a bigger pump, and bigger injectors.
I also know that the engine was bored 30 over, and has been cammed. So maybe it's just time to buy a scanmaster and hook op a proper AFR gauge and boost gauge, and see where I sit.
The FPR looks to have been replaced as well. So I'm hoping that it won't start just because fuel pressure is high.
 
From the looks of your chip looks like someone may have burnt a chip for your car. If you can look at the injectors and can tell if it has a red stripe, green stripe or even a serial number can help determine the injector. I am not familiar with the chip. If you have a adjustable fuel regulator if may tell how high your pressure is..
 
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