Bought a '85 T-type, help me spend my money!

[usetaboost]

I'm not trying to start a pissing match. Just saying, a chip isn't gong to magically fix his car. He's got some shit going on with it and he really needs someone that is good at diagnosing to help him along and show him what he needs to do so he's got an idea in the future. Not flying to the moon, just driving buicks with really stupid computers.

 

[Wahoo]

Well I'm glad people are finally coming in this thread to help me, I don't know if I should of made a separate thread so people would actually show interest.

I'm glad you guys are trying to help me, we will see how tomorrow is, hopefully I can buy a friends lt1 or ls1 maf because I do have the translator just don't have the maf, and I'm going to have to make the intake tubes fit some how too.

I was almost thinking of removing the adjustable fuel pressure regulator and installing the stock one just to see if its a fuel problem I caused.

The vacuum lines to the important things like the MAp sensor wastegate and fuel pressure gauge are correctly ran.

 

[Wahoo]

If anyone can tell me what the stock fuel pressure is from the factory I can try that. Also if anyone has pictures of their wastegate so I can figure out if mine is abnormally long or what but honestly, like I said if I made the rod long enough to just connect to the waste gate lever thing while its completely closed it would boost to like 20psi.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

that stuff shouldnt matter, i think. WHeres all these die hard hot air guys at? Theyre quick to jump anyone that wants toconvert to ic but where's the help?[/quot

This hot air guy has moved on. Your advice is right on. Stock 85 MAF with 87 chip will run rich. There has to be a cracked header(s).

 

[baby6]

OP- Set the fuel pressure to 42 line off with the adjustable. I doubt its the regulator... and usetaboost, its all good. I guess I should suggest more than give advice, seeing that I am not a guru of any means. Just know a little more than your average Joe, that is all.

I knew the chip would not magically fix the vehicle, but it would possibly give him a better baseline to start with

 

[usetaboost]

Holy shit, it's BRAD!

 

[turbonut85]

This hot air guy says rip ALL the vac lines out and START OVER. Route all NEW vac lines according to the emissions sticker on your fan shroud...and if the sticker is gone...lmk, I'll dig my shroud out of the shed and post a pic for you. The car has a serious issue with BLMs at 150....and YOU NEED TO QUIT TRYING TO GO WOT UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT WHY......just sayin.

 

[usetaboost]

OP- Set the fuel pressure to 42 line off with the adjustable. I doubt its the regulator... and usetaboost, its all good. I guess I should suggest more than give advice, seeing that I am not a guru of any means. Just know a little more than your average Joe, that is all.

I knew the chip would not magically fix the vehicle, but it would possibly give him a better baseline to start with

Not a guru at all. Just have had about everything go bad on my car so I can usually figure it out now. He's just gotta start with the basics and go from there. OP, watch your maf g/sec as you drive. They should go up always unless you are letting off the throttle. Cross counts should constantly be cycling up during cruise and start over again at a certain point. Check your maf tube for cracks also.

 

[usetaboost]

This hot air guy says rip ALL the vac lines out and START OVER. Route all NEW vac lines according to the emissions sticker on your fan shroud...and if the sticker is gone...lmk, I'll dig my shroud out of the shed and post a pic for you. The car has a serious issue with BLMs at 150....and YOU NEED TO QUIT TRYING TO GO WOT UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT WHY......just sayin.

^This guy has had a hot air longer than I've had my car running and he's still throwing money at it. Has no idea wtf he's talking about. Just blow it up and start over, with an ic setup. Nah jk lol

 

[turbonut85]

^This guy has had a hot air longer than I've had my car running and he's still throwing money at it. Has no idea wtf he's talking about. Just blow it up and start over, with an ic setup. Nah jk lol

I'll put my hot air up against your intercooled car anytime, anyplace. 1/4 mile at a time or cross country....you decide. :-P After all...like you said, I got enough money in it it should be able to fly to the moon...

 

[baby6]

The hotairs are getting mean with all this new technology....I wouldnt be surprised if you took a few of the IC cars out.

 

[Wahoo]

I changed a lot of vacuum lines, everything off the vacuum block has check valves to prevent seeing boost right?

There are some that I still need to do in hard to reach areas, behind turbo where the map is connected, I'm affraid to take those off and never get them back on. Then on the driver valve cover he wastegate solenoid they're not brand new but they didnt seem bad, I moved them around at one point. I do have the sticker still and everything is hooked up right.

 

[Jerryl]

There appears to be multiple issues going on. It is my believe your problems are not HA specific, but general problems that any of these cars can end up with and attached are my immediate observations from 2000 miles away;

Fuel Pressure - Stock 87 Chip needs stock fuel pressure levels (37 line off) to get BLM close to 128.
My advice; Set FP to 37 line off and make sure there are no leaks in the signal line, period.

High BLM - MAF reading appears low, and ECM “should” pull fuel to compensate, but instead adds fuel. This points to a vacuum/exhaust leak. It does not take much of a leak and needs to be resolved.
My advice; Look for leak(s), disconnect the PCV hose at TB, plug the nipple and hose end, and observe the INT/BLM. Keep looking till you find the leak(s) and get BLM not to max out at idle. Anything in the 125-135 would be good.

Excessive boost – The WG actuator diaphragm may be leaking, and/or the boost solenoid is leaking. Combine that with a stick 86-87 chip that pulses the boost solenoid for 15 psi to start with and you easily add 5 psi to the boost level. The signal coming from the turbo nipple needs to be confirmed to be clean, open, and leak-free.
My advice; Verify hoses, disconnect hose to boost solenoid/plug it, disconnect WG arm, and see what the boost is while “easing into the throttle 3rd gear”. If it gets to 5 PSI, back off, regroup and re-inspect.

My additional observations/questions;

1. The “Y” on the line to the actuator is a special “Y” with an orifice. This will increase lag, and should reduce boost.
2. What plugs/gaps are on the car?
3. What condition is the coil/ignition module in? A misfire can result in increase in BLM.
4. What injectors are on the car? Surprised no one brought this up. (This needs to be confirmed by the numbers on the injectors)
5. What condition are the injectors in? - Are they leaking/plugged? With these type of issues, “Good” is not going to be “good enough”.
6. Exhaust Leak – Possible but probably not enough to cause BLM to max out.
7. All grounds clean and tight?
8. There is some more reading I would recommend. http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com/engine_starts_but_does_not_run_p.htm

Final opinion:
Just about everyone that has a decent/good running car has “Been there done that” and 99% of HA owners stand alone in the sea of disparity.
These cars (HA or IC’d) are not for everyone as they require patience, knowledge, tenacity, confidence, attention to detail and $$$ to get them running, especially the HA cars.
Those that do not exhibit a combination of these qualities and $$$ end up selling it, putting in an LS/SBC/Ford/etc.
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do with it.

 

[Wahoo]

I've used 3/16 vacuum lines to replace what I replaced. What's the other sizes I need?

I've owned the car for a few weeks, I don't know what condition the spark plugs are in, coil packs or wires.
I guess I should buy new spark plugs and gap them properly, any recommendations? Ill do wires too.

What should I spray on the engine to find vacuum leaks?

About to buy a LT1 Maf to use with my translator.


My Y-restrictor fitting broke but I made one, found a restrictor fitting and put it before the Y, can be seen in some of my pictures a couple pages ago.

 

[Jerryl]

I've used 3/16 vacuum lines to replace what I replaced. What's the other sizes I need?

I've owned the car for a few weeks, I don't know what condition the spark plugs are in, coil packs or wires.
I guess I should buy new spark plugs and gap them properly, any recommendations? Ill do wires too.

What should I spray on the engine to find vacuum leaks?

The EGR is already blocked off and plugged, but i need to check for leaks still.

About to buy a LT1 Maf to use with my translator.

My Y-restrictor fitting broke but I made one, found a restrictor fitting and put it before the Y, can be seen in some of my pictures a couple pages ago.

Actually, you are doing great so far and PLEASE don’t take my comments as condescending in any way. The point I was trying to make is that we all have been discouraged, and EVERYTHING should be right/verified before you to push the car.
I would put the stock plugs in, and gap to 0.032 for now. Also, not talking EGR, but PCV. Some lines are ¼. They just need to be tight, secured, and leak free at the pressures.

These cars can be a royal pain in the arse . . . . period. But when they run like they should, there isn’t much like it. In the end, the only things that matter are your goals, budget and what you believe you can do.

Read the sticky and follow the links, search the forum and read the threads . . . . 99.9999% of what you are experiencing has been covered. If you are serious about it, read all of link in the site provided, and GNTTYPE.org. People like for you to at least do some research/homework before reaching their hand for assistance because it shows your commitment. If you build it, they will come.


.

 

[Wahoo]

When I got the car it ran pretty damn good, other than the wastegate was bad and would allow the turbo to build too much boost.

I did a lot of research, I bought a lot of things so far, just need to install a couple things still(Hotwire kit, caspers air temp sensor, translator+ just bought a lt1 maf), so I did some research. I will continue to read and read.

It just sucks to spend this much and not get anything out of it yet.

 

[usetaboost]

Here's how I check for vac leaks since I got tired of messing around. Start the car, get it warmed up and in closed loop. Have a person sit inside and watch the blm as you start spraying either wd40 or brake clean around all vac surfaces, hoses, and around the manifold

 

[turbonut85]

The hotairs are getting mean with all this new technology....I wouldnt be surprised if you took a few of the IC cars out.

Already have......

 

[Wahoo]

I tried using free all and its not a good method lol, bought brake clean... Used an entire can but I believe the egr valve on the intake is leaking, maybe a gasket or something, is there a delete kit?

Here's a picture of what I believe. Is causing the problem, when I spray on this thing the engine idles funny and the blm went down.

Doesn't seem to be the lower (organge gasket), the black one right above it seems to be it.

 

[usetaboost]

The egr itself usually leaks. Ran into this last summer on our one owner elky. Drove me fucking bonkers for 2 months trying to figure it out.