For those running 30-35psi of boost.. hoses or ?? leaking.

[KEVINS]

Powerlogger numbers may be indicating boost lines leaking at these boost levels so tomorrow I will be looking them all over and zip tying them all tight.

Is there anything else that you found was leaking boost? What about that canister in the front fender, or that check valve near it or ??? I've never seen a hose blown off but the boost could be leaking past the connections. Duplicating boost levels could be difficult on the bench but I have an idea that may work if zip tying the hoses don't. I will replace any lines that looks iffy and zip tie them.

I am running approx. 30-33psi of boost according to the mechanical gauge on the hood but PowerLogger is only showing 25psi with a brand new 3.5 bar sensor AND my fuel pressure on PL only reads 52psi. MAP sensor and fuel xdcr are brand new this week. I believe the low fuel psi is real b/c this low fuel pressure is causing the injectors to have a duty cycle around 117 which has been keeping the O2's safe enough from hurting anything with alchy...so far.

I started with the mechanical gauge reading 26psi and made a run..
PL seemed to record this accurate enough. Then I raised it to 28 but PL still showed 52psi of fuel psi and 25 psi of boost and inj. duty cycle around 90 (I think).
Then I raised boost to 30 but PL still showed 52psi of fuel psi and 25 psi of boost and inj/ duty cycle of 117.

Something is leaking, IMO..

thnx all..
ks

 

[imjoesnuffy]

I just made my own home made test kit to find leaks. Took a piece of three inch round plate, drilled a hole in the middle, attached an air hose nozzle to it using epoxy, but you could weld it. Connect it to the turbo via a coupler. Run the air compressor at the PSI you want to run with the engine off and listen/feel/use smoke to find leaks. Problems will be identified, not necessarily solved.

Until you find your leaks and make sure your FP is rising 1:1 with boost, dont lean on the car at all. Your gonna grenade it like that.

 

[BEATAV8]

Run dedicated lines to each the fuel pressure regulator and the MAP sensor. High priority items like these should be all by themselves. Clean and simple with nothing else Tee'd into them.

Inspect gasket and snug up bolts on the distribution block on top of the throttle body.

 

[KEVINS]

Run dedicated lines to each the fuel pressure regulator and the MAP sensor. High priority items like these should be all by themselves. Clean and simple with nothing else Tee'd into them.

Inspect gasket and snug up bolts on the distribution block on top of the throttle body.

Do ALL the hoses on these cars start from the dist. block? I can't think of any that are tapped into anything else for boost/vacuum..
I'm getting ready to pressurize each hose from the block now.

ks

 

[BEATAV8]

Yes

 

[jhanson1750]

Have you verified the fuel pressure will go any higher? I had to replace the rubber line from the pump to the hard pipe in the tank on mine once I got over 28lbs. Same issue as you describe.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

 

[pacecarta]

i hope you realize that even thought you are seeing a 117% duty on the injectors on your logs that you cant get more than 100% from an injector
at 100% its as open as its going to get

did you calibrate the powerlogger for the 3.5 bar sensor

for all gauges and sensors i use an air compressor regulator with a know accurate gauge to check the calibration

 

[KEVINS]

Thanks guys for helping out.

Have you verified the fuel pressure will go any higher? I had to replace the rubber line from the pump to the hard pipe in the tank on mine once I got over 28lbs. Same issue as you describe.

I just bench tested it and it does go up fairly close 1psi as it's supposed to. At 30 psi of boost at the mech. gauge the fuel psi went to 70psi.

I'll keep that rubber line from the tank in my mind as I'm going over things! Good Idea!

i hope you realize that even thought you are seeing a 117% duty on the injectors on your logs that you cant get more than 100% from an injector at 100% its as open as its going to get.

did you calibrate the powerlogger for the 3.5 bar sensor?

for all gauges and sensors i use an air compressor regulator with a know accurate gauge to check the calibration

Yea, I know 100% is max flow.
Yes, I have PL set up for the new 3.5bar sensor.

While monitoring PL (key on, engine off) I blew regulated air into each hose from the distribution block for the last half hour then discovered that my IC is now full of alcohol! aarrg... I could not figure out what motor was running when pressurizing the one hose until it was too late. DUH!

Anyway, the only two hose's that were leaking were the ones going to the fuel regulator and the MAP sensor.. I zip tied them and no leaks. I'll have to drive it around for a bit to let the alchy evaporate before I can test it again.

I'll keep ya posted.
ks

 

[jhanson1750]

Don't do it! If you get a big "splash" up into the throttle body you can kill the motor with a hydroLock. Drop the IC and get it drained out. Don't use an electric vac as the fumes could cause a bad flame thrower event from the discharge.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

 

[KEVINS]

Don't do it! If you get a big "splash" up into the throttle body you can kill the motor with a hydroLock. Drop the IC and get it drained out. Don't use an electric vac as the fumes could cause a bad flame thrower event from the discharge.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

OK.. I hear ya!

ks

 

[KEVINS]

It's all back together and based on the bench testing of the fuel regulator (which came out good) and this latest test run the fuel pump (Hot Wired XP pump) isn't keeping up with fuel demand.

Fuel psi only went to 56-57psi with 26-27psi of boost.
O2's were at 780 but inj. duty cycle is showing 107.

So time to flog the fuel pump voltage and research a positive fix for that then see what else comes up.

Thanks again!!

ks

 

[BEATAV8]

the older hot wire kits did not include the wiring inside the fuel tank as part of the kit. fortunately these days we can get the good wiring for the in-tank portion (and the pigtail outside the tank) from Racetronix. When I replaced the old factory wiring inside the tank my fuel pump picked up about 5 psi from where it was at. A Caspers volt booster also helps considerably. Some say the volt booster messes up the alky tune but I never had an issue. The caspers booster is TPS based, so it's usually fully engaged before boost comes up. The reds booster is boost switch based, so it can come on during or after alky activation depending on how things are set up / tuned. Maybe that's the difference I'm not sure.....

How big are your injectors?

 

[KEVINS]

the older hot wire kits did not include the wiring inside the fuel tank as part of the kit. fortunately these days we can get the good wiring for the in-tank portion (and the pigtail outside the tank) from Racetronix. When I replaced the old factory wiring inside the tank my fuel pump picked up about 5 psi from where it was at. A Caspers volt booster also helps considerably. Some say the volt booster messes up the alky tune but I never had an issue. The caspers booster is TPS based, so it's usually fully engaged before boost comes up. The reds booster is boost switch based, so it can come on during or after alky activation depending on how things are set up / tuned. Maybe that's the difference I'm not sure.....

How big are your injectors?

This hot wire kit was even before they had "kits" and I can't even remember how I wired it up but I'm sure I have the instructions in my file some place.

I was under the impression that even the "kits" may still not supply enough volts..?? It seems there's a lot of people doing their own wiring in order to get more voltage to the pump, am I wrong? I wouldn't mind buying a kit if they are known to work. Even a volt booster wouldn't bother me.

Current inj. are 42.5's (009's) but I have 60's and a new chip from Eric arriving tomorrow.

KS

 

[turbo nasty]

You can use shop air set to boost you are running with the fuel pump forced on with the engine off to be sure teh regulator is capable of achieving the proper risen rate psi.

 

[BEATAV8]

The new racetronix kits are top notch IMO. You can count on it to do the job.

A single walbro with good wiring can fully support the 60's, add the volt booster for even a bit more "cushion" or if you're really pushing a lot of fuel pressure (like 75psi)

General rule of thumb I go by:
1 walbro = 60 gal/hr, and 6 x 60lb/hr injectors @ 100% duty also = 60gal/hr

2 walbro = 120 gal/hr, and 6 x 120lb/hr injectors @ 100% = 120gal/hr

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Check the FP transducer against the mech FP gauge. I've checked several on the bench, and found we had to send a couple back..[Autometer].

 

[haywire4130]

Did you wire the map sensor 5 volt reference to the tps circuit? There's a write up on the vortex buicks website (sorry no link, im on my phone). aparrently the map 5 volt comes from the dash and is usually lower than 5 volts which skews the readings on pl and the fix is to wire it to the tps which is accurate right off the ecm. Just a thought

 

[KEVINS]

Did you wire the map sensor 5 volt reference to the tps circuit? There's a write up on the vortex buicks website (sorry no link, im on my phone). aparrently the map 5 volt comes from the dash and is usually lower than 5 volts which skews the readings on pl and the fix is to wire it to the tps which is accurate right off the ecm. Just a thought

Cal Hartline made me a 6" long pigtail that plugs directly into the factory MAP harness.

ks

 

[pacecarta]

plugging into the MAP factory plug does not ensure 5volts as that power source comes from the dash cluster boost gauge/tach which have a history of failure and innacuracy
the 5v source for the sensor should come from the tps circuit grey wire , the ground should also be checked and i like to run that to the tps low ground

do you have 5v at the gray wire of the MAP sensor connector

 

[BEATAV8]

I agree, the stock 5V MAP power from the cluster source is very sketchy. I have no idea how Cal's pigtail works, I have never seen one. But the MAP should powered from clean 5V from the ECM (the TPS 5v). It can be spliced behind the glovebox.