I Think I will Pack it in and Buy a Pickup( Neil Young)

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Everyone- It is time for me to walk away for awhile. My car is screwed up bad and I am clueless as to why. The blm, IAC, AF and TPS are all good at idle. The damm POS knocks likes crap -then up Alky and it stalls and bogs out. At this point it is time to drop the boost to 10lbs, kill the alky and have a nice Regal. I will start over later or buy a pickup(I actually will never do it). I wll back later. Thanks for all your help over the years. Brad

 

[Jerryl]

Brad,
Been there, done that, understand! Trust me on this one.

What I have been seeing is the low MAF readings at same boost levels.
Used to see (baseline) 125 gr/sec around 3-5 PSI. Now it requires 7.5 PSI!!

With these hot temps, it takes a lot more boost for the same MAF readings.
This makes tuning tough. Now, a WB controlled ECM "should" be able to remove fuel to get to the target AFR.

This is where PL and WB can help diagnose what is going on.
Do you know someone with DS or PL?

 

[84GNGary]

Brad, come back when your ready. Like I told others just take a vacation from your car and clear your head. When you have intrest in it again get back into it. My car sat for 5 years and was on the verge of selling it one time.

Gary

BTW- I just got DS it is a definate help.

Glad to see you back Jerryl.

 

[Boost231]

brad let us know when we can try to help you figure things out.

 

[gn-geoff]

Brad If you decide to sell the alky kit let me know im interested.Sorry to here about all your problems with your hotair.

Geoff

 

[PaCemkr86]

i' feel your pain Brad.. i went threw 2 shortblocks last year..

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Out of the blue sky Jerryl called me on my cell phone while I was at my oldest sons baseball game. I never use my cell phone for incoming calls but TW said turn my phone so she can get a score update. Jerryl saved my number from two years ago.


The problem I have is the same one Jerryl had. In the short run I need to lean out the TT chip and sit until I can get some more money.

I have decided not to buy a pickup but the alternative is just as pricey-$650.

At my point with my car(I sometimes call a POS) the TT chip cannot handle my setup. I will have to get a power logger, wideband o2 sensor and a new TT chip which is set for my new setup. This will also require a modification to my downpipe. This is all based on info from Jerryl and it does make sense.

Thanks and I will let you know later. Brad

 

[Saladin45]

So wait, the GN project shall continue forward?

 

[Boost231]

i sure hope it does.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

I will continue with the project but a a much slower pace because I do not have the money for the downpipe mod, power logger, wide band o2 sensor and the special chip. My downpipe and poly motor mounts sucked up my free cash.

The problem which really frustrated me it that with my setup it is completely impossible to tune the car with a scanmaster, stock o2 sensor and regular TT chip. After talking to Jerryl you need exact power logger information sent to Eric at TT and he will burn a special chip which automatically changes the Air fuel ratio to be constant despite changes in outside air temp. This will keep knock under control. This eliminates the problem of being in tune in the afternoon and out of tune at knight. I will keep you posted when I get into it in a while. Thanks- Brad

 

[84GNGary]

A good scan tool really helps. A just got a good deal on Direct Scan and have already sent Eric some of my files to help with some of my problems. It is really nice to have detailed graphing on the various points while you experience a problem.

 

[cwmccray]

Glad to see that you ARE NOT GIVING up I will have the same problem when I put my car back together. My car maybe WORST. My set up will be able to change from HOT AIR to cooled in 15 minutes. I am going to see how far I can PUSH the envelope HOT and then see what the difference COOL makes.

Combo:
Stage 1
stock 231 block
ported 8442 heads
204/214 Edelbrock Cam
60 lb Motrons
87 intake with modded upper bonnet
ported 87 throttle body
87 Mass Air
0 to 60 3 inch Downpipe
Poston 84-85 Headers
Turbo Tweaked Chip
2800 stall converter

Stage 2
4.1 block
Modified 0 to 60 to fit like Terry Houston style downpipe.
Alky
214/228 Shneider cam
3200 stall converter

Stage 3
Intercooler
50 hp NOS

I have learned alot from this board. Leoo pushed the envelope out of the office. I would like to see how far this can go. If you can tune a HOT AIR to run in 11's/10's, you can tune ANYTHING! I am going to have to have a Data logger. I want to see exactly what NOS is worth? I want to see what ALKY? is worth? And what is intercooling is really worth! The late Bruce Plecan took his intercooler off his 87 GN and datalogged it. He discovered some interesting things that got me to thinking about HOT AIR and alky.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Final post for awhile until I figure some things out and get some money. I did a retune tonight so that my car really moves up to 3/4 throttle. It drives fine for now. If I go to WOT it is either knock knock or stall stall ( too much fuel or alky) . Dropped the fuel on the chip to 125(Jerryl idea) and tweaked the alky so that my car is solid below WOT. Give me some time and I will find a way. Thanks- Brad

 

[Jerryl]

.......... Glad to see you back Jerryl.

Gary,
Thanks for warm welcome.
Had to step away from the "school of hard knocks", just like Brad is about to.
Not sure if I'll ever graduate though. :tongue:

........Dropped the fuel on the chip to 125(Jerryl idea) and tweaked the alky so that my car is solid below WOT. Give me some time and I will find a way. Thanks- Brad

Brad,
As you are pulling more fuel, remember that, you may need to add some back in the chip during the colder seasons. Take it easy my friend.

 

[garyk1970]

knock

Brad,
as you already know,getting knock in conrtol is our greatest challenge,its (knowing how to properly tune our cars)what seperates a true hobbiest to someone who is not.
you have done alot for many,many members here (including myself) and if I/WE can help let us know. You just have to find the tune your car likes (sounds easy typing it) every car is different. hang in there,take care, Gary.

 

[tb3]

living in the part of the country that me and brad do where we see extreme temp and humidity changes from one end of the spectrum to the other sometimes on almost a overnight basis, makes it hell to keep good tune on our hot-airs. I'm just kind of wondering out loud here, but why would this just start happening out of the blue? You where doing good after your recent new downpipe install, correct? What about the ported tb? Has that been installed yet? Other than that, can't see what could be messing with a fresh tune other than a malfunction . I forgot to ask you this the other day brad, but do you have a fuel guage you can see from the drivers seat so you can see what fp is doing throughout the rpm band and wot? Could a injector, or injector signal possibly be intermittantly going screwy causing the knock?

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

I do not have a fuel pressure gauge that I can see while driving. I do not thick it is an injector either because the problem is primarily closer to WOT. I did put on the ported throttle body. It is not false knock either because I just put on poly motor mounts from HRPARTSNSTUFF.

I really think it is related to my TT chip. I need real data from a power logger which I do not have.

This is my plan. I sent Eric at TT an e-mail about my problem. I will be discussing the issue with him. Next-get a power logger and a wideband o2 sensor when funds are available. It will take me time to figure out how to use the power logger-meaning understand what it is telling me.

My car drives just fine now but I cannot go to WOT. I am done screwing around trying to tune with a Scanmaster. All you are doing is wasting time, gas and Alky. I will keep everyone posted with what I come up with. Thanks- Brad

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Figured out problem number one. I finally noticed that the ALKY was not turning on at WOT even though the power boost light would come on. This problem was intermittent. That is probably the reason I could not tune because sometimes I got ALKY and sometimes not.

I called Julio at Razor. He had me clean the pump first. Then he had me hotwire the solonoid-All was good. Then me had me hotwire the gray wire from the controller to see if the solinoid would snap open and shut. It did. Then Julio said that the wire from the solinoid to the LED by the boost gauge is shorted out. Damm- Mine was because I disconnected it and let the wire hang which allowed an intermittent short out. Julio is great. I will now attempt to retune and let everone know how it goes. Thanks- Brad

 

[Boost231]

wow great to hear. i always wonder about that solinoid my car sure does drink alot of alky. maybe i need to back the alky down some. i went from the stock setting to maxing the outside knob out then i went in the box turned it up even more back the knob on the outside down and now its maxed again. cant wait to get my lc1 hooked up to see what its doing and start logging my intake temps.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

I need to correct my previous post. I found the problem but Julio at Alky Control corrected it . Great Vendor. Well after some test runs knock is gone. I need to test again but I think my TV cable is out of adjustment. The car needs to shift tighter. I will look into it tomorrow. Thanks Brad