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New Grand National - Help with a setup

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Hey guys,
Good news, I got the GN all put back together! The valve springs have now been changed, they seemed to make the car idle better and run smoother overall but who knows. I got the Power Logger hooked up and did a bit of recording. I am going to post the log here in the thread and if you guys could take a look at it and give me some feedback that would be great! I did a few pulls, most of the driving was done in town but some was not. I was going to PizzaPlace which is why the video is named accordingly. I also got the Powerplate installed, as well as new plugs and wires.

Thanks!,
Cam
 

Attachments

How is it running, with what you've done so far? You said it seems to be better idle and seems to run smoother, are you keeping the boost under 17psi on the pump gas and just being somewhat gentle on it since you've got it back together from the valve springs swap?
 
Its running pretty good overall, it cruises very well but I think I am either running to much boost or not enough octane? The log is showing it is knocking under wide open throttle. The car pulls the hardest at about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle. If I go WOT it seems to not pull as hard and kind of flatten out. Booas and st is only going to 14-15psi I though which I figured was doable on 93 octane gas but maybe not?

Cam
 
You will be getting an expensive lesson very soon if you continue letting the car knock. Use Sunoco 94. You should not be getting any knock at 15 psi so it has to be lack of octane or maybe the wrong plugs.
 
John Larkin said:
You will be getting an expensive lesson very soon if you continue letting the car knock. Use Sunoco 94. You should not be getting any knock at 15 psi so it has to be lack of octane or maybe the wrong plugs.
Click to expand...

I didn't think I should have any knock either at that amount of boost. The plugs are the NGK's that everyone here recommended me to run. I was thinking about trying to run a 50/50 mix of race gas and 93 octane fuel to see if that would fix it.
 
If it was me, i'd take it alittle easy on how much boost is being built up until the knock issue is resolved and if you're gonna mix race gas make sure it isnt leaded race fuel. 100 octane is safer on the o2 sensor as far as race fuel goes.
There's a formula for mixing race fuel and pump 93 to get higher octane levels.
Think you can search on goggle or some place that has the ratio mixture chart to achieve different octane ratings. What gapping did you use on the spark plugs?

Hope they aren't platinum plugs, as they don't tend to get along with our cars as well as some plugs do.
Once your scanmaster, new chip and injectors come in, may want think about switching those in. Then you for sure know the injectors are flowing properly and the chip is matched up with injectors for the upgrades you have.
You sure the adding of the power plate isn't maybe causing the issues with the rest of your current build, would of been better to of gotten it running right prior to throwing on a power plate. If it didn't knock before the power plate, might want to look at that. Was it backfiring at all when you were driving it?


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
 
Last edited:
Nascar83Fan said:
If it was me, i'd take it alittle easy on how much boost is being built up until the knock issue is resolved and if you're gonna mix race gas make sure it isnt leaded race fuel. 100 octane is safer on the o2 sensor as far as race fuel goes.
There's a formula for mixing race fuel and pump 93 to get higher octane levels.
Think you can search on goggle or some place that has the ratio mixture chart to achieve different octane ratings. What gapping did you use on the spark plugs?

Hope they aren't platinum plugs, as they don't tend to get along with our cars as well as some plugs do.


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
Click to expand...

Yeah since that run I haven't pushed it at all. I was planning on doing some research on proper mixtures before I tried mixing anything. 0.35 spark plug gap.

Thanks,
Cam
 
Hope you meant 0.035 gap, anyways if the octane boost doesn't cure it may need to tighten the gap up to 0.032, but i am sure others will say something about the gap.

But i am actually inspecting my plugs right now and noticed the gap on #1 that i pulled so far was at 0.041 or 0.042, so they've open up some since they were put in. So since it was alittle over 6 months ago plugs were changed, gonna swap in the new plugs that are gapped in the range 0.032-0.035 gap that is called for.
Which should keep her going good for awhile and keep her knock free. Even though i havent seen knock, wanting to keep it that way. So giving her new spark plugs to make sure she is happy. At least the plug i pulled so far is dry and isnt smelling like gas which is a good sign.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
 
Last edited:
Nascar83Fan said:
Hope you meant 0.035 gap, anyways if the octane boost doesn't cure it may need to tighten the gap up to 0.032, but i am sure others will say something about the gap.

But i am actually inspecting my plugs right now and noticed the gap on #1 that i pulled so far was at 0.041 or 0.042, so they've open up some since they were put in. So since it was alittle over 6 months ago plugs were changed, gonna swap in the new plugs that are gapped in the range 0.032-0.035 gap that is called for.
Which should keep her going good for awhile and keep her knock free. Even though i havent seen knock, wanting to keep it that way. So giving her new spark plugs to make sure she is happy. At least the plug i pulled so far is dry and isnt smelling like gas which is a good sign.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
Click to expand...


Well that is good, every car likes a good set of plugs! Anyways, my spark plugs are [NGK "V-Power" UR5 2771] just to be more specific.

Cam
 
I just would rather pay for 6 spark plugs at 1.99 to 2.29 a piece and replace them as needed vs having engine problems that cost tons more.
They needed to be changed anyways, might as well put the new ones i bought earlier today in and not worry about it for awhile.


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
 
Hey guys, this is just some more information:

I have been doing some research and looking at the log from my run. It looks that at WOT the bottom right Block Learn Cell is reading 146. That is much higher than the normal 128 number that would be perfect. From what I have read anywhere +/- 10 from 128 is acceptable and the closer you get to 150, something is wrong and should be fixed because it is leaning out.

Still reading and learning a good bit.

Cam
 
If BLM is moving up at WOT then there is an obvious lean condition. What are the O2 values during the run? Are you able to observe the fuel pressure when driving? Fuel pump may be weak.
 
34blazer said:
If BLM is moving up at WOT then there is an obvious lean condition. What are the O2 values during the run? Are you able to observe the fuel pressure when driving? Fuel pump may be weak.
Click to expand...

That is what I figured. The O2 voltage is all over the place though, it goes from 0.176 at idle in park, I then hit the gas and it drops down to 0.008 for a few seconds, then immediately spikes clear to 0.737 ( at this point the car starts pulling much harder). this number gradually increases to 0.827 where it peaks. It then starts dropping off a little bit to about 0.776. then knock retard started occurring and the 02 voltage goes crazy by doing super rapid up and down spikes.

Bad 02 sensor or would this be normal?

I was guessing the fuel pump being weak may also be another problem. I will be putting on the new fuel pump this weekend and hopefully that will tell me something. I am also going to go ahead and order a set of 60lb injectors to see if that will help anything. I noticed the other day that at idle I checked the fuel pressure and it was a bit low only showing 29lbs. if you revved it up it would show 39 lbs.

As far as the octane being the problem, it may not be. I dumped in a bottle of Lucas octane booster just to see what would happen and nothing at all changed.

- Cam
 
V6sleeper said:
ive used it it does seem to work, also check out boostane its supposed to be a bit better...
Click to expand...

Will do, thanks!

I was looking online and it looks like 39lbs at idle is average? with that being said it looks like I am very low on fuel pressure then...

Cam
 
o2 millivolts should be bouncing at idle that indicates healthy 02 sensor, when its slow moving or almost frozen digits indicates a problem..
 
A fuel pressure gauge before swapping out parts based on feel if you dont already have one.
 
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