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Old 04-17-2019, 07:19 AM   #248
John V
No more BMWs
 
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
So. Takeaways from the first shakedown of the car, and next steps in this process.

1) Boost control wasn't working during the test event. That's because I screwed up and connected the wastegate actuator incorrectly. I'm kind of lucky I didn't blow an engine - but the Haltech saved my bacon. I effectively had no boost control at all, making the power delivery very abrupt and keeping the turbo wastegate closed.

2) The car is too low and it felt like the front suspension was not working well. It felt way too stiff, but with the springs and front bar I have on it, it should have been okay.

3) The rear diff puked some fluid after a bunch of back-to-back runs. It vented through the vent hole at the top of the diff, which is what it should do, but I need to address the fluid leakage somehow because it's not good to dump fluids on the course.

4) It has an oil leak at the pan

Fixes:

1) This one is easy. I use a four-port solenoid to control the two-port wastegate actuator. The way the wastegate actuator works is there is an internal spring and an upper and lower chamber separated by a diaphragm. If you cap the lower part of the diaphragm and connect the upper port to the pressure side of the turbo, you have traditional boost control. As the turbo develops boost, it builds pressure in the upper chamber of the wastegate actuator, which pushes against the internal spring and moves a rod which opens the wastegate. The internal spring force (seven pounds in my case) is what boost level you'll run. If you want higher boost pressure, you can install a controlled leak in that line, which can be controlled by a solenoid. If you bleed off pressure (say 2psi) to the actuator, it will raise your boost level by 2 psi.



A better way to solve the problem and a way to get faster turbo spool-up is to re-direct some of that turbo pressure to the bottom port of the wastegate actuator. The more pressure that is diverted to the lower chamber, the higher boost pressure you'll run. What is really bad is diverting ALL of the pressure there, so that as boost pressure increases, the wastegate gets pulled shut and can never open. Which is what happens if you connect the hoses wrong.

2) I found a bind in the front suspension. The only bushings in the car that aren't spherical bearings are in the upper control arms. They're offset Delrin bushings in this case, and they were clamped so hard the upper control arms couldn't move. Easy fix. I'm also raising the front and rear about 1/2". This will give more compliance over bumps and it should fix the bottoming out issue.

3) I'm adding a small catch can to the rear diff vent tube, so the fluid has a place to go.

4) I removed the oil pan (annoying, but still easier than on the BMW!) and took it to a buddy. When the baffles and trap doors were welded into the pan, they overheated one of the welds and created a tiny crack. I stress-relieved the crack and had a buddy weld it over with a bead of filler. It shouldn't crack again and that should eliminate my oil leak.

Next event is a test and tune at a much bigger site on Saturday. I should be able to get 20-30 runs at this event and really shake the car down.
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