Precious got a supercharger

[ChrisB]

HAPPY >>> <<< HAPPY

 

I've been testing, and it seems that installing the CJ Stage 2 FRS has done the trick and got rid of the nasty looking fan-tails in the fuel pressure graphs. Flow, delivery and pressure is now nicely stable

 

Nerd mode on..

 

See here http://www.350z-uk.c...00#entry1466871 and here http://www.350z-uk.c...00#entry1468630 for how rough it used to be with the OEM fuel supply and AAM basic return

 

Firstly, setting up the base pressure via the Fuel labs valve's adjustment screw, using the fuel pump circuit bypass switch, engine off, and reading the pressure via the digital mini-display, I chose 50.0 psi as centre at atmospheric

 

 

Drive home today had a good linear MAP to Fuel pressure relationship. This had the full set of stuck in traffic, cruising, booting it etc

 

 

MAP vs average AFR (both banks) looked like this. You get a high AFR only on lifting off the pedal and coasting - so at low MAP. Normally we're in closed loop, just around 14.2-14.7 AFR, then mildly boosted only appears top left. You get blips of low AFR on gear change etc - accounting for the filling in the lower left segment

 

 

Time for a bit of fun with a low gear blast. About 7psi above atmospheric is reached here - can't go too mad on the road (my car made 9.63 psi when we dyno'd)

 

Fuel pressure vs MAP for this burst (including normal driving either side) - good and linear extended into boost. Absolutely no nasty drop outs or spikes - damping and flow must be perfect

 

 

Here the graphs are zoomed in with high rate logging for the sprint duration. Black is fuel pressure (red is a moving average of that), green is MAP, magenta is average AFR

 

 

Average AFR shows quite a drop to below 10 and staying there.. previously, we drifted up to between 12-13 during a longish blast as I suspect the OEM pipes and rails and basic FRS couldn't keep supply going - and lean at high load could of led to det ! Sorted..

 

 

Both sides AFRs are equal too - excellent - both banks are performing together, all the way down AFR

 

 

This time MAP vs average AFR shows log points in the top left corner - increasingly as the AFR floor is reached

 

 

There you have it. Although the basic FRS do work a bit, it's better to spend a bit extra on a Stage 1 or even architecturally better Stage 2 and rip out the whole OEM system (especially when using big injectors) for smoother engine fuelling and a safer system. The car feels more epic and snappier on the throttle too.

 

Oh and the SuperPro bushes with enhanced caster seem great too. Feel and stability does seem to be improved, although I need to get a proper alignment before too long. I probably need a trip to Abbey to retrim my injector values at some point too now that there is all this extra petrol coursing its way through.. sub 10 AFR is way too rich

 

Jobs a good-un Time for

Edited July 10, 2015 by ChrisB

[Adrian@TORQEN]

Just caught up with the whole drama! :lol: OMG, OMG, doesn't fit, doesn't fit, what to do?!!

 

Nice write up, goes to show that "you don't need a fuel return system with FI" bwhaha! NOT!

 

Why don't you buy an UpRev tuner cable and you can play with the UpRev and injector latency times as much as you want

[ChrisB]

Just caught up with the whole drama! :lol: OMG, OMG, doesn't fit, doesn't fit, what to do?!!

 

Nice write up, goes to show that "you don't need a fuel return system with FI" bwhaha! NOT!

 

Why don't you buy an UpRev tuner cable and you can play with the UpRev and injector latency times as much as you want

 

gotta have drama

 

I agree, you definitely need a FRS (even a basic one is limited) - and it's not surprising that the OEM system is overwhelmed - why wouldn't be? - the pipes are tiny and the kink between the rails is even smaller

 

I do actually already own an UpRev Tuner cable ..just slightly to use ROM editor. I've only been brave enough to use Cipher so far Tempting though...

[Adrian@TORQEN]

Do you have your ROM file? If not ask for it so you can edit it as you want, just to tweak 1-2 parameters on the injector as you need

[ChrisB]

Yep - I have initial and final maps saved on my Mac Book Pro. I suppose attempting a few duty adjustments to injectors can't hurt - I think I will steer clear of anything (potentially damaging) timing though. Only issue is that my dual AFR logging is not currently synchronised to UpRev Tuner. Road test could replace dyno - similar to UpRev eTune techniques. I will investigate

[ChrisB]

Greetings car nerds. I've got a mini update on an eTuning process that I've been doing with Abbey. I prefer to rest on Mark's extensive tuning experience for the actual map/calibration modification, but in order for him to effect changes, he needs good data.

 

But first, back to where this story starts..

 

Original Problem

 

I noticed loss of fuel pressure (black line below) at high load (it was also very bumpy).

Maybe it was an installation fault (O rings - I did change 'em twice), or a weakness in the old FRS design, or perhaps a weird fuel valve behaviour (cold starting was sluggish) plus running with restrictions in the OEM rails and lines, or a combination of all - but what was clear was a very turbulent fuel delivery as fuel pressure randomly, suddenly, dropped out and recovered when it was really needed when boosting (green line).

AFR (magenta line) was previously corrected as best as possible in mapping.

 

 

Not happy

 

 

Step forward the CJ Motorsports Stage 2 FRS.

If any thing can give good fuel feed, this is it, so I chucked my toys out and ripped the old fuel system out root and branch all the way back to inside the tank. Unfortunately a fix to hardware mucks up the compatibility with the tune as previously the weird fuel supply was mapped out as far as possible to give good dyno. We thought fuelling was iffy at the time, but now it's fixed, there is waaay more petrol supply.

Adding the new FRS initially made high demand AFR very rich but does give a nice smooth fuel delivery..

 

Happy

 

 

 

The eTune process

 

JDM's have a AFR logging limitation. This is because the AFR sensor 1 are narrow band which means they only give rich or lean signals balanced on a knife edge around the stoichiometric 14.7 AFR.

This is fine for closed loop operation (cruising along or light load) correcting the mixture in realtime, but whenever acceleration is required, the ECM jumps to open loop and sends injector pulses based only on the map in the ECM ROM, ignoring the narrow AF signals. Since we are tuning it, we want to squirt petrol to match the air/fuel target map on acceleration - which takes into account parameters for MAF, IAT, throttle etc in order to set throttle, ignition and cam timing, injector duty etc.

This means third party widebands are required. I use a pair of Zeitronix ZT-3 for this.

 

UpRev ROM editor can log directly from Innovate LM but Zeitronix didn't give UpRev a free AFR device allegedly, so it's not directly supported! Why not use Innovate? I'd heard from the internet that early LM devices were a bit cack (later ones are great) and Zeitronix were cool - so here we are.

 

Why not just spend money on an OBD dongle instead of building a logger? UpRev can read 'Nissan proprietary' protocols directly for faster logging than OBD interfaces allegedly. OBD II on JDM is JOBD flavoured, so protocol timings, command codes and responses are opaquely different to the readily available OBDII information on the internet - although this appears to be changing as some wifi/bt dongles and apps like Torque seem to know some JOBD now when they are told to scan for JOBD protocol. I don't have an Android device or fancy buying things at random though.

And besides, the missing parameters of wideband AFR and fuel pressure aren't available to the ECM anyway, meaning I'd still need a stand alone logger.

 

Logger systems

 

Hardware from a summary point of view is connected like this

 

 

And for software nerds, here is a kind of class hierarchy and module map. Perl, C++ and R all have parts in the architecture..

 

 

Logging field work

 

The process is pretty much flash-test-log-adjust-repeat. On a finer detail it is

 

-> Receive ROM via email from Abbey

-> Flash with Osiris

-> Drive to test site (warm up car)

-> Clear learned fuel trims (actually this seems to make no difference open loop) using Cipher

-> Start ROM editor logging + internal logging

-> Road tests WOTs in third gear - dash between parking places

-> Save logs, return home

-> Prepare and convert logs

-> Dropbox + email findings

-> Repeat

 

Certain logs are required, and I've been recording all these (some aren't that useful, some are raw ADC values, some are duplicates - but I wasn't sure which were which in UpRev logs originally ):

 

Time,

A/F CORR-B1 (%),

A/F CORR-B2 (%),

Base Fuel Schedule,

B-FUEL SCHDL (ms),

COOLANT TEMP,

Engine Speed,

ENGINE RPM (rpm),

Fuel Compensation X Trace,

Fuel Target X Trace,

Fuel Target Y Trace,

HI DET,

IGN TIMING (BTDC),

INJ DUTY (%),

INJ PULSE-B1 (ms),

INJ PULSE-B2 (ms),

INTAKE AIR TMP,

Intake Cam VQ Y Trace,

INTK CAM TIM-B1 (Deg CA),

INTK CAM TIM-B2 (Deg CA),

INTK CAM SOL-B1 (%),

INTK CAM SOL-B2 (%),

KNOCK STRENGTH,

LT Fuel Trim B1 (%),

LT Fuel Trim B2 (%),

MAS A/F -B1 (V),

TARGET AFR,

Throttle Y Trace,

VEHICLE SPEED,

Millis,

Elapsed,

OilV,

Oil C,

CoolV,

Cool C,

MAPV,

MAP psi,

MAP trig,

IATV,

IAT C,

AFR1V,

AFR1 n,

AFR2V,

AFR2 n,

FuelV,

Fuel psi,

Fuel trig

 

 

As long as Time is the first column, Cipher (or ECUTek) can open and graph the CSV for interactive viewing. I generate my static graphs from slicing out features in the logs that are interesting (ie the WOTs) and plotting these with the application software I wrote. Matching up the Time and Millis fields with an offset value means I can merge the two sets of logging files side by side to get a single unified log file, as they both timestamp at millisecond rates although to find the synchronising point to determine the offset is slightly tedious as it requires inspection of the log file by hand.

Zeitronix is capable of updates at 64Hz and my logger samples near 100Hz and stores values up to 40Hz in high rate logging (with occasional pauses for display updates every 1/2 sec), whereas the UpRev logging is more approximate with variably 10-20Hz.

To keep file sizes in check, I have a reduced rate logging mode when off boost of about 10Hz.

 

Results

 

Max power is at AFR about 12:1 and peak pressure timing 12-15º after top dead centre. Supercharging means the cylinder charge is extra compressed and contains more molecules - which burns stronger and faster. High octane fuel is even more vital now as this helps prevent the mixture exploding before it is supposed to. A smooth steady burn with a smooth flame front after the spark fires is what is desired - anything else is the infamous knock / detonation condition which is either spontaneous combustion (usually caused if the mixture is lean and hot) or ignition from hot spots causing colliding flame fronts and excessive pressure, incorrectly timed.

In a really bad case, peak pressure could occur before TDC, so banging the rising piston and rods, or piston holes from hot spots

Cars have knock sensors built in, and the VQ35DE is no different. So far, UpRev logging has not seen a single knock event - I hope the sensor actually works

 

Here is a general idea from the internet

 

 

Careful timing of cams and ignition in a map established on the first dyno takes care of this and stops the engine exploding. For cylinder cooling, a richer value slightly under 12 is better - but much lower than that and it's bad news as rich burn becomes sooty and slow burning, losing power by missing the pressure sweet spot.

The timing map in UpRev is actually a fuel burn time (not direct BTDC angle) and the dyno'd one is still fine for purpose, as are the Abbey fuel targets and cam maps.

So that the engine matches these targets, Mark tunes the MAF calibration, which by proportion of the K multiplier gives the basic fuel schedule (BFS). This is the reference for pulse values under current conditions and asthe inputs change, the BFS value for that condition is selected and converted into actual pulse times.

Both the Intake Air Temp sensors are in the correct place with the MAF after the S/C, so measure the temp of the air actually going into the engine for a correct, mapped, air mass calculation - the S/C compression heats air as a byproduct of physical gas laws.

 

All this data means 21 different plots are now created per log set. It would be far too nerdy to post a complete set here - so just a choice few follow.

 

Whole trip repeatability of AFR vs MAP can be seen here - note the AFR lean kick just boost comes on - that needs to go

 

 

And from the combination data, parameters rebased against RPM for a single WOT slice

 

 

Concluding comments

 

By eTuning, it's a lot better and safer for use now until dyno running within a controlled environment is bookable, (dyno runs would also quantify the effect of changes on power - otherwise it's butt dyno and looking at the slope of the RPM vs time graph). Real time tuning is possible with my version of the JDM ECM - which is impossible on the road for obvious reasons without a co-pilot, but can be done on the dyno for instant feedback.

 

Given the ease of visualisations I'm rather tempted to try minor tweaks myself in the future should I want to do things like change fuel pressure for some reason, and maybe attempt to copy and tweak other maps.

The big unknown at the moment is understanding what is the correct safe profiles to expect - which is what the pro-tuners like Mark understand through years of practice. Cause and effect through changing tables and parameters is easy to see, but I need to properly understand what I'm aiming at.

 

Having said that, she's running so well now, I'm not even sure I need a trip to dyno There are some minor wrinkles at both ends in it still - more tweaks and more tests are required to home in on perfection, but as long as I don't change the basic maps, just the sensor calibrations, I reckon it's do-able. There is a bit of lean low RPMs, enrichment delay and too rich high RPMs in there still.

 

Another possibility could be something simple like valet mode fuel cut on speed or revs if I wanted to nobble the car for an extended period. We are thinking of exporting ourselves to Australia one day, which means a long ferry ride for the cars.

I quite fancy simulating the cruise control inputs for map switching (my car does not have cruise control - don't want it either) - map selection is then only a few button signals to the ECM and ties to 12V.

 

This shows eTuning and logging is a good way to tweek problems out at lower cost, and with built in logging, set up a low hassle monitoring system for everyday use.

ECM flash memory should be good for hundreds of re-programming cycles, so I'm not too worried about memory burn out. The UpRev tuning guide has been fairly informative too.

 

Epic journey

 

Shameless plugs:

 

http://www.350z-uk.c...r-and-standard/

http://cj-motorsport...l-system-vq35de

http://uprev.com/sec...nt/osiris-tuner

Edited August 8, 2015 by ChrisB

[andybp]

You really are a nerd, you make me feel quite normal thanks Chris

good work lots of good info for us nerds

[ChrisB]

Can't have too much data in life

[ChrisB]

Gidday mates,

 

It's been a while, but I've been out DIY tuning with UpRev Osiris Tuner, then testing, and repeating.., and can report a huge improvement on AFR to target tracking - fueling is much much better now. Basically, I've been using the original dyno derived (and eTune tweeked) ROMs as a starting point then logging and tuning the WOT part of the MAF calibration to affect injector duty cycle (leaving timing maps and everything else except a couple of minor things, constant).

 

The process of tuning on road is a bit of a slow to perfect but exciting one - WOTs in 3rd gear (didn't spin out, crash or blow my engine up ever ) - although you'll note a lowered red line to keep speeds half sensible

 

Compare the graph below with the AFR av, Target vs RPM graph from eTune3 above a couple of posts back.. AFR is LOADS closer to the Target line now..

 

 

There is a sudden drop in AFR at the upper end still, which I think is due to the massive 134% values in the ROM's existing Fuel Compensation map, which I may lower a bit later, but the accuracy is far better now

 

 

The middle squiggly line in the above graph is the difference in AFR between the AFR and Target - it is now less than ±1 (see the right hand axis scale -2,-1,0,1,2) and generally within ±0.2 AFR. Ignore the low rpm wobble - thats just the change after suddenly standing on the throttle (and the effects of the violent switch to open loop and the sudden large cam advance I think). The high RPM dip maybe the compensation thing I just mentioned, but basically tracks target all the way. The cal lines are the various tuning attempts (including eTunes) - I've taken best bits from all and combined them to now be running the black line.

 

Next thing is to adjust compensation then fiddle the K multiplier (and re-do the MAF cal) to stretch the MAF data into a more sensible range (the MAF ADC is 16bit - remodelling means cal is using only the first approx 40k out of 64k, so I should stretch that out again). MAF cal adjustments are really subtle in places - so taking a numerical approach (I'll spare everyone the nerdy process details) has made this a lot easier than simply moving lines by hand in the ROM editor tool

 

Car is flyin'

[andybp]

Gidday mates,

 

It's been a while, but I've been out DIY tuning with UpRev Osiris Tuner, then testing, and repeating.., and can report a huge improvement on AFR to target tracking - fueling is much much better now. Basically, I've been using the original dyno derived (and eTune tweeked) ROMs as a starting point then logging and tuning the WOT part of the MAF calibration to affect injector duty cycle (leaving timing maps and everything else except a couple of minor things, constant).

 

The process of tuning on road is a bit of a slow to perfect but exciting one - WOTs in 3rd gear (didn't spin out, crash or blow my engine up ever ) - although you'll note a lowered red line to keep speeds half sensible

 

Compare the graph below with the AFR av, Target vs RPM graph from eTune3 above a couple of posts back.. AFR is LOADS closer to the Target line now..

 

 

There is a sudden drop in AFR at the upper end still, which I think is due to the massive 134% values in the ROM's existing Fuel Compensation map, which I may lower a bit later, but the accuracy is far better now

 

 

The middle squiggly line in the above graph is the difference in AFR between the AFR and Target - it is now less than ±1 (see the right hand axis scale -2,-1,0,1,2) and generally within ±0.2 AFR. Ignore the low rpm wobble - thats just the change after suddenly standing on the throttle (and the effects of the violent switch to open loop and the sudden large cam advance I think). The high RPM dip maybe the compensation thing I just mentioned, but basically tracks target all the way. The cal lines are the various tuning attempts (including eTunes) - I've taken best bits from all and combined them to now be running the black line.

 

Next thing is to adjust compensation then fiddle the K multiplier (and re-do the MAF cal) to stretch the MAF data into a more sensible range (the MAF ADC is 16bit - remodelling means cal is using only the first approx 40k out of 64k, so I should stretch that out again). MAF cal adjustments are really subtle in places - so taking a numerical approach (I'll spare everyone the nerdy process details) has made this a lot easier than simply moving lines by hand in the ROM editor tool

 

Car is flyin'

Chris your knowledge and nerdiness and attention to detail never cease to amaze me I have to read some of your posts 3 or 4 times before I have any idea what you're talking about but usually I come away somewhat wiser

[ChrisB]

...

 

Chris your knowledge and nerdiness and attention to detail never cease to amaze me I have to read some of your posts 3 or 4 times before I have any idea what you're talking about but usually I come away somewhat wiser

 

 

It's OK, it's only what the voices in my head tell me to write I was going to write about the detail of data collection and interpretation, but I didn't want to send any readers to sleep (even more than normal)

 

UpRev Tuning Guide pdf is a good starter for basic tuning (with UpRev) if you fancy it

 

http://uprev.com/Upd...uning Guide.pdf

 

Edit: linky ^^

Edited August 30, 2015 by ChrisB

[andybp]

...

 

Chris your knowledge and nerdiness and attention to detail never cease to amaze me I have to read some of your posts 3 or 4 times before I have any idea what you're talking about but usually I come away somewhat wiser

 

 

It's OK, it's only what the voices in my head tell me to write I was going to write about the detail of data collection and interpretation, but I didn't want to send any readers to sleep (even more than normal)

 

UpRev Tuning Guide pdf is a good starter for basic tuning (with UpRev) if you fancy it

 

http://uprev.com/Upd...uning Guide.pdf

 

Edit: linky ^^

Thx Chris just dropped that onto my kindle for a bit of light reading

[Mark@Abbey m/s]

Chris,

 

always good to see someone getting stuck in;

 

a few pointers

 

1, the K multiplier is a global adjustment. so if the car is rich/lean through out you can use this quickly to adjust the calibration file.

 

2, when adjusting the air flow meter curve you adjust the load , reducing the the AFM curve will lean the fueling out but will also cause the cal file to run lowers own the igntion map so running more timing be careful with detonation;

 

3, the compensation map is a fine tune trim map for fueling good to use to trim fueling after building a good AFM curve.

 

4, you can also use the AFR layout map to adjust fueling once you have calibrated your AFM curve/compensation maps to the AFR layout map you can then change the AFR layout map to lean or richen the fueling. This is good for trying different AFR's under full load for performance gains while on the dyno.

 

 

Good luck

[ChrisB]

Chris,

 

always good to see someone getting stuck in;

 

a few pointers

 

1, the K multiplier is a global adjustment. so if the car is rich/lean through out you can use this quickly to adjust the calibration file.

 

2, when adjusting the air flow meter curve you adjust the load , reducing the the AFM curve will lean the fueling out but will also cause the cal file to run lowers own the igntion map so running more timing be careful with detonation;

 

3, the compensation map is a fine tune trim map for fueling good to use to trim fueling after building a good AFM curve.

 

4, you can also use the AFR layout map to adjust fueling once you have calibrated your AFM curve/compensation maps to the AFR layout map you can then change the AFR layout map to lean or richen the fueling. This is good for trying different AFR's under full load for performance gains while on the dyno.

 

 

Good luck

 

Hi Mark - thanks for commenting

 

1 - yep the K multiplier applies a factor to all the cal data values - so pushing the whole cal range up or down in the ECM's MAF ADC space. BFS is proportional to MAF times K.

 

2 - BFS is lowered at a given MAF voltage when lowering the cal data values - and as timing is dependant on BFS, yep, the timing tables will be indexed at lower BFS points for a given MAF voltage. The ignition timing map is 52 across a large range of BFS 9.72 and above at 4800 rpm and above. Might be an idea to knock it down to 51 at higher rpm if it appears to start knocking - although the knock data line hasn't produced any flags yet. I am thinking of developing a knock listener (I remember you said the Nissan sensor isn't the most sensitive thing in the world) with high impedance amplified coupling and some DSP filtering to band pass around 6.5KHz (TBD) or there abouts to simply interrupt my logger and flash a big LED every-time a knock event might happen.

 

It's going through the timing maps like this at the moment (ignition still creeping up at the high rpm end and not getting pulled back).

 

 

3 - excellent, I will feel safe chipping a bit off the high end of the fuel compensation map which changes up very suddenly at high load/rpm. Should fix the AFR dive at high rpm.

 

4 - I'm sticking with your targets at the moment - they look pretty fine to me I think I'd need to be borrowing your dyno before fiddling with those

 

Great fun all this. I keep explaining to the wife's female friends that modding sports cars not a mid life crisis - it's the ultimate man project as there are so many fun and interesting engineering parts to cars. And we all like going faster.

 

[andybp]

Chris the last update was august whats going on I need my Nerd fix

Edited January 23, 2016 by andybp

[ChrisB]

Precious is running great

 

I've just bought some carlab rear leds to go on at some point, I'm going to do a small re-wire with some switched relays to make my fuel relay bypass circuit and logging display system independant, plus I've got a dashcam to go in. Mini jobs.

 

Then I was going to finally fit the V2 front bumper that has been sitting in my garage for about 2 years, and think about getting the abortion of my front end paint work fixed by having the car wrapped.

 

...that was until the Aussie wife got properly homesick. She is about to apply for a job in snake/croc infested Townsville. I cannot import a post 1989 Modified Zed into Australia by any sensible means possible it seems. The only option is to strip her and build another Zed over there.. assuming we actually go of course.

 

So yeah, car nerd doldrums at the moment

 

How is your build going these days?

 

[andybp]

My missus lived in Australia until she was 6 we got married over there as we were considering emigrating

The idea of starting over again (with the Z ) is always appealing all of those things you'd do differently but as you say it's not a done deal let's see what happens

as for my build i have too many irons in the fire I have managed to get my CNC lathe back together which i need to do the CNC conversion on my new milling machine so i can make the parts for the fuel system upgrade

I'm stuck at the moment waiting for my Z Axis ballscrew to arrive most of the rest of the conversion is done just need to build a PC and throw it in a box with the controller and a PSU and I can get on

[ChrisB]

Whoops.. did I say applied.. I meant accepted the job

 

Times are a changing then. I'm on board with the idea to a certain extent - although tropical N Queensland (25C at night, 35C day with 100% humidity) in cyclone season is not appealing!

 

We've had a couple of holidays visiting her crazy rellies and a couple of road trips in New South Wales previously and they were great - so I'd prefer 1000 miles south of Townsville personally I even took my rig with me and got in a couple skydives a few years back (whilst trying to escape a cyclone again) ....But needs must... Unless it results in the D word, I have to give her 6 months out there on her own to settle in (and find out if living/working back there really is the right move) wait for an old dog to cark it, then sacrifice my funky job, sell the house, ship the remaining animals and contents over after stripping precious (still got all my OEM stuff), then emigrate and live like an unemployed pet on a spouse visa surrounded by boxes of car parts for a while... First world problems a-plenty

 

Zed scene seems fairly keen in Oz though - which is great - even a few FI 350 there too. Seems that you can modify cars out there but not import them modified. They also draw lines at cars you could already buy in Oz - like 350s and I don't qualify for personal import status so that screws that. Import taxation and their SVA equivalent on a vehicle is a complete rip-off, but it looks like I can ship used parts based on scrap value.

 

We got married in the Seychelles in 2004. I assume that we are legal in Oz - that could be a surprise if not

 

Good luck with the CNC I've got the AAM stage 0 sitting in a box if you wanted a frs immediately

[ChrisB]

Sigh. It's always the simplest things that spiral into madness.

 

It's been pretty quiet on the car front since I permanently broke my knee ligament in March, so I thought I'd do a quick service to loosen/tighten the belts and check that all the pulleys go round without resistance, top ups, catch can drain and engine oil change, having changed the supercharger oil a few months back. Nice day (absolutely stonking summer BTW)..

 

So off with the magic cover (Dynax looks so grubby in photos, but at least it's doing it's job)

 

 

to reveal the magic catch can

 

 

in which the bronze filter is still fresh as daisy - and its been over 15K since I fitted,

 

 

and the can still really works - lots of goo in it

 

 

I drained the oil and changed filter, and then checked my oil cooler hoses for any damage.. whoops.. rubbage

 

 

so I padded that and made it snug (this particular packaging foam is made from magic plastic it would appear - seems not to melt and is really abrasion resistant)

 

 

...which brings me to the crimp in this little tale. Seems the metal in my Mishimoto magnetic sump drain plug is made from something other than real metal. I am in no way ham-fisted, but the slightest of tightening resulted in... noooo...

 

 

Ugh-oh..

 

 

Well I can't just screw a sump plug in behind it, and I can't access it to turn it, and drilling would result in spinning it through into the sump - plus a load of drilling gunk in the sump - really don't want that

 

So, off with her ..sump

 

long sockets engaged

 

 

Clarkson tool activated (hammers required )

 

 

..and (after emptying and wiping clean)..

 

 

Bar steward

 

 

Months later with the gasket scraper and de-greaser (on the pan)

 

 

Oem sump plug back in, loads of Permatex get-everywhere-gooby stuff.. in hindsight, it wasn't a good idea to squish it but I've lost my applicator honest guv..

 

 

..and back on with bolts finger tight, wait for an hour then nip up 1/2 turn. Need to wait 24h for it to properly set now before putting oil in.

 

 

Mmmm.. ice cold cider

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by ChrisB

[GMballistic]

Great stuff Chris & good to see you got the sump plug out.

 

Definitely worth a complaint to Mishimoto imo. What a PITA.

 

Anyway hope you're doing well.

[ChrisB]

Cheers Gareth. I know, lol.. the plug literally crumbled. I've changed oil a few times with it before, so no idea if the aluminium has heat cycle aged somehow. Seriously, too weak.

[andybp]

Good work as always Chris even if you didn't plan on it

[ChrisB]

[GMballistic]

I've had a few magnetic sump plugs before and so have a few of my friends on their cars, ...never seen that happen before.

[andybp]

Chris I'm going to buy you some decent gloves for Christmas you know you're supposed to keep your hands in them right ?