Turbo on 2000 Limited 5.0

[ahodges]

you seem to have that fallow you around lots, dont you

lmao

 

[Dono]

you seem to have that fallow you around lots, dont you

Late night typing Tim?

Yes, I could clearly see in the log that James has not started pulling timing in my tune file yet. Since Ive lived so much pain on this, I'm sure he is taking is slow and making one change at a time. I can certainly appreciate that.

So, on the way too work this morning.....check engine light flashes a couple of times and goes out. Hidden codes. P0301 misfire cylinder 1, and P0171 lean bank 1.

So, either:
1: plug 1 has fouled,
2: my spark plug wire ended up leaning on the header and is now toast, or
3: I just didn't seat the boot on to the plug properly.

Im hoping for #3 . I'm sure this will be an easy fix.

 

[4pointslow]

misfire

Oh No! Not again with the misfires.
Hope you get it straightened out quickly.

Tire chirping is awesome, I read it correctly. lol.
Back in the early 90's I used to have a 1979 TransAm that I built a Chevy 350 for. Built it in my kitchen on an engine stand on the linoleum floor. Probably why I am not with the girlfriend I was with back then anymore. LOL.
I used to take the shift accumulator springs out of my transmissions and install shift kits so it would shift fast and hard. First to second would break the tires loose and second to third would chirp pretty good too. I was wondering if I could get the Explorer transmission to shift hard enough to do the same. Probably not with the automatic 4wd transfer case and the weak 5R55E. I didn't know it was possible at all with an explorer till you did it.

 

[ahodges]

Yeah the 4R70W's are pretty easy to get them shift harder. There are a couple schools of thought with that. You can have a trans shift fast but not harsh or you can have fast and harsh. Harsh usually will get the tires and belts to chirp easier. I learned a lot more about the 4R70W then I intended too while building my truck up. I didn't like the shift kit the trans shop put in so I took the valve body apart and modified it myself. 100% better. It just all depends on what you want out of it. Aside from the mechanical parts of the valve body, a lot of the feel to a shift can be changed in the tune with actuation pressures and pressure slopes for the shift. Also, the more power you put to the wheels the softer the shifts will feel, if nothing else was changed in the trans.

 

[Dono]

I pulled #1 lug since that is where the code came up. Wire was on tight, and everything looked good. I pulled the plug. This is what I saw. It had obviously fouled at some point.
I pulled plug #2 and it looks the same.

So, another plug change? Please let the consensus be no......

 

[jd4242]

That looks lean!!! Thought you was running rich? If its detonating alot its probably lean. Maybe you boost gauge is way off.

 

[4pointslow]

resistance check

Do a resistance check on the spark plug, from the end where the wire goes on, to the center electrode. Compare it to another cylinder's spark plug resistance that was not misfiring.
Also resistance check on the spark plug wire to make sure it is not open. Sometimes the end comes off inside the rubber boot that goes on to the spark plug. Or you could swap wires from one cylinder to another to see of the misfire changes cylinders. That would work on the spark plugs too.(swapping).

 

[Dono]

The plugs all look the same.

 

[ahodges]

Looks pretty lean to me. I don't know if detonation makes the coloring look uneven like that or not. Did Tim advise you to stay away from those Canadian wires I bought for mine the first round? I forget the name of the company that makes them but that was a nightmare for my first roundsss of tuning. The spark would come through the side of the wires where ever they were close to something metal.

 

[Dono]

I shot the pic to James along with todays log.
Im sure this is just part of the tuning process.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Did Tim advise you to stay away from those Canadian wires I bought for mine the first round?

those were aurora's. and ya, they are junk. mine didnt even last 100kms (60 miles) before they were misfiring. and try to get them to warranty anything? they will throw every you may have done wrong at you. and when you tell them you did everything they said before it happen, they will still blame you for something so they dont have to warranty them.
i think don has ford motorsport wires on his truck

 

[Dono]

I wonder if Aurora knows this site gets indexed regularly by the google bots? There isn't really any 'glowing' reports on their product here.

On a side note, I have fears creeping up that this turbo is mismatched for my motor.
It boosts, but nothing like it should.
I'll maybe take the serial number off of it and see if turbonetics can tell me anything about it. How do I even know the compressor map I was given was actually from that turbo? nooooo......................

 

[CDW6212R]

those were aurora's. and ya, they are junk. mine didnt even last 100kms (60 miles) before they were misfiring. and try to get them to warranty anything? they will throw every you may have done wrong at you. and when you tell them you did everything they said before it happen, they will still blame you for something so they dont have to warranty them.
i think don has ford motorsport wires on his truck

Have any of you guys with boost run the Magnecor wires yet? I was the first to get them about 7 years ago, and I think they should be the top dog to survive this usage.

 

[jd4242]

Have any of you guys with boost run the Magnecor wires yet? I was the first to get them about 7 years ago, and I think they should be the top dog to survive this usage.

Ive ran them for about 5 years..nice wires but think they are over priced.

 

[Dono]

So, I have found the issue with my low boost.

The turbo was kinda misrepresented.
I was told it had a .68 turbine housing (fast spool), but....

After calling Turbonetics with the serial number I find out it has a .96 Turbine housing.
This explains my spool time issues.

So, now I need to find a Turbonetics dealer and get a new housing to swap out.
I'm just glad to find the issue with spool!

Turbonetics tech support is fantastic btw. They ran my turbo serial number and told me the issue immediately.

 

[jd4242]

That sucks..any way the blades could have been changed or anything? Dont really know how turbos work..lol guess if your looking for a new one then the blades or performance of it cant be changed.

So will everything work with the new housing/turbo?will this effect what tuning has been done?

 

[Dono]

It will affect tuning somewhat, Im not sure how the maf add counts will relate to load with boost coming on sooner.

The housing really just has a smaller hole for the exhaust to go thru. This makes the exhaust turbine wheel spool up faster. The down side is that if you go too small you really start to choke your exhaust with back pressure at higher rpm's. The new housing should be the right size for my stock motor.

The nice thing is that I can change the housing on one side of the turbo without replacing the whole unit. No down time.

I'll let James know whats happening. Its probably better to just stop the tuning process till I get this changed. No point in wasting his time.

 

[Dono]

ok, while I wait for the new turbine I've logged some miles.
As soon as I new I'd need the new turbine I let James know so I wouldn't be wasting his time on any further tuning.

My gas mileage is up at least 10%. In the city I'm about 17mpg. I'm betting that was the tuning James was doing to try to build boost sooner. Turbo guys seem to all say to build boost faster you usually want to go a bit lean and add timing down low.

My catch can setup might require work, as we thought. The breather tube being right next to the return oil from the turbo might be a problem. The breather hose coming out of the fill neck had fallen down, and the catch can filled with oil. I changed the hose off the fill neck for a longer one that wont fall down, and I'll see if that helps. I really don't want to be pulling valve covers and punching holes in them if I can help it.

The truck feels good and pulls strong as it sits now. Its nice and quiet on the highway without that drone I was living with even before the headers. Between the turbo quieting the exhaust and fixing that header leak, this made the truck much more pleasurable to drive.

Im really looking forward to that new turbine housing.

 

[4pointslow]

Turbo

Thanks for the Update, All these cool things being done to explorers is like a mini series on TV to me. I find myself checking my email for the next episode. If there is no new posts I feel like something is missing.

Any Idea how much the turbine housing will cost? Or how long it will take before you can get it in your hands?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

also, spark plug wire ends came today