now i dont even know if she is coming with me to colorado springs... I am still coming, i just hope i dont have to ride alone. she said if i come that i am not allowed to talk about my Evo or any other car for 7 days... i cant even say " i need gas". She thinks that i spend to much time and money on my car... i tell her "I am a mechanic, I want it to last forever, and i spent alot of money on it, so i have to have good up keep on it, plus its Black so i need to wash it a lot cuz black shows dirt. LOL
Anyway i cant wait til friday after work when i can leave. excited to find this missing 60 to 100 HP
Warrtalon? do you have a hoist at your house??? the only reason i ask is because i can do a pressure check on the intercooler system with a hoist but not without one. i had surgury on my stomach not to long ago and cant bend over that well. i do all my pressure checks on my system at the shop that i work at. i am limited to the things i can do. if you dont have a hoist then just let me know so i can pay someone here in sioux city to check my work if i can find someone that knows deffinately what they are doing... i think i am checking it right i just need to know if i am doing it right for sure
Warrtalon,
When Al does the tuning how exactly does he do it? does he have a laptop that he installs in the car and have someone drive the car? does he put it on a dyno? i am just wondering how he will know what my current WHP is and what my WHP is after the tune.
This is goin to be a loooooong drive, but worth it. there is a twin turbo 350Z in sioux city that takes his car to the 1/4 mile track and I want to show him that my Evo keeps it's Pimp hand strong,lol
He connects a bunch of equipment to include wideband o2 (tailpipe), datalogger (OBD-II port), and all his tuning equipment (ecu port), puts the laptop in the front seat, then goes out and does 3rd gear pulls. He stops, reads the logs (boost, afr, timing, G-force, etc), then makes adjustments to the fuel and timing tables accordingly. He also has you change the boost, if necessary.
You'll only know the difference in WHP if you dyno before and after. There will be a dyno on the premises that you can pay to use, but I'll tell you right now that the power will suck, because we lose around 50whp up here due to altitude, so you would only want to look at the before/after changes - not the absolute numbers.
Look at the first post. It names the shop where the tuning is taking place. You wouldn't have heard of them anyway, so I'm not sure why that would be important to you. Is it AWD? Come on, man, what do you think? Of course it's an AWD dyno...I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise. THis is my local sponsor shop where I have my work done and where I dyno.
I don't know what Adam will charge for this purpose - probably get a discount, since it's a special event, and since you need a before/after. You won't be able to dyno that night, because he tries to be respectful to the neighbors by not dyno'ing after 7pm. By law, he can dyno all night long, but there are some not so smart people who actually have houses right in the middle of the heavy industry part of town across the street.
the only reason i asked if it was AWD is because i cant even count how many people use the way Buschur Racing USE TO DO IT with convering it to FWD with a special transfer case. ok well i will jsut have to get dynoed in siox city when i get back, there is a AWD dyno here and they charge $200.00 an hour
You wouldn't pay half that here to dyno. YOu know a lot of people that switch to 2WD? I can't say I've ever met ANYONE who did that. I thought it was extremely rare, because it's such a pain in the butt.
BigD, no, when did you get the idea it was dyno tuning? Al has never done dyno tuning on his tuning trips, and I never mentioned anything about a dyno. RT didn't even have a dyno until recently. There's no way the prices could be that low if it included a dyno, because that would have to be rented separately and tacked on to the price.
Al has been road tuning for 3 years and has done about 3000 flashes, so it's a proven method. It is more accurate than dyno tuning, because it is done where you drive - on the road. On a dyno, you can tune until you get the highest number, but the highest number on a dyno isn't always the best tune on the road. This is especially true with Dynojets, because they are not load-bearing. Yes, the equipment will be on the car and on the highway for quick 3rd gear pulls. The MR makes no difference in terms of what gear to use. No way are we going to 100+ in public. We'll go to around 80 in a 75 zone.
warrtalon,
actually i know quite a few places that change your car to a FWD car, infact i know that 'Induction motor sports' in Omaha, NE was the one that bought the transfer case from Buschur Racing, so that they could convert an Evo to FWD. It is pretty common around the midwest because an AWD dyno is hard to come by... well it was hard to come by until 'Healey Works' here in Sioux City, IA finally got an AWD dyno. here is a picture of my car on 'Healy Works' AWD dyno
Ah, gotcha. The engine tuning arena is a little new to me, I just assumed it was done on a dyno. I've done a few basic bolt-ons and suspension work to previous cars, but I've never been power-hungry enough to go the custom tune route. That makes a lot of sense, seeing as it keeps the cost down and loads the car exactly how it would be loaded during use. I'm getting all antsy in my pantsy.
**ATTENTION ALL DYNOFLASH CUSTOMERS- PLEASE READ BEFORE YOUR TUNING APPOINTMENT**
From Al @ Dynoflash;
"I will be adding to this over the next few days - it will be a long thread to give people some good ideas about what steps they can take to get the most out of a tuning appointment
I want you to be happy and have a enjoyable experience. I also want you to get a very good and safe tune, this is why i work very hard. With some help we can achive a better result, some suggestions:
#1 - Don't bring your pals, crew, boyz or other tuners with you.
You would be suprized how many people like to bring a few guys along with them for the tuning appointments. Some guys bring down aspiring tuners to debate me on how to do my job. I am not there to answer questions of on lookers and engage in small talk - I am there to tune cars. Nothing is more distracting or mentally tiring to me than answering dozens of questions all day for various on lookers who come down to "hang out" when I am trying to tune a car. When I am tuning, I am not there to entertain passerbys or to promote myself. I am there 100% to do the BEST job I possibly can on the car I am tuning at the moment. I am not trying o be rude - I am just fixated on doing the best work I can and mistakes can be costly. I dont like making mistakes so i try and not let myself be dsitracted. I take great care to avoid scratching any evo when I am installing my equipment and it is very distracting to field numerous unrelated questions such as "Which BOV should I run on my SRT-4 ?" While I am trying to install my equipment. Also, the new IX tuning takes almost a full 3 hours per tune. That is a long time to wait. I don't let ANYONE but the car owner in the car with me when I am driving, so PLEASE don't take anyone along with you when you come to the tunning appointment. They may be standing in a parking lot for up to 3 - 4 hours. This way I can lend my 100% full and undivided attention to you and your car and I don't have to waste time and become distracted entertaining "observers." If you want the best job possible - DO NOT - try and make it a social occassion and entertain your pals - come BY yourself and ready to observe and learn something informative about tuning and getting your car to run great.
#2 - Contact me BEFORE your tune to review your mod list and goals. PM or email is the best way - this way we are both on the same page and IF I have any suggestions about parts you have time to add them as you select.
#3 - Make sure your car is working properly - tuning is about adjusting the a/f, boost, ignition timing and other parameters to fine tune and optimize the car - IT IS NOT ABOUT FIXING BROKEN CARS.
Here is a list of some things you must check out BEFORE your tune if you want to have a great result
- Boost leaks - (all cars should be pressure tested before a tune for boost leaks )
- Compression test - a car with a low cyl wont run well - easy to test
- Spark plugs - are they fresh ? I suggest BR7ES for street cars gapped to 25 - 26
- Boost - is the MBC or EBC working properly and does the car hold steady boost ?
- Wastegate actuator - the actuator must be properly installed and adjusted - when we are tuning the car is too hot to work with it - adjustment is the key
- Exhuast leaks - they throw off 02 sesnor readings - fix them
- Oil change, tire pressure, tread on tires ?
- MAGNA CORE SPARK PLUG WIRES SUCk - dont use them - put your stock ones back on
- Lug nuts tight ? (yes I drove one with a wheel falling off) tight suspension ?
- GAS USED - dont get cosco or other cheap low dollar discount fuel to save a few cents. try and select a major national brand and get your fuel from a large station that has a high volume so the tanks may be cleaner. Try to sue the same fuel on your tune as you use every day.
- Clean out loose junk and garbage from interrior - its not safe to tune cars with things flying around - make it easy on myself and you and relocate all loose items to your trunk before the tune
- Clutch - if the clutch is currently slipping - I can not tune it
- Misfire - if the car has an ignition problem such as bad spark plug wire or coil and is breaking up it cant be tuned. I some cases misfires are tuning related and i can fix those but bad ignitions can not be fixed with tuning.
- Alcohol kit - make sure its working and spraying on boost - bring a full tank
Wiring—The engine harness should have NO exposed wires. Also, DO NOT twist and tape wires together. Take the time to solder them! (this includes so called "vampire clips")
Codes—Do not come for an appointment if you a check engine light on.
Battery/Alternator—Make sure they are strong and not failing.
Make sure you have secured your pipes so that they do not blow off at a tuning appointment. If the pipes aren’t blowing off on some of the 600+whp cars that I’m tuning then they shouldn’t on the 250-300whp cars either.
Make sure all of the bolts are tightened, in particular, the exhaust manifold bolts. This is considered an exhaust leak and you will lose power as a result.
Make sure the o2 sensor hole is big enough to fit the common wideband sensors.
Make sure the blow off valve is tight. Do you want it to sound “cool” or work properly?
Be sure to use the proper oil feed and return lines and that they are installed properly.
Turbo shaft play. Don’t expect that you can come to an appointment and make 500hp with a turbo that is shot. Get it rebuilt or buy a new one!
- This should be obvious - dont have any loose nuts or bolts rattling around in your down pipe - if you drop any in there when working on the 02 housing make sure you remove them or they may damage your cat
- Dont T off your fuel pressure regulator line for a boost gauge as if the lines pop off your car will run lean and blow up
#4 - Bring payment with you. You would be suprized how often I have to go about with customers looking for ATM's after a tune when someone else is waiting to get tuned. Hit the ATM on your way down. I dont take personal checks.
#5 - I will NO LONGER TUNE any ecu for a car with any form of boost control EBC opr MBC which does not have a upgraded Walbro 255 LPH fuel pump # 342
#6 - Avoid the so caled "blue death" el cheapo crap ass intake sold by cheap retailers which has the black platic adapter peice from the maf sesnor to the filfer these units are untuneable."
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