Binary EVO – Motor Build part 4, start-up and then fixing stuff.
In the immortal word of Leroy Jenkins…. “Let’s do this”. Time to start the motor.
Engine build and start-up from Jared Drinkwater on Vimeo.
It had a good idle when it was cold, but once warmed up it would die. My first trip was across town to go hang out at a local dyno day, I think it died 3 times on the way there. But JohnBradley helped me with some idle setting in the stepper lookup table and idle control valve and now the car is idling great again – it hasn’t died or come close.
I’ve got 20 miles on it so I’ll change the oil. I plan on following the AMS new engine oil changing plan of 20, 500, 1500.
I’ve got some little exhaust rattles and shakes, I’m going to try and sort those out.
I’ve also got the “Knock CEL” mod on my ECU and am getting knock, real or false, in the 3K RPM range at part throttle, which is the only throttle it has seen so far. I did some logs yesterday I just need to go and review them now.
I’ll keep the thread updated as I go through break-in and get started with real tuning and then a few dyno pulls, it’s nice to have the dyno 5 mins away.
Changed the oil after 25 miles, it was clean as a whistle – no metal to be found.
I’m going to put some more miles on it and do some work to try and understand the 3K RPM knock I’m seeing. Pretty sure it’s false knock. I’m going to build an electronic “det can” system to record the audio from the engine unto my computer to review with datalog files.
Anyone who does not look in the ECUflash area doesn’t know about all the cool stuff that is being worked on for the stock ECU. The understanding of Stock ECU Knock control made a major break through today. It’s looking like all the guys with built motors seeing false knock are going to be able to re-characterize their baseline engine noise. That will allow for the knock control to be valid again and offer protection in all the RPM ranges and loads even with a no balance shaft built motor. I’ll be working on using some of these new maps very soon…
Big CRAPPY discovery today. I’m leaking coolant. After looking around I’ve come to the conclusion that it is the threaded plug that is hidden on the end of the block where the transmission mounts. Great…
I was a little worried about it when I put it in, the allen key was a little worn and it made getting it really tight a bit of a problem.
So now it looks like I’ll have to remove the transmission, clutch and flywheel to fix this. I’m bitter.
I’ve checked every other coolant fitting and plug. It’s pretty clear as all the coolant drops are hanging from the bottom of the transmission/engine joint and there is coolant present on the little metal dust shield at the bottom of the tranny.
I’m going to keep playing with ECU stuff and the false knock until Christmas break when I have 2 weeks off. I’ll pull the transmission then and fix the leak. So I won’t be doing any real driving until after I fix the leak.
False Knock = Dominated.
The Stock ECU has always been much more sophisticated than the aftermarket ones as OEM’s have MUCH larger budgets for development. And now some of the software engineer guys are really unlocking the more advanced stuff inside the stock ECU; from gear dependent 3D boost control, multiple tuning maps, full control of OBDII test functions and error codes (turning them off for good), and now being able to adjust/tune an extremely complex knock control system.
The Knock Control maps that were found last week have fixed my false knock as well as some others who have been plagued by it.
EcuFlash area of the forum {thumbup} {thumbup} :thumbup: :thumbup: {thumbup} {thumbup}
I drove the car to work today, so it will see 100 miles of highway/city driving.
Man, the thing is running awesome, I wish I didn’t have to rip into it to fix this coolant leak. It drives and idles SO nice, the help JohnBradley gave me with the idle settings really got it to purr like a naughty kitten.
I made some small acceleration pulls on the on-ramps and such and it’s building boost fast. My manual boost controller isn’t able to get it lower than 20 psi so I’m going to hook it straight to the pressure source and run off the wastegate spring, which I believe is 15 psi with the 2 springs I have in it.
So I’ve decided that I want to break the engine in with about 5 psi of boost available and that’s it. The guys at Wiseco recommended .0025″ piston to wall clearance with a typical low boost break in. They said to use .0035″ for a high-boost break in. Mine is .0025″ as stated earlier in this thread.
I had a red and yellow spring in place that combined created around 16 psi, yet running through my boost controller seemed to be around 20 psi on the couple dips of throttle I gave it on the freeway. So I’m taking out the large yellow spring which is a 10 lb spring and just running the small red one, which should net 5-6psi.
The car is running good with the 6 psi boost limit. Made a couple rips up to about 5K RPM at WOT on a few on ramps. AFR’s are mid 11’s, timing is pretty low, no knock so things look good to use this as my break-in tune.
I built a catch can for the car today.
The “lid” has a baffle around the breather tube so it doesn’t have a direct line for oil to escape under pressure.
Now I need to find a good place to mount it in the engine bay.
I got the new plug to fix the coolant leak {thumbup} – now I just need a few days to take the transmission out {thumbdwn}
I also got a JDM :mitsu: 3 Bar MAP sensor so I can log boost via the stock ECU in Evoscan or Logworks. This will also let me use the stock ECU to control boost based directly off PSI targets. So I will be able to generate a desired boost curve of any shape, and the stock ECU will get it done. So that should be a nice upgrade from a manual boost controller – and makes aftermarket electronic ones trival. If you haven’t heard me say it yet…. the guys in the ECUflash area of the forum dominate. Most of the boost control work has been done by mrfred {thumbup}
I’ve got a bunch of stuff taken back off and am hoping to pull the tranny today. I’m less than motivated though… Must go skiing………
The tranny is out and now I just need to remove the clutch and flywheel and replace the leaking plug. I’ll load some pics later.
You should be OK. The only reason mine leaks is that it was removed by the machine shop that bored and faced the block and they stripped the allen head a little. When I put it back in I don’t think I got it tight enough. There’s a small chance it’s the freeze plug on the end of the block, but i won’t know for sure until I remove the clutch and flywheel.
I removed the tranny on New Years Eve, and it’s just been sitting waiting for me to finish. Here are a few pics from pulling out the tranny. I’ll snap some of the leaky area when I get there.
Good times 
.
I finally took the clutch and flywheel out to look at my “leaky” plug… It wasn’t leaking {thumbdwn}
Turns out it was the freeze plug on the end of the block, which is accessible without removing the tranny. This was the hardest plug to remove by far; back when I was working on the block a few months ago. The passage behind it is not very deep, so you can’t spin the plug to remove it like the others. I ended up having to pry on it from the deck surface along with other prying moves, it was a bear. Some of that work may have slightly damaged the sealing surface – thus my current leak.
So I wasn’t going to try and remove it again, especially with the head blocking the passage which allowed me to remove it originally. So I drove it in a little deeper, cleaned it with acetone, and put JB weld around the joint. Hopefully it works {pcfreak}:crap::crap:{pcfreak}
Now I need to put the transmission back in and get it back on the road for more break in miles. That was a lame detour.
Transmission and transfercase are back in place – that was a beast. Getting the transmission in with the subframe in place is hard. It took a couple hours and alot of hmmmm, lets try it this way, or maybe that way.
Looking to be back on the road today.
