Phoenix from the flames - Porsche Boxster with an Audi 2.7T
Discussion
I've had a look through the link, it largely follows a pattern where people invest a load of time and money into the system and seem to come away disappointed by the results. The problem with a charge cooler setup done from scratch is you need to data to work out what's going on. Ideally I want water temperature sensors before and after the radiator at the front, water temperature sensors before and after the charge coolers and air temperature sensors before and after the charge coolers. All i've got I have got is an air temperature sensor after the charge coolers and I could physically feel the water coming back out of the system was cold still. I don't have the spare inputs on my ECU to log anything else.
Lot's of variables, is my pump too fast or too slow, are the cores inefficient, is there an air lock I can't work out of the system? The one constant is pretty much everyone seems to end up disappointed. I'm not sure how much time and effort i'll put into something I don't think will ever be much good. Even OEM systems seem to perform poorly.
Lot's of variables, is my pump too fast or too slow, are the cores inefficient, is there an air lock I can't work out of the system? The one constant is pretty much everyone seems to end up disappointed. I'm not sure how much time and effort i'll put into something I don't think will ever be much good. Even OEM systems seem to perform poorly.
Escy said:
I'll need to upgrade the brakes, I offered up a Porsche Cayenne front disc and caliper (18z). The disc is heavy as hell, wouldn't want to run something that heavy and the caliper won't go anywhere near, the original caliper is radial mount and the Cayenne caliper has lugs which foul. I'll have to look into something else.
I swapped the rotors on my GTS at a local rent-a-bay garage, even the guy who owns the shop couldn't believe how heavy they are - I know they are huge but they must be near 20kgs each! https://www.amazon.co.uk/PerfectPrime-4-Channel-Th...
la-423269009238&psc=1
That's a 4 stone temperature scanner on amazon, with logging, for £28.
If you were to block the charge cooler radiator with paper / card, went for a drive, would the water get hot if there was no airlock?
Or a simple infrared temp laser pointer, see if you have enough flow?
la-423269009238&psc=1 That's a 4 stone temperature scanner on amazon, with logging, for £28.
If you were to block the charge cooler radiator with paper / card, went for a drive, would the water get hot if there was no airlock?
Or a simple infrared temp laser pointer, see if you have enough flow?
Brother D said:
I swapped the rotors on my GTS at a local rent-a-bay garage, even the guy who owns the shop couldn't believe how heavy they are - I know they are huge but they must be near 20kgs each!
They'd be overkill on my Boxster, definately don't want to be dragging them around. I weighed them before, 13kg is what I think they may have been. Peanut Gallery said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PerfectPrime-4-Channel-Th...la-423269009238&psc=1
That's a 4 stone temperature scanner on amazon, with logging, for £28.
If you were to block the charge cooler radiator with paper / card, went for a drive, would the water get hot if there was no airlock?
Or a simple infrared temp laser pointer, see if you have enough flow?
That's a good idea, hadn't thought of something like that temperature scanner. I'll get one, now I can actually drive it flat out I can do some testing. Blocking the radiator is a simple test to see if the water is absorbing any heat or not, i'll try that. la-423269009238&psc=1 That's a 4 stone temperature scanner on amazon, with logging, for £28.
If you were to block the charge cooler radiator with paper / card, went for a drive, would the water get hot if there was no airlock?
Or a simple infrared temp laser pointer, see if you have enough flow?
TheJimi said:
f
k me, you've the patience of a real Saint, man!
Honestly, I'm as much in awe of your patience as anything else.
It's wearing thin at the moment. It's the hope that kills you, my motivation has been the feeling when I put my foot down for the first time with all that power. I genuinely thought when it went on the dyno that would be it, I did expect a few small issues as it's par for the course but it had been running well and i'd put a decent amount of trouble free miles under it's belt last month. So naive of me, it's not seen full throttle for over a year since the new ECU went on. k me, you've the patience of a real Saint, man!Honestly, I'm as much in awe of your patience as anything else.
I am feeling a bit like it's becoming a money pit and more trouble than it's worth. The list of things to do is long. It needs suspension sorting out as a priority, can't use it until the front springs are sorted out. I'd like coilovers but don't know if I can justify it. Brakes on the front are worn, about 1mm left on the pads and I need to upgrade them to something more substantial. It'll need decent tyres. Then there is the list of issues from the dyno. When all of that is taken care of, the car still looks like a total dog with it's scabby paintwork and i'm a bit embarrassed by the condition of it. After yesterday on the dyno I feel it's a long way off being done.
Possibly a thermal camera might be a good investment - and can be generally very useful for other stuff, too.
This connects to a smart phone:
https://www.flir.co.uk/products/flir-one-gen-3/
We use one a lot at work and it's pretty handy.
This connects to a smart phone:
https://www.flir.co.uk/products/flir-one-gen-3/
We use one a lot at work and it's pretty handy.
Had a look at the Boxster to try and resolve some of the issues thrown up on the dyno. First up was testing for boost leaks, the one we found on the dyno and fixed was leaking again, found a few others also. I had tested a few months before and it was fine then.
One thing I didn't mention before was we were getting a bit of smoke from the engine bay occasionally at higher revs. This turned out to be the drive belt rubbing on itself. I've fitted a shorter one so that should take care of that problem.
I borrowed a timing light from a mate to check the timing was where the ECU thought it was. I used my crank locking pin to lock the engine at TDC (which is oddly counted from cylinder 3 on these engines), then marked the crank pulley and the cover so I could easily see them. Removed the crank pin, fired it up, set the ECU to a test mode for the ignition angle (it disables things like idle control that changes the ignition angle), I had to hold the engine at about 3k to stop it from cutting out while doing this. This photo is the result, big mark is actual TDC, small mark is where the ECU thought TDC was. I needed to take 10 degrees out of my trigger angle offset to get the marks to line up. Once i'd done that I then took the same 10 degrees out of the ignition table and the timing that once had looked quite aggressive was now looking very shy. This should be where I can get back a load of the missing power. I should have checked this right at the start when I was first installing the ECU, you live and learn.
There was some speculation from the tuner and also a friend that looked at my logs that the VVT was only working on one bank, this was because there was a noticeable dip on the AFR when the VVT switched off but only on one bank. It was easy to check this, I made a logic on the ECU to activate the VVT at > 1500rpm and plugged the solenoid for each bank in separately, I could hear both banks switching so it's fine. It was bank 2 that was suspected not to be working, this is on a wideband that's not directly controlled by the ECU, it might just react a little slower so the AFR dip is not getting picked up on the logs.
I think now the only other engine issue to sort out will be the performance of the charge coolers. Before I can do anything about that I need to sort out the broken suspension....
One thing I didn't mention before was we were getting a bit of smoke from the engine bay occasionally at higher revs. This turned out to be the drive belt rubbing on itself. I've fitted a shorter one so that should take care of that problem.
I borrowed a timing light from a mate to check the timing was where the ECU thought it was. I used my crank locking pin to lock the engine at TDC (which is oddly counted from cylinder 3 on these engines), then marked the crank pulley and the cover so I could easily see them. Removed the crank pin, fired it up, set the ECU to a test mode for the ignition angle (it disables things like idle control that changes the ignition angle), I had to hold the engine at about 3k to stop it from cutting out while doing this. This photo is the result, big mark is actual TDC, small mark is where the ECU thought TDC was. I needed to take 10 degrees out of my trigger angle offset to get the marks to line up. Once i'd done that I then took the same 10 degrees out of the ignition table and the timing that once had looked quite aggressive was now looking very shy. This should be where I can get back a load of the missing power. I should have checked this right at the start when I was first installing the ECU, you live and learn.
There was some speculation from the tuner and also a friend that looked at my logs that the VVT was only working on one bank, this was because there was a noticeable dip on the AFR when the VVT switched off but only on one bank. It was easy to check this, I made a logic on the ECU to activate the VVT at > 1500rpm and plugged the solenoid for each bank in separately, I could hear both banks switching so it's fine. It was bank 2 that was suspected not to be working, this is on a wideband that's not directly controlled by the ECU, it might just react a little slower so the AFR dip is not getting picked up on the logs.
I think now the only other engine issue to sort out will be the performance of the charge coolers. Before I can do anything about that I need to sort out the broken suspension....
Glad you’ve stuck with it and sorted some of the issues. A bit of time away to think can inspire you and give you time to think the problems through.
Two steps forward and one back is frustrating but you’ve come a long way and hopefully it’ll come good soon.
Still one of my favourite threads.
Two steps forward and one back is frustrating but you’ve come a long way and hopefully it’ll come good soon.
Still one of my favourite threads.
Escy said:
Thanks, I'm enjoying reading your thread also.
The aim will be to get it all sorted by the spring so I can finally start to get some use out of it, go to some car shows, Santa Pod, track days, etc.
I'm in awe of your technical ability and perseverance. I liked the VAG uber diesel content too.The aim will be to get it all sorted by the spring so I can finally start to get some use out of it, go to some car shows, Santa Pod, track days, etc.
but I do enjoy the learning experience. I need to do something about the wheels and tyres on the Boxster, I dislike the wheel style and the tyres are old. I bought a set of 2forge ZF5 wheels, they'd only done 100 miles and came with Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres. They were off a 996, I knew the front would fit but was unsure on the rears, they are 18x11 with a 285 tyre. They were a bargain price so I thought it was worth the gamble. Sellers photo of them.
Collecting them in the Allroad.
The rears needed a 15mm spacer to clear the strut and they poked out miles so unfortunately no good. It's a shame as I liked the design and they were very light. Luckily the guy I bought them off put me in touch with someone else that wanted them so i've sold them on again straight away and i'm back to square one.
Collecting them in the Allroad.
The rears needed a 15mm spacer to clear the strut and they poked out miles so unfortunately no good. It's a shame as I liked the design and they were very light. Luckily the guy I bought them off put me in touch with someone else that wanted them so i've sold them on again straight away and i'm back to square one.
I've taken another look at these wheels. I had a rear coilover saved from the one that caught fire (I've ordered another set of coilovers the same already but they haven't arrived yet), I fitted it to see how they are looking now. The coilover body is narrower so it means I can get away with a smaller spacer. In this photo the wheel turns freely but it's still too tight. Pirelli's seem to have a thick shoulder on the sidewall, it's need to drop from 285 to 275 tyres.
I'm looking for opinions, yay or nay? I'm not sure, think it looks alright from the front but sticks out too much looking from the back.
I'm looking for opinions, yay or nay? I'm not sure, think it looks alright from the front but sticks out too much looking from the back.
I like that stick out! Looks perfect, has a slight cheeky edge, saying something is not standard inside, but not much.
Binky project guys said:
"Well that's cheeky, that's perfect, so what you've got to do now is the whole thing again on the other side front"
I do not know mot or legality rules. Edited by Peanut Gallery on Tuesday 25th February 08:13
Escy said:
It's certainly cheeky, not sure if it's looking a bit too much.
The tread needs to be inside the arch so they are legal.
Matt, when you say roll the arches do you mean just fold the lip back or physically push the arch out like people do on drift cars?
The latter, push the arch out a little bit. From the angles of the photos it doesn’t look like it’d need much. The tread needs to be inside the arch so they are legal.
Matt, when you say roll the arches do you mean just fold the lip back or physically push the arch out like people do on drift cars?
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff