Phoenix from the flames - Porsche Boxster with an Audi 2.7T

[Escy]

I changed the boost pipe that kept popping off, left a bit more meat on it when I trimmed it to fit and it seems alright so far.

I'm aware it's hard on the car but I like flat foot shifting. Pretty much evey time I use it, I'm right at the 7200rpm rev limit. I made a shift from 4th to 5th the other day at 6000rpm and the clutch slipped, I hit the redline in 5th gear in a couple of seconds of full throttle. I've not had a clutch slip like that before. I'd need to see the logs to see exactly where a 6000rpm gearshift lands me but I know it's going to be where I'm making the most torque.

I'm currently running an Audi RS4 B7 clutch (the n/a V8 one), it's a LUK clutch. Rated at 367ft/lb I think so it's done really well, I expect I'm making around 550ft/lb. The pedal is really good, feels like a standard car, I'm reluctant to go for an upgrade that ruins the drivability. It's a 240mm disc, I'm considering trying out a 997 turbo clutch plate with my RS4 cover rather than ending up with some paddle clutch that's a sod to use.

The car is going to be in the Pistonheads 25th anniversary show that's coming up soon so I won't change it before then. I thought I'd try and tidy it up a bit. The hardware on my brake discs had gone rusty so I decided to replace them.

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I had a headlight bulb blow. Fitted some LED lights, huge difference at night time. Left is with one fitted, right it the original.

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[Escy]

I bought some carbon fiber Gemballa sill plates cheaply off ebay.



As my car is nothing to do with Gemballa I was hoping I'd easily be able to remove the logo but it's under the lacquer and I'm lazy.

Thought I might put a sticker over it. I went to on holiday last week to Spain, the plan was to email a few places in the UK to get them made but I was busy and forgot about it. That was until I noticed there was a printing place across the road from our apartment. I popped in there and with the help of Google translate got it all sorted. £25 euros and a day later it was sorted. Went with the Porsche + AUDI idea from the old race car someone posted up a few pages back but using the more modern fonts.

[Escy]

Thanks, I really did, it was much needed.

I decided to put the decals back on it, it was a last minute decision before attending the Pistonheads 25 year anniverasy show yesterday at Bicester Village. They had all the cars that had a Readers Ride video lined up next to a big screen which was cool. I thought the show was good, lots of interesting stuff around.

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The clutch is bad now so I won't be driving it again until that's sorted. I've ordered the parts I need but they'll be a few weeks.

[Escy]

wormus said:

Good work, I'm not really a Porsche fan but that does look the business, I bet it's a riot to drive too!

Thanks. I think it stands out enough to catch your eye while still being fairly subtle. It's a brilliant drive, it really gets the adrenaline flowing when you get on it but even if it's just cruising around with the stereo cranked up I love driving it. I'm really pleased with it.

RM said:

Planning to visit Cowbridge cars and coffee? September 24th, I know you visited once before but not sure if that was in the 986 precursor.

I've been a few times in the 987 also. I'm on going this year. What are you going to be driving?

[Escy]

I bought some Hardrace track rod ends with bump steer compensation. I don't particularly like their stuff, they are very chunky, no adjustability and made from steel (the original parts are aluminium) so they weigh more. They are however the only vaguely sensibly priced option as they don't apply a Porsche specific tax. The other aftermarket options start at £500, they look much nicer products but sod spending that on track rod ends.

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Whilst fitting them I noticed a coolant leak from a front radiator hose. I knew they looked rough so it's not unexpected. This is a common 9x7 issue which requires dropping the front subframe and replacing all the front coolant cross over pipes as they will be seized into each other. I've ordered the parts.

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Since I had fitted the track rod ends I decided to lower the suspension a little bit more on the front end.

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[Escy]

duncancallum said:

This is awesome. Properly binged this.

The drain holes to stop them clogging can you put a split pin in them so the pin stops any debris

Idea is the pin rattles about and keeps the hole clear.

See the pick on a mg gearbox. They do it on them to stop clutch dust but principles the same

Thanks. I saw either on a forum or Facebook group that someone was 3D printing little domed covers that sit inside the drain tube stop the drains getting blocked. Next time I see them I'll buy some.

573 said:

Looks a million times better.

Thanks, only a small drop from where it was previously but it has made a difference to how it looks. I need to do the alignment now.

ATM said:

Escy said:

I'm currently running an Audi RS4 B7 clutch (the n/a V8 one), it's a LUK clutch. Rated at 367ft/lb I think so it's done really well, I expect I'm making around 550ft/lb. The pedal is really good, feels like a standard car, I'm reluctant to go for an upgrade that ruins the drivability. It's a 240mm disc, I'm considering trying out a 997 turbo clutch plate with my RS4 cover rather than ending up with some paddle clutch that's a sod to use.

What about a LWFW? My thinking is there would be less mass for the clutch to deal with so less energy to overcome. I have one and it makes the car feel much more peppy. A bit more difficult to drive but not overly so as its just getting off the line. I think that's the only negative with all other differences being positives.

I'm running a LWFW, it's a TTV Racing one that's for a 2.7t but designed to take a B7 RS4 clutch. It's a good idea as the B7 clutch can handle more power. What I've now discovered though is if you need an aftermarket clutch it's slim pickings compared to what's available for the B5 RS4. You're right, a LWFW makes a massive difference.

[Escy]

I'd made a decision on the clutch. I ordered a Sachs Performance pressure plate for a B7 RS4 to match my flywheel. I didn't like the look of the Sachs Performance clutch discs, they offer an organic which is rated to 363ft/lb and a ceramic paddle rated to 541ft/lb. They are solid discs rather than sprung, I'd rather sprung as I'm on a single mass flywheel and don't want juddering. I did ask a few places that sold them what the paddle is like for road use, the answers weren't exactly a glowing recommendation.

On the RS4 Facebook group, others were running the Sachs Performance pressure plate with discs from CG Motorsport. They had various different options. I liked the sound of their half rice, half chips offering. It's different materials on either side of the disc. Described on their site as "full face organic lining and ceramic performance material, giving a near standard drive feel." So I thought that paired up with the Sachs Performance pressure plate was the way to go.

CG then told me they have no B5 RS4 clutch discs available (they didn't list B7 RS4) but I could send my disc to them to be modified. So that was the new plan. The Sachs PP took 3 weeks to arrive, it came today so I pulled the gearbox off. The car is really easy to work on, especially compared to a standard Boxster. It didn't take me long.





Old clutch and flywheel off. I was expecting it to look worse than it does, it got to the point it was slipping on low boost.



I think the picture makes it look worse than it is, the surface feels ok. I did notice there's a shiny band on the inner edge of the clamping surface.



And corresponding marks on the clutch disc. I'm not sure if this tells me anything interesting or not?!



The new pressure plate. It's a different design, it's got a stepped section inside the clamping surface which interferes with the sprung clutch plate I have.





So that's my plan to send the disc off to CG Motorsport scuppered. I assume the guy's using this combo are on the B5 Sachs pressure plate and my B7 one is a different design. This puts me back at square one, the difference being the car is in bits now. It'll likely be another 3 weeks if I order a clutch disc from Sachs. Whilst the organic is rated for a lot less torque, I think it'd probably be ok. My car is lighter than an Audi and not 4wd so I think I'm a lot easier on the clutch, even with my penchant for flat foot shifting. One of the things I like the most about the car is it would pass for a standard Boxster when driving it normally. I'd rather take some torque out of it than have a clutch that ruins the way it drives.

CG Motorsport do a twin plate clutch with a flywheel. It looks a really nice bit of kit but I've heard some twin plate clutches sound horrific and I wouldn't want to take the risk on one as I won't be able to live with it if it's noisy. I saw on Facebook someone that bought one and took it straight back off due to the noise.

[Escy]

I don't think there's oil contamination, lots of clutch dust. There's no oil in the gearbox bell housing. When I've had oil leaks bad enough to cause a slipping clutch it's always been pretty obvious. The grease is in the thrust bearing.

Good news I think on a clutch. I saw Sachs Performance do a kit which consists of a lightweight single mass flywheel, the pressue plate I bought and a sprung organic plate. Rather than the solid plate they typically sell with their pressure plate. I wanted a sprung plate so hopefully this is me sorted. Darkside Developments have them in stock.

I've ordered it. Although it's not rated for the torque, the LUK clutch lasted pretty well so I can't see this having any issues. Just to be safe I think I'll take a bit of timing out of it as it comes on boost, it's spinning the wheels in 3rd gear anyway

[Escy]

Fastdruid said:

I'd be interested to know the part number/link for that one. I have a 1UZ matched to a 01E gearbox with a mix of custom flywheel and Sachs pressure plate but I'm struggling to find a suitable sprung plate to fit as the springs on the RS4 sprung plate interfere with the Sachs plate.

I've been having a nightmare with this, I ordered a pressure plate that was for a Sachs kit for an RS4, I didn't take into account it's designed for a solid disc to be fitted to a dual mass flywheel. This is the disc I bought to match it fouled the pressure plate, only slightly but I wasn't willing to risk trimming stuff then find out the disc is too thick or something and then it's all scrap. I took the 25% re-stocking hit on it and sent it all back.

https://clutchstop.co.uk/products/sachs-performanc...

It's been such a frustrating experience trying to find something. Aftermarket stuff is poorly served in the UK, everyone proudly advertises stuff but nobody keeps stock of anything. I spoke to CG Motorsport about their twin disc clutch, 3 weeks to make one. I could of ordered another Sachs pressure plate (should have gone for the one out of their kit they do with a single mass flywheel) but it's a punt that it'll be right and 3 weeks to wait to find out. Tegiwa offer ACT clutches, again 3 weeks wait. I looked at replacing my B7 RS4 flywheel with a B5 RS4 one and getting a clutch kit for that, there are a few reasonably priced (but maybe not good) options like Drive Torque and Black Diamond, spoke to retailers and again no stock and 3-4 weeks.

I've ended up buying a clutch from Ringer Racing in the US. I'd initially discounted their stuff on price but I'm sick of messing about. They are in stock, and it was a 3 day delivery all the way from America. It arrives Monday. They are highly rated on the Facebook groups for the power they hold and the way they feel so I'm confident I'll be happy with it.

[Escy]

Generic photos are a pain in the arse when it comes to stuff like this.

The Ringer Racing clutch arrived in 3 days from America. It's a stage 3 rated for 715ft/lbs so should be plenty. The disc is organic one side, Cerametalic the other side.

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The clutch slave cylinder had shown signs of a slight leak, my other car broke down so I had to just get it back together as it was. I'm still bedding the clutch in but first impressions are good, the pedal is slightly heavier but would still pass as OEM. There's a little bit of soft juddering if you let it engage without enough rev's. The biting point isn't that obvious which is good, it's not grabby at all. It's definately not ruined the car so was worth the money, I'm happy with it (providing it holds the torque).

I had to take it all back apart a few days later to replace the slave cylinder. As I needed to bleed it, I took the opportunity to upgrade the brake fluid to Dot 5.1 brake fluid.

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I had some help on the pedals.

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There was an oil leak on the cam cover, it's the Achilles heel of these engines. Such a piss poor design, 3 bolts per side and 2 in the middle, It's just not enough. Most cam covers would have double that amount.

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[Escy]

I bought a load of pipes to take care of my coolant leak.

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It didn't go to plan I couldn't get some of the parts apart and needed to buy more. I tried my best to get them apart, I made a tool so I could attach a slide hammer to the pipe. It just wasn't having it.

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So I had to buy some more bits. Porsche Cardiff said the big plastic pipe was on back order and it was looking like 3 weeks, luckily Porsche Swindon had everything I needed in stock and they sent them out next day delivery

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No wonder I couldn't get them apart.

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It ended up being a bigger job than I'd expected. I'm glad it's done as it's one of the common 9x7 issues.

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As the subframe was off I needed to do a wheel alignment. I've bought a new wheel alignment system, made by Vamag. I like it, it's a good system, it's newer than the other ones I had and it seems like it's had less use. It also has some upgraded wheel clamps which are better than all the other ones I've used. It's on Windows 10 which means I can easily share the screen with an android tablet which makes it much easier to see what I'm doing when I'm in the pit. I've added a bit more caster on (was around 6.5 degrees before), it's made so much difference to the way it drives, the steering feels sharper.

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I've been out for a blast in it, trying to solve an over boost issue. I set the boost control up during the hot bit of the summer and I think the colder ambient temperatures have made a difference. That means my PID control loop for the boost solenoid wasn't set up correctly. Too much of the heavy lifting was done by the duty cycle table which the PID control uses as a baseline. If the duty cycle is bang on the money the PID control loop isn't needing to do that much work to trim it. I don't want to be manually changing the duty cycle all the time, I want to PID to work over a larger range to be able to compensate and keep the boost on it's target.

I don't really know how to dial in a PID (and if you actually ask a professional tuner about it, I don't think all that many do either). It's been a case of change something, make a pull and see how it is. I did about 20 pulls and ended up no better off than when I started. The main issue is I've got an initial boost spike then a dip before it flattens out. You can feel this on the road. The good news is the new clutch held up fine and it was good fun. It's first time I've been able to drive it hard since July.

I am also going to need to turn the boost down in 3rd gear, it spins the wheels every time it comes on boost.

[Escy]

I thought I'd post some screenshots to show what's going on.

This is a log from July pretty much the last time it was driven hard before the clutch went. It's a pull from low revs to the redline in 4th gear. You can see how tight the boost follows the target. I was happy with that but like I said before, it was mostly achieved by calibrating the duty cycle table. Now the air is more dense the same duty cycle percentage makes more boost and it's putting it past the control of the PID control loop.



This is the boost delivery at the moment. It overshoots the target, then dips under before settling on it. If I change gear it'll spike again when I come back on the throttle (which is one of the reasons I like the flat foot shifting as the boost doesn't spike).

The Wookie said:

No experience of boost control but a little bit with PID on hydraulic pressure control systems. Might be worth having a read of this:

https://www.marpledata.com/blog/how-to-tune-a-pid-...

I bet if you delve into the details of the ECU you'll find all sort of parameters for bounding the integrator.

You may have to sacrifice a bit of response to get a stable system with no overshoot as ultimately you're limited by the sheer physics of the system in terms of the speed of actuator vs the time for the turbo to speed up/air to change velocity/exhaust pressure to increase/sensor to measure the change/etc etc etc.

Thanks for the link. You might be right, I've got my boost duty % set high at the low end of the table where it can't make the boost and then drop it down as it comes on boost to improve the response. Also my P and I values are different based on how far I am from the target. I might be trying to do too much there. I'm probably better off getting simplifying it all and then try to add in some improvements in response afterwards.

Richyvrlimited said:

I am by far an expert, but tuning PID on a Megasquirt ECU is done by:

Adjust the I value to get you to the target
Now adjust the P term in changing conditions to keep you at the target
D is used as a dampener, so may not be needed, basically leave alone unelss you specifically need to touch it.

it sounds like you may have too much D so it's taking a while to pull you back down to target after overboosting and maybe too much P as you have an oscillation.

The link Wookie posted said similar regarding the D. I'm going to zero the gain as a starting point.

[Escy]

It might be the last decent weekend before the winter so rather than waste it doing DIY (my wife didn't share this sentiment) I went out for a drive around the mountains with a few of the guys on the South Wales Porsche Facebook group. I've not actually used the car that much this year so it was great to get out for a rip. The roads and views are amazing but we didn't stop anywhere picturesque for photos so this is all I got.

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It was 2 years ago the last time I went on a road trip like this and while I loved it, it proved hard on the car which kind of fell apart. There were ECU problems that kept limiting the engine power, the suspension was a bit soft, a remote reservoir on my coilovers hit the body and ended up dragging along on the road and my ABS was kicking in all the time and ruining things. I also reversed into a rock and messed the bumper up (I can't blame the car for that one). These sort of drives really test out a car.

This time around the car performed really well, I ran it at full boost the whole time, it got a total spanking and it was awesome. It feels so fast on roads like that, such an adrenaline rush. All the development over the last 2 years kind of gets lost but this drive proved the difference. The brakes are sorted, the ABS no longer intrudes like before. Handling wise the car is on point, it coped with all the dips, bumps and undulations really well. The boost pipe issue is sorted now, I've still got no oil leaks. The ECU had a firmware update and the knock control works now so that allows me to relax a lot more and just enjoy the driving. I finished the road trip feeling really happy with it all, no list of work to do this time.

There was a 991 Turbo PDK there, the owner said it was 600bhp. At one point he led the way and I was behind, I could match it for pace so my Boxster is doing alright.

Then on the way back I had a bit of fun with a motorbike and it had a misfire on cylinder 1 at full throttle. It's the green line you can see that's bellow all the others. A little disappointing after how good I was feeling about the car.

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When I got back home I swapped the spark plug from cylinder 1 to 3 and the coilpack from 1 to 6 and took it back out for another drive. No issues at all, ended up doing 20+ pulls while tinkering with the boost control and it never happened again. Maybe I'll chuck a fresh set of spark plugs in it.

A couple of pictures I took on the way home.

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[Escy]

HughG said:

Wonderful, it’s a credit to your perseverance that it has got to this stage, I’m glad you enjoyed it!

It's starting to feel like it's paying off now. I'm really happy with how it all is.

dobbo_ said:

I love this thread, I am not a fan of Boxters but yours is ace!

Thank you.

shalmaneser said:

Such a credit to your perseverance. Awesome car and must go like a stabbed rat.

It's going pretty well at the moment. I took it out this evening, did a little tinkering with the tune and I raised the rev limit up 200rpm to 7500rpm so it'll do 200kph in 4th gear. The idea being to have a crack at some 100-200kph times on my mates private road. My previous best was 6.97 which I knew I could improve. The best I managed this time was a 6.22 which I am pretty happy with. That wasn't a clean run either, there were 2 traction control ignition cuts, the second one at 92mph. It's never spun the wheels in 4th gear before, that's pretty spicy!

That time can be improved upon, I'll take some ignition timing out on the midrange to stop the wheel spin. I was comparing it to stuff on the Dragy app, it's in and around the times done by a Huracan Performante or a Ferrari 488. Not bad for a Boxster.

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[Escy]

A bit of an update, I've barely used it the last couple of months but that's not stopped it being a pain in the arse.

There's been a lot of rain, I noticed loads of condensation on the inside of the windscreen. I had a feel under the carpet behind the passenger seat and it's soaking wet. You can't really see in the photo but there was a puddle in the footwell.

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Usually the first time you know you have a water leak is when you get strange electrical happenings when these modules under the seat get wet. Luckily they weren't. I've wrapped them in plastic bags, they aren't sealed but still a bit more protection. I should have done this last time but naively thought once I've fixed that leak I'd be trouble free.

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I dried it all out and got someone to run a hose pipe over the rear end while I looked for leaks. There was nothing. I then realised the leak was actually coming from the front.

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I stripped the whole interior so I could remove the carpet. The carpet is basically a huge sponge, It's surprising how much water it soaks up. The carpet must have weighed about 25kg so there's got to be 10-15 litres of water in it. I've left it 3 weeks and it's not dried. I still have the original carpet which was swapped out a year ago the last time the car leaked so that is going back in.

IMG_20231127_205443088 by Thomas Prosser, on Flickr

It's leaking from the front behind this black panel. There are drains in the scuttle area but my car doesn't pool water there and when I pour some in it runs straight out. It also runs straight into the cabin which rules out an issue with the pollen filter or the windscreen which can be another common cause (my windscreen is original).

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This is the panel from the other side.


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Here's what it looks like. You can see the seal on it clearly in the second photo. It's the same rubberised foam when use on the door panels which also fall apart.

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It looks like when Porsche built these cars they started with this panel as the first piece. It'll be so much work to replace it. It would involve removing the A/C gas, taking the dashboard and HVAC unit out. I'll need the whole front end stripped down so I can get the wiring looms to pass through it. I'll need to disconnect the clutch hydraulics (which means taking the exhaust off when I bleed it) and possibly brake hydraulics. There's probably more stuff I'm over looking. I couldn't see any mention of this panel leaking when looking around Facebook and forums. I spoke to a local Porsche specialist who told me he's seen a few cars with this leak. He charges 2 days of labour, so would be around £1500l. The part is £200 plus the cost of an A/C re-gas. Obviously I'd do it all myself so it wouldn't cost me much but I don't really fancy it.

Someone told me they had a leak here and they sealed it with Captain Tolley's which is a creeping crack cure mainly used for boats. I figured I'd give it a go. It's supposed to be used at over 10 degrees, it's been colder than that.

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Applying it has been a challenge, I've been using a pipe in the end of the bottle and a bore scope camera to see what I'm doing as I cant get my fingers anywhere near it. Over the period of a week, I'd apply it, let it cure (but it's too cold) then when I'd test it (with a hose pipe directly in the bulkhead), twice I'd ended up with a very small puddle on the footwell which was milky white (this stuff is milky white but cures clear). A hosepipe in the bulkhead might have been a bit vigorous. I've now applied a load more but not tested it (other than an air line from inside the car when it was all wet, to see I couldn't see the fluid moving). The plan is keep it dry for as long as possible and see what happens next time it's raining.

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In retrospect have probably been better off just buying the panel and getting stuck in, I still don't know if it's fixed and I could have done it properly by now. It was removing and getting the A/C gas put back in that put me off. The A/C was gassed up 2 years ago and it's never worked. It's a bit complicated as you need to be sending and receiving canbus messages. I assumed this was my issue and went down a rabbit hole trying to work it all out but it's also been on the back burner as it's a convertible so no A/C never became a massive issue.

I hadn't paid enough attention to the A/C compressor when I bought it. I got a second hand one off ebay. At the time there wasn't a 2.7T one so I got one off a newer Audi A4 B6 3.0 V6. I was more concerned about the mounting bracket and if it would physically fit my engine. It turns out that this compressor didn't have a clutch like the original Boxster or Audi 2.7T compressor did. The pulley is constantly driven and it uses a variable solenoid to control the flow of gas. Giving it 12v I'd get a click to indicate it was opening so I knew I was ok there. I'd tried running it off a PWM directly from the ECU. I also wrote a control strategy on my ECU based off pressure. It just wouldn't work.

After doing all the complicated stuff and double checking it all it turns out the pulley on the compressor was broken. I put a spanner on the end and it turned easily, it shouldn't with the belt on. The rubber dampener inside had been worn away. I didn't want to take the compressor off due to the gas. The only place I could find a new pulley was AliExpress.

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This was straight forward to fit. Another job that's fair easier on my car than it would be on an Audi S4 or a standard Boxster.

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The next day I needed to use the car so for something important so I didn't get a chance to test it. I did notice the idle would drop low and occasionally stall. Once I got back home I parked in the garage forwards and tested out the A/C. It started making some dodgy noises, bangs clanks and clatters. I turned off the A/C it still made dodgy noises, I didn't know what it was but I wanted to get the car out of the garage and turned around so I could get it over the pit before something packed up. I was under duress, the engine kept cutting out. I ended up kerbing my left rear wheel twice (on the same kerb I damaged the old bumper and broke a light on 2 years ago). Think I've damaged every wheel now.

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When looking under the car, the front engine mount I had made had snapped. I didn't take a good photo but you can see where it broke. It looks like the weld has failed half way around and it's snapped steel on the other side. It was done years ago and it's done plenty of miles since. I'd looked at the engine mount the day before when doing the A/C pulley and it was fine.

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It would be a strange coincidence so I'm convinced the A/C compressor has contributed to that failure. I made a new engine mount. Same design as before but using thicker steel and higher power setting on the welder.

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Once the mount was sorted I could start up the engine again. I turned the A/C on and it made no noise at all. I checked the HVAC system on my diagnostics, there was no system pressure! The compressor won't do anything without pressure so that makes sense. I'm fairly sure it had pressure when it was making the noises as the idle would drop as the A/C was switched on and I was trying to tune that. I don't know where the gas has gone, I'd expect to see a wet spot where it's leaked out and I'd defiantly have heard and smelled it in the garage. All a bit odd, I'm confused by it. Not wanting to empty the A/C systems was the reason why I didn't just change the compressor to one with a clutch years ago and part of the reason I didn't want to commit to changing the bulkhead panel and now it's empty anyway.

Whilst I was working on it, I noticed a leak from my water/methanol solenoid. These push fit joints are utter trash, I don't know why the kit manufacturers use them, I seem to be working my way through the system replacing them one at a time as they fail.

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I've managed to smash up the under trays on both sides. I think the majority of it happened when going on my platforms for the wheel alignment I did. I know how to avoid that happening next time but if they get mashed up again I'll need to raise the suspension a bit.

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Considering the car has done about 20 miles in the last 2 months it's not exactly going well.

[Escy]

mercedeslimos said:

I really do admire your perseverance. I think that as a project, I do the same thing, slowly work to absolute perfection - everything working, looking, sounding and driving the way I want it to. Certainly takes time.

Yeah, there's a big difference between running and driving and fully sorted. I can see why lots of projects run out of steam towards the end, you'd rather use it than chase minor issues. I've seen it said that the last 10% takes 90% of the time. There isn't much left on my to do list now.

ATM said:

Quick question about the easy bleed please.

I have one and just tried to use it, for the first time. But mine doesn't seem to seal with the master cylinder. If the big bottle is empty and I add pressure it drops quickly. If I add fluid to the big bottle then add pressure it starts leaking out around the bottom of the cap and onto the top of the master. So can I ask does your just seal perfectly? Did you need to do anything special or funky to get it to seal?

Thanks

It sealed up fine on mine, have used it a few times without issue. There is a rubber seal inside the cap, does yours have it?

[Escy]

I left the car in a rain storm with pallet wrap taped to the bulkhead under the area it was leaking. It stayed dry so I think I'm probably sorted on the water leak.

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I bought an AC compressor and mounting bracket from a 2.7t. That's the one in the middle. The one on the left is the one that died. The one on the right is from a Boxster. After comparing them the Boxster one shared all the dimensions as the 2.7t and was less scabby so I used that.

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I took it to Kwik Fit for the AC to be gassed. I wasn't holding much hope it would hold pressure since I hadn't worked out how the last lot of gas leaked out. It did hold pressure and the AC works. It's something I've been looking at for ages so glad to tick it off the list.

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I've got new fittings for the WMI solenoid. It doesn't leak now. I also bought a new head for my pump which has threads so I can swap to compression fittings rather than use free push fit style. Unfortunately I bought the fittings from China, I thought they were UK supplied so I'll have to fit that at a later date.

[Escy]

A small update. My boost control is finally sorted out, I've been making changes and seeing how it reacts. I've been going around in circles a bit. I asked Baldur (who made the ECU) to tune it for me. He'd make changes, I make a pull and send him a log. It took him 4 revisions to get it bang on - easy when you know what you are doing!

I've had some Boxster S gauges I wanted to fit for over a year. They had 115k on them and my car had 110k mileage. I didn't want to fit clocks with the wrong mileage, it's a bit silly as it makes no real difference. Waiting to do the 5k miles and swapping them over would be easy on a car that gets used but would probably take me 3 years.

My clocks were on 110,011 miles. I had a Nexpeak K1plus ODB tool that I bought previously, they specifically told me it had the ability to adjust the milage. It turns out it didn't work and I forgot about fitting them. I bought an ODB tool for my dad for Christmas, decided to get a decent one which said it was capable of adjusting the mileage, it was an Xtool A30M. This worked perfectly. My original clocks have the wrong mileage here as I was making sure it works before swapping them over.

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The closest I could get my mileage was 110,025 so 14 out. Not bad. The Boxster S clocks are a silver dial which I think lifts the interior a bit. I don't like everything black. They also match my AEM canbus gauge. The speedo goes up to 190 rather than 175. That was a bit of a gimmick by Porsche as neither engine option could do 175mph anyway. I don't think mine would either unless I raised the rev limit.

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[Escy]

mercedeslimos said:

It's all the small details that add up to a top-class build. Very jealous of your skills, well played sir!

Thanks. It's nice to get the little bits and pieces done, makes a difference to how you feel driving it. The AC felt like a milestone.

TRIUMPHBULLET said:

Good to see you are getting somewhere with this, you have put a lot of work into the car.
Still, its only trivial problems you have had, some poor sod on PH bought a Jag F-pace and had problems that would have sent a mere mortal insane lol.

I've put a lot of work in but it's been worth the graft. Can't say the same for the Jag.

Adrian E said:

Speaking of which, how is the definition of how not to do cost cutting in the automotive manufacturing world doing?! Don't recall an update to that thread for a while so I presume the engine build is working just fine?

I updated it a few weeks ago, showing what I spent doing it. By the time it's running tidy the values have dropped so it was fruitless from a financial point of view but I like the car so not too bothered (providing it's trouble free for a while)

[Escy]

My fuelling had been drifting leaner slightly over time but I hadn't really clocked it. I'm always adjusting stuff on the mapping so I've been adding fuel as I've been making other changes. It's not like I've ever had a locked down tune. Since the new larger injectors I fitted last spring my injector duty cycle % had started off in the high 60's and I was now in the mid 80's. Over a pull you could see the fuel pressure would drop off a bit. I think my fuel pump has been slowly degrading. I was running an APS 340lph pump. I fitted it when I had the original KO3 turbos in the red Boxster.

I bought a Bosch BR540 which is 415lph (it's also re-branded and sold as the DW400).



It's physically bigger than the old pump.



Fitted into the standard basket, I had to cut the bottom out of it to get it in, also needed to cut down the huge strainer that came with the pump as any bigger than the circle in the middle and it wouldn't fit back into the tank. Used an O-ring to hold down the edges where the strainer was cut. happy with it considering I was making it up as I went along. It fits snugly. I also upgraded the wiring size inside the tank which is a smaller gauge than the wires going to the plug on the outside.





I've been out for a drive, the fuel is now too rich a at the top end and my fuel pressure is higher so it was a worthwhile upgrade.

Whilst I was looking for a fuel pump I stumbled upon the Pierburg CWA-150, a new version of their charge cooler pump. I bought a new Pierburg CWA-50 a few years back and it stopped working, ended up ditching it for a Davies Craig EBP40, the Pierburg used PWM signal and the Davies Craig was just a simple 2 wire pump. Looking around on the internet these Pierburg pumps are supposed to be the best option. There's room for improvement with my W2A charge cooler system and I thought it was pump related so decided to buy one.





It was physically bigger but fitting was the same as the old one pretty much. I did have to run all new wiring, this has a 25amp fuse the old one had a 10amp.



With the water/meth turned off I see the IAT's steadily rise as the rev's do (and then I get a IAT based ignition retard). I log the coolant in and out temps on the charge coolers, they seem to put a decent amount of heat into the coolant. My thinking was a higher coolant flow rate would remove more heat out of the charged air. I haven't managed to get any perfect runs to compare logs with my baseline run I made before as I messing about with the PWM settings getting the pump running right but from what I've seen so far it's made no difference at all.

I read a thread where a heating engineer broke down the Audi 4.0T system, flow testing individual components, making changes based on the data (rather than my take a punt approach), the gains were marginal at best. I just think these systems are generally underwhelming. Maybe the Mercedes S600 charge coolers are holding it back but they are well integrated into everything so I'll just leave it as it is.