I had some friends over replacing my clutch line in my Formula while I was adding makeshift fender flares to the front of my race car. I took one of them for a joy ride to gas up the car. I forgot to bring the octane booster with me and told myself to add it when we got back.
Yeah that never happened. I was running short on time getting to the track when I realized that never happened and the car started throwing a code but it went away.
I had no power in the back straightaway in the firs race...it was pulling serious timing. 20 second lap. Prior to that car stalled when I revved it up getting to the line.... It eventually hard-started. I think my lap time in the 2nd race was only better because I pushed it in turn 4... Power would drop and surge.
Limped it home. Constant code during the first race and thru the entire drive home. Me and the girl had plans so I didn't get to pull the codes yet. Ugh.
I've replaced the ICM and plugs. Now the only codes I get are 35 as expected and 42.. I am trying to determine if it's a bad wire or a bad ICM. It was a $35 Amazon special so... I disconnected and reconnected the plug 3 as diagrammed in the link below - it did run temporarily with no code 42 and the engine revved great. I turned it off and went back inside and told my tuner I'd be driving over after all. I restarted the car and it came back. I'll play with wires some more this weekend and perhaps order another ICM as this one may simply be faulty.
Got the car running Friday night with no codes. Raced yesterday. 1st race, beautiful LS3 swapped Monte Carlo but he was on street tires so he never had a chance. I was testing my launch at 2200rpm. That seemed to work well. I cruised after turn 2.
Did it again for the 2nd race I knew it would be tough. Me and this Camaro are historically side-by-side in turn 3. I felt he is faster this year than before. Well, I launched well again. I think this ICM really helped me compared to the old one which would spike and dive my a/f ratio. I guess I am making more power because what I thought was a fluke 2 weeks ago happened again. I hit 7500 rpm before the half-way point of the back straightaway.
I was shocked that I had to shift into 3rd. By the time I realized this he started to pass me. Then in turn 4, I backed off a little to get to his inside and then punched it. I guess maybe I didn't back off enough or punched to hard instead of easing into it because that made me do the 180... Still I was very pleased with the fact that the car has the potential to beat arguably the best Camaro there.
Earlier in the season, I was winding out to turn 3. That was always the calculated plan that's why I wasn't thinking of shifting. I guess I'm pushing it more in turn 2... I'll have to remember this for the last 3 races of the season. Sadly I won't be able to fix my suspension issues until next season. The car looked wobbly when I shifted into 3rd prior to turn 3.
Once again the problem is mostly the loose nut behind the wheel.
Went to the dyno last night. Did a base run to look at the changes I made after not feeling completely comfortable with the last dyno in June... We calibrated my rpm by speed by setting 2000rpm on the dyno. Once done, I got a smoother graph that shows RPM instead of speed.
Turns out that me backing off about 1.5 degrees up top and slightly over the course of the rpm range as well as removing some fuel by targeting 13.5 in the low-to-mid range really helped! I had left the 12.5 target up top. However, with better timing, the misses, or rather detonation became more pronounced up top from 4600 on up. As a result - I didn't gain any peak horsepower.
I did gain torque. I now make 230 ft*lbs at 4100 rpm. That's +20 ft-lbs! Same horse power of 209 due to the fuel/iginition/timing issues up top. That's kinda insane!
We then did a run with my exhaust cut-out open. While I lost 2 ft*lbs at peak. I gained 2 peak rwhp to 211. However I gained 10 hp past peak so it is useful for +5000rpm...if only then.
After that, we set timing to +26 (+base 10). We also removed a little bit of efficiency from the VE table from 4600 and up.
I start my car and immediately code 41 comes on. We replaced the crank sensor and checked the connections and still it wouldn't go away. It had come on earlier in the week when I had the heater core replaced but had gone away. Had to end the day there. I bought a new, this time - expensive - ICM. This one does come with thermal paste so perhaps that's what killed my new ICM early and the current one did not. I had to leave the car at the dyno shop.
I'm going there tonight to swap the ICM. No time for a dyno run. I have to drive it home (if the new ICM cures the issue) and race tomorrow.
Also, I want to give a huge shout out to Rei aka La Fiera for providing me the parts I needed for this build. He designed my cam profile and sources the internal components I needed for the short block as well as my bigger valves and springs.
Incase no-one recognized it - I am running his old intake from several years ago as well. I have been sitting on it for like 3 years waiting for this build.
Also, I want to give a huge shout out to Rei aka La Fiera for providing me the parts I needed for this build. He designed my cam profile and sources the internal components I needed for the short block as well as my bigger valves and springs.
Incase no-one recognized it - I am running his old intake from several years ago as well. I have been sitting on it for like 3 years waiting for this build.
La Fiera also sent me a spec'ed high-volume oil pump too for my 3.4 V6/60 rebuild. He's been awesome, and the two of you have both been a huge asset to the forum (along with others) in the way you've both really pushed the limits of these engines and the V6/60 motors!
...and now for some disappointing news... Code 41 will not go away. I've swapped the ECM and the ICM. Next step is to probe the wiring to check continuity. No racing will happen today. I may be skipping the race on Sept 14th as well due to a reunion.
So that will leave me with 1 race left for the season. I guess I will try to make the most of it...
Here's the promised dyno of the extra ~21 ft*lbs of torque I picked up just by leaning the mixture closer to 13.5:1 below 4000 rpm. The red line is with the cutout closed. The green line is with the cutout open. Same tune. Only difference is the open cutout... You truly don't see some gains from it until past 6000 rpm.
Increases start to come on at about 4800rpm but not worth it yet.
Looking forward to fixing that Code 41 and pulling some timing and fuel out. The pre-detonation is killing my peak power.
[This message has been edited by lou_dias (edited 09-11-2024).]
It's not quite where it should be. I compare the original N1A$T code to my code and I was running a lot of extra timing. I believe the guy I co-tune with did that without me noticing how much he added. I'd like to hit closer to 230 rwhp once I stop pre-detonating up top.
I've dialed it back... However the Code 41 is preventing me from doing anything.
I'm waiting for a new MEMCAL carrier and adapter as looking at the code, it seems code 41 has to do with the fuel setting vs what it reads from the resistors on the MEMCAL. Hopefully I have it running nice again at the end of the week.
Well, it beats running simulations for 15 years!
[This message has been edited by lou_dias (edited 09-17-2024).]
Took a while to find new front coil-overs. Found QA1 8Q53's. My 8" springs were down to 6". Old coil-overs were completely shot.
I purchased new connectors to create a new ICM / Crank Sensor cable adapter. Hoping that fixes code 41 as moving the engine ground didn't fix the issue.
Racing season starts mid-May and this code 41 is a deal-breaker. :/
Track felt slick rolling onto it so I lowered my drop-clutch rpm and semi-stalled at the launch :/
Another problem between the steering wheel and the seat.
Positives is the car is fast. I was able to over-take him by turn 2. I totally shifted too soon though as I should have pulled farther ahead in the back-straight-away. I, as usual, stayed too far out in 4 and gave him over a length lead. Probably should have put it back in 2nd, but still only lost by about a nose.
[This message has been edited by lou_dias (edited 05-11-2025).]
A different angle. It really shows how wide I let it get in turn 4. Looks like by doing so I handed the other from being 1 length back to being 2 in-front, then I only had time to make up 1 of those by the time we crossed the finish line. You can also see the double nose bob on the launch where I almost stalled it.
Anyways, To overcome the weird map readings, I intend to up the fuel in the lower map readings across the board from 30kpa to 80kpa to match what I have at 90-100 kpa. That will be copied for rest of the rpm band that I didn't adjust it for last time. Motor seemed to smoothen out from 4600-5500 where I had done that.
I won't be at the dyno again until June when I convert to E85. Also, if I have another bad showing at the end of the month, I may ask someone else to drive my car. I just want to see the car succeed without being handicapped by my driving abilities.
If the MAP sensor signal is erratic, it may also help to install the MAP sensor at the end of a long thin vacuum line.
This acts as a restrictor and smooths out MAP variations seen at the sensor.
It already is. I also did a smoke test on the intake and have some leaks. I am hoping to have a new composite intake and fuel rail by the end of the year.
Race on Saturday. Won round 1 lost round 2 due to shifting issues with over-extending the slave cylinder. Seems I might be missing a slave spacer. Just another thing the idiots who installed my motor left out. Clutch used to grab low, now it's super high since the install last year. I've already had to replace the slave cylinder once since then because in the heat of racing I tend to put my foot to the floor.
Still had a crappy launch. It has rained all day and the track was cold. I guess I needed to warm up my tires more. I did achieve my goal of downshifting into 2nd going into turn 4. That slowed my speed enough to hold the line tighter than I've been doing and I was able to just power out of it and overcome the ground I lost being on the outside.
In round 2, I launched worse. Problems getting into 2nd on turn 1. In turns 3/4 I was trying to shift - I coasted and made some light contact with the other driver. I was in neutral almost all the way to the finish line. Got it back in 3rd to cross it eventually.
May races are at 4:42 and 10:13
Different angle:
[This message has been edited by lou_dias (edited 05-25-2025).]
I can see the car is fast now and here is the reason. Comparing your last dyno with the previous 3.4L to this 3.5L Iron head L32 is that the increase in HP and torque are at the right places. Forget about peak numbers and look at the area were it matters the most. Lets take for example peak HP and TQ at where it matters in your kind of racing, you need HP and TQ to increase as RPM increases right? Look at your last 3.4L dyno results and let's just concentrate on HP and TQ at the 6000RPM mark. If you follow the graphs it is conclusive and predictable to see that at 6000RPM the 3.4L produced 125WHP@6000RPM and about 115WTQ@6000RPM.
Now look at the L32 3.5L Supernatural I made for you. Pay attention at the 6000RPM mark. The 3.5L is at right about 197WHP, that is a 72WHP gain at that specific RPM and TQ is right about 170WTQ which is a gain if 55 lbs/ft at the same 6000RPM. To get this kind of gain, the majority of individuals would opt for a turbo.
