AJKulish's build thread

[ajkulish]

no idea. havent measured. I think its for a speed3, so i gotta find a replacement.
[doublepost=1502328869][/doublepost]car is totally assembled, but wont start. It turns over and has compression, but when plugs were pulled, they were completely dry. So i removed the lines to and from the hpfp and had fuel spray all over each time. But when cranking, the AP only reads a max of 180 psi.

Whats the deal here fellas?

 

[ajkulish]

Car is now running, turns out the crank gear was not properly oriented.

 

[ajkulish]

Been a while since an update. Car is running very well, has about 3k on the new engine (maybe a little less) and i have maxed out the stock fueling. The numbers as it currently sits are 344 awhp / 370 ftlbs. Car is a lot of fun as it is, but I cant wait to add the meth. Unfortunately, that wont get to happen until spring. Snow is in the forecast this weekend so i snagged the work truck, a 2004 colorado for beater/hunting purposes. Cant wait for winter to be over, even though it hasnt started yet.

 

[ajkulish]

Well car has been out of storage for a bit now, and I am starting on my methanol tune. I tested the unit this weekend, and it sprays strong. But when I hit the test button, it takes a second or two for the nozzle to actually spray. Hoping this is just a feature of the test function. Anyone have any insight on response time of the AEM kit?

Nervous and excited for this next phase!

 

[Maisonvi]

Well car has been out of storage for a bit now, and I am starting on my methanol tune. I tested the unit this weekend, and it sprays strong. But when I hit the test button, it takes a second or two for the nozzle to actually spray. Hoping this is just a feature of the test function. Anyone have any insight on response time of the AEM kit?

Nervous and excited for this next phase!

Did you prime the system first?

 

[Sho]

My aem kit would do that with the test button

 

[ajkulish]

Did you prime the system first?

Yes sir, I would repeat this practice to see if i could get it quicker between pushes but no dice.

My aem kit would do that with the test button

But this makes me feel much better. I know youre PI, but did you have any issues with your kit?

I am thinking about going with AN fittings and braided lines, as well as with a solenoid but have to do more research. I get that it prevents gravity from feeding the fluid backward, but is it that much more effective of a seal than a check valve? Its an easy thing to wire in, but im just not sure of its real world effectiveness. Would like to hear of others experience with them. Im also considering a failsafe kit, but that is almost as much as the meth kit in the first place lol. with failsafe and braided lines, i might as well have bought a PI setup.

 

[Maisonvi]

I started with a simple system like you have, then went AN lines (probably $150+ to do all that) added a solenoid, plus a few other things. Started looking in to an AFR fail safe and now you see why I went to a PI system.

 

[ajkulish]

Yeah it makes a lot of sense now. The failsafe may be the make or break. Though i am not sure how i would use it. I was looking at the AEM methanol failsafe. It maps out flow curves and if you exceed either limit it will send either a ground signal via one wire or 12v signal via another wire. My issue is where to run the signal wire. I dont think we have a limp wire like subarus have, but id really like to have it pull a bunch of timing. Not sure how id do that.

 

[Maisonvi]

Yeah it makes a lot of sense now. The failsafe may be the make or break. Though i am not sure how i would use it. I was looking at the AEM methanol failsafe. It maps out flow curves and if you exceed either limit it will send either a ground signal via one wire or 12v signal via another wire. My issue is where to run the signal wire. I dont think we have a limp wire like subarus have, but id really like to have it pull a bunch of timing. Not sure how id do that.

FYI, the meth failsafes cant be run with 100% meth. The AEM AFR failsafe is the one I was looking into

 

[Sho]

Running top lube mixed with 100% meth kept my aem stuff from failing. Although I ditched the meth in favor of 6th port, then PI because e85 is way easier for me to get than methanol

 

[ajkulish]

FYI, the meth failsafes cant be run with 100% meth. The AEM AFR failsafe is the one I was looking into

Why is that? It only maps flow rates and triggers if flow is beyond limits. Where is the discrepancy between meth and watermeth?

Running top lube mixed with 100% meth kept my aem stuff from failing. Although I ditched the meth in favor of 6th port, then PI because e85 is way easier for me to get than methanol

which top lube. Purple? I heard AEM was one of the kits that was successful with 100% meth

 

[Maisonvi]

Why is that? It only maps flow rates and triggers if flow is beyond limits. Where is the discrepancy between meth and watermeth?

100% eats seals and parts. Ive heard the lube works, but I know very little about it. But this is right off the AEM site:

AEM strongly recommends that users never exceed a 50% methanol concentration when using any AEM Water Methanol system or component.

 

[ajkulish]

Yeah i read that too, they all state that because its not road legal. But I remember reading something that snow and AEM were the only 2 kits that could actually handle it.

 

[ajkulish]

Bad update:

About a month ago I dropped to 2nd to pass some jackass doing 20 in a 40, and a pop with coolant all over the place. I feared the worst, but I coasted the 0.25 miles to my place and shut the motor off as I rolled into the driveway. Upon inspection, I found that my water neck/thermostat housing had shattered to 4 pieces. I believe I had put the original 2006 thermostat housing on during rebuild unknowingly, so at this point put the upgraded housing and tstat back in the car, flushed the system, and proceeded to keep driving it.

Drove it for a few days this past weekend and the car was strong. A few pulls had me happy to have her back, and decided I was going to drive it to work the next day. So on my drive yesterday morning, I boosted and the car was still fast and nothing seemed out of place, except for quickly rising coolant rates. Nothing out of hand, figured it just needed burped a little more. When I did boost during the drive, however, the coolant temps dropped quickly once I got off throttle. Like 199, boost, and down to 183 quickly.

Anyway, I park the car and leave it for 4 hours. When I come back out for lunch (and to get some water wetter) the turbo immediately sounded funny, and I could not boost at all. I took off early and drove home, and started tearing down. Turbo has about 1mm of shaft play both up/down and in/out. Bearing sounds like shit. Exterior edge of impeller is slightly worn down. Oil and coolant feed lines had fluid in them. No visible coking.

I havent blown a turbo before, but it seems a bit odd that it failed that quickly with no intermediate issues (low boost, slightly increased noise). I am also starting to wonder whether my coolant and turbo issues are somehow tied together. I guess I am just looking to try to talk some of this out, and see if anyone has thoughts on the matter. I know I have to rebuild turbo, but while getting into this I dont want to miss anything in fear of it happening again. Thanks for the long read.

 

[Easter Bunny]

i dont know how i have missed this build for as long as this thread has been up.

until you have the turbo off and see what the damage actually was its tough to say what all needs to be cleaned out

 

[ajkulish]

The turbo is off, and I have shaft play in both directions. The compressor wheel is worn down just slightly at the edge, but the turbine wheel is in good shape. Bearings sound shot. Just wonder why this could have happened.

 

[SharksInSpace]

 

[ajkulish]

Aww man