That is the plan. It was on the list, just further down this winter. IIRC 1 coil is 3/4" drop. Still running the Eibachs up front.
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Are you sitting comfortably? build
- Thread starter SyntheticAtmosphere
- Start date
Purchased a flash tune from Stratified Friday @ 11am, had a tuning form email to me by 5pm. Filled it out that night and returned.
Had a tune to load by Monday. I wasnt expecting that quickly. Now I will calibrate the MAF and turn on the WMI.
Edit Tuesday - Idle is good and smooth, low rpm/no boost driving is smooth and easy too. MAF Cal sent.
Had a tune to load by Monday. I wasnt expecting that quickly. Now I will calibrate the MAF and turn on the WMI.
Edit Tuesday - Idle is good and smooth, low rpm/no boost driving is smooth and easy too. MAF Cal sent.
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Did the new front wheel bearings fix your sloppy steering feel and braking issue? My car has felt like this for a while now and couldn't figure out why.
Yes. After the new bearings and an alignment, the car drives great.
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G
Great man good to know! I will definitely be replacing mine when I can then. My poor car isn't nearly as clean as yours so it is showing its age. I have replaced at least over half of the car by this point lol Weird thing with that is that everything feels tight and absolutely no wiggle anywhere so that must be harder to identify I guess
Got my MAF Cal revision back today. Loaded that up, ready for tomorrows drive in. Not much to report. The car is driving nicely on just the base map. Havent pushed it into boost, now that its calibrated I will...just a bit. I still have a datalog refinement coming to fine tune everything. The Yokohamas are excellent. Drove home in moderate to heavy rain on the highway at 80mph, not even a quiver from the tires, lane changes, on ramps. So far they have great street manners.
So far, the tune is good. I do find that when I depress the clutch on moderate acceleration at about 3-4000 RPM, the power unloads really harsh. I had selected my FFS at 3500, so i think that might be the reason for that issue. Dont know why I even bothered setting FFS, I dont use that feature. I will probably adjust after the process is complete. Nolan asked for a second Maf Cal, possibly just as a check or maybe there is still room for improvement. Got some logs for that today. I havent pushed the car very hard, but enough to make the wmi flow. Started getting an alarm condition that wouldnt reset after the 5 second setting. Found a leak in my tank at the level sensor. Silicone to the rescue. In order to drain the tank, I have a valve on the tank out, and I open the filter housing. Filled the tank and the needle wouldnt even budge without permanently alarming again. I bled the system both to verify flow and remove the air. Do I need to bleed a wmi system for it to operate? It seemed to work fine with the test button after I did. I will try it out on tomorrows drive. Got my Stratified keychain in the mail, now right where I wanted it.
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Ended up finding another leak on the inlet to my solenoid. It wouldn't leak when I used the test button on the controller, but I guess under boost when the system was pushing into a charged pipe it would dribble out. I was able to find it by disconnecting the solenoid and hitting the test button, all on a hunch. It figures this would pop up after I got an email from Nolan saying my Maf Cal was good to go and to datalog now for my tune revision, LOL.
Just when you think you have the world swinging from your...
Just when you think you have the world swinging from your...
Sent in logs for refinement this morning. Got sidetracked between working around the house on a weeks holidays and chasing the on going problem with water leaking from the A/C system still here again.
Nolan at Stratified suggests I get an intercooler next to help get me where I want to be. Ill have to see where I can slide that mod in, I already have injectors and seals planned for this winter and a nice crack in my windshield. Maybe in the spring, Ive got enough on my plate right now.
Nolan at Stratified suggests I get an intercooler next to help get me where I want to be. Ill have to see where I can slide that mod in, I already have injectors and seals planned for this winter and a nice crack in my windshield. Maybe in the spring, Ive got enough on my plate right now.
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Ive been rolling around with the WMI tune revision for the summer and the car is great. Crazy quick acceleration in 3rd and the car dosent have as much of a dead spot in the bottom end of 4th. Still flogging a step-child K04, its working hard and is in its golden years now. It would be so nice to take advantage of much more power above 5000 with a BT. I dont see a big improvement in peak numbers when I toss logs into Vdyno, but the runs are more consistent compared to when I was tuning. Probably a good sign of safety and reliability at work in the tune, LOL. With the Stune, the car pulls smoother and drives normally around town much nicer. The car is undeniably making more power throughout the power range now.
What I will say about the WMI...I find that the performance of the car is lackluster when the ambient temps are cool (below 60*F/15*C). I actually feel that the WMI might be stifling performance. When the ambient is hot, the WMI advantage is very noticeable and I am happy with the addition as most of my spirited driving is above that threshold. Curious to know if this is an issue to pursue or just a tradeoff of life with WMI?
A couple days ago I pulled the pin on a Whiteline bar for the rear. The price was right and its been on the list of wants for a long time, but I was always pre-occupied with engine performance or general maintenance. When I install it I will cut the rear coils while they are removed to bring the back end more in line with the front ride height. Mostly I cant wait to try the car with a more neutral disposition.
What I will say about the WMI...I find that the performance of the car is lackluster when the ambient temps are cool (below 60*F/15*C). I actually feel that the WMI might be stifling performance. When the ambient is hot, the WMI advantage is very noticeable and I am happy with the addition as most of my spirited driving is above that threshold. Curious to know if this is an issue to pursue or just a tradeoff of life with WMI?
A couple days ago I pulled the pin on a Whiteline bar for the rear. The price was right and its been on the list of wants for a long time, but I was always pre-occupied with engine performance or general maintenance. When I install it I will cut the rear coils while they are removed to bring the back end more in line with the front ride height. Mostly I cant wait to try the car with a more neutral disposition.
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The AEM flow sensor for my failsafe has lasted about 3 months. The gauge needle quit moving while injecting as BATs were still dropping. I have concluded mounting it in the engine bay is not the best choice. It was mounted on the drivers frame rail near the ballast resistor. Due to the heat and some torsional forces it now has skewed the axis for the internal workings. New one on the way, but I am looking to mount it directly off the pump which is located in a much cooler environment behind the driver fog lamp.
Also periodically a P0126 - Insufficient Coolant Temperature for Stable Operation MIL would pop up. Although I didnt have any problems with warm up or heat, as I would drive, the temp would drop to around 158* then stabilize, but normally would sit around 165*. Cooling fans came on at 205* one morning while in the drivethru for coffee, but believing the ECT by that point was futile. Ironically it happened on the coolest morning we have had since the spring. Upon inspecting the sensor I was able to rotate the connector portion in the sensor's housing, which temporarily remedied the situation. Ive now replaced the sensor with a new unit.
Also periodically a P0126 - Insufficient Coolant Temperature for Stable Operation MIL would pop up. Although I didnt have any problems with warm up or heat, as I would drive, the temp would drop to around 158* then stabilize, but normally would sit around 165*. Cooling fans came on at 205* one morning while in the drivethru for coffee, but believing the ECT by that point was futile. Ironically it happened on the coolest morning we have had since the spring. Upon inspecting the sensor I was able to rotate the connector portion in the sensor's housing, which temporarily remedied the situation. Ive now replaced the sensor with a new unit.
Ive changed my OCC hose routing from the way suggested in a Corksport blog (PCV&cam cover>OCC>TIP) to the way explained in the Damond blog (PCV>OCC>checkvalve>Intake).
I was having a barely noticeable amount of black smoke immediately upon going full throttle and small oil specks on the rear panel of the car. I theorize the oil was building up in the IC. Since changing the routing, all seems cured. Oddly enough, I havent had this issue previously and my routing has been the Corksport way for 7 years. Poor K04 #2 might be thinking about retirement. I also relocated the OCC from the engine bay to beside the washer reservoir, hoping that the cooler environment will be beneficial as well.
Coming to the end of the season, tomorrow the car gets parked and the oil dropped. Over the following days I will continue with the necessary maintenance for winter storage. Its been a good year, car still pulled strong and consistent. Over the winter I will be replacing the thermostat, installing the Whiteline RSB and adjusting the rear coils. On the list for my quest to 300whp, next spring will be addition of a Cp-e Delta core or ETS TMIC and retune.
I was having a barely noticeable amount of black smoke immediately upon going full throttle and small oil specks on the rear panel of the car. I theorize the oil was building up in the IC. Since changing the routing, all seems cured. Oddly enough, I havent had this issue previously and my routing has been the Corksport way for 7 years. Poor K04 #2 might be thinking about retirement. I also relocated the OCC from the engine bay to beside the washer reservoir, hoping that the cooler environment will be beneficial as well.
Coming to the end of the season, tomorrow the car gets parked and the oil dropped. Over the following days I will continue with the necessary maintenance for winter storage. Its been a good year, car still pulled strong and consistent. Over the winter I will be replacing the thermostat, installing the Whiteline RSB and adjusting the rear coils. On the list for my quest to 300whp, next spring will be addition of a Cp-e Delta core or ETS TMIC and retune.
I always have a plan...Although the car is currently in hibernation and I have a couple items to work on I also have a long term plan for the project. Currently Im upgrading to a DM catch can and will be upgrading the TMIC by the time the car comes out in May. Stratified GA is still on the list maybe late 2022. 2023 will see the addition of a 3.5" intake preparing for S4 BT to the package for the 2024 season.
Provided those benchmarks are met come fall 2024, maybe end of 2025, The car will get parked for 2 years. During the downtime I plan to build a forged internal, but essentially factory engine to take advantage of the S4 to 400awhp. The end driver is to build the engine to handle that power level for the next 100k, so new seals, hoses, accessories, VVT...blah, blah, blah.
I have been rooting around the forum and the net seeing what everyone else has documented...
JTs Maximum Carnage is probably my most visited thread for engine build info, this is Gold!
JSilva's Rebuilding advice? is a good read, he asks a lot of good questions. JT, Sho, StreetSpeed6 add a lot to the thread.
Ofcourse Sho's stock block testing is packing so much its like Christmas!!
...but that's just the engine.
While I have the engine pulled, The suspension will get a refresh...
Starting with RUS bushings that Phate found us.
Bilstein struts will be added and all bearings, CV shafts and brakes will be replaced, largely OEM parts.
Before I re-assemble the project, I will be also cleaning & recoating the interior floor. This is to repair the damage from my issue with the AC system pissing me off and pissing on my floor over a number of years. The underside will get media blasted and recoated along with both subframes before reassembly. Although my car is very clean and I wont have any reconstruction to address, it has its share of patina from the few years before I bought it.
The only area I dont plan to attack is the paint...I hope to bubble wrap, pad and treat with kid gloves throughout this whole process. Funds for that will have to come at a later date.
Ive been looking at the idea of a car rotisserie. Purchasing a rotisserie kit is at the top end of the cost scale. Used ones can be had for slightly less or DIY with engine stands and fab skills are about equal $$. I see pissing away money on something I will probably only use once for the purpose of prepping and sealing the underside of the car. So my plan is this...Wooden tip over jig. Fraction of the cost, drink beers beside the fire pit when done. Anyone know a good estimate of the shell with front and back glass intact. I will have to weigh the car before rolling it.
There is one major unknown in this plan, partly the reason for the open window to begin. I dont know if I will be accomplishing this in my current garage or in my planned new shop. I cant start, or wont start this process and be required to move location part way through. The time in this house has always had a planned end. I will be moving to the family farm, although when is not in my hands. With the funds from this home subsidizing the building, I am currently in the process of designing a new 40' wide x 32' deep 2-bay at the farm. Therefore move, construct, setup delays at par. If I am unable to begin, this thread will become a "look what I bought" until I am.
Provided those benchmarks are met come fall 2024, maybe end of 2025, The car will get parked for 2 years. During the downtime I plan to build a forged internal, but essentially factory engine to take advantage of the S4 to 400awhp. The end driver is to build the engine to handle that power level for the next 100k, so new seals, hoses, accessories, VVT...blah, blah, blah.
I have been rooting around the forum and the net seeing what everyone else has documented...
JTs Maximum Carnage is probably my most visited thread for engine build info, this is Gold!
JSilva's Rebuilding advice? is a good read, he asks a lot of good questions. JT, Sho, StreetSpeed6 add a lot to the thread.
Ofcourse Sho's stock block testing is packing so much its like Christmas!!
...but that's just the engine.
While I have the engine pulled, The suspension will get a refresh...
Starting with RUS bushings that Phate found us.
Bilstein struts will be added and all bearings, CV shafts and brakes will be replaced, largely OEM parts.
Before I re-assemble the project, I will be also cleaning & recoating the interior floor. This is to repair the damage from my issue with the AC system pissing me off and pissing on my floor over a number of years. The underside will get media blasted and recoated along with both subframes before reassembly. Although my car is very clean and I wont have any reconstruction to address, it has its share of patina from the few years before I bought it.
The only area I dont plan to attack is the paint...I hope to bubble wrap, pad and treat with kid gloves throughout this whole process. Funds for that will have to come at a later date.
Ive been looking at the idea of a car rotisserie. Purchasing a rotisserie kit is at the top end of the cost scale. Used ones can be had for slightly less or DIY with engine stands and fab skills are about equal $$. I see pissing away money on something I will probably only use once for the purpose of prepping and sealing the underside of the car. So my plan is this...Wooden tip over jig. Fraction of the cost, drink beers beside the fire pit when done. Anyone know a good estimate of the shell with front and back glass intact. I will have to weigh the car before rolling it.
There is one major unknown in this plan, partly the reason for the open window to begin. I dont know if I will be accomplishing this in my current garage or in my planned new shop. I cant start, or wont start this process and be required to move location part way through. The time in this house has always had a planned end. I will be moving to the family farm, although when is not in my hands. With the funds from this home subsidizing the building, I am currently in the process of designing a new 40' wide x 32' deep 2-bay at the farm. Therefore move, construct, setup delays at par. If I am unable to begin, this thread will become a "look what I bought" until I am.
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2022 - Damond OCC, Whiteline RSB
Good day in the garage today. Freezing rain and high winds outside, but the heat was on and the beer was cold!
Swapped out the rear swaybar for the Whiteline I had sitting on my bench since last summer.
Modified the left side bushing bracket to clear the shaft boot.
I still need to pickup end links and of course an alignment come May when I pull the car out.
Also clipped the springs to bring the back end down a touch.
Need to pickup the white rubbers for inside the coils as mine are crusty AF. I think they received excessive abuse when my car was on the saggy ass Eibachs.
Good day in the garage today. Freezing rain and high winds outside, but the heat was on and the beer was cold!
Swapped out the rear swaybar for the Whiteline I had sitting on my bench since last summer.
Modified the left side bushing bracket to clear the shaft boot.
I still need to pickup end links and of course an alignment come May when I pull the car out.
Also clipped the springs to bring the back end down a touch.
Need to pickup the white rubbers for inside the coils as mine are crusty AF. I think they received excessive abuse when my car was on the saggy ass Eibachs.
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Another great day in my fortress of solitude. Finished up the RSB and coil clip. Picked up replacement bumpers for inside the coils and new links. Once back on the ground the rear had dropped 1/4" lower. I hope it settles nicely as I now have an even 2" at all 4 corners from tire to wheel lip with the 17s I use for storage.
After finishing up out back I moved around front and replaced the t-stat from a P0126 - Insufficient Coolant Temperature for Stable Operation MIL from last fall. While I had the intake manifold and air box out I installed my DM OCC. Nice piece that tucked in well with the rest of the kit I have for the Airbox and WMI.
All that completed I move on to some maintenance repairs, 2 front calipers (Rt Fr is a little draggy), some yellow LED fog lights and boost tubes & T-clamps.
After finishing up out back I moved around front and replaced the t-stat from a P0126 - Insufficient Coolant Temperature for Stable Operation MIL from last fall. While I had the intake manifold and air box out I installed my DM OCC. Nice piece that tucked in well with the rest of the kit I have for the Airbox and WMI.
All that completed I move on to some maintenance repairs, 2 front calipers (Rt Fr is a little draggy), some yellow LED fog lights and boost tubes & T-clamps.
Driving season is coming soon. No big plans to start off the year, just tying up loose ends and servicing to get it ready. Ive installed a Bluetooth unit with Mazda plug to connect my music phone replacing my old system, the "headphone jack hack".
Cleaned the filters in the WMI system.
I originally had 2 layers of 6mil yellow over the fog lamp glass, but had developed a brown spot on the tint film from the heat of the OEM style bulbs on the drivers side. Today I removed the tint film and the bulb hood from the fog lamp housings and installed some yellow LED bulbs. These should provide some distinguishable light output that the lackluster ornamental OEM bulbs could not provide.
Mazda also designed a fog lamp bracket that was slotted to adjust the vertical angle of the fog lamps, but molded a static point in the middle of the adjustment slot. Ive removed the retaining portion giving me the ability to adjust the lamps focal point where I would like.
Cleaned the filters in the WMI system.
I originally had 2 layers of 6mil yellow over the fog lamp glass, but had developed a brown spot on the tint film from the heat of the OEM style bulbs on the drivers side. Today I removed the tint film and the bulb hood from the fog lamp housings and installed some yellow LED bulbs. These should provide some distinguishable light output that the lackluster ornamental OEM bulbs could not provide.
Mazda also designed a fog lamp bracket that was slotted to adjust the vertical angle of the fog lamps, but molded a static point in the middle of the adjustment slot. Ive removed the retaining portion giving me the ability to adjust the lamps focal point where I would like.
I miss my fog lights 
I sort of want to get either a new front bumper or the fog light inserts again. I cut the back of the bumper where the brackets held it all in. Seemed like a good idea at the time to fit the fmic piping I had available at the time. Then the oem lights wouldn't seem quite as bad
I sort of want to get either a new front bumper or the fog light inserts again. I cut the back of the bumper where the brackets held it all in. Seemed like a good idea at the time to fit the fmic piping I had available at the time. Then the oem lights wouldn't seem quite as bad
Over the last 8 days I was laid up with ol Covid. Didnt get anything accomplished till today and not much really. My son designed and 3d printed me an new adapter to fit my WMI gauge into the vent opening a little cleaner than the previous one. I no longer needed the mount I had built as I upgraded to a Bluetooth converter for my music in the car. Just need to paint it matte black and wire up the lighting. With this setup Im also going to have room to label the leds.
Finished up the gauge in the panel. Got the wiring all assembled and tested...
When the system is operating normally and flowing, the green light tells me the solenoid is open and the blue bar is the WMI controller LED showing pump duty. It will also flash for alarms such as low mix.
The red LED will be for when I get a Guardian Angel.
My old gauge used a flat piece of acrylic. Unfortunately the angles were perfect for it to reflect the back window of the car during the day making it hard to see the gauge. This time I used a convex piece of acrylic so I shouldnt have to deal with poor daytime readability.
Tomorrow I will be installing a diode as a flyback on my solenoid so the spike from the field drop dosent burn out my green LED and putting the dash back together.
When the system is operating normally and flowing, the green light tells me the solenoid is open and the blue bar is the WMI controller LED showing pump duty. It will also flash for alarms such as low mix.
The red LED will be for when I get a Guardian Angel.
My old gauge used a flat piece of acrylic. Unfortunately the angles were perfect for it to reflect the back window of the car during the day making it hard to see the gauge. This time I used a convex piece of acrylic so I shouldnt have to deal with poor daytime readability.
Tomorrow I will be installing a diode as a flyback on my solenoid so the spike from the field drop dosent burn out my green LED and putting the dash back together.
On stands for some final checks and maintenance.
My right front brake has been annoying me lately. Although there seems to be no issue when driving, it appears the right front is dragging just a touch. I experience no pulling or noise. The only sign...that wheel builds noticeably more brake dust. The caliper piston moves in and out of the bore smoothly and the pins are always well greased. So today I replaced the flex line incase the inner liner had collapsed.
Then my son helped me bleed the whole system old school style. Now running Dot4. My old fluid was still really clean but now the pedal is dead solid and probably like when I bought the car 10 years ago.
My right front brake has been annoying me lately. Although there seems to be no issue when driving, it appears the right front is dragging just a touch. I experience no pulling or noise. The only sign...that wheel builds noticeably more brake dust. The caliper piston moves in and out of the bore smoothly and the pins are always well greased. So today I replaced the flex line incase the inner liner had collapsed.
Then my son helped me bleed the whole system old school style. Now running Dot4. My old fluid was still really clean but now the pedal is dead solid and probably like when I bought the car 10 years ago.