802SHO 2010 Build

[802SHO]

I’m learning so much my hat doesn’t fit anymore. So the assumption o2 extension harnesses cause interference is based solely on cheap inferior wire, crimp, loom…the whole nine yards. It’s like people tend to regurgitate the bad things that they’ve heard without really looking into what is actually available now so to someone like me who doesn’t know it’s just I think extension harness equals bad.

VEMS is known for building Bosch equivalent or better (better) and the length bc of that doesn’t matter. Rock solid whether it’s 8’ or 10’. Went done right, the length is not of any consequence. Something I should have looked into deeper beforehand. At least I found my way now when it’s early.

So let’s just become specifically fluent in Bosch LSU 4.9 wideband oxygen sensors. What can we dig up? How about known characteristics of these specific sensors in a pre turbo application. Known to read lean by a margin of 0.02-0.04 lambda than actual. Math time.

We know lambda target is 0.80 WOT and it’s always met and stable. Now let’s ass what we know about these sensors.

Lean equals less. 0.80
- 0.02

We are actually running between 0.76- 0.78 lambda which is very rich compared to a tuned SHO around 0.82-0.85 lambda. The symptoms make sense. I expect there to be some black smoke wide open throttle and it does smell like gas with no cats, but it’s very stinky and it’s very black. This is robbing horsepower, and leads to fuel contamination.

Oil change and new spark plugs mandatory for this. I’ll catch a sample and send a Blackstone laboratories and have that going on the back burner.

New tune from Brad commanding lambda .82–.85 so now with the engine breathing and the fuel on target with accurate readings I really think this is the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for with my lack of experience. It’s just taken me this long to get to this point when I had to rely on real world testing, which is going out and driving the car and figuring out what’s going on.

 

[Zpak]

I love this thread! Entertaining as well as educational. Keep it up bro, soon enough your next hurdle will be the track forcing you to weld in a cage.

 

[bpd1151]

Soon enough your next hurdle will be the track forcing you to weld in a cage.

This is a genuine likelihood.....

Or, he could just run (any) track, once, get black flagged and play dumb (think like Steve Erkel.... oh, did I do thatttttttt??) and then go to the next track and rinse and repeat.

Just to get the slip of course.

Then street racing from there out.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[802SHO]

I had to work again this weekend and at one point I started listening to Motion Raceworks explain their catch can and pretty much learned after I ordered everything that 2 catch cans, one for each valve cover is reserved for setups north of 2500hp on meth and ethanol lol!

One of the situations you learn the recommendations AFTER you bought everything lol! But that’s ok….it won’t hurt anything. I just wanted to get them on the way as fast as possible bc that will be a few days at least.

Well it’ll be the only PCV VTA catch can setup I’ll need for a lifetime

 

[FREAK_SHO]

This is a genuine likelihood.....

Or, he could just run (any) track, once, get black flagged and play dumb (think like Steve Erkel.... oh, did I do thatttttttt??) and then go to the next track and rinse and repeat.

Just to get the slip of course.

Then street racing from there out.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[802SHO]

Pick up later today.

 

[802SHO]

Sensors ran and zip tied. Took a closer look at the tube seals on the valve cover and I’m going to need to pull both valve covers and inspect/replace.

 

[SM105K]

VEMS tuning FB messenger they responded to me today. They are going to build me custom LSU 4.9 extension harnesses in their super high end wire and loom. One 2’ and one 3’. I asked if the length mattered and if so make it 2 (3’) and they said no the length doesn’t matter at all. Interference isn’t a thing and it’s good I put bungs after the turbo already.

I’ve been suspecting I’m running rich and now we will know the true AFR. So glad I thought ahead and had this already half in motion. I was told extensions cause interference…..yeah? Tell that to the custom builders of those extensions that build them up to 8’ or more, see what they say. They probably won’t say anything bc they’ll be laughing too hard to talk.

The oil pushed into the spark plug hole is exactly what happened to my Mercedes. My car has Oil Vapor Separators (OVS) they are like kinda like vacuum pumps/baffles that separate the air and oil in the PVC system. There is a batch of the 4.0 liter OVS that failed/were defective and that is exactly what happens. It is a growing thing in the AMG crowd, and now after market warranties are refusing to even cover the 2020 and older E63's.

My OVS failed and the increased crank case pressure compromised my Rear Main Seal, my upper pan gasket, and my valve cover gasket. So yeah. I have since had all of that repaired (12k in total) I paid 6k with warranty covering the rest. New RMS, new Valve Cover Gasket, new Upper Oil Pan gasket, and two new revised OVS. The new OVS's are said to have fixed the problem, but like you @802SHO I added a billet catch can set up just for insurance.

When running small displacement motors at 2 bar of boost, funky things happen.

 

[802SHO]

Damn. It sucks that all of that is labor the gaskets and seals cost next to nothing

 

[SM105K]

Damn. It sucks that all of that is labor the gaskets and seals cost next to nothing

Yep $290 a hour............FFS.

 

[802SHO]

Here we are again.
Cylinder 2 spark tube gasket blew off basically. Filled it pretty good.
With a little suction and some brake clean it’s almost good.

I’m replacing all the gaskets just bc I am here.

Im pretty happy this isn’t worse than it is. This job is easy just a little involved.

 

[kryptto]

crazy - its an all new world of issues. you are groundbreaking and pushing the limits.

 

[802SHO]

Valve cover gaskets replaced on the right side. Torqued to 7.5 ft/lbs in a cross pattern. All spark plugs replaced now. Mocking up catch tanks. Next is the front left valve cover.

 

[kryptto]

looking good

 

[802SHO]

Finding out a lot here. So my original VTA system had many flaws that I was not aware of. The Aeroflow LS oil cap breather turns out is NOT sufficient for high pressure crank case turbo applications and is a restriction
It didn’t matter it has a 1/2 NPT to -10AN fitting bc the inlet through those tiny holes restricted flow. To use this moving forward I’ll want to drill 3 small holes in the center.

Unfortunately I can’t use the Motion Raceworks LS oil cap breather bc the threads are slanted instead of straight cut so it doesn’t seal firm. But look inside this one.
Way more flow there! Another restriction is the catch tank caps came with a tiny breather element 1/8 NPT. I drilled and tapped this for -8AN….but there is whoever restriction….-10AN to the can but -8AN into the filters
Then add me not cleaning the filters and SHAZAM Houston we have a problem!

The front left valve cover has that same internal baffle tray inside that has that long 1/4” slit on one end to let a massive amount pressure up and then out of the factory 5/8 quick disconnect fitting. Right now I can’t use the Motion Raceworks or the modified Aeroflow cap breather bc I would need another fitting. But I did buy and will use a 5/8 barb to -12AN straight fitting. This right here with the OEM oil cap on will vent a ton more than ever.
And the Motion Raceworks catch tanks have a 3/4 opening and massive filters up top.
So this will be so much better it’s actually exciting. After a few hours work hopefully I am nearly done and can test. New gaskets on the front left cover

 

[kryptto]

Holy crapola, lol learning much in motion...

 

[802SHO]

I didn’t get enough time to finish this but I’m almost done.

I got the oil/filter change left and one bracket 80% done left to finish

 

[802SHO]

I worked on a kitchen remodel this weekend and that totally messed me up getting this done before Monday-Tuesday rain. So I’m annoyed about that.

I am done with the PCV catch tanks, valve covers and seals/gaskets. I finally added some thick thermal reflective tape on the radiator hoses wrapped around the intercooler pipe. Uh yeah that was most definitely transferring some heat to the IAT2. Well not anymore. I used an Audi R8 Airlift controller magnet mount I tried using in my interior and failed. It came in handy to mount the front left valve cover catch tank, the magnet holding it firmly to the inside of the fender and attached to the catch can bracket, then I made another bracket and wrapped it in one of the Motion Raceworks stickers they sent lol. Then once the -12AN hoses are connected it’s rock solid. I dropped a rear ignition coil bolt days ago, when I listened for it to drop through and hit the ground …it sounded like it did not hit the ground and instead is somewhere above the PTU or exhaust manifold. On 2 separate occasions I blew some compressed air back there and all around and didn’t see or hear a bolt go flying. I’ll keep looking or buy a new one.

Time for an oil/filter change now and take a sample of oil for Blackstone Laboratories. I have 2 sample kits in stock so nothing to order and want for. It’s always good to have a few kits on hand.

Once I get that done I can put the wheels back on and lower back down to the ground. I’ll try and read the stock file again for HP Tuners but this time with the flash power supply and @kryptto MPVI3 device connected to my computer. I think this will work and if so I’ll buy the device from Jason. Thanks man for letting me ”borrow” it to see if this works where the RTD4 and TDN app did not.

Either way I’ll get this baby purring like a kitten again with a cold start and get it ready so come Wednesday right after work I’ll take it for a test drive data log. Actually if it’s nice enough I’ll drive it to the job and let the tune mature a little.

 

[802SHO]

Oil and filter change done
I decided to check my front subframe bolt torque specs. Solid for the most part….put 1/8 turn on one. Oh hey what about my steering rack to subframe bolts? Let’s check those……loose as a goose. Full turns and torqued to 122lbs/ft. F……man no wonder I couldn’t figure out the alignment….my rack was floating. I did the string method again and actually saw real improvements I could make bc the rack was finally torqued down!

Flash the tune.
I head out and WOW….steering is finally FIXED!!!!!!! wow what a difference when your rack isn’t floating! I didn’t know if it was my super wide stance and uneven roads pulling me….no it was my rack shifting while driving. Car felt good. Really responsive. Bc of that it felt like a lighter car. Finally how it should feel.

Tune created oddities: with DTC’s tuned out idk if Brad tuned out while modules or what. Constant sweeping messages and traction control off light stuck on. Aside from that it felt good, sounded good and it felt great with some mini pulls. It took almost 3 times as long to reset OAR for some reason. That was new. Anyway I got it reset and I’m like 35 min in of driving all around town.

I do my rolling multi gear pull and it downshifted good into second and took me to the shift, it has the LSD conversion so the front end shook a little but it wasn’t violent like before but then it lost all power for a split second, it felt like a manual transmission shift power cut…then full power into 3rd and fine I went to about 106mph and let out.

Originally I was pretty pumped until I looked at the log. I wanted to take a look at the lambda and power cut. Lambda was .82 WOT so that good and that’s accurate now since the O2’s are after the turbo. And like to click off all parameters and turn on speed mph….I’ll maximize the graphs vertically and I’ll find my pull really easily. Then I individually turn on parameters to see. So the mph graph shows pretty clearly I had some wheel spin (lost traction). What I wasn’t expecting to see was 22 psi boost spike again and 18 psi looks to be commanded. Rpm shift was 6700. It spun top of second….so the rpm hits like 6200…spins and catches and hits 6700 rpm…so that rpm dip and catch and redline with the wheel spin and it cuts all power and then hits 3rd really well.

So what’s my concern? Why are we 6700 rpm shifting again unless it’s either commanded or overshot. But it wasn’t agreed upon if it’s commanded. Which is an issue I’ve been seeing…..tune changes I’m not in agreement with. The whole time we were supposed to start this new setup in 2024 with regular rpm shifting. Once dialed in ramp it up 200 rpm at a time. Well somehow that translated to let’s run it at 6800 rpm when I first started power tuning. So that was a red flag for me bc that’s not at all what I wanted to do to start with. So again I’m seeing something that isn’t in line with my plan. Plan requires the car to already be fine tuned.

I had done what looked like a promising log at 16 psi so here we are bumped back to 18 psi. The power rating only bothers me bc it’s not clean yet. It’s still not clean so that leads me to believe it’s not ready for 18 psi so it’s like he’s hastily making jumps. That’s not what I want from a tuner. I want methodical tuning in stages with verified clean logs to increase power.

At first glance it’s like wow that was awesome why did it cut power. So if modules were turned off instead of DTC’s specifically tuned some communication errors with abs/esc could cause the always off traction control. And the power cut is in line with again not properly scaled power. The car makes about 2.1-2.2 load on 93 and 18 psi or so….load should be scaled to 3.0 bc the car will easily make over 2.5 and maybe even more than 3.0 but that’s indicative of airflow 3 times more than stock if stock airflow is 1.0.

It’s a combo of mechanical and tuning things to figure out but it’s a lot of tuning. I’d be happier to see the rom shift was 6200 and psi was 16 or whatever. We just tuned out DTC’s, leaned it out…and the car had a lot it mechanical refinement……so hey let’s do 18 psi 6700 rpm shifting? Like cmon dude! Waiting for his reply.

 

[kryptto]

well the project turns a corner... glad you caught the steering slop. crazy how fast things start to loosen. I know they always recommend rechecking all clamps nuts and screws but hey! glad you are out testing before the snow.