SM105K's Ownership/Performance/Maintenance Thread
- Thread starter SM105K
- Start date
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SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
So it's way down on the list, that's all you had to say, it made the list.
It is on the list, just like you said, but way down on the list.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Haha, I was swapping coils and dropped my 10mm deep socket right between my IC and radiator. I was so annoyed. I was glad I could fish it out from the bottom with a magnetic.
I love the 45 minute project, and the 1 hour and a 1/2 fishing expedition myself.
luigisho
SHO Member
Bulk 10mm sockets of varying depths FTW. Always lose those.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
And....it is just 10mm's......
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: I am on a mission to find this boost leak. I have ordered all new charge pipe couplers. Depending on what time they get delivered, I will probably swap them all out when I get home. It was time anyways, pretty sure they have been on the car since 2007 and I am shocked they have lasted this long.
If that doesn't fix it, then I will replace all of the boost lines from the wastegate to the boost controller and every where between. Those need to be replaced as well.....lol. So yeah...the never ending work on this car continues.
Thinking about it, this is actually a good thing that is forcing my hand to replace lines and couplers that really need to be replaced honestly.
I have had the car turned up to 27/28 psi during low timing tuning, and that was the number when it runs out of fuel injector. So hopefully I will have an update tomorrow with good news lol.
If that doesn't fix it, then I will replace all of the boost lines from the wastegate to the boost controller and every where between. Those need to be replaced as well.....lol. So yeah...the never ending work on this car continues.
Thinking about it, this is actually a good thing that is forcing my hand to replace lines and couplers that really need to be replaced honestly.
I have had the car turned up to 27/28 psi during low timing tuning, and that was the number when it runs out of fuel injector. So hopefully I will have an update tomorrow with good news lol.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: So after checking out the couplers, I ended up replacing a couple of the couplers. <----- See what I did there haha. Long story short, it didnt fix the boost issue. If anything it made me really impressed how long they have held up. So no dice there...lol.
I did go to a larger Lexus meet up. There I spoke with a couple of other turbo Lexus owners, one of whom is pretty knowledgeable. I asked about my loss of boost and he brought up a good point. Extreme Heat.
Story time....gather around. When I was seeing 27/28 psi it was during the winter months. Looking back at the logs, it was 50 to 60 degrees during most of the pulls. Then I had issues with the throw out bearing which parked the car in March. Then I broke my leg, so I wasn't able to work on it. I didn't iron out all of the issues with the transmission until late July when I got the car back on the road. Going from 50 to 60 degrees in March evenings, to 100 to 110 degrees in summer month evenings makes a lot of sense.
It has been 100 to 110 degrees each time I have gone out and done these higher boost pulls. That could be my problem. Extreme heat = Less dense air to compress = less boost. Plus I think I am on the limit of the current WG Spring. I know for a fact that this turbo is not out of air, or out of it's compressor map efficiency.
Well, I can have NONE of that. I have had this car at 27/28 psi and DAMN IT, I am going to use it. So today I am buying a heavier wastegate spring. Granted 98% of the time I drive the car on 17 psi (500 hp) but having the heavier spring and being able to have the 27/28 psi at all times is the goal.
I did go to a larger Lexus meet up. There I spoke with a couple of other turbo Lexus owners, one of whom is pretty knowledgeable. I asked about my loss of boost and he brought up a good point. Extreme Heat.
Story time....gather around. When I was seeing 27/28 psi it was during the winter months. Looking back at the logs, it was 50 to 60 degrees during most of the pulls. Then I had issues with the throw out bearing which parked the car in March. Then I broke my leg, so I wasn't able to work on it. I didn't iron out all of the issues with the transmission until late July when I got the car back on the road. Going from 50 to 60 degrees in March evenings, to 100 to 110 degrees in summer month evenings makes a lot of sense.
It has been 100 to 110 degrees each time I have gone out and done these higher boost pulls. That could be my problem. Extreme heat = Less dense air to compress = less boost. Plus I think I am on the limit of the current WG Spring. I know for a fact that this turbo is not out of air, or out of it's compressor map efficiency.
Well, I can have NONE of that. I have had this car at 27/28 psi and DAMN IT, I am going to use it. So today I am buying a heavier wastegate spring. Granted 98% of the time I drive the car on 17 psi (500 hp) but having the heavier spring and being able to have the 27/28 psi at all times is the goal.
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Ironic, the one item I know you and I are chasing to address, heat soak. The explanation makes plenty of sense. I have to look at my last datalog but the IAT were really hot. And my testing was early in the AM to avoid the midday heat.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: So finding a spring for my ancient HKS waste was interesting. No one has one for my particular wastegate. HKS said they could make one, but that it would bpe 3 to 6 months. So no....
I called around and found Turbos Direct in Glendale, AZ. I spoke with Mike and he gave me some insight. I went home and pulled the spring. Super easy to do and the spring that was in gate was modified. Seems someone tried to lower the wastegate pressure in the past. On wastegate pressure the cut spring would run 7 psi.
I took it over to them and we tried to match up the spring with another 50 mm spring. Settled on a Turbo Smart spring that looked like it would work. Went home and put it in, and wham...9 psi. That is up from 7psi.
In my world if 7 psi with my boost controller was making 22/23 psi on the top, 9 psi should make 27/28 on the top hopefully.....even in the heat.
Old spring and new spring...
My Ancient HKS wastegate put back together.
I will turn it up later tonight and find out.
I called around and found Turbos Direct in Glendale, AZ. I spoke with Mike and he gave me some insight. I went home and pulled the spring. Super easy to do and the spring that was in gate was modified. Seems someone tried to lower the wastegate pressure in the past. On wastegate pressure the cut spring would run 7 psi.
I took it over to them and we tried to match up the spring with another 50 mm spring. Settled on a Turbo Smart spring that looked like it would work. Went home and put it in, and wham...9 psi. That is up from 7psi.
In my world if 7 psi with my boost controller was making 22/23 psi on the top, 9 psi should make 27/28 on the top hopefully.....even in the heat.
Old spring and new spring...
My Ancient HKS wastegate put back together.
I will turn it up later tonight and find out.
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Those springs look pretty big. Glad to hear you restored the PSI. I know it's been bugging you.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: So a 9 lb spring netted me.....24.1 psi. So I need at least a minimum of a 11 or 12 lb spring to get back to 26-28 psi.
Back to Turbos Direct I go. FFS.
Back to Turbos Direct I go. FFS.
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SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
It's all good. Thankfully switching out springs isn't hard. Cut a couple zip ties, and remove 4 bolts. Hardest part is getting that side on jack stands lol.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: Went back to Turbos Direct and picked up a yellow 14 psi 50 mm spring. There is a problem though...it is too long.
So I modified it with the death wheel. Didn't get a pic though. I left one more coil on the yellow spring than the black spring.
Re-installed it and went for a baseline wastegate rip. New cut yellow spring made 13 psi. That is up from 9 psi. All I had was enough time to check gate pressure this afternoon.
I was planning on going back out later this evening but.....
The roads promptly got wrecked. So tomorrow we will see if I can get to the 26/27 psi level which should put the Lexus in the 625 to 650 hp range to the tire. I will make some pulls, datalog, pull the plugs, and bore scope the pistons. If I deem her healthy and safe....back to the dyno!
So I modified it with the death wheel. Didn't get a pic though. I left one more coil on the yellow spring than the black spring.
Re-installed it and went for a baseline wastegate rip. New cut yellow spring made 13 psi. That is up from 9 psi. All I had was enough time to check gate pressure this afternoon.
I was planning on going back out later this evening but.....
The roads promptly got wrecked. So tomorrow we will see if I can get to the 26/27 psi level which should put the Lexus in the 625 to 650 hp range to the tire. I will make some pulls, datalog, pull the plugs, and bore scope the pistons. If I deem her healthy and safe....back to the dyno!
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SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: So I was able to run the boost up on the Lexus. The new 13 psi spring netted me 26.7 psi at a 85% Duty Cycle on my EBC. Exactly where I want it. I did about six big boost pulls at 21 psi + with the top being 26.7 psi.
Couple of cool things about this new spring. It ramps in boost way harder and way faster than either of the other springs. To the point on my first 21 psi pull, I actually stopped and went home to review the data because it was more violent than any other 21 psi pulls.
Data looked good. No knock, AFR's were good, IAT's were good (87 degrees ambient outside temp with me using zero of my installed cooling aids). She was just eating. After each pull I went home and looked at the logs all the way up to 26.7 psi (I have overboost set at 27.5 psi btw). Everything seems to be good. I will confirm that when I check the plugs and bore scope the pistons tonight. If everything checks out, I will schedule a dyno session ASAP.
I would estimate that she is putting 620 hp to 650 hp to the tire on high boost right now. That being said, I am officially out of injector and on the limit of the transmission. So going up in power is futile at this point.
Another take away is this new spring gives me some more freedom when it comes to boost levels. When I want to go out and cruise, I can turn the boost controller off and it makes 13 to 14 psi on the gate. Which is roughly 440 hp and still pretty snappy. One push of a button (low boost setting) gives me 20 psi which is about 550 hp, and another push of the same button (high boost setting) gives me 26/27 which should be 620 hp+.
This car will not see high boost often, and when it does it will be used in conjunction with the Alcowater injection sprayer. I didn't use it last night for a couple of reasons. Reason One: I need to see the raw data, and I want to see if the tune is good. Reason Two: I am not using the Alcowater injection as a supplemental fuel source. It is only there for an added blanket of protection for anti-knock and cooling. If something in the system fails then I know, the tune is still safe.
So yeah, I will report back my findings later when I pull the plugs (probably replace them as well) and check the pistons.
Couple of cool things about this new spring. It ramps in boost way harder and way faster than either of the other springs. To the point on my first 21 psi pull, I actually stopped and went home to review the data because it was more violent than any other 21 psi pulls.
Data looked good. No knock, AFR's were good, IAT's were good (87 degrees ambient outside temp with me using zero of my installed cooling aids). She was just eating. After each pull I went home and looked at the logs all the way up to 26.7 psi (I have overboost set at 27.5 psi btw). Everything seems to be good. I will confirm that when I check the plugs and bore scope the pistons tonight. If everything checks out, I will schedule a dyno session ASAP.
I would estimate that she is putting 620 hp to 650 hp to the tire on high boost right now. That being said, I am officially out of injector and on the limit of the transmission. So going up in power is futile at this point.
Another take away is this new spring gives me some more freedom when it comes to boost levels. When I want to go out and cruise, I can turn the boost controller off and it makes 13 to 14 psi on the gate. Which is roughly 440 hp and still pretty snappy. One push of a button (low boost setting) gives me 20 psi which is about 550 hp, and another push of the same button (high boost setting) gives me 26/27 which should be 620 hp+.
This car will not see high boost often, and when it does it will be used in conjunction with the Alcowater injection sprayer. I didn't use it last night for a couple of reasons. Reason One: I need to see the raw data, and I want to see if the tune is good. Reason Two: I am not using the Alcowater injection as a supplemental fuel source. It is only there for an added blanket of protection for anti-knock and cooling. If something in the system fails then I know, the tune is still safe.
So yeah, I will report back my findings later when I pull the plugs (probably replace them as well) and check the pistons.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: The plugs look great. I checked them out under a magnifying glass. No damage, straps are sandy/light tan in color. Porcelain inside is a light tan with a nice pencil ring pattern. There are no dark or silver specs anywhere on the plugs and in valley/near the base. Could probably get away with a couple of degrees of timing across the board. If I hadn't bought a new set of plugs, I would have zero issues putting these plugs back in.
New plugs went in and I gapped them down to .018 which is down from .020 from the plugs I pulled. I did check the old plug gaps and they opened on average of .05 to .06 across the board. If I have problems at idle a .018, I will re-gap the new ones back to .020.
The pistons look great. No pits or anything out of the ordinary. They are actually a bit cleaner than before as well. Seems the alcowater is steam/chemically cleaning them lol.
All in all I will head over and schedule a dyno appointment for next week, and probably re-write a tune with a couple more degrees of timing added just in case......
New plugs went in and I gapped them down to .018 which is down from .020 from the plugs I pulled. I did check the old plug gaps and they opened on average of .05 to .06 across the board. If I have problems at idle a .018, I will re-gap the new ones back to .020.
The pistons look great. No pits or anything out of the ordinary. They are actually a bit cleaner than before as well. Seems the alcowater is steam/chemically cleaning them lol.
All in all I will head over and schedule a dyno appointment for next week, and probably re-write a tune with a couple more degrees of timing added just in case......
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Even just from the photo, I can see they are very very clean. Burning nicely.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
They were remarkably consistent across the board, and probably have 1K miles on them.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Lexus Update: I drove the Lexus around most of Saturday. I did notice it was having trouble idling. I went home and pulled the plugs and re-gapped them to .20 and back into the car they went. Started her up and everything was good, until it died about a minute later. Went to restart....no fuel pump. Checked the relays and fuses all good.
Plugged the laptop in, and it will not connect with the ECU. I did some rudimentary probing with my multimeter. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. I still need to check the serial to usb adaptor as well. I will work on it again later today, but seems like the old Haltech might have given up. If that is the case that will open a whole other mess of problems.....like finding a replacement....
What sucks is, it was suppose to go on the dyno at 11 am this morning........
I will keep everyone updated.
Plugged the laptop in, and it will not connect with the ECU. I did some rudimentary probing with my multimeter. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. I still need to check the serial to usb adaptor as well. I will work on it again later today, but seems like the old Haltech might have given up. If that is the case that will open a whole other mess of problems.....like finding a replacement....
What sucks is, it was suppose to go on the dyno at 11 am this morning........
I will keep everyone updated.
