Ken's Engine Project... Part V - 2004

[Outlaw]

Hey Ken, spoke with a Friend of my at DEI and he asked if you had tried disconnecting the Oil Cooler to see where your Temps are at???

If your Temps are stable without the Cooler, then this would point to something restricting the flow...

 

[Ken]

Yeah, I'm workin' on it.

Meanwhile, the Vette's running like a champ! It's just askin' to be let loose, but I'm not quite finished with the electronics yet. We've got some trouble codes showing and it's got everyone scratching their heads. The main concern is the "Intermittent Low Battery Voltage", which shouldn't show unless I get lower than 8 volts, although I never have seen less than 10 volts, and that was at cranking.

We even re-wired the TEC3 and the DFUs directly from the battery. That eliminated some "noise" and the car has never run better. He also had the cam sync sensor checked as "MAG" in the software instead of "Hall Effect" as mine should be set. Minor problem.

 

[bossvette]

Glad to hear its running good, I have mine up on the lift changing oil pan gaskets, broken bleeders and other minor things before Cruise-Fest 2004

I am hoping it cures my leak the pan did not fit into the groove in the timing cover properly so after triming and flattening the rails I'll see if that is where my leak is, I never would have thought the timing cover could be the culprit if it wasn't for this thread. Thanks Ken.

 

[Ken]

Split once again on May 7, 2004.

Previous threads:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

The car's running great! I've still got some electrical "noise" that's interfering with something, 'cause I still have a few codes showing, although as I stated - the car's running great! The codes ain't causing no harm I guess.

It was kinda serendipitous today too, because I got a call from Harry Khodanian, who used to be with Morgan Motorsports. He's now with the LAPD and is in charge of running their dyno sessions, and is also in the process of opening his own dyno shop. Gee, how'd he know that was my next move? :L

Trouble is, he's out in the Valley, and I'm down here at the beach.

I still haven't installed my check valve in the oil cooler return line, so it's still acting up (gettin' hot!) from time to time, but I'm confident that I'll figure it out before long. :cool

Just thought I'd update this thread for y'all.

 

[Ken]

I haven't done a thing, including the installation of that check valve, yet, but I just had to express my pleasure with this Beast; it's finally getting to the point where it's all finally coming together. The minor issues (electrical noise) have yet to be addressed, but as stated - that's minor. I would not hesitate to drive this to Auburn this week, if only I had the money to get there. This thing uses a lot of fuel now! :eek

I had it out and about on the streets and freeways of Los Angeles this morning, and it behaved so nicely... In traffic my coolant temperature never went past 210° but as soon as I started moving the temperature started dropping right away, and when I was at speed it came down to around 165-170°.

Meanwhile the oil temperature was doing its thing where it stayed around 220° around town, but when I took the revs up and held them the temperature started climbing. From all of the research I've been doing regarding this phenomenom, it is not at all unusual. And, as long as I'm running synthetic oil it shouldn't pose a serious threat - not with the temperatures I've seen, which the highest I've noticed was 270° one time.

I know though, this thing's gonna get me in trouble sometime - it's so damn quick now!

 

[Ken]

No new news, but...

Even if it cost me some horsepower, I'd love to have this set-up sitting on top of my engine:

Is the HotRodWeber.com set-up cool or what? :cool

 

[Ken]

I'm still just in awe of the picture in the previous post. Man, what a beautiful set of carbs! :cool

Anyhow, we tweaked a few A/F numbers today, after we discovered why my oxygen sensor wasn't functioning - more on that in a minute. The driveablity is much improved, although it wasn't all that bad to begin with; most of the time it was taking out more fuel than necessary giving me a lean condition. Now when I come off idle, when leaving a traffic stop, it doesn't have that momentary stumble that it once had. We're getting closer; I just wish I could get him to spend more time with me on it, which brings me to the point of this post...

It looks like I'll finally get it to the dyno shop on Tuesday morning. :J

Rick's got another guy he's going to be tuning, so he'll arrange some time for mine as well. I just hope Mr. Murphy doesn't decide to join us that day. :eyerole

As for the problem I was having with my oxygen sensor, the problem stemmed from the fact that neither of us remembered to upgrade my laptop when we updated the firmware in the TEC3. :duh

Therefore, when I uploaded a new .bin file to the TEC3 from my laptop, it reverted to the older system and the oxygen sensor wouldn't function (It wasn't recognized I guess. ).

Of course when Rick talked to the tech person at Electromotive, he had to take some flak for not catching that sooner, though at first he did try to evade the tech guy's question as to what the answer was in the first place. Wouldn't you? :L

 

[bossvette]

Good to hear you are coming along well, keep us posted on your progress. I too have oxygen sensor problems that showed up on the dyno. Mine shows up OK on the laptop but the dynos A/F shows lean I have been adding fuel and driving it as usual and still have a cold start problem. I just need to keep adding fuel, but with the price of gas I may be better off with a newer Vette as a daily driver My oil leak has been cured thanks to this thread, now maybe I can get the computer dialed in a little better

 

[Ken]

Go ahead, make fun of me all you want, but whatever you do, do not follow my lead if you want to build an engine that makes horsepower.

Even if I add eighteen percent back to the final numbers, I still only come up with a little over 450 horsepower at the flywheel, not the 530+ we expected to see.

​

As you can see, I pulled a maximum horsepower reading of 387.2 at around 6000 rpm, with peak torque at 406.3 at around 3500-4500 rpm. I don't know what else we could be missing, but we're not giving up yet.

Rick tells me that I've got my plugs gapped a little wide at .035 and that it would be better at around .028 with the compression ratio I'm running. Another thing that was overlooked that could be a problem - I forgot to check to see that the throttle body is opening fully. That'll keep me from making power, eh? :L

I just wish I had more money; it was another two-hundred dollars for the dyno time today, not counting Rick's tuning services. :eyerole

 

[bossvette]

You have 200 horsepower on me and a smooth line, my dyno runs looked like Bill Clinton an a lie dectector. I am going to bulid a new short block before I invest in more dyno time. This engine was built in 1991 and has had many hard miles on it. I dropped a 4-bolt block off at the Machine shop today.

 

[rrubel]

Dang. I'll be happy if I'm even CLOSE to your numbers. What were your coolant and oil temps before the runs?

BTW, on your recommendation I ordered that Lingenfelter tuning book. Better late than never, eh? :L You can get a remaindered copy off Amazon.com for about $5 plus shipping.

[RICHR]

 

[Ken]

Coolant temperature was around 87° C (188° F) and the oil was around 104° (220° F), Rich.

I think you'll enjoy the book. :cool

Craig, "Bill Clinton on a lie detector"... Do you trust your engine?

 

[rrubel]

Hm. Get those temps down a bit and obviously your power will go up... that's one way Mad Mic gets his phenominal times.

I'm looking at next week to get the engine in the car, then maybe another week to get all the fittings back in place, then get the exhaust pipe done. Maybe a couple weeks, and I'll be running again! Hopefully you'll have your bugs worked out and getting maximum power by then.

[RICHR]

 

[Ken]

I'm about ready to throw in the towel Rich. I'm just getting more depressed about it every day. Enough is enough!

I'm wondering if I didn't hurt it when I missed that 2-3 shift while on the track in late 2002 (I went back into second from third on a powershift, remember? :eek) I know that I damaged the second gear synchronizer in the process because I can no longer powershift, or shift quickly at all actually. If I take it easy and shift normally it's fine, only when I "bang" it does it give me grief.

Now, with the numbers I'm seeing, it makes me wonder if I didn't hurt something else as well; such as bending a valve or breaking a spring maybe.

I changed plugs today and narrowed the gap, but what do you guys think might be causing #6 & #8 plugs to be as fouled as they are, while the others are pretty normal. You can see around the threads where I was running a bit rich, but the ceramic core on all of the others is normal-colored, right? That may be an indication of something amiss, eh?

I'm banging my head so much that I have a permanent headache!

 

[rrubel]

Excuse me while I free think here...

Running rich is caused by too much fuel. So what causes too much fuel? Injectors that are flowing too freely? Not enough air getting in (valves not opening right)? Exhaust not being expelled right would cause a lean condition, right? Or would that be rich as well because you'd have the right amount of fuel but less oxygen.

Bent pushrod keeping a valve from opening all the way?

Or is it even running rich at all? Could you be leaking a touch of oil around those two sets of rings?

[RICHR]

 

[Ken]

I'm worried that I may have damaged a valve or valve seat. I'll be checking the compression and doing a leakdown test soon, I guarantee it!

 

[plumcrazy]

hey ken saw pics of your motor and they look awesome great job hope things
work out for you soon. i was wondering where you got silicone intake couplers
at and what size the coupler is at the throttle body. i have a 52mm bbk and my
duct doesnt fit good at all had to split it and tape around to get it over the tb.

thanks
chris

 

[Ken]

They're a little far from you Chris, but I got the hoses at Baker Precision Racing here in Long Beach. The throttle body reducer is 4x3 and about four inches long, while they sell the straight lengths of hose in one-foot lengths, of course in various sizes. They only had red and blue when I visited them, otherwise I would have probably gone with black.

 

[rrubel]

Ha. I knew I'd seen that awesome intake somewhere before. Mad Mic and I both heard/FELT it at Carlisle last year.

[RICHR]

 

[Ken]

Different setup, but still cool nonetheless. :cool

I wish I'd have had my wits about me to take a picture the other day at the dyno shop; there was a '67 big-block convertible leaving that had individual throttle bodies and horns peeking from under the hood vents. The thing had sidepipes too and man, did it sound good!

I forgot to mention the Viper that was in there too. It was all done up with sponsor stickers and racing numbers, and with what sounded to me to be a straight-thru 3" exhaust system. I thought for sure it was "race only", but I'll be damned if he didn't drive off in it when he was done on the rollers. :L