My Massive I30 Revival and Build Thread
04-22-2015, 05:01 PM
#281
Damn, what have I missed now? I've heard a massive nitrous backfire (with an emphasis on fire), and have heard a differential explode, but I have yet to really hear an engine die. I'm not looking forward to it 
In other news, I went to dyno last Tuesday in an effort to get the Nistune ECU up and running. I went to a shop called JE Import Performance up in Baltimore, as they are a certified Nistune installer/tuner. Before they got started they gave the car an inspection, which I didn't exactly want, but I'm glad they did it. The tech obviously immediately found the cracked header pipe, but more importantly found that I had cracked my carrier bearing (the large steel thing that supports the middle of the passenger side axle)! I'm guessing it's related to the speed bump incident back in November, which has now claimed a fuel tank hose, a radiator drain screw, the front header pipe, and now the carrier bearing. I'm retarded.
Since I was unwilling to pay full price at the dealer and wait 3 days to get it, I called up a local junkyard (Brandywine in MD). They sold me the carrier bearing and PS axle, pulled and shipped to my house, for $57. Fantastic! Unfortunately, that didn't arrive until Friday, so I spent the rest of the day getting the header pipe welded up.
So you remember how I put that Permatex goo on my cracked header? Well, it didn't work. Since the crack was about 1" downstream of the front O2 sensor, I figured I should probably get it welded up before the dyno since I had the time. Everything came apart pretty easily, but getting to the two lower/PS side upper header nuts is a huge PITA. I really need to buy some ratcheting shorty wrenches! Turns out the crack went around further than I thought.
$50 later....
To prevent some rust, I hit it with some old silver header paint. I was originally planning on properly repainting the entire pipe, but I was low on time and lazy.
And while waiting for the welding to be done, I cleaned up the threads on the various nuts and bolts from the job and threw on some anti seize to make sure it all went back together as smoothly as possible.
With new gaskets installed, I let the car run, and boy is it nice and quiet now! But I still had to do something about that carrier bearing....
It was probably one of the worst sounds i have ever heard.In other news, I went to dyno last Tuesday in an effort to get the Nistune ECU up and running. I went to a shop called JE Import Performance up in Baltimore, as they are a certified Nistune installer/tuner. Before they got started they gave the car an inspection, which I didn't exactly want, but I'm glad they did it. The tech obviously immediately found the cracked header pipe, but more importantly found that I had cracked my carrier bearing (the large steel thing that supports the middle of the passenger side axle)! I'm guessing it's related to the speed bump incident back in November, which has now claimed a fuel tank hose, a radiator drain screw, the front header pipe, and now the carrier bearing. I'm retarded.
Since I was unwilling to pay full price at the dealer and wait 3 days to get it, I called up a local junkyard (Brandywine in MD). They sold me the carrier bearing and PS axle, pulled and shipped to my house, for $57. Fantastic! Unfortunately, that didn't arrive until Friday, so I spent the rest of the day getting the header pipe welded up.
So you remember how I put that Permatex goo on my cracked header? Well, it didn't work. Since the crack was about 1" downstream of the front O2 sensor, I figured I should probably get it welded up before the dyno since I had the time. Everything came apart pretty easily, but getting to the two lower/PS side upper header nuts is a huge PITA. I really need to buy some ratcheting shorty wrenches! Turns out the crack went around further than I thought.
$50 later....
To prevent some rust, I hit it with some old silver header paint. I was originally planning on properly repainting the entire pipe, but I was low on time and lazy.
And while waiting for the welding to be done, I cleaned up the threads on the various nuts and bolts from the job and threw on some anti seize to make sure it all went back together as smoothly as possible.
With new gaskets installed, I let the car run, and boy is it nice and quiet now! But I still had to do something about that carrier bearing....
04-22-2015, 06:12 PM
#282
Damn, what have I missed now? I've heard a massive nitrous backfire (with an emphasis on fire), and have heard a differential explode, but I have yet to really hear an engine die. I'm not looking forward to it
In other news, I went to dyno last Tuesday in an effort to get the Nistune ECU up and running. I went to a shop called JE Import Performance up in Baltimore, as they are a certified Nistune installer/tuner. Before they got started they gave the car an inspection, which I didn't exactly want, but I'm glad they did it. The tech obviously immediately found the cracked header pipe, but more importantly found that I had cracked my carrier bearing (the large steel thing that supports the middle of the passenger side axle)! I'm guessing it's related to the speed bump incident back in November, which has now claimed a fuel tank hose, a radiator drain screw, the front header pipe, and now the carrier bearing. I'm retarded.
Since I was unwilling to pay full price at the dealer and wait 3 days to get it, I called up a local junkyard (Brandywine in MD). They sold me the carrier bearing and PS axle, pulled and shipped to my house, for $57. Fantastic! Unfortunately, that didn't arrive until Friday, so I spent the rest of the day getting the header pipe welded up.
So you remember how I put that Permatex goo on my cracked header? Well, it didn't work. Since the crack was about 1" downstream of the front O2 sensor, I figured I should probably get it welded up before the dyno since I had the time. Everything came apart pretty easily, but getting to the two lower/PS side upper header nuts is a huge PITA. I really need to buy some ratcheting shorty wrenches! Turns out the crack went around further than I thought.
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4609_zps20yievt8.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4609_zps20yievt8.jpg[L]
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4610_zps2gu5veoe.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4610_zps2gu5veoe.jpgL]
$50 later....
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4611_zpsroys2lvk.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4611_zpsroys2lvk.jpg[RL]
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4612_zpsabcrtz51.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4612_zpsabcrtz51.jpg[RL]
To prevent some rust, I hit it with some old silver header paint. I was originally planning on properly repainting the entire pipe, but I was low on time and lazy.
[IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4614_zpsezzohk23.jpgG]
[IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4615_zps4736wguk.jpgG]
And while waiting for the welding to be done, I cleaned up the threads on the various nuts and bolts from the job and threw on some anti seize to make sure it all went back together as smoothly as possible.
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4616_zps7g7m3yo4.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4616_zps7g7m3yo4.jURL]
With new gaskets installed, I let the car run, and boy is it nice and quiet now! But I still had to do something about that carrier bearing....
In other news, I went to dyno last Tuesday in an effort to get the Nistune ECU up and running. I went to a shop called JE Import Performance up in Baltimore, as they are a certified Nistune installer/tuner. Before they got started they gave the car an inspection, which I didn't exactly want, but I'm glad they did it. The tech obviously immediately found the cracked header pipe, but more importantly found that I had cracked my carrier bearing (the large steel thing that supports the middle of the passenger side axle)! I'm guessing it's related to the speed bump incident back in November, which has now claimed a fuel tank hose, a radiator drain screw, the front header pipe, and now the carrier bearing. I'm retarded.
Since I was unwilling to pay full price at the dealer and wait 3 days to get it, I called up a local junkyard (Brandywine in MD). They sold me the carrier bearing and PS axle, pulled and shipped to my house, for $57. Fantastic! Unfortunately, that didn't arrive until Friday, so I spent the rest of the day getting the header pipe welded up.
So you remember how I put that Permatex goo on my cracked header? Well, it didn't work. Since the crack was about 1" downstream of the front O2 sensor, I figured I should probably get it welded up before the dyno since I had the time. Everything came apart pretty easily, but getting to the two lower/PS side upper header nuts is a huge PITA. I really need to buy some ratcheting shorty wrenches! Turns out the crack went around further than I thought.
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4609_zps20yievt8.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4609_zps20yievt8.jpg[L]
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4610_zps2gu5veoe.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4610_zps2gu5veoe.jpgL]
$50 later....
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4611_zpsroys2lvk.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4611_zpsroys2lvk.jpg[RL]
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4612_zpsabcrtz51.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4612_zpsabcrtz51.jpg[RL]
To prevent some rust, I hit it with some old silver header paint. I was originally planning on properly repainting the entire pipe, but I was low on time and lazy.
[IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4614_zpsezzohk23.jpgG]
[IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4615_zps4736wguk.jpgG]
And while waiting for the welding to be done, I cleaned up the threads on the various nuts and bolts from the job and threw on some anti seize to make sure it all went back together as smoothly as possible.
[URL=http://s72.photobucket.com/user/95maxrider/media/Car%20pics/IMG_4616_zps7g7m3yo4.jpg.html][IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/95maxrider/Car%20pics/IMG_4616_zps7g7m3yo4.jURL]
With new gaskets installed, I let the car run, and boy is it nice and quiet now! But I still had to do something about that carrier bearing....
04-29-2015, 12:29 PM
#284
Yeah, the car still needs some work. New ball joints, brake fluid, and Hoosiers. I'll try to post up pics and video of the event tonight.
04-29-2015, 05:19 PM
#285
Back to my supposed dyno day at JE Import. They said they would have dynoed the car with the header leak, but not with the cracked carrier bearing. I don't know how the tech spotted the crack since it's so small, and in an area I would have never thought to look, but he did, and boy am I grateful!
I took a day off work to repair the carrier bearing, but immediately got hung up trying to remove the camber bolt from the coilover. I didn't realize I had to pull the lower stock bolt out for the camber bolt to have enough room to come out. I had to disconnect the sway bar end link to get the control arm to droop enough, but from there out it was relatively smooth sailing. When I got the carrier bearing out, I was surprised to see the crack going all the way around the bracket:
Man, am I glad they spotted that before I went out to an auto-x on Hoosiers. I can't imagine the damage a flopping around axle could do at 60 mph
I was doing this job on my driveway by myself, so I struggled to get the passenger axle back in since it's so long and I couldn't see its hole on the trans from the side of the car. Eventually, I got it in, and reassembled everything. When reinstalling the camber bolt, things didn't line up the way they were supposed to, but I dialed in what I thought was the maximum amount of camber, which is where it was set to originally. I then refilled the trans, only to find a steady drip from the PS axle seal on the trans
I knew it was going to be tough to not mess up the seal, but fuck me. I had a race the next day, and it would have drained itself of fluid before I got to the event, so I needed an immediate solution. I called the local parts stores, only to find that none of them had an axle seal in stock. By this point, it was about 5 pm (on a Friday), and I was desperate, so I called the shop down the street that fixed my header, Prestige Auto Performance, and he said to come by. As I pulled out of the driveway, my ABS light came on and the steering wheel was cocked 45* to the left. I knew the alignment was going to be off a little bit, but this much?? Fantastic. And I probably pulled the ABS sensor wire loose when the hub dropped unsupported for a second. I get to the shop, and the only seal they can get is from a real crappy brand, and nobody can get me an alignment before the race the next day, so I said fuck it and left the car with them to fix; I was done.
Hopefully this is the end of the story for the invisible speed bump, and I can get on with my racing. We shall see. In the mean time, I drove the E28 rally car to the BMW auto-x on Saturday, and the Solo event on Sunday. With it's new mods, it did remarkably well, but that's a story for another thread.
I took a day off work to repair the carrier bearing, but immediately got hung up trying to remove the camber bolt from the coilover. I didn't realize I had to pull the lower stock bolt out for the camber bolt to have enough room to come out. I had to disconnect the sway bar end link to get the control arm to droop enough, but from there out it was relatively smooth sailing. When I got the carrier bearing out, I was surprised to see the crack going all the way around the bracket:
Man, am I glad they spotted that before I went out to an auto-x on Hoosiers. I can't imagine the damage a flopping around axle could do at 60 mph
I was doing this job on my driveway by myself, so I struggled to get the passenger axle back in since it's so long and I couldn't see its hole on the trans from the side of the car. Eventually, I got it in, and reassembled everything. When reinstalling the camber bolt, things didn't line up the way they were supposed to, but I dialed in what I thought was the maximum amount of camber, which is where it was set to originally. I then refilled the trans, only to find a steady drip from the PS axle seal on the trans
I knew it was going to be tough to not mess up the seal, but fuck me. I had a race the next day, and it would have drained itself of fluid before I got to the event, so I needed an immediate solution. I called the local parts stores, only to find that none of them had an axle seal in stock. By this point, it was about 5 pm (on a Friday), and I was desperate, so I called the shop down the street that fixed my header, Prestige Auto Performance, and he said to come by. As I pulled out of the driveway, my ABS light came on and the steering wheel was cocked 45* to the left. I knew the alignment was going to be off a little bit, but this much?? Fantastic. And I probably pulled the ABS sensor wire loose when the hub dropped unsupported for a second. I get to the shop, and the only seal they can get is from a real crappy brand, and nobody can get me an alignment before the race the next day, so I said fuck it and left the car with them to fix; I was done.Hopefully this is the end of the story for the invisible speed bump, and I can get on with my racing. We shall see. In the mean time, I drove the E28 rally car to the BMW auto-x on Saturday, and the Solo event on Sunday. With it's new mods, it did remarkably well, but that's a story for another thread.
04-29-2015, 05:55 PM
#286
The following week, I got the car towed (hooray for free AAA towing!) back up to JE. They aligned the car, and boy was it out of whack. I'm sure that damn speed bump had something to do with this....Anyways, after that, they drained the oil and installed some AN fittings and stainless hose to relocate/install the oil pressure sensor for my Innovate oil/temp gauge. Had I installed the sensor directly to my oil filter sandwich plate, it probably would have been broken off by the PS axle, since they were so close together. I chose to hold off on letting them pull the oil pan and weld in a bung for the oil temp sensor since we were running low on time, so they bolted the car to the Dynapack dyno and got to work tuning the NIStune ECU!
As a baseline, we hooked up the old TS ECU that was in the car when Darius put down 242 whp (on a Dynojet) with this 3.5 motor in his car. I was told Dynojets tend to read 5-6% higher than Dynapacks, but I was surprised to see it put down only 223 whp! And I had added a PF TB to the mix, as opposed to Darius using the stock 60 mm TB, so I didn't like seeing it that low. After some tuning, he got it up to about 237/247, which was still 5 whp less than what Darius put down some 6 years ago. I guess if I'm really curious I will go do some quick dynos on a Dynojet and see what it puts down there. Regardless, the car feels incredible! The power increase around 4k is much smoother now, and power down low is much improved. My A/F ratio is pretty much perfect now, as opposed to it always leaning out up top, like it did on the stock, JWT, and TS ECUs. I had been suffering from some herky-jerky action when getting on and off the gas in stop and go traffic, and it was maddening. This was magically cured with the tune as well! I don't think my car has ever ran this smoothly, it's amazing!! I'm waiting on the dyno charts, but I'll post them up when I get them. I'm pretty disappointed by how badly the power dies off above 5600 rpm. I had them tune it to 7k, but by then it's only making 165 whp! I would consider the SSIM if it weren't for its loss of torque. I like my 247 wtq! Maybe cams and a 4" intake are in my future....For now, the engine mods are:
-2002/03 Maxima 3.5 motor, no SS IM mod
-K&N filter, velocity stack
-2001/02 Pathfinder 70mm TB, custom adapter and throttle cable bracket from sicivic89
-NWP thermal intake manifold spacers
-NWP Block off plate
-Nistune ECU, 7k RPM rev-limit
-Cattman headers
-Resonated test pipe
-2.5” Budget resonated b-pipe
-2004 G35 sedan muffler
-Aeromotive AFPR
The second Solo auto-x was only three days away. Would the I30 actually make it back to a race? It's been about 18 months since my last race in the car, and I was anxious that something else was going to pop up and keep me from racing.
As a baseline, we hooked up the old TS ECU that was in the car when Darius put down 242 whp (on a Dynojet) with this 3.5 motor in his car. I was told Dynojets tend to read 5-6% higher than Dynapacks, but I was surprised to see it put down only 223 whp! And I had added a PF TB to the mix, as opposed to Darius using the stock 60 mm TB, so I didn't like seeing it that low. After some tuning, he got it up to about 237/247, which was still 5 whp less than what Darius put down some 6 years ago. I guess if I'm really curious I will go do some quick dynos on a Dynojet and see what it puts down there. Regardless, the car feels incredible! The power increase around 4k is much smoother now, and power down low is much improved. My A/F ratio is pretty much perfect now, as opposed to it always leaning out up top, like it did on the stock, JWT, and TS ECUs. I had been suffering from some herky-jerky action when getting on and off the gas in stop and go traffic, and it was maddening. This was magically cured with the tune as well! I don't think my car has ever ran this smoothly, it's amazing!! I'm waiting on the dyno charts, but I'll post them up when I get them. I'm pretty disappointed by how badly the power dies off above 5600 rpm. I had them tune it to 7k, but by then it's only making 165 whp! I would consider the SSIM if it weren't for its loss of torque. I like my 247 wtq! Maybe cams and a 4" intake are in my future....For now, the engine mods are:
-2002/03 Maxima 3.5 motor, no SS IM mod
-K&N filter, velocity stack
-2001/02 Pathfinder 70mm TB, custom adapter and throttle cable bracket from sicivic89
-NWP thermal intake manifold spacers
-NWP Block off plate
-Nistune ECU, 7k RPM rev-limit
-Cattman headers
-Resonated test pipe
-2.5” Budget resonated b-pipe
-2004 G35 sedan muffler
-Aeromotive AFPR
The second Solo auto-x was only three days away. Would the I30 actually make it back to a race? It's been about 18 months since my last race in the car, and I was anxious that something else was going to pop up and keep me from racing.
04-29-2015, 11:13 PM
#287
The following week, I got the car towed (hooray for free AAA towing!) back up to JE. They aligned the car, and boy was it out of whack. I'm sure that damn speed bump had something to do Innovate oil/temp gauge. Had I installed the sensor directly to my oil filter sandwich plate, it probably would have been broken off by the PS axle, since they were so close together. I chose to hold off on letting them pull the oil pan and weld in a bung for the oil temp sensor since we were running low on time, so they bolted the car to the Dynapack dyno and got to work tuning with this....Anyways, after that, they drained the oil and installed some AN fittings and stainless hose to relocate/install the oil pressure sensor for my the NIStune ECU!
As a baseline, we hooked up the old TS ECU that was in the car when Darius put down 242 whp (on a Dynojet) with this 3.5 motor in his car. I was told Dynojets tend to read 5-6% higher than Dynapacks, but I was surprised to see it put down only 223 whp! And I had added a PF TB to the mix, as opposed to Darius using the stock 60 mm TB, so I didn't like seeing it that low. After some tuning, he got it up to about 237/247, which was still 5 whp less than what Darius put down some 6 years ago. I guess if I'm really curious I will go do some quick dynos on a Dynojet and see what it puts down there. Regardless, the car feels incredible! The power increase around 4k is much smoother now, and power down low is much improved. My A/F ratio is pretty much perfect now, as opposed to it always leaning out up top, like it did on the stock, JWT, and TS ECUs. I had been suffering from some herky-jerky action when getting on and off the gas in stop and go traffic, and it was maddening. This was magically cured with the tune as well! I don't think my car has ever ran this smoothly, it's amazing!! I'm waiting on the dyno charts, but I'll post them up when I get them. I'm pretty disappointed by how badly the power dies off above 5600 rpm. I had them tune it to 7k, but by then it's only making 165 whp! I would consider the SSIM if it weren't for its loss of torque. I like my 247 wtq! Maybe cams and a 4" intake are in my future....For now, the engine mods are:
-2002/03 Maxima 3.5 motor, no SS IM mod
-K&N filter, velocity stack
-2001/02 Pathfinder 70mm TB, custom adapter and throttle cable bracket from sicivic89
-NWP thermal intake manifold spacers
-NWP Block off plate
-Nistune ECU, 7k RPM rev-limit
-Cattman headers
-Resonated test pipe
-2.5” Budget resonated b-pipe
-2004 G35 sedan muffler
-Aeromotive AFPR
The second Solo auto-x was only three days away. Would the I30 actually make it back to a race? It's been about 18 months since my last race in the car, and I was anxious that something else was going to pop up and keep me from racing.
As a baseline, we hooked up the old TS ECU that was in the car when Darius put down 242 whp (on a Dynojet) with this 3.5 motor in his car. I was told Dynojets tend to read 5-6% higher than Dynapacks, but I was surprised to see it put down only 223 whp! And I had added a PF TB to the mix, as opposed to Darius using the stock 60 mm TB, so I didn't like seeing it that low. After some tuning, he got it up to about 237/247, which was still 5 whp less than what Darius put down some 6 years ago. I guess if I'm really curious I will go do some quick dynos on a Dynojet and see what it puts down there. Regardless, the car feels incredible! The power increase around 4k is much smoother now, and power down low is much improved. My A/F ratio is pretty much perfect now, as opposed to it always leaning out up top, like it did on the stock, JWT, and TS ECUs. I had been suffering from some herky-jerky action when getting on and off the gas in stop and go traffic, and it was maddening. This was magically cured with the tune as well! I don't think my car has ever ran this smoothly, it's amazing!! I'm waiting on the dyno charts, but I'll post them up when I get them. I'm pretty disappointed by how badly the power dies off above 5600 rpm. I had them tune it to 7k, but by then it's only making 165 whp! I would consider the SSIM if it weren't for its loss of torque. I like my 247 wtq! Maybe cams and a 4" intake are in my future....For now, the engine mods are:
-2002/03 Maxima 3.5 motor, no SS IM mod
-K&N filter, velocity stack
-2001/02 Pathfinder 70mm TB, custom adapter and throttle cable bracket from sicivic89
-NWP thermal intake manifold spacers
-NWP Block off plate
-Nistune ECU, 7k RPM rev-limit
-Cattman headers
-Resonated test pipe
-2.5” Budget resonated b-pipe
-2004 G35 sedan muffler
-Aeromotive AFPR
The second Solo auto-x was only three days away. Would the I30 actually make it back to a race? It's been about 18 months since my last race in the car, and I was anxious that something else was going to pop up and keep me from racing.
Any pics of the changed oil pressure sensor that the shop did? I need to get oil pressure and temp setup one of these days.
Coworker is a Nistune experienced tuner and he was showing me the abilities of that A32 ECU software. It makes the JWT nonsense obsolete and EU seems outdated now. Power is decent after the tune, if it is indeed a 6% difference that equates to 252 WHP/262 WTQ on a dynojet. Which sounds about right with the mod list provided.
Not a VQ35 expert but I thought it opens and closes depending on the RPM, where the MEVI/DEKs just open around 4800 ~ 5200 rpm till redline. Block off plate without the SSIM seems detrimental, with a top end that's weak with the stock VQ35 manifolds. Only have been seeing SSIM VQ35 swap dynos, can't think of the last one I saw with a stock intake manifold. From a track perspective I would take the loss in peak TQ for the slightly flatter and longer power band without the need for short shifting IMO.
04-30-2015, 11:40 AM
#288
Car is coming along nicely. That broken axle bracket was
Any pics of the changed oil pressure sensor that the shop did? I need to get oil pressure and temp setup one of these days.
Coworker is a Nistune experienced tuner and he was showing me the abilities of that A32 ECU software. It makes the JWT nonsense obsolete and EU seems outdated now. Power is decent after the tune, if it is indeed a 6% difference that equates to 252 WHP/262 WTQ on a dynojet. Which sounds about right with the mod list provided.
Not a VQ35 expert but I thought it opens and closes depending on the RPM, where the MEVI/DEKs just open around 4800 ~ 5200 rpm till redline. Block off plate without the SSIM seems detrimental, with a top end that's weak with the stock VQ35 manifolds. Only have been seeing SSIM VQ35 swap dynos, can't think of the last one I saw with a stock intake manifold. From a track perspective I would take the loss in peak TQ for the slightly flatter and longer power band without the need for short shifting IMO.
Any pics of the changed oil pressure sensor that the shop did? I need to get oil pressure and temp setup one of these days.
Coworker is a Nistune experienced tuner and he was showing me the abilities of that A32 ECU software. It makes the JWT nonsense obsolete and EU seems outdated now. Power is decent after the tune, if it is indeed a 6% difference that equates to 252 WHP/262 WTQ on a dynojet. Which sounds about right with the mod list provided.
Not a VQ35 expert but I thought it opens and closes depending on the RPM, where the MEVI/DEKs just open around 4800 ~ 5200 rpm till redline. Block off plate without the SSIM seems detrimental, with a top end that's weak with the stock VQ35 manifolds. Only have been seeing SSIM VQ35 swap dynos, can't think of the last one I saw with a stock intake manifold. From a track perspective I would take the loss in peak TQ for the slightly flatter and longer power band without the need for short shifting IMO.
Regarding the power, I chose to keep just the BOP because of this old thread and this one that compares stock->BOP->SSIM. Basically, the SSIM only makes power over the BOP above 6200 rpm, and is way down everywhere else. Since this car mostly does auto-x, and I'm mostly between 3000-6000 in 2nd gear, I need torque over a little more top end power. If I spent more time on the track (like you), the SSIM might make more sense.
Oh, and I spoke with Joe at 2JR, and I have some interesting news about the noise from the panhard rod. Updates coming soon!
04-30-2015, 12:15 PM
#289
Alright guys, I started a new 2015 racing results thread, so check it out! I just posted up pics, video, and a review of the #2 Solo event.
04-30-2015, 06:01 PM
#290
I got the dyno chart from the shop, but it's not exactly what I hoped for. It's not a run/data file, it's not a screen shot, it's a camera phone pic.
Please try and decipher, if you will, this overlay of my best Nistune run with the best TS ECU run. The A/F ratio is also in there towards the bottom. The TS ECU lines are almost impossible to see; they're the light gray dots below the Nistune lines. The less said about the TS's A/F ratio, the better.
I can't believe it doesn't display the peak hp/tq ratings!
Please try and decipher, if you will, this overlay of my best Nistune run with the best TS ECU run. The A/F ratio is also in there towards the bottom. The TS ECU lines are almost impossible to see; they're the light gray dots below the Nistune lines. The less said about the TS's A/F ratio, the better.
I can't believe it doesn't display the peak hp/tq ratings!
05-01-2015, 10:58 AM
#291
Those are solid numbers.
What i am noticing if you want my input lol. The SSIM since your MT will not be a noticeable effect on torque, If you were AT then yea you need as much torque as possible. Even then the SSIM doesn't add too much power over the BOP. I have an SSIM that im not using. Also playing around with the size of your intake tubing, 4" tubing and etc larger seems to be having good results on the 5.5 gens.
Your exhaust might be a bottle neck. The G sedan muffler is only a 2.25" unit. The 3.5s tend to like those big 3" exhaust so you might pick up a few HPs by moving to a 3" system. You can keep it quiet if you get a Dynomax VT muffler.
There is still a little more locked up in there but it might cost more than its worth especially if your not interested in squeezing every last HP out of it.
What i am noticing if you want my input lol. The SSIM since your MT will not be a noticeable effect on torque, If you were AT then yea you need as much torque as possible. Even then the SSIM doesn't add too much power over the BOP. I have an SSIM that im not using. Also playing around with the size of your intake tubing, 4" tubing and etc larger seems to be having good results on the 5.5 gens.
Your exhaust might be a bottle neck. The G sedan muffler is only a 2.25" unit. The 3.5s tend to like those big 3" exhaust so you might pick up a few HPs by moving to a 3" system. You can keep it quiet if you get a Dynomax VT muffler.
There is still a little more locked up in there but it might cost more than its worth especially if your not interested in squeezing every last HP out of it.
05-01-2015, 12:33 PM
#292
Those are solid numbers.
What i am noticing if you want my input lol. The SSIM since your MT will not be a noticeable effect on torque, If you were AT then yea you need as much torque as possible. Even then the SSIM doesn't add too much power over the BOP. I have an SSIM that im not using. Also playing around with the size of your intake tubing, 4" tubing and etc larger seems to be having good results on the 5.5 gens.
Your exhaust might be a bottle neck. The G sedan muffler is only a 2.25" unit. The 3.5s tend to like those big 3" exhaust so you might pick up a few HPs by moving to a 3" system. You can keep it quiet if you get a Dynomax VT muffler.
There is still a little more locked up in there but it might cost more than its worth especially if your not interested in squeezing every last HP out of it.
What i am noticing if you want my input lol. The SSIM since your MT will not be a noticeable effect on torque, If you were AT then yea you need as much torque as possible. Even then the SSIM doesn't add too much power over the BOP. I have an SSIM that im not using. Also playing around with the size of your intake tubing, 4" tubing and etc larger seems to be having good results on the 5.5 gens.
Your exhaust might be a bottle neck. The G sedan muffler is only a 2.25" unit. The 3.5s tend to like those big 3" exhaust so you might pick up a few HPs by moving to a 3" system. You can keep it quiet if you get a Dynomax VT muffler.
There is still a little more locked up in there but it might cost more than its worth especially if your not interested in squeezing every last HP out of it.
I won't lie, cams and a 4" intake would be awesome, but it's probably not worth the money. I know a 3" exhaust would make good gains, but I don't think I can deal with the noise. This is probably it for quite some time.
05-09-2015, 07:24 AM
#294
05-13-2015, 05:32 PM
#295
Joe- I took some pics of the oil filter sandwich plate/pressure sensor relocation while at the last race. Here's what it looks like. Keep in mind this is just for the pressure sensor, the temp sensor is going to require a bung to be welded into the oil pan.
So I'm having a bit of a problem with my trans fluid coming out of the overflow tube. I checked the level before the race, and it was where it should be, but during the race, it was coming out of the overflow hose at a pretty good rate, and after 5 runs it looked like this:
Yeah, trans fluid on my front DS tire ain't exactly a good thing. I don't ever remember having this problem before. The only thing I changed in the trans was the addition of the Quaife, but I don't see how that could affect anything. Is it just that my overflow hose is too short?
I also noticed another possible result of my speed bump incident:
What do you guys think, does that warrant replacement?
Be sure to check my 2015 racing results thread for an update, the car did extremely well at the last event with new/used tires!
Last edited by 95maxrider; 05-14-2015 at 12:40 PM.
05-14-2015, 01:01 PM
#300
As for the.... Test piped v6 sound... of my.... test piped v6... I hope to cure that with a quality oem resonator.
Otherwise, I'm fully satisfied with my G-muffla, loud enough @ wot, lets every1 know I mean bidness, and quiet enough to take care of bidness
05-14-2015, 04:59 PM
#301
Ditto, but for me it's because I need new exhaust hangers and because of the muffler's width, being too close to the heatshields. I'm going to take a wrench to the heatshields this weekend, and new hangers and see if that helps.
As for the.... Test piped v6 sound... of my.... test piped v6... I hope to cure that with a quality oem resonator.
Otherwise, I'm fully satisfied with my G-muffla, loud enough @ wot, lets every1 know I mean bidness, and quiet enough to take care of bidness
As for the.... Test piped v6 sound... of my.... test piped v6... I hope to cure that with a quality oem resonator.
Otherwise, I'm fully satisfied with my G-muffla, loud enough @ wot, lets every1 know I mean bidness, and quiet enough to take care of bidness
06-13-2015, 08:48 AM
#302
Car sounds like a stock G coupe from the rear and in cabin
The intake he has is making most of the noise, or it'd be a pretty quiet car with that lovely "hum"
I bet mine would have sounded better with a legit resonator (OEM! Or Hushpower II after some research) though, oh well, we'll never find out now
Building a 3" exhaust now, you should keep your eyes on that one, taking DB measurments of many different cars so I can quantify my findings in making my car the quietest it can be.
Last edited by aackshun; 06-13-2015 at 08:52 AM.
06-14-2015, 08:04 AM
#303
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Memphis, TN
Posts: 678
I didn't notice but did either of you guys ever try the Dynomax VT? On my little project/DD modded '93 Altima I've run a number of different mufflers including Magnaflow and Flowmaster (which sounded awesome but couldn't hear myself think in the cabin).
The last 7+ years I've run Maxima variable capacity mufflers which always have seemed to have an annoying rattle at idle (result of buying off wrecked cars I guess?) so I went to the Dynomax VT which in theory is very similar to the Nissan muffler. However it was the first gen and had an even more obnoxious rattle only at idle but was basically a freer flowing version of the Nissan/Calsonic unit.
Eventually the VT muffler's rattle got to me and being too impatient to trade in for a second gen revised muffler, I had my prior Max muffler reinstalled.
I must say though that interior cabin noise was not much higher with the VT muffler than with the Maxima muffler (fwiw).
The last 7+ years I've run Maxima variable capacity mufflers which always have seemed to have an annoying rattle at idle (result of buying off wrecked cars I guess?) so I went to the Dynomax VT which in theory is very similar to the Nissan muffler. However it was the first gen and had an even more obnoxious rattle only at idle but was basically a freer flowing version of the Nissan/Calsonic unit.
Eventually the VT muffler's rattle got to me and being too impatient to trade in for a second gen revised muffler, I had my prior Max muffler reinstalled.
I must say though that interior cabin noise was not much higher with the VT muffler than with the Maxima muffler (fwiw).
06-23-2015, 04:48 AM
#306
06-23-2015, 11:38 AM
#307
I had a Warpspeed y pipe, I can't image why they say it won't fit unless you have a broken motor mount or something.
06-29-2015, 07:20 AM
#308
07-15-2015, 06:35 PM
#309
Time for some updates!
First up was replacing the incredibly worn out and possibly original ball joints.
I followed djfrestyl's advice from this thread and removed them according to his instructions: "The only two things that have to be disconnected is the lower sway bar endlink bolt and the ball joint castle nut. Then the arm swings down, remove the snap ring, and you definitely can beat it out. It doesn't mess up the seat, and the Moog BJ fits very firmly and snugly."
After they were in we installed a reman rear passenger caliper, as the one on the car had had trouble sticking when cold. While we were at it, we put in new ATE DOT 4 brake fluid to replace the blue stuff that was in the car and a few years old.
And I did my annual clean out of the area of the mudflaps.
Look, little plants!
At the last BMW auto-x I blew out my poly ES control arm bushings.
New ones to the rescue!
The Sparco wheel I bought from someone on here came rather soiled, and the top alcantara section was pretty nasty. I've put up with it for a while, but finally came across some alcantara cleaner and gave it a shot.
Before:
After:
It's a little beat up, but at least it's clean and now at least vaguely resembles fresh alcantara.
My homemade peanut butter trans fluid catch can didn't hold up to the heat of the engine bay very well, so I got something I thought would be stronger.
First up was replacing the incredibly worn out and possibly original ball joints.
I followed djfrestyl's advice from this thread and removed them according to his instructions: "The only two things that have to be disconnected is the lower sway bar endlink bolt and the ball joint castle nut. Then the arm swings down, remove the snap ring, and you definitely can beat it out. It doesn't mess up the seat, and the Moog BJ fits very firmly and snugly."
After they were in we installed a reman rear passenger caliper, as the one on the car had had trouble sticking when cold. While we were at it, we put in new ATE DOT 4 brake fluid to replace the blue stuff that was in the car and a few years old.
And I did my annual clean out of the area of the mudflaps.
Look, little plants!
At the last BMW auto-x I blew out my poly ES control arm bushings.
New ones to the rescue!
The Sparco wheel I bought from someone on here came rather soiled, and the top alcantara section was pretty nasty. I've put up with it for a while, but finally came across some alcantara cleaner and gave it a shot.
Before:
After:
It's a little beat up, but at least it's clean and now at least vaguely resembles fresh alcantara.
My homemade peanut butter trans fluid catch can didn't hold up to the heat of the engine bay very well, so I got something I thought would be stronger.
07-15-2015, 06:38 PM
#310
Next up was the GDL that had gotten ripped off a bit and needed to be completely redone.
The lip and tape came off pretty easily, but the tape from the first GDL about 4 years ago was still there, and harder than ever. To get this lip to fit properly I had to smooth out the surface and get rid of the old tape.
Time to play with a new toy (the rubber part):
Results? Not great, and a lot of work and risk using it.
Next up was some WD40 and this guy:
Results? A sore shoulder and a smooth surface!
Time to reapply lip with new tape!
Floating car!
The lip and tape came off pretty easily, but the tape from the first GDL about 4 years ago was still there, and harder than ever. To get this lip to fit properly I had to smooth out the surface and get rid of the old tape.
Time to play with a new toy (the rubber part):
Results? Not great, and a lot of work and risk using it.
Next up was some WD40 and this guy:
Results? A sore shoulder and a smooth surface!
Time to reapply lip with new tape!
Floating car!
07-15-2015, 06:56 PM
#311
I also detailed the car for the first time in over two years, and boy was it dirty. Here's the process:
1. Pressure wash the car (light pressure)
2. Wash the car
3. Clay bar
4. Wash
5. Dry with a leaf blower
6. Menzerna IP (on tough scratches) and Final Finish with a Flex 3401 buffer
7. Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze- 2 coats, with each curing for at least an hour.
Thankfully my neighbor was nice enough to let me do all of this in his car port because there's nothing worse than having a bird crap on your car while you're trying to buff it. But it sure looks good now!
1. Pressure wash the car (light pressure)
2. Wash the car
3. Clay bar
4. Wash
5. Dry with a leaf blower
6. Menzerna IP (on tough scratches) and Final Finish with a Flex 3401 buffer
7. Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze- 2 coats, with each curing for at least an hour.
Thankfully my neighbor was nice enough to let me do all of this in his car port because there's nothing worse than having a bird crap on your car while you're trying to buff it. But it sure looks good now!
07-16-2015, 12:08 AM
#312
yes it does. You know one of the things I really like about the I30 is the tasteful application of chrome compared to the maxima where its almost non-existent. The chrome tends to really stand out on darker cars, though, like mine. On a silver car like yours the chromes gets a little washed out. Just a suggestion, but you might want to go reverse on the chrome parts. Consider darkening, like make them gun metal.
Last edited by dwapenyi; 07-16-2015 at 12:11 AM.
07-16-2015, 04:38 AM
#313
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: state of confusion
Posts: 1,341
07-16-2015, 12:04 PM
#314
yes it does. You know one of the things I really like about the I30 is the tasteful application of chrome compared to the maxima where its almost non-existent. The chrome tends to really stand out on darker cars, though, like mine. On a silver car like yours the chromes gets a little washed out. Just a suggestion, but you might want to go reverse on the chrome parts. Consider darkening, like make them gun metal.Norm- GDL=Garage door lip
07-18-2015, 07:25 PM
#316
yes it does. You know one of the things I really like about the I30 is the tasteful application of chrome compared to the maxima where its almost non-existent. The chrome tends to really stand out on darker cars, though, like mine. On a silver car like yours the chromes gets a little washed out. Just a suggestion, but you might want to go reverse on the chrome parts. Consider darkening, like make them gun metal.Nick, i think your close to having the perfect 4th gen as far as performance goes. The chassis is not going to take too much more power than what you have. Maybe just gearing. Grant(NCSU_MAX) car was a few tweaks away from perfection aswell. The gearing of the 6spd turned his car into an animal. Modifications and aftermarket for our cars is so limited but if you could find some slightly softer subframe bushings and run delrin bushings hopefully you wont end up with more chewed up bushings. They do require quite a bit of maintenance(every oil change retorque the control arms and lube them). Just a thought, atleast ES bushings are not expensive I think those slicks probably pushed them past what they were made for lol.
Whenever i finish this car of mine I'll plan a trip back to the Dragon(definitely fall or winter when there are no bikes), im sure even with all the power it will make it will not be able to keep up but it will be great fun.
07-19-2015, 01:55 AM
#317
Yeah that one. Blacken it out and change the door handles to body color like the Maxima SE. These subtle changes added to your blacked out window area would look awesome in your silver color.....I wish I had photoshop to do a quick rendering.
07-19-2015, 02:05 AM
#318
https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...uk-maxima.html
10-20-2015, 12:20 PM
#320
Damn, I can't imagine how long that took you. Thanks for reading! I don't have much in the way of new mods to report as I've been dealing with the loss of my rally car and moving, but big things are going to happen over the winter!