OK. So my entire ATP turbo kit is here: logical first steps??? TIPS?? by nater

16 minute(s) of a 173 minute read

The motor is in and most of the wiring/plumbing is back in and she will be running tomorrow (thursday).

My digi cam ran out of "juice" and I've got no replacement batteries but I'll take a pic tomrrow and add it here...

December 17, 2004

Update: It is Friday and she's closer to being started up. All electrical connections are done and just have to do turbo plumbing, Downpipe to turbo connection, 'test pipe', front end back on, and connect all coolant hoses.

*should* have it up this weekend. My initial estimate of Thursday was too optimistic b/c I've lost a couple bolts and am having a hard time matching up bolt holes on trans to driveshafts (I'm up on ramps, not on a lift).

Ok,

So car is about done but I'm going out tonight so it's gonna have to wait until tomorrow.

One last question:

How can I jack my car up when it's up on ramps already?

I mean, the 4 jack points are right where the ramp is and I can't get my jack in there.

Is there another safe spot that I can use on the front part of the car?

I have one side of the trans bolted up but need to twist the pass side wheel to get the holes to line up there (I think).

Could I just get my engine hoist and pull the front end of the car up by the two "beams" that come out on either side (by each fender)???

Or would they buckle?

Bentley says, "severe damage may occur if you use other than these 4 points".

So, I don't want to damage my car that bad.

December 18, 2004

Car is back together with fluids. Front end is back on...

Intercooler piping and downpipe need to be installed tomorrow...And that depends on how late I sleep then the eagles are on at 1pm.

Then after the game I'll be too drunk to work on it - so Sunday may be a wash.

For some reason I'm still nervous about cranking this biatch over for the first time in so long. I know schimmel knows what he's doing....but I'm still nervous.

December 27, 2004

Need some more tech help guys... but I got it started and running.

Just a little concerned about my oil light that came on...and need a way to check oil pressure. Check that other thread for my specific question.

December 28, 2004

Ok,

An update (and to get this thread a bit more back on-topic for what it was meant to be)...

I did two things worth noting:

1) Re-routed my BOV back into my intake to eliminate compressor surge.

2) Had an o2 bung welded into my "test pipe".

Here are the pics:

3L Schimmel rebuild with 10.0:1 Forged Pistons, C2 8.5:1 Gasket, Head rebuild with HD valve springs, Peloquin with Trans rebuild:

Intake tube (that 90deg elbow goes right into the turbo inlet):

I just got that pipe cut at Home Depot. I think it's 1" OD or close to it.

Nothing fancy, but this pic shows the bung I had welded into my 'test pipe'.

And from the thread show above, here is my last post which should have fixed a couple electrical problems I have had recently. To summarize, the first problem was electrical shorts on the wiring harness connected to the injectors, oil pressure switches, and TPS. Second problem occured b/c I messed something while fixing the first, and it caused my high pressure (20psi) switch to malfunction (showing no oil pressure at high rpms)... Here's my entire last post on that thread:

Ok,

So this post is two fold in nature. Just throwing in some pics of the previous "problem" I had and the fix (which I'll put below) and to update you on my current "problem" (oil pressure 'issue').

While I've still got the car apart (well, front end off) I noticed that the left pressure switch (I think it's called the 20psi "dynamic Oil Pressure Switch") with the yellow wire was totally disconnected.

And I guess it's somewhat related to my earlier fix so I'll post those pics right now and show you guys what I did (to fix the last electrical problem, and to cause this low oil pressure malfunction problem )...

This picture just above shows these three wires that come up between the fuel rail and the lower intake manifold that are actually the wires that go to the oil filter housing switches. As you can see, somehow they got pulled out and I layed the upper intake manifold on top of them and torqued it down, crushing all three of them to the point where I had all sorts of electrical gremlins with that short.

Above pic just shows another pic.

Above pic shows I just cut the "bad part" out and since there was more wire left (slack) I just soldered them back together (I cut out about a 1/2").

Above pic shows the tubing I found at Sears Hardware that I used to make it nice and oem-looking.

Above pic shows final result. Just wrapped the wire with the tubing and then threw some red electrical tape on top of it.

So, as you all know when I did that work I must have pulled those wires too hard...so hard that I pulled the connector off of the high pressure dynamic oil switch (yellow wire, black sensor on the left on the oil filter housing)...

I decided the quickest way to get down there with my big hands was actually to pull the front end off. I'm getting to be very good at it. It took about 15 mins incl pulling i/c piping off w/o the car being up on stands...not bad (at least IMO)...

Above pics show how I just pulled the front end off and the lower radiator (left side) bolt out - plus the a/c condensor line (left and upper right). This allowed me to just open it up like a door...easy access to the oil filter housing and w/in two mins I was able to see this(below):

Not a bad pic but you have to really look for it.

You can easily see the top/rear sender where I tapped my oil for the turbo (in the back)...

You will also see (peeking up over the black tube) is a brass connector all by itself with no wire connected.

That is the dynamic (20psi) switch that is SUPPOSED to have the yellow wire connected to it.

Obviously, that is my problem.

Thought you guys would like to see what I've been up to.

Well,

I put the front end back on and she fired up. Once it warmed up a tad I revved it to above 2k rpms which is when the bentley says that high pressure switch turns on...

Looks like everything is fine and it actually just was that wire that was disconnected.

Whew.

Now to wait for my atp gaskets (thursday) to fix my exhaust leak and I"ll be breaking in the car on friday.

Will post up finished pics then with impressions of the 3L motor, new clutchnet (I think) clutch, and peloquin with rebuilt trans....

December 29, 2004

I put about 75 miles on it this morn/afternoon and the car runs great. I didn't get into boost (except for a couple "mistakes" but only maybe 2psi).

Car runs very strong. When decellerating in gear I get In Hg vacuum of like 28.

Idles close to 20. Feels real tight...

And the motor when revved to about 2k rpms has a sweet tone to it.

It's awesome. Oh, re-routed (as you can see from pics above) the BOV back into the intake and the car has NEVER shifted (motor-wise) smoother.

And of course, the schimmel rebuilt trans feels smooth as silk.

Clutch is super stock feeling but grabs like hell.

Peloquin,

Well, I haven't got into it enough to feel it. But I don't even know it's there (for now).

Just thought I'd share.

I put 110 miles on her today...back roads and highway runs at 0 boost and below. RPM's varying but topping out occasionally at 5k.

No long road trip planned but she'll be broken in (basically) tomorrow.

I'm gonna post a pic of what my boost guage reads at idle so you guys can see (on my next post - gotta upload it to my website)...

And tell me what you think it means. It's reading 12-14vacuum at idle.

That may just be due to the fact that she's not broken in or being that I lowered compression, or even that it's a 3L...or some combo of all three.

My best guess would be that it's just not even close to broken in.

I actually thought tho that the rings would have seated to a degree where that number didn't look too far off...

Any input on this is greatly appreciated.

Pic post to follow...

Boost guage at idle after 110 miles of driving new motor...

December 31, 2004 

I put another 150 miles on it yesterday staying out of boost...A total of about 300 miles on the fresh motor.

Towards the end of the day I planned on "short shifting" at say, 4800rpms and not worrying about "modulating the throttle".

So, I kept the rev's down (as I promised myself) but layed into it down low and can I just say HOLY FOCKERS!!!

Keep in mind, nothing (as far as boost) has changed with this motor and I can say right off the bat that the car is waaaaay faster/more powerful than it was before at the same boost. You should feel it at boost in 4th gear on the hwy. It's scary fast.

I knew that boring it out would make a difference but with the turbo it must have made a bigger difference. My butt dyno says I should have gained maybe 30+ WHP by getting it bored out (not a bad deal considering it would have cost me the same to rebuild it to stock).

Plus, my head turned out to be in pretty bad shape so maybe it was never that fast to begin with (it sure felt fast before tho ).

I've been taking care of the clutch tho so I'm fully engaging the clutch before getting into any boost (I never really get into it anyway until it's fully engaged since I don't race much)...

But I can also tell you that I AM starting to "feel" the peloquin and man is it nice.

Clutch is a no ishter, stock-feeling clutch yet it grabs awesome! I had to get my car up on my oil change ramps and I used to have to ride it a bit to get it up but I just engaged this clutch and it went right up the ramps...grabs like a biatch.

Guys, I'm actually a bit concerned about turning up the boost. I'm not really getting traction in 2nd gear (at part throttle-foot about 1/4 to 1/2 the way down) so I know that when I turn it up to 15 it'll be insane.

Like there aren't many spots where I would feel comfortable using that 15 psi except on the hwy.

Scary fast is good. I guess that was the point.

I'm just amazed at how much faster this car is with the rebuilt motor.

Even with my cheesy spacer . lol

Anyway, as I turn up boost I'll be updating the thread...

For those of you that have followed this thread from post one (that were clueless like me) it is a known fact that turbo's don't just cost what the "kits" cost. They end up costing much much more.

I had heard it before, and now I'm preaching it.

Even w/o the crazy engine rebuild (which technically I didn't need) I'm still in the range of $7k since this turbo was bought.

Rebuilt trans with peloquin and HD clutch cost some coin..add in the motor and I think I'm around $9k now (just adding in tires too)...

So, you guys were right.

I'll be adding my Walbro (just picked up yesterday from Scott Williams) and will be installing soon and when I do I'll do a picture write up on that and add it to this post.

I'll also be going up to see Jeff Atwood and we'll be doing some fine tuning for the 42# chip (specific for my car) and I'll get it dyno'd then and will post that up here as well. Then hopefully this thread will be "complete" (finally).

January 05, 2005

Well,

I've been having a problem with the car stalling A LOT. And it's running extremely rich at idle (when it stays idling).

It's almost like a vacuum tube is disconnected (but it's not) or a boost tube is leaking (which I dont' think it is).

I idled the car last night and did the following test on the MAF and TPS:

Disconnected the MAF with TPS still connected: No reaction.

Plugged MAF back in, then out, then back in again while engine running: Nothing. Like it didn't exist.

Disconnected the TPS with MAF plugged in/out: Car stalled out.

Drove car with MAF disconnected and it drove identical to the way it was driving before.

Only MAF-related code is "maf signal too high" not the too low code.

My initial thought is that it's a problem with my MAF wiring which I'll check later today or tomorrow...then clean the MAF. In the event that it's still acting up I'll find a new maf.

I'll keep you all in the loop.

January 08, 2005

Update:

So I tested my MAF sensor wiring and found a couple things...

Check it out and add your thoughts if you can (theres pics there )...

January 20, 2005

I fixed it just be replacing the 111 relay (relay for secondary air injection pump) which is right behind the battery on the drivers' side (mk3) and is attached close to the strut tower.

So, I'm not sure if it was the maf sensor itself that was bad or the wiring or a combination of the two as I "fixed" it all at the same time.

Car is smooooooooth as silk now and running fast as balls. And only on 9lbs of boost. That 3L motor really made a difference!!!! 

June 03, 2005

I'm fighting a boost leak somewhere which is pissing me off....And I'm too tired to work on my car for the last few days. But besides that it's great!!!

My clutch SUCKS!!! But besides that it's great!!!!!!

My trans is acting up...but besides that it's great!!!!!

Typical Turbo problems. Runs smooth as silk though (except for the boost tube that I must have blown loose the other day).

Oh, TIP for ppl....that don't knwo any better like me!!! :

USE THE HEAT SHIELD FOR THE TURBO...

I didn't.

Now, I am melting my throttle body! May have to do with my slight bucking problems I've been encountering...I looked under the hood and see the black plastic melting onto the Exh manny! 

June 05, 2005

Here's an update on how the car is 'doing'.

Since this is a comprehensive thread on turbo'ing the vr6 I thought I'd keep readers in the loop on everything that has/is happening to my car after I decided to turbo it.

July 10, 2005

UPdate:

There are so many "offshoot threads" in regards to this topic and I think I've been good in linking those threads in this one. So, if I've missed anything let me know.

The latest thread on me trying to figure out why I had oil sitting in my cylinders (on the piston tops) and on the plugs in all cylinders is HERE:

Basically, I had some whining of my synchro in 1st going to 2nd gear. Schimmel took it apart and found nothing at all and said they do that every once in a while.

I also had grinding in 3rd which I just thought was as a result of my other trans problem. They found that it was a bad synchro and selector. I'm having it replaced.

The head is still in the air, schimmel is dissassembling as we speak.

But the above thread shows pics of my pistons when I pulled 'em and pics of them before I re-installed.

Thanks everybody! I'll post all related updates in this thread for sure.