Powerdyne puzzle

[jessica2112]

Wow, I am so in debt to you all. I have vac/boost gauge, a/f and 3 pod pillar mount. f/p should be here tues. I'm going to install what I have today, or at least get the wiring started. (Sun). I was told I have a manual tensioner, so I just have a metal plate and some bolts. I do have a six ribbed pully, but it's smaller than the origional. It's plastic, grey looking. He said he broke the old one, trying to get it off. But like you are suggesting, I'll
get the other stuff out of the way first. Damn, if I use the stock airbox, I could have used my CAI. I put it up for sale and it's a done deal I think. I accidentally posted my question twice, and one has replies, the other no. I was looking at the other. [img]graemlins/slap.gif[/img]

[grayman]

bummer about the CAI...you can still use the airbox though. There is still a whole in it to draw air from under the airbox as well as in front of it. It will at least clean up the engine bay a bit by ditching the cone filter...but your call will still haul *** with the cone filter. [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

I have been meaning to ask...did you get an RKSport kit for 99-2002 (to better match your car) or an older 95-97 kit? (workable but will need some modification)

Copy what I am about to write into your powerdyne notes:
You need the tensioner bracket that you got with the kit. You do not need that ribbed pulley, though. when it comes time to actually install the powerdyne...you will 1) remove the stock tensioner...2) you will remove the stock Idler Pulley. Take the stock smooth tensioner pulley and swap that into the new rksport tensioner bracket. Voila!

Also...I have a 6 psi blower pulley on the car right now...it is the same diameter as the 6 psi pulley on your blower. with the John_D wrap and a 6 psi pulley you can still use the RKSport belt that originaly comes with the kit. You will understand what I am abou to say when you are more familiar with the rksport tensioner brancket. With the rksport belt the tensioner bracket has enough adjustment room in the bracket to tighten the belt...but on my set up the back side of the tensioner pulley was rubbing on the water pump inlet. I removed the pulley from the tensioner bracket and put a big washer behind it (on the pulley bolt) and re attached the pulley...problem solved. This works because the tensioner pulley is SMOOTH so it does not have to line up perfectly with the ribs on the inside of the serpentine belt. You also gain the benifit of having a Metal Tensioner pulley as opposed to the plastic one that comes with the original rksport kit. This help give you more 'tightning' options.

YOu will understand about tighting the belt tensioner later...I use a large C clamp on the metal pulley...you can also use a hammer...2x4...lots of ways. Anyway...we can cover that later.

dont forget to let me know if you have the newer or older kit.

He broke the pulley because he did not use a pulley puller...about 15 to 20 bucks...2 claw pulley puller...any auto parts store.

[jessica2112]

It is off of a newer camaro I think. He said I would have to alter it if I had a angled throttlebody. I installed the a/f gauge and the boost today. Waiting for the fuel press gauge. For some reason I thought I had to take the big platic dash piece off (with the def. vent in it) and cracked the hell out of it right behind the inst. cluster. I am SO mad at myself. The a/f is a auto gauge led, and it moves all over the place like an old fish finder. If it is correct, I am always running lean. It goes lean (red) to yellow (good) with those sets of led's all lit most of the time. I get one green rich led every now and then. I tapped the passenger side o2 off the manifold. Is this lean condition nowrmal?Anyway, thanks, that is the part I'm gonna get hung up on. Got the vac line wainting for the FMU, sender wire waiting for fp gauge, and still need 1 way valve. Advanced auto does not have it. Jessica

[blackFbird_98]

well from what i understand about the a/f gauges, which isnt much, they are pretty much alwasy rich or lean untill WOT,

[grayman]

yep...you have a narrow band A/F gauge...(as do I) and it is only accurate (roughly) at wide open throttle. YOu can't use it for advanced tuning or anything but it does make you feel better to see that you are at least not lean during WOT. It will alsways jump around like that at idle and cruise but it should go solid when you punch it. If it does not and your car is still stock (before Supercharger) then you may have it on the wrong O2 sensor wire. I used the purple wire on the drivers side o2 and it works fine.

Very cool that it is from a straight TB car. That will save you some work and money...and all the little bracket spacers will match up to your water pump and stuff.

Bummer about your dash.

Got my check valve from napa. print a pic of it, maybe...to bring to an auto parts store.

[TurboProject]

I did the exact same thing when I installed my pillar gage pod as well. I only cracked it in one place but after driving all the vibrations made the crack spread and now the thing is in like 3 or 4 pieces... :mad:
You might want to put some tape on the underside of the crack or something so the two halves of the crack don't move independant from one another and the crack doesn't get worse!

With the A/F ratio gage, you're not going to get a reading really other than rich/lean. Narrow band sensors are only designed to tell you when you're running 14.7 A/F ratio.
You can see why from this plot:
http://www.megasquirt.info/manual/wbvolts.gif
There's a wild swing in the narrowband output voltage around 14.7

I just recently got a wideband and it shows you exactly what A/F ratio you're running.
I'm using the LC-1 from Innovative Motorsports
http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/x...cat=253&page=1

The partcular one I got doesn't come with a gage but I have a compleatly stand alone fuel controller( www.megasquirt.info ) so I just feed it to that and I can datalog what A/F ratios I'm running. I did however also hook it up to a little homemade LED gage that I put in my dash. The gage works on exactly the same principal as the gage you have so you could connect this LC-1 to your exsiting gage and program one of the outputs of the LC-1 to show you a real A/F ratio reading based on a scale that you chose.

Just wanted to throw another option out there! ;)

[ May 09, 2005, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: TurboProject ]

[jessica2112]

Why did everyone tell me to get a a/f gauge if it was not going to work right? Are they aware of the prob? So I have a widebans sensor huh? Anyway to modify the signal to get it a little better?

[2002 v6 camaro uncharged]

I bought a narrow band gauge to before I realized there were different kinds. But yea, the narrow band gauges suck, they only work at WOT but they are better than nothing if you don't have the money to buy a wideband gauge. At WOT is where your car will go lean and you will be able to keep track of that with the narrow band at least a little bit. I had the same problem as you when I first installed mine I thought I did something wrong becasue it eas jumping all over the place.

[TurboProject]

Jessica, you have a narrow band sensor.

Actually I ran with just a narrow band and a FMU for about two years with the turbo and it worked just fine. It just wasn't tuned.
Then I went with a stand alone computer but was still using a narrow band.
I just installed that wide band last week and when I looked at my A/F ratio under boost it was less than 10:1...and my narrow band always just showed "rich".

Now with a wideband I'll actually be able to zero in on what I'm running and tune for it. At this point I don't trust narrow band sensors at all. Not even for telling me when I'm lean.
But like I said, you still could use your current gage with the $200 LC-1. They even tell you how to set it up for one of these gages in the LC-1 manual. And $200 is a real good deal on a wideband. Most are $350-$500. But that is with their own gage.

[blackFbird_98]

well in my opinion a/f gauges suck and are a waste of time (IMOP)the only time they kinda work is a wot and who looks at the gauges in the middle of racing, not me that is why i have a shift light, i like to watch the road and the idiot next to me

[jessica2112]

Thanks! Hey am I gonna throw codes when i get the sc on? Was curious...

[phoenix64]

Originally posted by jessica2112:
Thanks! Hey am I gonna throw codes when i get the sc on? Was curious...

Yeah depending on your boost #, P15XX. MAF value too high. It'll put you in reduced power mode.

I HIGHLY recomend a wideband, Tuning with a narrow band is like being blindfolded.

[grayman]

Originally posted by jessica2112:
Why did everyone tell me to get a a/f gauge if it was not going to work right? Are they aware of the prob? So I have a widebans sensor huh? Anyway to modify the signal to get it a little better?

Everyone didn't. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Some of us mentioned that a FP guauge is the most important. Either way...you still have the AF gauge...it sorta works at WOT...whichs is when you are developing boost...which is when you really need to know if the fuel mixture is lean or rich...so your are still ok with the narrow band.

[grayman]

You don't HAVE to tune the engine when you are running the 6pis pulley...that is a great thing about the SC. As long as you know that the FMU is working...(fuel pressue gauge) you will be fine. You car will be a LOT FASTER and you will get the same gas mileage. Don't worry about tuning software just yet. One step at a time...most important steps first.

[98Camaro3.8]

Originally posted by grayman:
it sorta works at WOT...whichs is when you are developing boost...which is when you really need to know if the fuel mixture is lean or rich...

Only problem is that the lean/rich side is at 14.7:1. Anything richer than that is gonna show pretty much full rich with a narrowband. Could be running 14:1 and it would show full rich. I'd be a little worried if I was running 14:1 with a blower. ;)