stang_king

There is alot of history on this car, but I am just going to jump to the point.

I had some engine problems. So pulled the engine and had it redone. While it was out, installed the Lethal Performance Triple Fuel System, JPC intake and had turbos rebuilt. Every since, the car has ran like crap.

While on the dyno, when getting under load, it would breakup pretty bad. So, we changed out to new coil packs and spark plugs. It still ran bad. The Kenne Bell Boost A Spark was disconnected to isolate it as the cause. The car still ran like crap. The wastegates sounded like they were getting stuck. So, I took the car home and changed out the wastegates; reinstalled the Kenne Bell Boost A spark, changed plugs to Brisk and gapped to .28. I have had them gapped to .32 but there was no difference under this boost level

The car still runs like crap. I am trying to see whether anyone has any ideas on possible problems. Oh yeah, the MAF was changed to PMAS HPX MAF sensor prior to the engine problems and the car ran well with it.

Evaluation information:

1. -19 psi Vacuum at idle
2. New plugs
3. New coil packs
4. New fuel system with 80lb inj
5. New Intake
6. 13# boost on street using 91 octane only
7. 22# race (haven't even gotten to this point yet since reinstallation)
8. Turbos checked good
9. New wastegates
10. Good Tuner
11. Heavy right foot


Oh yeah, when I say run like crap, I mean when under load. While on the dyno, it could be only taken up to about 4k rpm. It idles good and drives decent under other conditions.

Does anyone have some directions or other ways to test to evaluate what is going on? I do have a another dyno appointment coming up. I just want to make sure that I have any loose ends done prior to this.

SpartaPerformance

Check your connections on pipes, you may have a leak somewhere under boost.

stang_king

All connections are tight and sealed. Again, it has -19 psi of vacuum. If there was a leak, this would be way lower.

SpartaPerformance

A leak when boosting, go over all your connections again and look for small slits/cracks in the silicone/rubber hoses you may using to connect pipes.

Simon1

I used to have a turbo on my car and dealt with the same issues. One time it was bad fuel. Every other time it was tuning related or boost leak related. Tuning can be affected by a bad sensor (in my experience the MAF) or a dirty sensor. Sometimes the tuner thinks they can do turbo on S197s, but they cannot. If your tuner realy knows what they are doing, they should be able to look at a data log and tell you where to start working to get the problem fixed.

The two guys in Cali that I would let tune my car with a Turbo would be Greg at RET or Adam Montague at ST Motorsports. Shawn at AED in Cameron Park is a really good tuner too, but I am not sure about his expereince levels with the S197.

Does your car idle and drive around OK with no codes? In other words, is the drivability ok?

I would keep the OEM coil packs.

My vacuum reading was normal under boost too. But I have had leaks in the piping before. I would not dicount a boost leak. However,whenever I had a boost leak, it never "broke up" when accelerating. It just would not reach the correct boost levels.

I would also check the wiring on the MAF and make sure it was installed correctly. Some MAF have to be cut, spliced and rewired when installed. Not sure about the one you have.

Keep us updated.

SpartaPerformance

Turbo's are great but issues like these are why SC's are faaaar more popular.

Simon1

Exactly why I changed.

stang_king

Thanks for all the suggestions...Greg at RET is the tuner.

It has fresh fuel. Although, on one of the dyno sessions, the race fuel seemed to be bad. Purge the system clean and added regular 91 octane and it ran better. The race fuel just kept pegging it super rich even with drastic changes in the tune.

The MAF is plug and play. There are no wiring changes required. The MAF does not peg at all. The car has made decent power with this MAF.

The check engine light is on. I forgot the exact code, but Greg said that this does not affect the tune. It hasn't in the past anyway. The silicone hoses are minimal on this system. The 4 that are on it are tight and stress free without any abrasions or cuts. I am very confident in the connections. They have been checked numerous of times. I even redid all the flanges with this new turbo gasket material. Trust me, when it comes to the connections, I have been overly thorough.

I have a supercharged car and it is fun. I have 2 turbo cars and they are fun. They all have there ups and downs. At times, this one has ran really well. The other turbo car is actually the most reliable out of all of them. I never have had any driveability problems with it. Barry Powers tuned the FAST ECU and it has never had any problems whatsoever.

This is the 05 mustang on the dyno prior to the problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFHTB1ZIBkA

This is with the stock intake and GT500 fuel system. After the upgrade, it just has ran well at all.

Simon1

You are are good hands with Greg.

Two suggestions:

Plugs: they probably were not bad but I would check them anyway.

Fuel. Drain it. Put in fresh fuel. Greg should have the stuff there to hook into the fuel line and let the fuel pumps do the work for you.

When I got bad before it was for a dyno day where we flew the tuner in for tuning. It took 3 complete fill ups to get past the bad fuel. The car would just fall aprt under boost and spit and sputter. It was frustrating.