Ran SC only tonight at PIR, worked but clutch let me down.

[douglas vincent]

At least with my set up. I finally went out to the track and ran SC only, WITH a rrfpr and my best was 16.3--. I averaged about 16.5 out of about 5 runs. I did have two 18.75 runs but this was due to one horrendous misshift and one clutch eating launch were I just had to stop shifting and coast down the line.

So for those of you out of the loop, I am running a Eaton m62 SC on a 1990 NA 2.2 legacy wagon. Stock 1/4 mile ets were averaging a best of 16.8. This, and this is an important point, was when I was getting 2.009 or better 60' launches on the new stock clutch.

When running 4-5 psi of boost AND nitrous, everything was dreamlike, with consistant 14.8 to 15.0 et's. Respectfully fast.

But then I trashed piston #4 when running 8-10 psi and 60 shot of nitrous.

So I rebuilt the motor and took it out tonight. The setup is running great for the most part. I may have some fueling issues but am not running lean, just not optimal. As far as I can tell, no knock (and I know the knock). I went out intending to run supercharger and nitrous but the nitrous setup is messed up due to a faulty or screwed up on my part nozzle, so I did not run nitrous but once, and it seemed to cause me to slow down, so I turned it off.

So now I was forced to run SC only all night long. And it didnt seem to be that powerful. Kind of depressing. However, by reading the timeslips, and of course knowing how the launches went, I am pretty sure the ets sucked so bad because of the poor launches due to clutch failure. Basically if I tried to lauched like I should launch, the clutch slipped. If I launched so the clutch didnt slip, I pulled 2.3 -2.4 0-60' times. So if you pull that .3 difference off my times, big difference in the final ets.

But still slow comparitively. I MUST get some timing control, the walbro fuel pump and up the boost. Upping the boost is going to be touchy and hard though since the only way to do this is by changing pulleys and they are exspensive to make. The only big pulley I have puts out almost 12 psi, which is way too much. I think I will turn it down for 8 psi and tune the engine for that. Getting a high 15 will leave me happy.

[dzx]

I still find it kinda impressive that you fit that supercharger from the benz? onto your legacy. Nitrous can be dangerous when you start having problems, coworker of mine installed it on his honda, but forgot to install the 50hp jet....hit the switch an well car didnt run to good, in fact, needed a new engine. I think without the jet its a 500 hp shot? Anyway, impressive job

[vrg3]

Douglas - The same thing was happening with my clutch at the East Coast Subaru Shootout... The most aggressive launches I managed without the clutch slipping wildly yielded a 60' time of 2.7 seconds. Most of them were in the mid-3-second region.

Do you already have the RRFPR in? Do you have any instrumentation to monitor how well your engine management is working?

[douglas vincent]

I do have the rrfpr installed now. But I don't have a fuel pressure guage to watch the fuel pressure so I don't know if it is working at all. Without an upgraded fuel pump, the rrfpr might not be doing quite as good a job as it should.

The only guages I have are a boost guage, and a ampmeter hooked up to the oxygen sensor, the poor mans air/fuel meter. I have an egt guage AND probes, but there is some question on how to hook the two together.

I know the dreaded knock sound so I am using the old ear guage to listen for knock but have yet to hear anything. When I did get obvious knock, it was LOUD and it was only when I was running the bigger crank pulley.

[vrg3]

Hmm. What the confusion on hooking up the EGT gauge? Isn't it just two leads to two leads?

I presume you mean a voltmeter on the oxygen sensor... Are you at least using a 4-wire oxygen sensor?

I've heard from some experienced Subaru tuners that EJ engines can detonate almost completely inaudibly except to trained ears... When they tune they listen to the knock sensor through an earphone. You might want to try something similar.

[BAC5.2]

Getting a real clutch should be the first step to running better times. $50 for a "stock" clutch off of e-bay will last almost no time. This is clutch number... 3 for you? And they seem to be the biggest problem in your times.

I think it'd be worth the money to get a beefy clutch and lightweight flywheel. Eliminate that problem all together.

[douglas vincent]

Hey! I spent at least $150 for that ebay clutch.

It is actually the first and only clutch I have installed so far. The clutch that came with the car was weak and old to start with. When I rebuilt the engine the last time, I just didnt have the extra cash to install a $3-400 clutch so had to stay with the "used" clutch and I had to get the egine rebuilt quickly, didnt want to wait, and couldnt afford to wait to come up with that extra cash.

vrg3 - The egt is off a twin engine plane so you can flick a switch to check engine temp from either temperature probe. However, the probes end in a metal loop connection that is a different (smaller) size than the connnection on the actual guage. supposedly you need a special wire/connection to extend the probe wire to the egt guage and I just havent gotten around to doing this.

I am just T-ing off of the stock o2 sensor. If I use/get a 4 wire O2 sensor, a - why is it better? 2 - which wire would I T- off of?

When I was knocking when running the big boost, untrained ears could hear it! Sounded like a nut was loose in the exhaust.


I just got back from the coast, put 250 miles or so on this weekend. Ran great, but then again I was on boost a total of about 1-2 miles the entire time. That is defineately a nice thing about the SC not stressing the engine at all except when you want it too. I got about 24 miles to the gallon. Now that I have the WRX tires, I think that maybe my bragging of getting 28-30 mpg may have been due to having tires that threw the speedo off! Ran perfect though.

[vrg3]

Oh, huh. I do know that you do have to be very careful with the way you wire EGT thermocouples, but I don't really know anything about what the right way is.

A 4-wire oxygen sensor is better than a 3-wire or 1-wire because it provides a wire for the signal return. That way the voltage from the sensor has slightly more meaning. It's still not very meaningful, but it's a little better. You can do a search about how to wire it, but basically you connect the new sensor's signal ground to the heater ground. Then ground your "gauge" to the ECU's "power supply ground" pin.

[douglas vincent]

Well, I came across a little anticdotal evidence that for every .1 of a second you can take off your 0-60', then you can remove about .2 of a second off your et. Since I have ran mutliple and repeatable 2.003 - 2.010 60' times, then I really should be able to pull close to 15.8 ets with a good clutch, which is what I was hoping to get in the first place. Ugh, not another clutch replacement.

[-K-]

I would just keep my eyes out for a turbo ECU. That 's what I'd do.