Ok cool, thanks for the tip!

 

you don't have to use OE.

McMaster Carr sells red silicone caps rated for 600*F.

http://www.mcmaster.com/?error_redir...e-caps/=soh1l8

You can also google "silicone vacuum cap" on teh intrawebz.

 

Awesome, thanks Team!

 

The McMaster Carr caps look a little thin. Not sure they will hold up under boost, but are certainly good enough for NA. The eBay ones look a lot thicker.

 

Any issues with mounting the bov before the intercooler as opposed to it next to the throttle body?

 

It would be hard to recirculate it located there and it would be hard to locate it there.

 

Do think it's better to recirculate cool or hot intake air? The answer seems obvious ...

 

I know it's preferred next to the throttle body. I was asking if slash was having any issues since his wasn't.

 

I haven't had any problems that I'm aware of. I thought it might have been contributing to backfires when I would let off the gas quick after being in boost, but further tuning has toned that down.

 

Couple other things. My stock wideband apparently bit the dust. It reads right for a few seconds at startup then goes full lean 20.7 all the time. Ordered a new one and just disconnected for now. If I understand correctly that will force the car into OL all the time and otherwise operate fine at the expense of cruise not being tight and wasting fuel.

Second item: this big intercooler impedes cooling airflow to the radiator. I've been contemplating a vented hood, but been reading mixed opinions abouth whether or not it would help. So as a test I drove around with the hood off. With the hood off average coolant temps were 10 degrees lower than with the hood on. I realize that any vented hood will not help as much as having the hood removed. I also know an option is to lay the intercooler flat but I was curious so I experimented.

 

I wonder how much the wrecking yard wants for a hood, if its cheap enough we could cut it up and make our own vented hoods?

 

it's so nice having other 8 owners close to you. I live in v8 land...not a rotary in sight

 

I continue to come across random issues. While I was troubleshooting my fueling issues I swapped fuel pump assemblies. The assembly that I have been running has a Walbro. Suspecting the pump may be faulty I swapped in a brand new OEM assembly. I ran the car like this for a while but I could not see any differences in my logs, so I swapped back. I noticed that on startup the Walbro is no longer as noisy as it used to be, so I figured either it has a problem or it is not going into hi power mode. I jumpered across the resistor and the pump revved up like I am used to hearing. I checked the relays and fuses and all seem good... I need to check the signal from the ECU that triggers the hi speed mode relay.

 

Yeah intercooler blocking the radiator is a problem. I don't think a vented hood will get you as cool as you want to be. There is way too much for the air to pass through with an intercooler, a AC condenser, and a radiator all in a line. Either lay the intercooler flat, or do an air water intercooler with its radiator flat. Air water is more complicated but much easier to route.

 

so your still having issues? I thought the fuel scale and the vacuum cap fixed it?

 

@Harlan: I think I've gotten my cooling under control. I was opening up the vents behind the oil coolers last night and noticed about a softball size area in the drivers side baffle that I had cut for the IC piping but neglected to fill in. I stuffed it with foam. Today I drove 20 miles on the highway with the AC on full blast with 88 degree ambient temp. Coolant temp ranged from 190-196. The same drive on Monday with 95 degree ambient temps the coolant temp ranged from 203-208. When it would get to 208 I would shut off the AC and let it cool a bit. I am hoping ambient warms up this afternoon before I drive back so I have a more precise comparison.

EDIT: Somethig else to mention is that the AC was considerably colder today. On Monday I was still sweating with the AC on. Today it got uncormoftably cold and I wanted to turn it down but left it for the test. Makes sense if more air is flowing over the condenser.

@Fazda: no current issues per se since I changd that nipple. That seems to have resolved my lean issue. However, I am not pushing the car. I had the stock pump in for testing. My reference to no change was when I had originally swapped back to the stock pump. I just got around to swapping it back last night and noticed the Walbro wasn't noisy like it used to be. So, while things are ok now, I am concerned that when I go back to high boost the pump is not going into high speed mode for some reason. It doesn't appear to be a faulty pump because I can jumper to bypass the resistor and the pump sounds noisy like normal.

 

You can remove the high speed relay(one labelled 'fuel') and ,put some spade terminals on two wires and hook them up to a light bulb ............


Also : you get much better cooling by ensuring your intercooler allows air to pass under it too get to the Rad . I found this out the hard way ............

 

hi slash, it is just an advice..
have you thought about changing the intercooler set up to 8" tall and mounted it diagonally?
but u have to get a good intercooler, bar&plate with staggered inside fins..
also, do you take off the tray above the fans?
id id change my intercooler set up to what i described, but so far the idle temp is good, almost the same as the big intercooler..
steven.

 

Just got back from return trip. Ambient was 97 on the dash, so 2 degrees warmer than the reference trip on Monday. Coolant temps were 196-199 and I never had to turn off the AC, which stayed nice and chilly. I didn't break a sweat So, between filling in that hole and opening the oil cooler vents I am pretty happy with the results. I personally believe it had more to do with the hole, but can't really say at this point. Results are at least a 9 degree drop in coolant temp at cruise.

I definitely appreciate the suggestions for changing IC size/orientation and agree it would likely improve my cooling. I was on a quest to see what else I could do before messing with the IC. I do have about an inch under the IC for oar to flow under.

I'll be looking further into the fuel pump thing soon...

 

Not sure which tray you are referring to? I have nothing above the fans aside from intake plumbing and turbo.

 

Glad you found that hole! its amazing how much effect such a little thing can have.

I am sitting around those temps too slash but while boosting, my A/C hasn't worked for a while so I have no data for that.

I like brettus's idea about the light I might do that down the road just for piece of mind.

 

I was thinking the same thing about how much of an impact that gap had. I kinda lucked out finding it. I had put a shop light in the scoop area while I was working in the oil cooler vents and saw the light shining thru.

I like the light idea too. Am I correct that the pump should be in high mode at startup? I know I heard it louder before, it's a marked changed. And when I bypass the resistor the pump sounds like it used to at startup.

 

Also I will test without AC next time I'm on the highway. I know it definitely had an effect. On Monday's drive when it hit 208 I would turn off the AC to let it cool down. It would drop down to 203 and seemed to level off there until I turned the AC back on.

 

I know at startup the pump works harder to pressurize the fuel lines, maybe your fuel lines are maintaining high pressure?

you think any more about ordering the fuel pressure gauge and stuff?

 

Well, would it know that the line is already pressurized? It used to do it every time, now it never does, not even after swapping the pump and having an empty line.

I've thought lots about adding a FP gauge! But I've been holding back until I get a gauge pod figured out. I want the one Brettus has for LHD!