New Member from West Virginia

Hi all forum members, new to the platform. I bought my gen 1 speed3 for $2700 in November and am waiting for winter to be over to start working on it. Any advice on what to check and service first? Any other members in the West Virginia area? Thanks, Derick.

 

Welcome to the only speed forum worth being a part of man! Haha My suggestions would be to do some research on here about the best fluids to use (oil, trans, etc) and refresh it all with the best man. Quality fluids and filters will make a big difference from what I hear.

 

whalecum. start with a compression test too. Does it run?

 

Compression test, oil change with Rotella T6 synthetic 5w40, post lots of pics.

 

Yes, its runs really well. It has had some work done also. Its got a catback exhaust, catless dp, 18 inch rota reps, short shifter, intake and turbo inlet. I have to pick up a cobb and another question is there anyway to tell if the fuel pump internals have been upgraded? without the use of a cobb to check?
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I will post alot of pics later in the spring, like april or so when I begin to really dig in and get it street legal.

 

1. Download the service manual.
2. As was said, compression, check against the service manual. If it's not great don't fret, try the ring soaking procedure in our knowledgebase. If it's real bad after that, start to fret, do a leakdown, save your pennies and plan.
3. Pull and read spark plugs and regap to correct value. Depending on mileage or PO service reports, possibly just replace.
4. If the short shifter is a short shift plate other than Damond or Adapted, get rid of it. If it's a shifter replacement and it works good then treat it like Delta Burke and leave whale enough alone.
5. Check timing belt play. If it's too much do the VVT thang ASAFP.
6. While watching fuel pressure is a valid way to figure out whether you need HPFP as you mod, with those mods you should physically check the HPFP likenow, and stay out of boost until you have an aftermarket one.
7. In the meantime (if it can be done sooner), another good measure might be to buy an el-cheapo bluetooth ELM327 OBD2 device, set up Torque, make it monitor only RPM, throttle position, accelerator pedal position, boost, actual AFT, and fuel pressure (for maximum update rate). Log some daily driving and maybe a few lower speed runs, maybe a 0, 5, 10 psi situation and see where you're at. Even if you don't need to do this, having torque would give you a boost gauge if you don't have one yet, and could give you the ability to monitor other items before you spring for the AccessPort.
8. See if you have aftermarket RMM. If not, then ASAP get a cpe s2 or CS s2 or Damond.
9. See if you have an OCC. If not, consider one. If I were doing it again I'd just buy a catch can alone, hackfab some kind of bracket for it, and use the CS routing, but there are lots of ways to set this up.
10. Inspect your PMM, if stock+old+modded they like to explode and cover your engine bay in goo.
11. Replace the brake fluid with valvoline dot4, ATE typ200, or better.
12. Inspect all suspension and underbody brace bolts for tightness.
13. Change your cabin air filter.

 

Thanks so much for the feedback, I've already downloaded the service manual and have gone over it a little bit. I've made a list of things I need to fix before making it road legal. Compression test is going to be the first thing I do. The car only has 102k on it. And when i test drove it before buying it sounded good and healthy. I need to raise the car because it was absolutely slammed and way to low for my road conditions here. it has some kind of coils, I havent been able to check what brand but they are fairly bouncy they also need replaced.
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Here she is in the garage, so much work needed.

 

Catless downpipe and no HPFP upgrade is a bad thing. Taking the pump out and inspecting it is the best way to see if done.

 

Open the pump and compare your internals to pictures of stock/Autotech/Corksport. That is the only way to know for certain; logged data is not an effective method since the stock internals CAN hit 1800+ psi, they just have issues maintaining it. If yours are stock, replace right away or you're on borrowed time with that catless dp.

If you get an OCC, my recommendation would be to use Damond routing, not Corksport. Hell, I actually have a CS kit and I still opted to copy the DM stage 1 method, instead.

Oh, and welcome.