andale927's PTE 5558 Gen 2 Build (Built Engine)

If he's running OTS timing, there still shouldn't be any knock, especially that high at part throttle.

 

I've never paid much attention to KR at less than 1.0 load.

IIRC, the consensus back in the day was that the ecm just did that searching for optimal fuel economy. It was easy to test as WOT during the part throttle KR immediatly caused the KR to drop to 0.

That being said, if everthing under the hood is secure and not vibrating double check inside the valve cover, 1 loose bolt can make crazy kr.

 

True but doesn't it do that search only during cruise?

 

Yes, it was mostly at cruise.

Looking at the two logs that show >7 KR, the load is so low that unless he's running some 5yr old gas that there is no way thats real knock.

 

I don't really remember those logs but his WOT looks OK so it's likely fine.

 

Long time no update. I've been super busy and travelling to Germany for work.

The engine has been burning oil since day one, I thought I was imagining things because it was so intermittent

Under high engine vacuum (during decel) I get a pretty sizable amount of smoke out of the tailpipe. It is worse whenever the car is on a steep grade and whenever I am braking to a stop. It burns zero oil at idle or under boost.

I started looking into the issue today and I am pretty sure that it is a valve stem seal. All of my intake valves look brand new except for one on cylinder 4:


Other cylinders:


Do you guys think I am diagnosing this correctly, or could it be something else?

Compression tested good at 198, 197, 191, 200

 

I think your assessment is correct with stem seals (or possibly worn guides as well)

I have bad stem seals or worn out guides on one of my bikes. Mine doesnt smoke much under decel, but if it sits for a while it will intermittently smoke like a 2 stroke on start up. I can also see oil pooled on the intake valves.

It also smokes if I sit at idle, then rev it.

Exhaust valve seals can fail too. Can you get a bore scope in the cylinder and peel for oil on the center of the piston or try to look at some exhaust valves while theyre open?

It's possible to do stem seals with the head on. I used compressed air on my bike to hold the valve from dropping in. Can also use rope in the clylinder and rotate that piston to tdc so it won't fall in.

 

Before you do a bunch of crazy valve stuff, you might also verify that all of your PCV stuff is set up correctly. I had big smoking problems when I was running a single can and didn't have proper vacuum from the crankcase under deceleration. I also thought it was valve seal/guide related, but that ended up being fixed when I got a proper dual can setup and routed them properly.

 

Loose ring race engines tend to smoke at idle and under decel. Smoking is eased by the presence of gas vents that help seat the rings, but that only helps at idle. Under decel, there's no guarantee oil wont get by the top ring, even with ports/vents.

I'm reasonably sure this is happening to my car as well.

 

Thank you all for the advice... For now I've decided to enjoy the car. I'll still look into it more, but fuck it I wanna make some power lol.

Finished putting together my DIY port injection setup over the weekend. Running an Aeromotive Stealth 325 in tank, a Fuel Lab regulator, and Bosch 630cc injectors. Used the stock line as a return and ran a -6AN as feed. Running 43 PSI base pressure. Just started putting together my map. The plan is to slowly blend my fueling until ~ 75% is coming from the Aux setup or 80% Aux duty cycle, whichever comes first. Then start adding boost and fuel using the DI setup.

I worked on a little excel calculator for the PI injector duty cycle and for blending the R4 Map and MAF Cal. Attached in case anyone is interested.

I kind of have a stupid question regarding why people run R4 in 2 cyl/2 stroke mode. I get that the injector's get batch fired at a higher frequency. But why would you want that? Aren't you just reducing your max effective duty cycle since the injector opening time/dead time will occur more often?

 

IIRC it's because we're using the coils to time the injection events, and each coil is firing every other rotation. Setting it to 2c/2s is necessary for the software to report the correct rpm.

 

The oil burning issue ended up being too much oil pressure at the turbo. Used a .035" restrictor and the smoke on decel immediately went away. Honestly the last thing I thought it would be but i'm just so stoked that was the problem lmao.

Ran into another issue that I need to figure out before I can finish up the tune. I think my boost control solenoid randomly gave out because I randomly stopped building boost past spring pressure. The solenoid clicks when I send 12V to it but still pretty sure it's the problem. The turbo has zero shaft play and I don't appear to have any exhaust or boost leaks.

But anyways here is one of the V dynos for the 2 days that I was able to make some power lol:


Definitely need to clean up the AFRs and boost control, this was one of the first revisions after I setup my port injection kit and started increasing boost.

 

You using the FR install kit and the oil feed line they provide for the EFR?

 

I'm not using the full race stuff, just a 4an PTFE line to an inline filter to the turbo. The oil drain is from Eric on Facebook. It's pretty much the most vertical the drain can be with how things are oriented.

 

That's weird, because I know specifically in the instructions for the EFR kit they say NOT to use an oil restrictor as it's built into the turbo.

That's a nice looking curve.

 

Per description from non full-race site also selling the turbo:
"Dual Row Ceramic Ball Bearings - lowest friction and fastest spool/response, most extreme durability, built-in oil control orifice - (aka oil restrictor) **no restrictor can be used with EFR turbos"

 

Thanks!

I am curious, how is your PCV system routed now? Do you have a can on the VC? Do you run multiple catch cans off of your Perm PCV plate?

The .035" restrictor solved the huge clouds of smoke, but I can still smell some burning oil, especially whenever I rev match when coming to a stop. The .035" restrictor is really a bandaid fix, I'd like to get at the root cause.

I am planning on adding a second catch can and trying out this route over the weekend:


I'll measure the crankcase pressure before and after just so that I can have some measure on improvement (if any).

Also, here is how the V dynos are looking now:


There is definitely some more smoothing to do, I am overshooting my WGDC becausing my boost target is too high during spool up and the ECU overcorrects. Should be pretty to easy to solve though, just wish I had more time to work on the car...

I think I am definitely making more than 470whp based on how the car feels, but I guess I'll find out when I dyno it!

 

That route is what I have on my car currently. I would be careful about running hard with that oil restrictor. You're making some good power already. Are you self tuning?

 

Yeah, I am pretty worried about the oil restrictor. Also yes, self tuned.

 

I know I'm not on the cool EFR side of the spectrum like you guys, but here is my PCV set up. It actually smoothed out spool up and acceleration a bit.

I have a check valve at the Intake Manifold-> remote mounted OEM PCV valve-> catch can-> Damond plate w/hose barb. (No pics, sorry)

On the valve cover I removed the OEM baffle and installed some perforated aluminum sheeting-> catch can-> turbo inlet.



The idea was to keep it simple (like OEM), but flow better.

I actually deleted the PCV valve on the IM/block side at first, but while downshifting or coasting the engine was jerky and RPM's would bounce because the IM and turbo were competing for vacuum.

You could open up your PCV system a bit and replace the original oil restrictor bolt, that way if it solves your issue you are not starving the turbo bearings.