Project Spirit Turbo...

[Insane Racing]

Hello everybody. I am New to your forum and look forward to all the excellent stuff available here. I hope you all can point me in the right direction with mods and info for my car. I just picked up a 1990 Spirit ES that I am going to have some fun with. I want to try to intercool it and get some more performance out of it. It had a bleeder valve on it that I took off (it would shut down at WOT) and I put in a boost gauge tee where the valve was instead. It only shows about 4 to 5 lbs of boost. Is this a bad spot to put the gauge? And what should I be looking for as a stock out put? It is a new gauge, I don't have another one to check against. Anyhow, any info and suggestions would be great and thanks!!!! I'll get some pics soon.:thumb:

[raccoon]

5psi sounds like youve got some vacuum line problems. I put my boost gauge on one of the 2 nipples on the throttle body, not sure if it matters where it is.

[BadAssPerformance]

Welcome to the fourm! :thumb:

Boost gauge should be plumbed right off the intake manifold plenum.

..not sure where your bleed line was coming from?

[Insane Racing]

Hey, Thanks for the replies!! Yes, I was thinking it should show up to 9 then steady about 7.5 ish, the previous owner cut the line above the wastegate can and put in the grainger valve there. I am going to get some fittings and work my way thru the lines. It still hauls --- though...

[Insane Racing]

Well I found a leak and changed a bit of the hoses. I put the boost gauge on the spare line at the intake manifold. It is now going up to about almost 10 psi peak but then drops back down to about 5 psi steady... Is there any way to run the part number om the computer on the drivers side fender to see if it is the upgraded one?? Just curious to know if this is how they ran stock or not. Any other ideas or suggestions?????????????

[BadAssPerformance]

Running 10psi its probably a stock computer.

Check out the "Knowledge Center" link up top to find a listing of computer part numbers

[Vigo]

but running 5psi is probably just wastegate boost. If the guy had a grainger valve in it before and you just took it out without re-hooking-up the wastegate control solenoid lines, all you're going to get is wastegate boost, which on a mitsu turbo is what you're talking about, spikes a little then 5psi.

[Captain Chaos]

You could probably put the valve back in if its adjustable and turn it down. Sounds like it was going up to cut-out.

[Insane Racing]

I pulled the valve out and put in a coupling where it was. I just want to get it running normal before I do anything to it. I wasn't sure if that is normal for the boost to drop down that much from peak. I thought it might drop 2 or so lbs down to steady boost. Could there be an issue with the waste gate to look for???

[Vigo]

Not really, that sounds just like what ive experienced with mitsu's on wastegate boost.

Anyway, as i said, there's your boost control issue with getting 5 psi.

In order for a grainger valve to work, one side goes directly from the manifold to the valve, and the other side goes directly from the valve to the wastegate canister.. taking out the valve means your wastegate is hooked directly to manifold pressure, giving you the lowest boost possible, literally.

I second the idea of seeing why the grainger wasnt working and just putting it back in so you can get back up to stock boost.

But even if you can set the grainger to run a steady 10 psi, it will probably spike to 12 or 13 briefly beforehand. Thats a common issue with the mitsu turbo because it spools up as fast or faster than the wastegate can will pressurize through the tiny lines feeding it and open up the wastegate puck, which means theres a delay between the boost pressure coming up and the wastegate opening to control it.

[Insane Racing]

Well, the way the valve was drilled doesn't really let it adjust very well. It was drilled on the threaded parts (male and female) so it either is too high or doesn't work so I chucked it. With the leaks fixed it is running around 10 psi and holding fairly steady at WOT under load and seems to be pretty good now. The exhaust needs attention, and I was wondering what you reccomend for intakes on this car?? I would like to remove the airbox for future intercooling piping... What do you guys recommend?? As well, can you get pillar pods for a spirit?? My home town has everything for diesels but look at me like I am from outerspace talking gas turbos... Looking forward to the collective thoughts... Thanks for the help everyone. Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumb:

[Vigo]

http://www.fwdperformance.com/store/Category.asp?IDCatalog=35&txtCatalog=Gauges

Look towards the bottom of the page. I dont know anything about these other than that they exist..

Also, a universal one can be made to fit very badly or very well depending on the skills of the installer. Find someone who does fiberglass like custom sub enclosures, that kind of thing, that they'll be able to trim it, attach it, and blend it in and paint it so it comes out looking good.. realistically, its a bit of a project to get pillar pods to look good.


Another option is to get a plate that puts 3 gauges where the message center is in the spirit.. above the radio, below the vents. Its the thing that tells you when your door is ajar! If youd rather know your boost level, air fuel ratio, and end gas temps, toss that message center and get the gauge plate! Cant find the link, tho...