How to turbo 3.0 (how i did it)

[Sundance 6g72]

This is a write up I did originally on turbododge.com. I tried to be as accurate as i could but i am not perfect. Before you do anything, dont assume, ASK first shoot later. I dont mind people PMing me 24/7 if it prevents them from taking something i said wrong and blowing their motor!

Remember, most of what i have done here was my FIRST time doing it. I had never done headgaskets, tuned a car, installed a turbo, bla bla bla. This is just a good basis to go on. ASK FIRST SHOOT LATER! if you screw something up, NOT MY FAULT.

here we are

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Hey guys, Just a little something i typed up. It will help others and my self keep track of how i did things. I hope that after reading this thread, along with Shred's thread and even Ondontii's old threads that others will be more comfortable with turbo charging their 3.0. I try to be open with everything that i have done.. there are more Turbo 3.0s out there but most of those guys are rarely on the TD/TM forums. Hope you like it. :thumb:


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First things first, I got all my supporting mods taken care of.

- 52mm throttle body
- ditch stock air box setup
- 3inch exhaust w/ magnaflow
- ported intake plenum
- half inch spacers
- plenum flip
- msd blaster coil or equivalent

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old install of my coil. cleaned it up alot with my megasquirt install

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I Then got my tuning sorted out. This is the most important step and we are lucky to have the luxury of NO TURBO to start out with. This makes tuning easy to learn and is very safe to do on a N/A 3.0. While N/A you get to run lots of timing, go super lean and still be safe.

I installed Megasquirt II engine management. Once installed i ran a base map from another member on here to get me started. I quickly became familiar with tuning spark timing and fuel maps. I wont go into how I tune but feel free to pm me on anything megasquirt related.

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87turbodance, along with the guys at diyautotune.com gave me so much info. i cannot thank them enough.

With the car tuned, i was ready to get my other required mods done before the turbo.

- wideband o2 sensor kit w/ gauge (installed with megasquirt, thats how you get the tune dialed in!)
- boost gauge
- 6puck "stage two" clutch kit from turbos unleashed
- walbro 255lph fuel pump
- solid bobble strut
- 36# injectors (tuned with megasquirt)

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With all that taken care of, the car was ready to be boosted.

I ordered the following to build my self a "turbo kit"

- cx racing 63trim 8psi turbo (it works, and has not blown up yet :rolleyes:) CHEEP CHEEP, if you can afford a used holset, do it. Make sure you match the turbo to your setup.. 4cyl stock turbos do not work on v6 cars people!

- cx racing fmic kit. $200 shipped and had everything i needed :thumb:

- oil lines. Make sure your oil return is big and the oil feed has the correct restrictor for your turbo. different turbos need different oil feed restrictors. My feed comes from the oil pressure sensor and the return goes into the oil pan

- Ed Kelly (kmperformance) turbo crossover manifold.

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Now I was ready to install the turbo. I picked a good night where I did not work or have school the next day. I was able to get it done in one night.

this is the order i did things

- pull crossover
- install ed kelly crossover
- install turbo
- drop oil pan
- tap oil pan for return hose
- install oil pan and run oil lines
- run intercooler piping to turbo and throttle body
- install ngk gr7 spark plugs. These are two stages colder than the gr5 plugs that i had been running. Make sure to gap your plugs to .030- .040. My first set of plugs were like this and i did not have spark blow out. My new plugs were around .044-046 and i had spark blow out. I set the gr7s to .038 +- a little and was able to pull to 6300rpms in 4th gear at 10-13psi.


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I had my intercooler mounted before hand and ran it for a while while naturally aspirated. this cut down on alot of time spent getting the turbo on and working. I like spacing out the work to make things easier.

Now that the turbo is installed, i drove it to my buddies shop to get the downipe fabbed up. Keep in mind my stock exhaust is still in place at this time so the turbo will not spool. here is a video clip of my drive to the shop.

JxWFV0xWxFs

While it was at the shop, I had my friend cap off the rear exhaust manifold. This forces the flow to go to the turbo from both the front and rear heads. the proper way to do this would be to get a new rear manifold from ed kelly or build your own. Doing it like me works, but its not the best as far as flow goes.

The downpipe was custom bent 2.5inch pipe with a vband flange on it. Vband made it easy to bolt to the turbo. Also, the heater core lines were kept in their stock location. I heat wrapped both the heater lines and the downpipe to prevent any issues. It has not shown any issues yet.

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[Sundance 6g72]

Now that the turbo was ready to spool up, I edited my fuel map and ignition timing for when in boost. Remember, you need less timing in boost otherwise you get detonation. Details on this can be gone over later and not in this guide. Just remember, A N/A tune wont work with the turbo so you need to retune again for the areas in boost. Start rich and work your way toward 12:1 (low boost) and 11.5:1 afr (full boost or anything higher than 8psi in my case)

This is why I love megasquirt, it has overboost protection and i have full control of my ignition timing for boost without compromising my cruising timing.

*do not take these tables as references, pm me before assuming that the values in these tables are correct!* these are merely pictures and not necessarily what i run.

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So far I have seen a max of 11.5psi in my datalogs and everything has been holding up. I did have blown headgaskets but i had suspicion that they were bad before hand (Bad coolant). Boost confirmed this by blowing air into my coolant system. New headgaskets corrected this issue.

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Also, the factory pcv system is crap and should be reworked. I had been getting alot of blow by with the stock pcv system. A quick read from our DSM friends fixed that. dsm pcv fix (http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/366890-4g63t-pcv-system.html)

i plan on running a check valve between my front valve cover and the pcv valve (provides pcv during idle and cruises but blocks flow during boost, preventing pressure from shooting into the crankcase through my front valve cover) I then run a catch can. I have it run into my rear valve cover and then into my pre turbo intake. This causes blowby gases to get sucked from the crankcase while in boost. The turbo spool causes a vacuum effect by running the catch can before the turbo.





So take it from me, blow by isnt fun.. the loss of oil is terible and the ladies will facepalm you all day

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So to sum it all up, you need fuel control, safe spark timing, correct spark plugs, good clutch, and reworked pcv system and then you should be pretty safe. It is alot to take in all at once so just take your time and go in stages like i did.


also, beefing up your braking, suspension, and motor mounts will make the car come alive when driving. Things like shifter bushings are cheep and make you feel like the car has really changed

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Thanks for reading, please let me know of anything that i missed or should have gone into more detail on. Also, make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/firefoxx04?feature=mhee).

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- Joe

[turbovanman²]

Nice write up, :nod:

Is that an Alpine CDA123?

More pics of the gf, :partywoot: :eyebrows:

[Daytana]

Interesting post man! Your explanations of the Spark Advance and AFR tables really broke it down for those of us (such as myself) that are still learning the basics.

[Sundance 6g72]

thanks. Its a bit more complicated then i made it out to be but the main point is that to much will kill a motor :thumb:


Nice write up, :nod:

Is that an Alpine CDA123?

More pics of the gf, :partywoot: :eyebrows:

its a 9886. frickin sick. 3 sets of preouts for 3 amps, usb harddrive support (not just a little flashdrive), ipod support, data disc, the works.

anddddddd no ;)


http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/image.php?u=13&dateline=1236638788

[RoadWarrior222]

Nice write up so far, but IMO, don't bother with MSD coils. Good working stock coil does pretty much the same (read specs!) Maybe they're the schitt on some other vehicles, probably a good tip if you're LeMons-ing or GRMing something else would be to grab a mopar coil at the wrecker.

[TainterRacing]

How soon do you get full boost. What rpms?

[Sundance 6g72]

its hit and miss. it seems like i get full boost at 3800-4000rpms (8psi) but i cant say for certain because A) its a crap wastegate that might creep open during lets say 4psi B) i have ducttape holding my intercooler piping together before the throttle body. thats a long story, 3inch pipe dosnt fit over the motor mount. im sure this area leaks boost and causes longer spool.

3inch intercooler piping is OVERKILL but i did it anyways. not sure how much of an effect this has on spool time. move volume to fill?

I ordered an open dump wastegate. im hoping that lowers the rpm that full boost hits. it does like 5psi until 3500ish and then it hits like a brick wall. 3rd gear likes to really take off at 45mph. 2nd gear blows the tires away once it hits 35mph and 1st is a joke.


Nice write up so far, but IMO, don't bother with MSD coils. Good working stock coil does pretty much the same (read specs!) Maybe they're the schitt on some other vehicles, probably a good tip if you're LeMons-ing or GRMing something else would be to grab a mopar coil at the wrecker.

the msd certainly did not fix anything. only reason i went with it is because it was $50 and so was stock. I know brent went with ford truck coils before. not sure what he does now.

i cant comment on how far the stock coil will go with boost...

[Shadow24]

Since your MS'd you may want to think about going wasted spark with either GM or ford coilpacks. the coils get more dwell time (3x more as there are 3 coils only firing 2 out of 6 cylinders) and can produce hotter spark more reliably than a single coil for 6 cylinders.

just a thought

[Sundance 6g72]

id like too but cant really justify it as of now. maybe when class is out for the summer and i can afford to have my MS down for a few days or weeks or months (knowing me)