Problems with AE101 turbo with V5 Link???

[Crampy]

I've just purchased a new toy.
It's Andy's AE101 GT-Z turbo.
Running a HT18/T3 turbo @ 18psi.
It's got a Link V5 in it too.
Now there are a few things I'll be tidying up on it.
There are a few things I'm wondering about though.

Firstly: It doesn't have a Air Temp sensor at all. After a bit of research, I found that the V5 Link has the input for the air temp sensor on an auxiliary four pin plug, along with boost control and wideband O2 input and something else.

So, what does the car do with changing inlet temps (hot day vs cold day. Cruising vs long boost pull in higher gear. Free flowing highway driving vs traffic jam stop start stuff)? Does it just run the map it was tuned to use? That hardly seems ideal. I'll be getting hold of a plug for the Link and a Bosch temp sensor shortly.

Secondly: It seems to be a bit slow getting onto full boost. I can hear the turbo start to spool at about 3-3500rpm, but it doesn’t hit full boost until something like 5-5500rpm. It seems too high for that turbo.
It's only had a road tune by Damian from A1 turbos, so I'm guessing the tune might not be ideal (although I've heard of a few cars that perform very well with only a road tune from Damian).
The other thing I think might be having something to do with it is it's got a Big port head. It's got the TVIS plate with butterflies, but it's not hooked up yet, so the butterflies are open all the time. I'm going to get it so the Link opens them with certain RPM, but would it affect it that much to begin with?

Thirdly: There only seems to be one vacuum line going into the cabin. So, that means the Link is sharing this with the boost gauge. This is not ideal at all is it? I'm sure they need dedicated lines for each. The same goes for the fuel pressure reg and the BOV, they share a vacuum line with a T.

And finally: It's SHOCKING on the gas. Shocking as in I put $40 of 98 (so more than 20 litres) in it and I only got 100km out of it! That's seems very thirsty to me. Granted, I've just bought the car, so have had a little fun boosting around in it, but also done a lot of light driving and cruising in it as well.

Which leads me to think the tune is not so good again. Could it be anything else? Spark plugs maybe?


Anyways, I'll probably stop driving it for a bit and take it to bits and change a few things. The intercooler doesn’t seem to be ideal in my eyes, so I'll change that. It needs the catch can fixed and moved and other bits just need a general tidy up. I'll chuck up a project thread when I've got it finished to show what's been done on it.

Sorry for the big read, any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[Crampy]

Well, I figured I'd have a look at the vacuum lines tonight after work.
I first took the car for a blat, cause i was bored
I could hear a hissing sound as I came off throttle. turns out the T piece for the Link and boost gauge has a hole in it. I've sealed it up now and I'll give it another go.
problem now is, was it alsways there. If it was tuned with that leak, how will it affect it with it sealed up and the link is getting the proper pressures and vacuum now?

[QikStarlie]

i'd take it back and get damian to check the afr to be safe. also, you'd be better off with a dedicated line from manifold to the link. dont tee anything into it.

[IH8TEC]

i run dedicated line for

link
fpr
bov
boost gauge

basically every line off my mani is a dedicated line for something, much better

[lorolla24]

Download the Link User manual off the website. Then you can just tune the boost control yourself and tells you everything.

I know first hand, if you have air leaks you can never get the best results especially with turbo spool. I have a 20v turbo and took me a few go's to get rid off small leaks.

18psi will eat gas,most of the time road tunes are rich mixtures anyway.(safer)

[Crampy]

i'd take it back and get damian to check the afr to be safe. also, you'd be better off with a dedicated line from manifold to the link. dont tee anything into it.

Yep. Going to get some vacuum hose and sort that issue out. It's plastic T, so i'm better off getting rid of it completely for that reason as well.

I might take it for a run on a dyno somewhere to check the ratios. It'll also give me a benchmark to improve on when I've changed a few things on the current setup.

[Crampy]

i run dedicated line for

link
fpr
bov
boost gauge

basically every line off my mani is a dedicated line for something, much better

Yeah, I've seen your setup Brendon. I'm going to have to try that same sort of thing I think. I think the reason most people use T's is due to the limited number of vacuum ports available on the stock manifold.

[Crampy]

Download the Link User manual off the website. Then you can just tune the boost control yourself and tells you everything.

I know first hand, if you have air leaks you can never get the best results especially with turbo spool. I have a 20v turbo and took me a few go's to get rid off small leaks.

18psi will eat gas,most of the time road tunes are rich mixtures anyway.(safer)

I've got the tuning and installation guide now, along with the PCLink software and a few other good things available on the website. I've got to buy a ComLink now.

I'm going to use my Turbosmart boost controller I already have. I'm not going to use the Link for that side of things.

[Crampy]

Is it worth getting the AUX plug and the proper turbo Bosch air inlet temp sensor when I order the ComLink?

Anyone on here not using an air inlet temp sensor?
And, would it make any great difference getting one installed?

[matt dunn]

Is it worth getting the AUX plug and the proper turbo Bosch air inlet temp sensor when I order the ComLink?

Anyone on here not using an air inlet temp sensor?

I never ran one on any of my 1600 turbo motors,
even with the LEM and Linkplus that I used.
Was not till I went 7A and G3 that i got one.

[Crampy]

Is it worth getting the AUX plug and the proper turbo Bosch air inlet temp sensor when I order the ComLink?

Anyone on here not using an air inlet temp sensor?

I never ran one on any of my 1600 turbo motors,
even with the LEM and Linkplus that I used.
Was not till I went 7A and G3 that i got one.

Was that with your race car, or with a street car?
I can see why you might not bother with a race car, but there are a lot of things that change with a street car. Temp of the day, traffic conditions, heat soak from intercooler after a long power pull compared to a short squirt of power for passing.

[matt dunn]

Is it worth getting the AUX plug and the proper turbo Bosch air inlet temp sensor when I order the ComLink?

Anyone on here not using an air inlet temp sensor?

I never ran one on any of my 1600 turbo motors,
even with the LEM and Linkplus that I used.
Was not till I went 7A and G3 that i got one.

Was that with your race car, or with a street car?
I can see why you might not bother with a race car, but there are a lot of things that change with a street car. Temp of the day, traffic conditions, heat soak from intercooler after a long power pull compared to a short squirt of power for passing.

Yes that was a race car.

[flygt4]

i've run no air temp sensor, no o2 sensor and no knock sensing forever on my car. seems to have held up well enough.
just get a good tune that you can rely on.

a good dyno tune will change everything, improve economy, make the powerband more linear, and most of all tidy up the transition coming onto boost.

even though the engines are good for 25psi, there no need to run high boost all the time either. 14psi should be good enough for giggles and it will do it forever.

[Crampy]

i've run no air temp sensor, no o2 sensor and no knock sensing forever on my car. seems to have held up well enough.
just get a good tune that you can rely on.

a good dyno tune will change everything, improve economy, make the powerband more linear, and most of all tidy up the transition coming onto boost.

even though the engines are good for 25psi, there no need to run high boost all the time either. 14psi should be good enough for giggles and it will do it forever.

Really? Hmmm.
I'm still undecided at the moment though.

I'm going to turn the boost down to 12-14psi, but have it tuned as high as the injectors and the rest of the set up will allow. This will mean if I feel the need to really turn the wick up, it'll be able to do it safely.

I'll be hoping to get Kent from Speedsource or someone of similar ability to give it the dyno tune once it's all finished and then hopefully that'll be it, just drive it.

[slighty_sykotic]

I also never ran a intake temp sensor in either of my two 4agtes, and my new one im building now I won't be using one.

They went fine. I guess if you want to have it "on the edge" of the tuning, then it would be a good idea, but for a street car, I wouldn't worry unless your tuner/you are squeezing every hp out of it.

[Crampy]

I'm not thinking for "on the limit tuning", it's more for economy and smooth power delivery, drivability, with the computer adjusting for changes in air temp for the various types of driving on the street.

Also, I suppose if I do (probably will) take it to Meremere to see how it goes, it would be good to know it will adjust the fuel and timing to suit the air at the track (well the air coming into the engine anyway). So to maximise the tune and ensure of it being safe to push the car.

I suppose what I'm after is, do they really do that much, or is it just a waste of money and time getting it installed?

[loose_unit]

My 4efte also runs no intake temp sensor, O2 or knocks sensor on a V4. Has been running around like that for near on 3 years now. Has only ever been road tuned and fuel economy is really good when im not driving it hard.

[Crampy]

I'm not worried about longetivity of the motor (it's a 4AGZE after all). It's not my main concern.
It's whether getting the sensor will actually make that much difference.

It's all well and good knowing of cars that haven't bothered useing them, but is there anyone that didn't use one and then had it installed and what difference it made.

[QikStarlie]

will make the car a bit more consistant if setup right. but thats the thing. it needs to be setup right to be any advantage. your tuner would either have to caculate the numbers somehow, or tune the car at diffrent temp levels to do so. i'd bet alot of cars out there with a iat sensor installed, wont be being used
v5 has limited adjustment, a number that decays as temp rises. g3 is fully adjustable.
if your going to pay the extra to install and have it setup right, go for it. other wise i wouldnt bother

[Crampy]

will make the car a bit more consistant if setup right. but thats the thing. it needs to be setup right to be any advantage. your tuner would either have to caculate the numbers somehow, or tune the car at diffrent temp levels to do so. i'd bet alot of cars out there with a iat sensor installed, wont be being used
v5 has limited adjustment, a number that decays as temp rises. g3 is fully adjustable.
if your going to pay the extra to install and have it setup right, go for it. other wise i wouldnt bother

Now that's the answer I was after. It's good to know the V5 doesn't have much adjustment. So it's a matter of whether the extra money is really going to change it that much.

It seems the money (and time for that matter) is better off spent on a good dyno tune and leaving at that, rather than going through with getting sensor and trying to get it set up yadda yadda.

Cheers to all that have given their input, it has been most appreciated.


I'll be sure to put up a thread in the project section, giving the low down on the car and the improvements I'm hoping to make to it also.