Off we went, back to the tuner. I had resolved the list in my previous post (or so I had thought) and was ready for the big day.
Things went fairly well, unfortunately we couldn’t get VVT to work and I had plumbed the boost control solenoid vacuum lines arse about. On wastegate spring pressure (4.3psi – exactly per HKS documenation) we made 103 kW. The car drives well despite the temperature sensor being after the thermostat. This is one of the things we will rectify when I take the car back for proper boost tuning.
One point worth noting is we needed to drill a 3mm hole in the butterfly valve on the throttle body to get the car to idle smoothly while cold. This was a suggestion from the tuner, and it worked perfectly. Without the hole the revs would bounce between 300RPM ~ 1000RPM, sometimes stalling.
VVT is proving to be quite a problem. We can hear the valve move when we give it the signal via the Link however, we see no change in cam angle. The car also has no change in operation.
Pulling the valve cover off, I thought I had found the issue. Silly me had forgot two of the bolts supplying oil pressure to the camshaft and sprocket. I found the two bolts and reinstated them but alas, the problem persisted.
I found a post on Facebook in a Haltech tuning page (you will need to join to view) with someone who was having very similar problems. They advised the issue was due to the sprocket not being bolted “square” to the camshaft, causing the phaser to bind. After some troubleshooting, this was not the case for me, I could unlock the pin and rotate the cam independently of the sprocket with about 40psi of air pressure with ease. This means I either have an oil pressure or supply issue to the cam journals, or the solenoid is not actually moving the spool (despite us hearing something).
For now, I will take the car back for boost control and cold start tuning with my relocated temp sensor and correctly plumbed vacuum lines. Oil pressure is great and there are no alarming sounds, so I suspect the solenoid is just FUBAR. VVT is an issue for another day.
I created a poll on Instagram for power figures, with most people guessing between 120-150kW. Expect around 130kW based on the 103kW at gate pressure.
Finally, I installed my beautiful Monster Sport A-pillar gauge pod (and fancy radiator cap). I had to splice the power and illumination wire on the Defi to get it to light up constantly (as it’s a smoked face). The standard Defi gauge worked via the Suzuki Sport Link Meter as it’s essentially just an old “BF-1” style Defi controller. It took a bit of research to figure that out and I was stoked when it just worked!
I wasn’t very impressed with the fitment of the A-pillar pod, the finish is nice, but it required a fair bit of modification in order for it to clip in and even then, it has some gaps around the factory trim.
