forced

It doesn't need a computer to do it. Not very clever though because when you shut down the alternator the voltage drops, So instead of running off about 14 V it drops to 12V or less. There's a corresponding drop in ignition voltage and injector voltage, the drop in injector voltage affects the "dead time" (Slower to open) and hence the AFR. Just a bit but it's still an un needed variable. Mitsi AWS uses a diff driven pump for the rear steering, no doubt others do to. Steve

Times must be tough if you're trying to sell oil. Hardly a scientific test unless you end it with the oil that you started with and it makes exactly the same power as the first run. Steve

Diesels are Diesels, they don't burn cleanly compared to other fuels, that's why you use oil formulated for Diesels in a diesel rather than for petrol engines. I've never owned a Diesel either. Motor oil is made to a standard, SF, SG, whatever it's up to these days. So long as it's the right standard, it's OK. Every salesperson is always going to push their own brand because that's what they sell. More to the point, what brand does it say to use in the owners manual? Steve

It is. Running a car on CNG the oil doesn't turn black until about 3000 miles or more. It's pretty much the same running on LPG. Clean burning fuels. If you're running on petrol and running too rich, oil turns black almost immediately. Like everything else......Cause and effect. Of course if you've fecked up your cars PCV system by fitting a catch can wrongly (most of them are) then your oil will end up contaminated with water and dissolved exhaust gasses which are acidic and very bad for your motor. Even the most expensive oil can't put that right. Steve

Oil is oil isn't it? It's got far more advertising $$$ spent on it than most other things. When it gets dirty you change it. As far as how good it is, well that depends on the state of tune of the motor and the fuel it runs on as to how quickly it gets dirty. I just use ordinary (warehouse) whatever it is in my jappers. When I was running around in my oldschool daily driver (turbo ford 272V8 on CNG) I used to use re refined 30/40 only because it leaked so much. I even lived at the top of a hill and used to race up it every day and shut it off at the top, no turbo timer either. That must be the only motor that I didn't completely kill, that lasted 8 years before I sold it. I did the same thing with the next motor, that lasted about 5 years before it died due to (detonation) lack of fuel (the turbo is still mint today). There's more bullshit spoken about oil than a lot of other things, there's more bullshit spoken about cars than most other things. Got to have enough of it and it's got to be clean.That's it. Steve

It's pretty much impossible to electro plate the inside of any pipe.........due to the electric field. Unless of course you put the electrode inside the pipe to start with, which realistically just isn't going to happen. Steve

Some factory intercooler piping is mild steel. On mine I cant see much inside due to the film of oil that looks like it's been there from day one. Steve

Proper computers all run oxy sensors, Without one your fuel economy suffers as does drivability. Doesn't matter if it's a race car, a street car is a POS without one. Steve

Unscrewing it makes it run richer. Where was the air leak? Your initial diagnosis is no doubt wrong. It's not overfuelling, more likely underfuelling. Checking the sparkplugs will tell. Steve

If it's a carb problem (probably is) then it wouldn't be too hard to figure it out by having a look at the sparkplugs. Steve

Why? Sounds like your indicators are drawing too much current. Driving them via a relay would be the easiest fix. Steve

If all else fails, give it a compression test and check the tappet clearances. Steve

I couldn't agree more. I've run with both a twin SU setup and a triple SU setup (on a 6) and they both had only one choke. So long as the carbs are adjusted properly it will work well. Steve

Backpressure is a dynamic measurement It's created when a valve closes. You're getting mixed up with restriction just like everyone else does. Backpressure is the equivalent to back EMF in electrical theory and restriction in a pipe is equivalent to resistance as in ohms. Backpressure has the potential to cause backflow. Backflow is when the high pressure end becomes the low pressure end and you get flow into the pipe instead of out of the pipe. Anyone who's had a leak in an exhaust front pipe would have noticed that you get more sucking than blowing. That backflow reduces the backpressure and kills low down torque. A term often used when thinking about back EMF in electrical theory is the "flywheel effect" A turbo is a flywheel and when you suddenly close the throttle the turbo creates "backpresssure" at the intake side which escapes out of the BOV. There you go, food for thought. Getting way OT again. Steve

Water is an "anti detonant". With water injection you not only increase timing but reduce AFR and you can use it with no intercooler at all, you won't get knock if done properly.How many tuners in NZ actually recommend WI to customers? Must be bad for business. As far as the exhaust goes you should be aware that restriction and backpressure are two totally different concepts. If you build a (N/A) motor with no exhaust apart from the manifold then drive it, you'll be aware that the low down torque has virtually disappeared, in fact it probably won't even idle. Take that one step further and have a short exhaust. low down torque improves because you adding backpressure but also adding a bit of restriction.Drivability still suffers though compared to a proper exhaust. Take it further again to a full length pipe and you've got far better drivability. The same applies to turbos but a turbo tends to add backpressure due to the "flywheel effect" If a turbo is sized to give good low down torque then it will boost lowdown torque. If a turbo is sized for top end power then you'll end up with the same as a N/A car once you rip off the exhaust. You won't loose a great deal at the bottom end but probably enough to get smoked pulling out of a hairpin at Manfield if you forget to change down to 1st gear. Here's a really good article on WI. http://www.perrinperformance.com/pages/show/51 Steve

As far as computers goes. I prefer to keep a few things to myself. There's a very good question to ask any and every ECU salesman out there. Why do so many manufacturers use airflow meters on their turbo cars and use MAP sensors on their top of the line N/A cars? Until you get an accaptable answer they you're being bullshitted. I haven't had an answer yet but I do have my own opinions which I haven't been proven wrong on yet. Mitsubishi is the best example. All the Mivec models use MAP sensors for the least possible intake restriction which is a great idea. Mitsi still haven't yet built a MAP sensored turbo car. Obviously there's good reason for it. Look at Toyota. I can't think of a single turbo model with a MAP sensor. How about Nissan? OK Mazda might be a bit different with their turbo rotas. OK so what about the euro turbos? Build thread? I had an oldschool one on here but deleted it. I've got another on the Mivec forum, different project. Steve

You've actually contradicted yourself there. Studs/bolts , whatever, they hold the parts together by "stretching torque". So , regardless, the "stretching torque" is going to put the same load on the block threads, given that the bolt/stud goes in to the same depth. Angular torque of the nut/bolt is converted to stretching torque by the pitch of the thread. A finer thread on the nut (stud) will translate more angular torque into stretching torque than the coarser thread of the bolt in the block. The end result is the same though. The only difference really is that the studs might be able to take more stretching torque than the factory bolts before passing the yield point. If you have to go that far though and over tighten everything then it's more likely that something's broken and you've missed it. I've actually got main studs on my 351 Cleveland block. The only reason I have them is because I've got a main girdle bolted up to it and the main girdle came with it's own ARP studs. I couldn't use the stock bolts because with the girdle they're now too short. Steve

Eh what? If you read a few books on the subject they always say to clean out the hole and lube the bolt. That way they torque up evenly without sticking. As far as what's better, like everything else the salesman is always going to try to con you out of money and sell you expensive bits that are no better or even worse than stock parts. The only advantage I can see to a stud is if you're planning on pulling it to bits on a regular basis because it keeps breaking. Steve

Doing any modification to a car is a compromise. Fitting a bigger intercooler isn't the only way to cool it. It IS the best way for all the salesmen out there as it's nice and simple, looks bling and apeals to all the ricers. An intercooler thats bigger than stock will generally make more lag than stock. As for HPC coatings, they may be heat resistant but they're not insulators, don't keep heat in or out. I'm still running stock ICs in mine. Don't have any plans to upgrade either although I've upgraded just about everything else. As for intercoolers in general, if you're dragracing they might be 100% efficient on the startline but by the time you're half way down the track might be only 50% efficient. Doing a burnout heats it up prematurely because as already said, it's also a heatsink. Water injection is far, far better but if you've downgraded to an aftermarket speed density type ECU then expect compatibility problems. As for purpose built drag cars, they generally have a torque curve thats close to zero from idle to 4 K to 5K or thereabouts then it goes straight up. Fitting a proper full length exhaust will give back a lot of the lost torque in the lower RPMs but loose a bit at the top end. Steve

It's the same. If you've got an ignition problem then it can cause the tach needle to jump. You'll know of course because it will misfire at the same time. If it's running properly and the needle jumps then it's probably just bad connections in the tach, as mentioned above. Steve

If your bosch pump is an EFI pump, then it will put out whatever pressure your (EFI)reg is set to. There's 2 types of regulator, the bypass reg as used in EFI and what I think is called a dead head or something which is a full flow reg used on carbys. An EFI pump needs flow to drop the pressure, a carby type fuel pump (reg) will only flow if the pressure drops below the set pressure.....if that makes sense. If you want to use an EFI pump on a carby you might need to fit an EFI reg and return line to stabilise the pump pressure at 40 or so PSI then tee into the return line to feed your carby via a carby type reg, there should hopefully be enough restriction in the return line to give you the 5 PSI or so needed. Alternatively you could just let the EFI pump free run, it would supply heaps too much fuel but using a series resistor will slow it down. then feed it to a low pressure reg. There's lots of ways, just needs experimentation. On the other hand if your existing pump can't supply enough fuel and cuts out, it will be detonating severely just before it cuts out, it can only do that so many times before the motor is junk. Been there done that too. Steve

Inghams did the leaves on a mate's Zephyr. Awesome job too. Steve

If your plugs are black, then it's running too rich. A faulty O2 sensor will cause that, so will a few other things. Steve

You misunderstood my words. When you put the power on, everything moves unless it's IRS with a fixed diff head (even that moves a bit). At full power you want it as straight as possible, when the power is off there'll be an angle. Excessive angles bugger up your UJs as in the case of my car when the rear engine mount split and sagged, transfer case dropped and the front UJ by the transfer case overheated and started squeaking. If you've got a 4WD Mitsi it's the broken engine mount at the back that breaks transfer cases when you launch it....why? Steve

You ideally want it as straight as you can get it (when the power is on).Leaf springs wind up with power, 4 bars don't. It's excessive angles when the power is on that breaks UJs ending up with a thrown driveshaft. Been there , done that. Steve