What may seem routine . . .

[Patch]

Well after buying the truck, fitting my bigger than stock wheels (15x8) and splashing out on some decent suspenders, figured I'd get my hands dirty and start with the underbonnet surgery (of sorts)


(insert pic of stock motor here) this muppet forgot to take one :doh

EGR valve

turbo inlet - not too dirty

but what's this

I have trouble leaving things that are not working as they should be, even then most things can be fiddled with :naughty so I grabbed my dremel, and cleaned it up a touch

band-aid solution via JB Weld - cure 6 hours and leave overnight

Back to the regular schedule of "upgrading" the intake system - two anda bit hours to clean this crap out :doh

an improvement

local parts store don't stock the gaskets but will sell me the sheet to d.i.y. - suits me

intake valve had it's guts removed and some jb weld for good measure.

went a little nuts with the 100grit, removed the casting marks and smoothed the cylinder

All done
- cooling system removed, cleaned, re-installed with new t-stat and replaced viscous with 16" electric
- intake system removed, cleaned, deleted egr, butterfly valve and blanked solenoids, installed filter on pcv

Performs alot better, more responsive but still has original issue - using coolant. Decided to throw k-seal in the system which has stopped the system from foaming but it is still producing bubbles (albeit alot less before I started playing with things) I see a HG in my very near future :doh

 

[Patch]

I emailed AXT in Australia to find out the price on their two piece exhaust manifold - AUD$1,250- to my door (plus customs etc) almost fell off my chair when I read that

No response from DTS Turbo yet (emailed two days ago)

Wrecker wants NZD$195- for a secondhand one with unknown mileage.


Anyone here "upgraded" their manifold with a performance version if I can't find one at reasonable $, I'll just keep my jb weld version which seems to be holding up fine (who knew) :lol

 

[extreme-4x4]

so am i right in thinking yours is the hitachi system with the throttle valve above the inlet manifold ? is that what you took the guts out of ?

how dirty was your intercooler if the rest was choked up ?

im guessing you have checked for mini filter in the banjo ? have you considered removing the ducting into the airbox from the wing? its very restricted in there

what are the symptoms of water loss ? is it blowing out of the header tank ?

i dont know of anyone using a modified or comp inlet manifold , could yours not have been proper welded ?
popular belief is the intercooler is less effective in its current position and size you might look at other options if your in the search of more power. but unless your thinking a bit extreme the options are not great from what ive seen .

 

[makeitfit]

I woudn't worry about a little fissure in your exhaust manifold mate. What you've done will be fine. Even if you were mad enoughto get a new fancy e/m made up the power gains are minimal for the cost
Best do what you're doing and as extreme says, clean the inside of the I/C and get rid of the oil blow by system or it'll just gunk up again:doh
I did the same mod on the air intake valve but also blanked off the EGR valve completely.
More significant power gains available from binning the turbo outlet bend casting and the down pipe, both bonkers like restrictive.
25 horses immediately available by fitting a PSI powerbox or a Tunit II.
After that you can mod the turbo compressor vanes, big bore exhaust LPG injection and in theory a bigger intercooler and front mount it:naughty I haven't gone f/m i/c as it'll get caked in mud off road

 

[Patch]

i/c was only slightly oiled - I still dropped a kero soaked rag into it tho just for good measure. Intake manifold will always be the most caked as that is where the egr valve dumps it's load of soot and meets the oily mist laden air.
I guess you missed the filter attached to the pcv in the last pic :augie the pipe that was there is in the bin :lol my motor has breathed it's last of oily air :thumbs


Need to save some coin for a zd30 dump pipe AUD$199- (straight swap and bolt-on mod) :thumbs the joy of living on a piss-ant island with a crappy exchange rate


Have toyed with the idea of bolting the QD motor in but will continue to save for the boost and egt gauges first :naughty then do the fmic, exhaust and tunit mods - never ends does it :lol all this just to get to the boat ramp abit quicker :doh

 

[extreme-4x4]

I woudn't worry about a little fissure in your exhaust manifold mate. What you've done will be fine. Even if you were mad enoughto get a new fancy e/m made up the power gains are minimal for the cost
Best do what you're doing and as extreme says, clean the inside of the I/C and get rid of the oil blow by system or it'll just gunk up again:doh
I did the same mod on the air intake valve but also blanked off the EGR valve completely.
More significant power gains available from binning the turbo outlet bend casting and the down pipe, both bonkers like restrictive.
25 horses immediately available by fitting a PSI powerbox or a Tunit II.
After that you can mod the turbo compressor vanes, big bore exhaust LPG injection and in theory a bigger intercooler and front mount it:naughty I haven't gone f/m i/c as it'll get caked in mud off road

whats that all about ? can i do that ?

 

[Patch]

stock/factory items are made to a price point whereas aftermarket replacements are made for performance which is why they usually cost more than the stock item.

sharp bends hurt gas flow. narrow inlets/outlets produce back pressure alah the exhaust and restrict the turbo from spinning up quickly somewhat. Remove the restriction and you gain a slight "power increase" by making the turbo respond quicker.

Cutting out the mufflers from the exhaust system (replacing with exhaust tube) does a similar thing, not as effective but every little bit helps.

 

[makeitfit]

What he said :thumbs but it's all part of the overall package So K&N filter bigger intake, better exhaust out etc. Clean air , not oiled and so on, clean I/C to cool all that free flowing air , then some more fuel in the mix for more bang etc etc :naughty