AWD DSM 18g question
 

to start my buddy is in japan for the air force, about 2 months ago he bought a AWD 2nd Gen dsm from kentucky, and my other friend went and picked it up for him. he's still in japan, so his mom lets my friends and i come over and take the car, if we want. so yesterday my buddy drops buy with it, and wants me to take it for a drive. well this car supposedly has a racing trans(5sp) 18g turbo, stock injectors, big front mount, afc, and in the glove box we found a palm pilot with a cable to connect to the ecu i assume?

first question is what exactly does that palm pilot do?

second is when do you think a 18g on a 4g63 should hit boost?
when i drove it it wasn't starting to build boost until like 3800rpm. and didn't hit full boost till 4500rpm. i'm also not sure if it is actually a 18g, having never seen one. but is is the stock mani, and on the compressor side it was labled .60 so i don't know.

but driving it i was a little disapointed at the performance, although it did seem to be running rich, and EGT's under accel were 1100? is that normal?

thanks for any input.


btw, don't know if this should go here or in tech :-\

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

The palm pilot is for datalogging...

"18g" technically isnt a real turbo, so you arent going to find any markings that say 18g or anything...If there are no casting numbers on the compressor for TD05H or anything like that, then its kinda hard to tell.

Depending on what turbo is actually on the car, boost threshold will vary, but 3800 sounds a little late for a turbo that size, is it internally or externally gated???

1100 F is very low for accel on that engine, it probably is in desperate need of a good tune, but if it has the mods you say it has, I dont suggest running anymore than like 12psi on those stock injectors, the 4g63 is verry thirsty, a 16G on 20psi will max those suckers out.

Get a wideband and pay attention to the knock count on that logger, try to tune for about 11.5:1 and less than 3 counts of knock.
Looking for about 1350F max EGTs when cruizing on the interstate in 5th gear. If it goes much past 1400F under full load in 4th gear then back off.

Check out www.dsmtuners.com go to the forums tuning section and do some homework. Ignore the HT-like "buy this bullshit" :6

Pics are nice too, if you can get some of the engine bay, etc.

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

thanks man,
ya at full boost it was 15psi, which i only got to once. i need new batteries for tha logger, but it may be a while before we get it back over to my house to werk on it. we also found 2 wheel studs on the dr rear wheel were broken off, 2 right next to each other :(. so we're gonna have to fix those before we can do much else. i got a feeling thats gonna be a bitch.
he also had a set of 680cc injectors at his house, and a fuel rail. he wants us to send the ecu to DSMLink, but can you modify it yourself for the DSMLink?
thanks

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

Been a while since ive been in the dsm game, but lets see I think you need a 95 ecu for dsm link (that could have changed by now) and they socket it and install their own eprom that the link burns to. Dont think you can do it yourself though. Dsmlink is VERY easy to use...Easyer than crome even.

680cc's will give you enough fuel for over 400 on pump, not sure what his intentions are. Fuel rails are moot on a 4g63 unless your making like 500+ sell that sucker. Stock one kicks ass.

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

i'm not quite sure what he plans on doing with it in the ends, but it does have the racing trans in it and a heavy ass clutch. that pedal is stiff as ----, and the engagement when shifting is deff different.

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

Oh yeah, you said heavy clutch. It is common pratice to jumper the clutch switch so you can start the car without pushing the clutch in. Dsm'ers are scared to death bout crankwalk, its up to you though, if your friend is the kind to drive through ppl's houses then dont do it.

One more piece of advice, dsm's use cable shifters. PULL and PUSH the shifter, dont GRIP it. Trust me your tranny will thank you.

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

Why do I have a feeling this engine won't last until he gets home?

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

after reading this thread i got the same feeling

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

???? cause you eat dick??? i don't know

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

lol seriously i wouldnt borrow a car like that from a friend for any extended amount of time...like a ticking bomb

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

must have mis-understood, sorry i'm not borrowing it. he said we could take it as long as we want, but i wouldn't drive it anymore, after driving it the other day. its back at his house now, but he wants us to work on it for him while he's away. and his way of paying for the labor (i think) is sayin "take it whenever". i might drive it once he gets a wideband for us to check the tune with, and the dsmlink. but i don't know the exact year, so that may be a bitch. and gotta fix those studs

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

Palm Pilot's been covered. Second part doesn't sound right. 18g's still have the tdo5h exhaust wheel, then 20g's jump up to the tdo6h. Next is the compressor label...only mark for size I've ever really seen is on the exhaust housing. 6cm^2 housings say "060", 7's say "070", and 8's say "080". It sounds to me like a garrett hybrid type, maybe some combo of t3 and t4 with a .60 a/r cold side. MHI turbo's always go by cm^2 ratings, not a/r ratings. Even an 18g should spool before the numbers you posted.
Anyway, Hitchhikkr's got the rest of it covered...hope this helps.

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

he's a good friend for letting you use his car...return the favor and go ahead and find him a 6-bolt to swap in...

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

DSM's have their good and bad sides. They are able to handle incredible amounts of power on stock internaled motors, but they are cantankerous, simple as that. The 2g motor is a 7 bolt, and it is notorious for crankwalking. The best possible upgrade for a 2G is to swap in a 1st generation 6 bolt motor that was in the 90-92.5 turbo cars. It doesn't have the crankwalk issues and is capable of over 500whp on the stock block. The problem with DSM's is that they're getting old, and people use and abuse them and don't take the time to pull the maintenance. They're an interferance motor, so if the timing belt goes, it's over for your motor. I have a 2nd gen as well, but it has a 6 bolt motor swap. It is very reliable. I just made sure to do maintenance before I modded.

If your turbo isn't hitting full boost until after 4k, and has a/r's stamped on it, it's definitly not an MHI turbo. I would definitley not mess with the car until you learn more about what mods it has, and what you can do do maintain/fix/upgrade it. If you do the headgasket and head studs and replace the timing belt with a kevlar version, you'll be well on your way to keeping the car running. If you can get a 6 bolt motor swapped into it definitely do that. There are lots of resources available for learning about a DSM. The site that a lot of DSMers swear by is: www.vfaq.com

Seriously, do a lot of research before you mess anything up. A DSM can be an immensely powerful car that will reward you, but you have to have the know how and skills to maintain it properly. DSM's get a bad name because inexperienced asshats but them and don't pull maintenance and mod the hell out of them before they're ready. Definetely do your homework before you go any further. L

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

he said it was running real rich maybe enough so were its not running correctly. if the engines not running correctly its not gonna spool correctly. it may already have dsmlink with the palm pilot in there. full boost on that should only be a few hundred rpm sooner

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

I'd say boost leak test it and get the logger working. If it's an 18g it'll reach full boost right around 3500rpm depending on what CR his motor has and what his set-up is like. Take some pics for chrissakes, that'll make things much easier.

Re: AWD DSM 18g question
 

ya, i'll have to get the car back over here to take pics. and the problem is i don't know if he even knows what all is in there. :3, but i'll have to send him an e-mail to see exactly what he knows.
i didn't even think to check for a boost leak either. the weird thing tho, is that its smells like its running rich, but the afc is leaned out on the top end and it still has stock injectors? that doesn't sound right to me at all. i assume dsmlink works like crome/uber as far as adjustability. i'm not gonna mess with it untill he gets us that and the wideband. thanks for all the good info. i'll be doing some more research myself