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1

General Buick Tech / MAF Upgrade or SD?

« on: February 21 2019, 11:42:07 PM »

I was looking to upgrade my stock MAF with a 3.5" LS MAF and increase my intake piping diameter (~$300 for the translator and MAF + piping cost).  So I started researching and I see a lot of threads on removing the MAF and going SD.  So now I start researching SD for a few hours and I see there is a turbotweak SD2 chip but you need a powerlogger and 3 bar MAP which I don't have (I only have Direct Scan presently) so I would be into $850 for that setup. 


Then I start looking at the aftermarket ECU / engine management systems which look interesting and I cam across the XFI Sportsman which replaces the ECU and is $999.  From my research it seemed most people using the XFI Sportsman have more serious cars than I have, so it may not be good for what I have now but I could be wrong.


So now I am in a conundrum.  Do I buy the MAF and translator or do I put the money towards the SD setup which is only a few hundred more.  Which one is better for street driving?  If the XFI sportsman can be used on other engines in the future that would be a plus (I'm sure I can find this with some research).  Is the XFI sportsman much less of a system than the other more expensive SD options (MS3PRO, Eric's ECU GN, or the standard XFI model)?  I really like the look of Eric's ECU GN but I can't justify getting something like that with my set-up.  If the sportsman can interface with a universal gauge like this, or communicate with an android dash than that would help future proof it.  I have read a lot of good things with the SD2 chip but there is less information on the sportsman, likely because it is fairly new.  If the sportsman is simple enough to tweak once you get experience with it, then it would enable me to update it myself as I add parts in the future which would be a real plus.


Is anyone running the sportsman in a less aggressive street car?  Does anyone have experience with both the SD2 chip and the sportsman and if so what are the pluses and minuses of both? Would SD be noticeably better in performance for a set-up like I have or is it just more fun to tinker with?


Details about my set-up:- 42 lb injectors- TE44 turbo- 2800 stall converter- Front mount intercooler - Adjustable fuel pressure regulator- Turbotweak chip
- Plan to add alcohol injection next.

2

General Buick Tech / Computer Current Draw with Car Off

« on: July 23 2012, 06:21:20 PM »

Hi,

I have another question for the tech gurus.  My battery will slowly die if the car is not started for a couple of weeks.  I have no current draw, other than the computer which is pulling 110mA.  Is this the normal draw for the computer?

Thanks,
Devon

3

General Buick Tech / High BLMs

« on: July 22 2012, 12:32:42 AM »

Hello Everyone,

I recently posted on turbobuicks.co m and have been informed that a lot of the gurus have left and moved to this site.  I have been having high BLM issues across all cells.  This is a problem I was fighting with back in 2005 after the car was completed (engine and tranny in a Thunderbird Turbocoupe) and then I put the car away for a few years and I have started up where I left off.  Just to give some details about my set-up:
- 42 lb injectors
- TE44 turbo
- 2800 stall converter
- Front mount intercooler
- Adjustable fuel pressure regulator
- Turbotweak chip

In the last few weeks I have performed a lot of troubleshootin g including:
- Found and fixed a driver side header to crossover pipe leak (car spools better now and drives more smoothly)
- Verified no more exhaust leaks using seafoam (with car at idle).  Do I need to brake stand it into boost for a proper check?
- Checked all vacuum lines with a tube to my ear.  No leaks found
- Changed the O2 sensor with my spare
- Verified FPR increases fuel pressure 1-1 with increasing boost
- Unplugged the injector connectors one at a time.  #3 did not make much of a difference so I changed the coil pack and rechecked.  Ok now.
- Injectors are holding pressure.
- Checked the plugs.  All plug threads are wet.  The colour of the tips were not a nice straw colour but a bit lighter but not white.
- Checked oil.  It smells like gas
- MAF at 5-6 at idle.  I verified the MAF back in 2005 and it went to 255 at WOT (I am hesitant to check again with the fuel in the oil).
- Replaced the corrugated hose between the maf and the turbo.
- Checked all vacuum lines with the car in drive and used propane.  I looked at the O2 mV readings as I checked all vacuum lines and intake gaskets, PVC and EGR.

Using the propane I could not find any response until I came close to the breather on the passenger side valve cover, and the O2 mV spiked from 300 (lean) to 700 (rich).  Are the breathers supposed to suck in air while at idle?  Is it ok to temporarily block this off until I get a new breather as the grommet ripped when removing the old one.

I removed the breather and blocked off the port just to test things out.  The O2 mV readings immediately went from 300 to around 450 and the cross counts became active.  I cleared the computer and took it for a drive but BLMs went back up (147-150).  After the BLMs increased the car was running rich at idle as the BLM cell was 147.  I could not get the mV readings back down below 600 even by turning the fuel pressure down 10 psi.

Another bit of info (not sure if it is relevant), after blocking the breather, before taking it for a drive when all blms where still 128, when I give it a bit of throttle the O2 numbers went from 450 to 250. Is this expected?  After driving it and the blms had increased to around 147, the O2 numbers held around 500 when I repeated this test (down from 600).

Should I remove the valve covers and check for signs of a wiped cam?  Could a wiped cam cause high blms?  If there are no vacuum and exhaust leaks, and if the fuel pressure rises as expected, and if the MAF is ok, then what could it be,  ignition module or bad injectors?  Any suggestions on what to check next?

I am not driving the car now except to troubleshoot it due to the gas in the oil.  I have to drive it about 200 km next week as I have to move it to a new location, so I am trying to fix this issue so I don`t have to tow it.

Thanks for the help,
Devon