1,000 miles on KA-T + FMU; impressions

[oz240red]

So I just reached 1,000 miles on the odometer since I put the turbo on my KA. I cranked the car with the turbo at 117,005 miles, and this morning after my ride to work I just clocked 118,086.

Just wanted to share a couple of things for those who are contemplating going KA-T with the FMU.

I went with the top mount T3/T4 setup and love it so far. This setup is good if you drive long miles to work, like me. You can easily stay off boost and save gas in any gear and when you want to wake up the car just down shift and the turbo will happily kick in. NOTE: too happy for a stock clutch (that is if you haven't changed it in a while, if you have, it might hold for some time).

With the FMU, if you run 3 inch exhaust, you will have back fire.Do the Walbro fuel pump upgrade with only half tank, like it's been said several times, you'll be thankful. (and disconnect the battery or remove the fuse before you start).

Whatever you do, heat-wrap your manifold and dp before you install them. Yes, it is highly recommended because of the heat the turbo gives out. It is the best $40 spent. Also, if you can, get the turbo blanket, that covers turbine side of the turbo.

If your turbo kit dumps the exhaust air from the wastegate to the atmosphere, buy a flex pipe and have a muffler shop route it into the downpipe or j-pipe. After boosting and letting off, you will smell unburned gasoline because the FMU raises the pressure and causes rich conditions. Its better for these gases to go out the back.

When you have the stock MAF and your BOV is not re-routed to the intake pipe just before the turbo and after the MAF, the car will stall after you accelerate hard and then suddenly brake.

Always fill up with the best gas (yes, your car will become picky and will only want to drink premium)

Get a boost gauge for sure. This saved me from popping my engine. My wastegate bolts were coming loose and it was leaking pressure by the gasket, so it was not opening at 7 psi, but around 10. If it wasn't because of the boost gauge I could have never known. Which brings me to the next point, if your turbo kit brings regular bolts for the wastegate, since this is a heavy part and goes usually tilted downwards, the vibration of the engine can cause it to become loose and cause boost creep. Go to the autoparts and get longer bolts with the same thread, and get acouple of nuts and washers. Install the bolts and put the nuts on the other side.

Very important: if you live with your woman, let her drive it and feel the power, and don't tell her how to drive it, just let her be... trust me. It's the only way she won't get on your behind for spending $$ on the parts.

Overall, the car feels great. And its FUN! From start of the project to present I have found all the info I needed on NICO. So thanks to everyone who has posted their ideas (hey, where'd the beer icon go?)

[WDRacing]

Glad you're enjoying it man. Excellent post, I hope it helps those that are on the bench about using the FMU.

WD

[xrproto07]

Awsome info for fellow ka- ters!!! Will take this experienceOf yours and incorperate it with mine

[Razi]

I've been using at T28 + FMU setup for a while, and it runs great. No backfiring for me.

It's my daily driver, I drive to school with it and run errands with it. Loving it.

[oz240red]

thanks guys.

Hey Razi, do you have your cat on? I'm wondering whether my backfire is because of having no cat or i'm just running too rich...

Also, is your BOV rerouted? I wonder if that would also have an impact.

[Razi]

Yep, I do have a cat.And my BOV is recirc'd. No backfiring.

[Witte1919]

how much boost you push with the FMU?

[Tyler]

i dont have one, but with a t3/t4 the common answer is around 10psi is the safe limit. anymore then that and the fuel pump is working WAY to hard

[Witte1919]

what kind of numbers can i expect with 10psi

[Tyler]

depends on the turbo and such, this isnt the thread for this tho cause its really informative and i dont wanna clutter it up. search man its been covered a bunch then ask questions if you cant find something.

[Witte1919]

yeah i was searching before but what i was finding was kinda vague, thanks for the info

[DorianrZX]

[QUOTE=]Very important: if you live with your woman, let her drive it and feel the power, and don't tell her how to drive it, just let her be... trust me. It's the only way she won't get on your behind for spending $$ on the parts. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for the Tip

[Ken Park]

Its nice to hear that youre having good luck with the FMU, but I hope its only temporary. You still need a way to control your ignition timing. This is how I popped my motor running an FMU. Believe it or not, my KA was running just fine and making decent power with broken ring lands on cylinders 1-3. It would just smoke like a mofo after it warmed up. Not to mention the HUGE difference in power and driveablity when I switched from big pump/stock inj./FMU to 370's and tuned ECU. At least find a way to control your timing. All its going to take is that hot summer day and a full throttle blast on a straight road and

[mitcheyismyname]

This is really good insight. I feel more confident going with FMU and the T3/T4 route now.

Could you perhaps post the upgrades done to your engine?

[WDRacing]

Its nice to hear that youre having good luck with the FMU, but I hope its only temporary. You still need a way to control your ignition timing. This is how I popped my motor running an FMU. Believe it or not, my KA was running just fine and making decent power with broken ring lands on cylinders 1-3. It would just smoke like a mofo after it warmed up. Not to mention the HUGE difference in power and driveablity when I switched from big pump/stock inj./FMU to 370's and tuned ECU. At least find a way to control your timing. All its going to take is that hot summer day and a full throttle blast on a straight road and

Ok, the KA isn't going to make good power with half the pistons losing compression.

For low boost the FMU is a cheap and very reliable way to make power. If you want ignition retard for safety, just bump the distributor back 2 degree's. That's more then enough for 8 psi of boost.

WD

[motoman399]

i dont have one, but with a t3/t4 the common answer is around 10psi is the safe limit. anymore then that and the fuel pump is working WAY to hard

i would never take a kat to 10 psi with an fmu. i had mine on 7 and could feel it pinging on long 4th gear runs.

[WDRacing]

Don't go past 8 psi with ANY managment unless you have ignition retard of some kind. You could have 72lb injectors and you'll still knock without timing retard on boost.

WD

[oz240red]

This is really good insight. I feel more confident going with FMU and the T3/T4 route now.

Could you perhaps post the upgrades done to your engine?

That's good man. But I don't want to mislead anybody. Make sure you are clear on the limitations of this setup. Like WD said, don't pass 7psi. Make sure your wastegate is opening between 5-7 psi. Also, make sure you upgrade the fuel pump and retard the timing. You might also need a performance clutch. This will get you a nice responsive engine and you'll definitely feel the power increase compared to when the engine was normally aspirated.

Now do I redline my engine and floor it everytime I have a chance to? no. Regardless if the engine can take it with this setup or not, I just dont. I'm pretty happy with the power increase I feel from 2k to 5k rpms just fine. The car basically feels like if it were now a V6. Maybe around christmas I'll treat myself to some 550cc's and a tune and it'll fee like a V8 , but for now this setup is a lot of fun. As long as you understand it's a "starter" setup and use the engine accordingly, you'll be fine.

Just a quick example. Early last saturday I went with my cousin to a state road and tested the car against his Durango with a Hemi SRT8 motor. My car beat the truck but it got to 120mph so quickly that the speed limiter kicked in. I was impressed with the car and way happy. But this was in a cool early morning, deserted road, etc.

To the second part of your question, the upgrades are:

- T3/T4 kit- Front mount I/C- BOV- External Wg rerouted to the exhaust- Walbro 255 fuel pump- 8:1 FMU- BKR7E spark plugs (colder plugs needed when turboing)- 3" exhaust with no cats (2.5" is just fine though)- boost gauge (a must, so you know if you're passing 7psi)- header wrap and thermal insulation for stuff close to the turbo- Stage 2 Competition Clutch (install in the process, yeah, I'm slow when I work on my car)- big smile when turbo kicks in (included in the price)

Good luck with your project man.

[mitcheyismyname]

hey thanks for that info. yeah...well still gathering as much info as i can before setting plans in stone for KA-T.

oh and another question perhaps...what brand FMU did you use?

[oz240red]

I'm just using an OBX 8:1 that I got from ebay. The most popular one though is the Vortec brand.

[DroptopDrifting]

was the stock clutch slipping that bad?

[WDRacing]

I ran 9 psi on an almost new stock clutch for a few weeks with no real issues. Slipped a little in 4th and 5th under a heavy load at lower speeds.

[DroptopDrifting]

i have a brand new oem clutch from napa. you think i should sell this and hold off on my 5 speed swap til i get a better clutch. if im gonna have to do it within a year anyway, i'd rather just do it now. but if the stock clutch will hold out a good year atleast, i'd use it. i only use the car from late april til the first snow/ice storm which is usually october or november. if i can get this season and next season out of a stock clutch on a turbo ka with a t3/t4 50 trim ill stick with it. whatcha guys think?

endthreadjack.

[oz240red]

It's hard to say man. With this setup you should be around 220whp and something similar in torque(will know for sure when I dyno my car), and the stock clutch is not made for that much torque. It doesn't mean you can't use the car or even punch it from time to time. All it means is that it will slip at specific moments when the turbo is putting down the most torque and the wheels are gripping good. The car will respond good, especially with a new clutch, but some slipping here and there is most likely. Depends what are your driving habits and what you use the car for. (for instance, if you want to track the car, don't go with the stock one..., for daily driving, it should be fine)

Also it depends on whether you do the work yourself or not. If you do, and you enjoy working on your car then it's no big deal. You give it a try, don't like it? order the performance clutch, drop the transmission and you're good to go. Now if you pay someone to do it, then it might make more sense to put a performance clutch right from the start, and you will save $$.

[p0onsta]

glad to finally hear a brand mentioned when it comes to FMU.

So with a t3/t4 and an OBX 8:1 @ 7psi you're throwing fireballs out the back...

I plan on running a T25@7psi. Would a 6:1 be better? or would that be too lean?

Anybody with an FMU + wideband... what are your afr ranges @7psi with an 8:1 fmu?

WD: do you know if the OBX/BLOX ebay fmus are reliable? I'm trying to go boost on a real budget, and I know people like oz have gotten success with an ebay fmu, but if only a handful of ebay fmus are good, then i'd save up for a vortech. On the other hand, if almost all ebay fmus are good, then i'll just go with that.

Is there an easy way to verify that an FMU will be working properly? Do they go bad with use?

[neverlift]

get a vortech off a craigslist or like forum that is not working, and repair it for a few dollars under what a new one cost, be carefull as the lower metal disc can wear out or wrinkle... how to fix diy coming up...

[WDRacing]

WD: do you know if the OBX/BLOX ebay fmus are reliable? I'm trying to go boost on a real budget, and I know people like oz have gotten success with an ebay fmu, but if only a handful of ebay fmus are good, then i'd save up for a vortech. On the other hand, if almost all ebay fmus are good, then i'll just go with that.

Is there an easy way to verify that an FMU will be working properly? Do they go bad with use?

Sorry for the late reply. I would only recommend Vortec, I have no experience with any other brands. Vortec has been around for years and is still using the exact same design.

The 6:1 FMU might actually give you better AFR's then the 8:1. Again, just bump the timing back a little bit. Never hurts to be safe.

WD

[p0onsta]

i have to iron out some issues with the car as it is now, so i've got some time to save up for an safc2. thanks for all the help though!!

[neverlift]

I'm actually running a 7:1 and its still rich, I am going to the parts store today to make another mbc to bleed some air. I may actually run a couple devices to change the characteristics of the fmu, I'd like the increase to come on later, and be a hair less. I know for a fact that 12 psi can be supported by only 75~80psi fuel pressure, I have been running without the fmu the past month or so with only raised fuel pressure, I run around 6psi but my boost source fell off my w/g.. and I hit 12~13 with only the fuel pressure change and base timing retard of 5or so.so in short a 6:1 would possibly work, but be damn sure you have afr monitoring going on!

[WDRacing]

When I talk about any type of fuel management, I'm assuming the person has a wideband at a minimum. They are cheap enough these days that we should ALL be using one.

WD