Engine Dampener
Engine Dampener
I am the custom king (not of everyone, its in my head), but anyway if I were to list all my mods the word custom would be repeated throughout. The other day I seen an engine dampener on ebay for about 110.00 and thought how stupid it was. It was all nice and green. Had some dampening o rings for vibration and was made by a fairly decent name brand. The point is that they think we are stupid. I mean look at the ridiculous prices for a cold intake. For 35 bucks you could make your own, complete with a shinny chrome pipe and k and n. Just go to your local pipe bender. But back to this engine dampener......You can go to any auto parts store and buy a hatch strut. Get one that will fit from 2 designated points, chassis to engine, where the strut can compress. Put some rubber washers on there and bottabing. You might be thinking well with 100 - 200 hundred horsepower, what is the use, but it decreases my engine pitch by about 85% on hard throttle ...........where do you think that movement goes.Anyway just an idea, Ill try to post a pic. There is no extra chassis vibration on the interior that I can feel
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knightrider
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2002 4:32 pm
- Car: black 90 240 coupe
Hehe, just do a really nice write up on it with lots of pictures, then start a new thread with the write up in it titled "DIY Engine Damper" or something. If it's good enough, I'm sure it'd get stickied or added to articles. Also, let is know exactly which strut you used etc. so that we can just go down to the store and know what to get 
actually solid would give you a lot of vibration on the inside. When I first put that on the cylinder was touching the motor and the vibration was bad. So I put it on a higher bolt with a rubber washer. Now there is no vibration. There is little outside movement, that would be corrected if it were solid, then the chassis would move. (vibration also though) The engine used to move about 1.5 inch on a 4000 rev. Now the movement is about .3 inch at same rev. You can see it slide the strut. Overall I like it alot, I figure some power twists the engine and If i can get it to twist something else, like the driveshaft, then all is for the better. Ill make a DIY for all those interested. It may be a simple idea, bvut it beats spending 110.00. And yes the struts you can get come in all sizes. I got mina at advance auto parts. The only reason it is long is because that is the side it twists too and there a limited amount of bolts to connect to.
Yeah, I'm well aware of the vibration issue but considering the nature of my car, it's just not a big problem to me (if I were to go solid). However, if I could cheaply make one like you did I'd probably go for that option 
I was just going to use some 2 inch wide x 3/8 inch thick bar stock I have laying around...but this might be an even better option. I just wonder how well it keeps the engine from torquing to one side under a hard load. Other things I've seen used for this purpose are motorcycle steering dampers, and atv/4 wheeler dampers.
I was just going to use some 2 inch wide x 3/8 inch thick bar stock I have laying around...but this might be an even better option. I just wonder how well it keeps the engine from torquing to one side under a hard load. Other things I've seen used for this purpose are motorcycle steering dampers, and atv/4 wheeler dampers.Id say it cuts about 90 percent of the twist. The strut cost me 14.95 an took about 15 minutes to install. The brand is called strong arm and is at advance auto parts. The strut number is 4618. It is the only kind of strut they sell. It is gas charged. I chose it because of the lenght and the fact that its connectors are eye holes. You also need a #18 bolt with nuts and 2 hose washers. Total of about 16.00. I will paint mine soon. I dont think that the lenght means anything at all. This strut was very hard. Almost to the point where my 215 lb *** could barely move it. Figure those hatchs on some cars or suvs are very heavy. I am going to modify them for my hood next. I m,ean who wants to spend thousands on there car and still have to use the stu[pid rod doohicky.
slakker wrote:Id say it cuts about 90 percent of the twist. The strut cost me 14.95 an took about 15 minutes to install. The brand is called strong arm and is at advance auto parts. The strut number is 4618. It is the only kind of strut they sell. It is gas charged. I chose it because of the lenght and the fact that its connectors are eye holes. You also need a #18 bolt with nuts and 2 hose washers. Total of about 16.00. I will paint mine soon. I dont think that the lenght means anything at all. This strut was very hard. Almost to the point where my 215 lb *** could barely move it. Figure those hatchs on some cars or suvs are very heavy. I am going to modify them for my hood next. I m,ean who wants to spend thousands on there car and still have to use the stu[pid rod doohicky.
Looks real nice!
Any idea how long the whole strut was before compressing it at all, from eye-hole to eye-hole, or how long it is now? I'd be using one to go on a KA24DE, not KA24E, and obviously the valve cover bolts are at different positions on these different engines. You did mount the other hole to a valve cover screw, right?
Nathan wrote:I wouldn't mount it to a valve cover screwIt DEFINITELY needs something more substantial, those things are ridiculously weak.
What would you mount it to? I wasn't saying I'd do that, it just looked like it in the pic. What about one of the screws that hold down the metal fuel lines and screw into the intake manifold? They may be too close to the where the STB mounts though....Anyone have any ideas where to mount it on a ka24de?
No I mounted it to the b.p.t valve bolt there are two of them. The original screw is only about 3/8 inch. Which is why I bought the 1.5" bolts to raise it above the intake. If it touches the vibration is crazy because of the engine moving up and down. This dampens the left and right movement. Which is alot. Overall it is about(Pause while I go into the sub 10 degree weather here in midwestern Pa to measure ) The overall from eye to eye is 16 3/8" After install it is exactly 16"
slakker wrote:No I mounted it to the b.p.t valve bolt there are two of them. The original screw is only about 3/8 inch. Which is why I bought the 1.5" bolts to raise it above the intake. If it touches the vibration is crazy because of the engine moving up and down. This dampens the left and right movement. Which is alot. Overall it is about(Pause while I go into the sub 10 degree weather here in midwestern Pa to measure ) The overall from eye to eye is 16 3/8" After install it is exactly 16"
Thanks for measuring :icesangel
Do you think a bolt (12 mm head) that bolts into the manifold to hold down a metal fuel line will be strong enough to hold down such a torque dampener? Because I see a straight, clear line from a STB bolt to this bolt on the manifold I'm referring to.....
EDIT-The bolt I was referring to is ~24" from the STB bolt, so it's too long
But I may have found another one--a stiff metal bracket that's bolted directly to the intake manifold toward the back of it is used to hold a clamp that secures a hose--
http://24.59.109.135/pichost/pic//128-2895_IMG.JPG
In this pic, it's the clamp that holds down the s-shaped hose. I know the bracket will be stiff enough; I'll just get a bolt/nut to replace the one that screws in--but this point is all the way back toward the firewall on the engine--if I mounted the torque dampener there, would it be too far away from the "center" of the engine to do any good? For $16, I think it's worth a try
Oh it is defin itely worth a try and to tell you the truth there were longer struts available. 24" I am not sure, but it doesnt sound too unreasonable. I the event that the bolt isnt tough enough, It wont cause any damage. Anyway now that ive seen you have a turbo installed, how is it. How much do you think you are putting out, curiouslyI think these struts are awesome and am going to try to mount them to the hood I am making. Why put thousands of dollars into our cars and still have to use that stupid rod. It would be cool if you popped it and it raised itself up...as long as you made it safe.
slakker wrote:Oh it is defin itely worth a try and to tell you the truth there were longer struts available. 24" I am not sure, but it doesnt sound too unreasonable. I the event that the bolt isnt tough enough, It wont cause any damage. Anyway now that ive seen you have a turbo installed, how is it. How much do you think you are putting out, curiouslyI think these struts are awesome and am going to try to mount them to the hood I am making. Why put thousands of dollars into our cars and still have to use that stupid rod. It would be cool if you popped it and it raised itself up...as long as you made it safe.
STB = Strut Tower BRace...
I'd rather use a shorter strut than a longer one, for aesthetic and weight purposes--the other point I showed in the picture is only about 13.5" from a STB bolt--will that compress the strut too much?
And again--will attaching the strut to the back side of the engine compromise the dampening performance? I think I may try it this afternoon...
I love my turbo KA--I haven't taken it out in a while (crappy CT Roads), but I Just installed 370 cc injectors, JWT ecu, walbro 255 lph fuel pump, etc...I'm eager to see how it performs now. It'll be intercooled in about a month (alcohol injection currently).
I hope at 10 psi I'm puting out at LEAST 240 rwhp--I've seen people make 255 rwhp at 8 psi; granted, their kits were better designed, but mine is very similar to other kits out there--my draw back may be the semi-small turbo (T3 super 60 b)--but 2.5" downpipe/exhaust all the way back, no cat, will be intercooled, etc--i think I'm doing a dyno day toward the end of march, I'll know for sure then...
Have you given it a shot today. Overall weight gain is of little concern seeing as to how the strut I got was less than a lb. So your talking maybe an ounce less. Id rather have a shorter one to though only to be less obtrusive, but I really like the way it looks. I dont know if putting it in the rear of the engine will matter, that is something youll have to tell me. Good luck
slakker wrote:Have you given it a shot today. Overall weight gain is of little concern seeing as to how the strut I got was less than a lb. So your talking maybe an ounce less. Id rather have a shorter one to though only to be less obtrusive, but I really like the way it looks. I dont know if putting it in the rear of the engine will matter, that is something youll have to tell me. Good luck
Didn't have a chance to try i today--i've been trying to figure out WHY my alcohol injection pressure switch/system is NOT working (wow, incredibly frustrating)--otherwise, I would have taken the car out today
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nightwalker
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:01 am
- Car: 240sx
I recall someone on FA doing this. He did a test on the hatch struts like the one you used, and he said it wasn't sufficient. He ended up using a larger strut, for a scooter, or something. He also tried the two, and the actual strut controlled the engine rocking very well. I'm to lazy right now to search FAs massive post archives, but it would be interesting to actually test it instead of speculating.
Whos speculating. I said it controlled up to 90% of my engine twist. Sounds good enough to me whether or not it will do the same on the rear of the engine, I am unsure. These things lift up the whole back of suvs for crying out loud. I could get a pneumatic pump with a reservoir or maybe buy a set of coilovers for about a thousand bucks and just use one of those to do the job. It works, no speculation.