For All the Existing KA-T's out there, Come Inside

[Jookmasta]

Well a question was posed to me in another thread that got locked but credit for this thread will go to logan also. So the question was "Am I still on the stock block?"

Well I figured it would be nice to see when people went KA-T, how long they have been KA-T, and if they have had any significant issues. Significant issues can range from upgrading an intercooler, to getting an ebc, to getting a new wastegate, to getting a whole new engine, etc. Also please post up if your still on your original setup and for how long have you been on your original setup.

So, I'll go first. Turbo'd in February of 2005 with 130K on the original motor since I'm the original owner. Tuned via SAFC, wideband and a timing gun with base retardation of distributor at 15 degrees. (enthalpy didn't do KA-T tunes then). Car was suprisingly strong until a major boost leak occurred and until that was corrected, it felt like it was pimp walking lol. Nonetheless, later got 480cc injectors for dirt cheap when Deautchwerks first opened and an enthalpy tune to accompany an MBC. Cranked up the boost from 7 psi to about 17-18 psi where it currently is at. Been boosted for 2.5 years now with about 32,000 more miles on the car. Engine compression check still reveals 170 something equally across all cylinders and my only real issue is somewhat of a low vacuum that has been there since I ever went turbo. Reads -.45 on the Blitz DCC but is rock solid............

[Biggamehit]

I went KA-T becuase I wanted to learn turbo systems. My 2 years of Research/boosting has been very educational and has put me in the position to give back. I had no desire to get an RB etc motor. I boosted my first KA after about a year of beating on it in parking lots etc.

the setups changed a bit as i got more money/parts gave out. i didn't take my initial setup and try and run in the 24hr Le Mans lol. Not to say my current setup is perfect, but you can see progress and its about being smart with what you are working with

I DD ( daily drift/drive whatever lol ) this car and you cant even think for one minute that you are not going to have problems. most of my issues were general stuff that you must take care of no matter how much money is in the setup. and to end this rant lol. more money doesn't keep you ride from breaking if you plan on racing it

First day started

My setups ( Aug 9th 06-Feb 07) Initial ( $800 dollars spent in total minus taxes lol)

KA number 3: 72k miles when purchased ( blown ring lands, motor will be fully rebuilt ) xspower T3 ( with z31 backup)ssac topmount manifold ( spot welded the suspect spots)2.5in dump tubexs power bov370cc injectorssafc1greddy Full auto timerSr20 smic pipingrb20smicearls oil line fittingssummit racing SS oil line -10AN drain/-3AN feed NGK copper plugs (gapped to .028)N60 MAF255 pump(note: yes strut tower was jacked up, i welded new metal in and reset it )

Pros:-Learned alot-didnt cost alot but made difference-put my car in the 13 second bracket -2nd Gen ssac manifold took a beating and kept going Cons:-major axial and radial shaft play after 6 months-no wideband-small IC and piping-open Dump-lacked warning guages ( oil water )

--------------------------------------Second Setup(Feb 07- Mar 07)KA number 4: 96k miles ( busted oil pan and starved to death)z31 T3Revhard cast manifold2.5in dump tubeBlitz bovSr 370cc injectorssafc1greddy Full auto timerssac fmicearls oil line fittingssummit racing SS oil line -10AN drain/-3AN feed NGK copper plugs (gapped to .033)N60 MAF255 pump( don't run the crank case vent like i did in that picture, i learned the hard way)

Pros:-Bigger IC-better bov-rev hard manifold lowered spool time

Cons:-rev hard would not fit H1C and fitment was tight even with the T3 turbos-no wideband-failing BOV-open dump

------------------------------------Current Setup(Mar 07 to Current day)(KA number 5: 92k miles) Holset H1C turbo 3in V-band custom dump/down pipejgs tools custom stage 1 manifolddsm bovSr 370cc injectorssafc1aem uego widebandgreddy Full auto timerssac fmicearls oil line fittingssummit racing SS oil line -10AN drainAutoMeter -4AN feed JGStools adjustable Oil pressure kitNGK copper plugs (gapped to .033)N60 MAF255 pump

Pros-bigger faster spooling turbo-bigger IC to compliment the turbo-better manifold-cheap bov fix-wideband-proper exhaust-Upgraded to -4 line with jgs adjustable oil pressure Jets

Cons-reduce number of couplers ( 7 total)-Needs 550cc injectors to be safe-Needs New Waste gate-Need longer feed line-Need Racing Radiator-Etc-Never done

Modified by Biggamehit at 5:04 PM 11/28/2007
Modified by Biggamehit at 2:35 PM 11/29/2007

[Tx-Sx-FS]

how important is the crank case vent?? i put that stupid filter on mine, but where should it be run if not a spot on intercooler piping?? im runnin 7-12psi on T25 setup, the wastegate spikes or something, not sure but ive seen it bounce to 12psi. anyway, the crankcase...thanks in advance.

[Biggamehit]

you dont wanna run it there... from the factory it comes like that.. so thats why i ran it there a while back..

basically the boost pressurizes the crank case and can cause damage such as seals blowing out etc.

if you are not getting much oil blow by, you can just put a filter on it.. how ever if you are you need to install and oil catch can... that line from the crank case vent will be one of the lines that go to the catch can.

[DevilMB3017]

I started working on my KA-T around August and between work and everything, I've been driving it about a week.

1991 240SX S13. Orginal motor. 180-something K on the body. Has been rebuilt with AMS rebuild kit, plus some other goodies.

Arias 8.8:1 pistons, forged AMS rods, Ferra Valves, timing kit, oil pump gears, Crower V2 cams, etc. Block was not bored, but decked and all that good stuff. Multi-angle valve job on head, decked but not bored. Ran this N/A for a while to break in.

While breaking in the motor the bearing between the two driveshaft sections decides it doesn't like me anymore and rather then buy a new bearing and have it pressed in/out I got a one piece unit from Driveshaft Shop - just the steel one. Also figured I shouldn't turbo a 4x4 and I threw some Megan Racing coilovers on. Then the shift knob started spinning on me so I bought a B&M Short shifter instead of rethreading, heh.

About 400 miles before the turbo kit was to be installed I threw on a SPEC Stage 3+ full face disc clutch kit. Still stock flywheel though.

Finally started buying all the turbo-kit parts. I ended up with the following list...JGS Log ManifoldTurbonetics/JGS T3/04E turboJGS Wastegate, wastegate dump and turbo dump pipesJGS oil line, TIG welded into the oil pan640CC Deatschwerks Injectors, Walboro fuel pump, Z32 filterAeromotive fuel pressure gauge, Nismo adjustable FPRGreddy M-spec intercoolerHKS SSQV BOV, recirc'd and HKS air filterZ32 TT MAF and PLX Wideband with narrowband outputAEM TruBoost boost gauge/controller3" Megan Racing SR20 Downpipe, BRM 3" mandrel exhaust w/ 4" tip.Enthaply tuned ECU

It's got about 10-15 miles on it

[spooled240]

you're supposed to put it on the intake pipe of the turbo, NEVER the ic pipe where there is pressure.

I got my ka turbo'd in April this year with about 110,000 miles on the stock block with stock internals. Tuned with a JimWolf ECU for 555cc injectors, stock compression, and a z32 mafs (n62). I'm currently running on the wastegate spring only, at 9psi(really close to 10psi sometimes).My specs/parts:-Ebay t3/t04e .57 trim A/R .50(intake) A/R .63(exhaust)-Ebay top mount stainless steel exhaust manifold.-Ebay wastegate set at 9psi.-SSAC full 3in. exhaust w/ custom 3in. downpipe.-Ebay big ic (11"tall and 28-30" wide I think, fits PERFECT!!) and custom 2.75" piping.-Greddy type-rs bov open atmospheric.-Nismo 555cc injectors-Z32 mafs (n62)BUDGET: roughly a little more than $3,000 and the ecu, mafs, and injectors costed me $1500. This was a cheap route to go but it is very well tuned

At first I tried the suck through setup where the turbo sucks air through the mafs:(you can see it was still a work in progress )But this setup made my car stall because of the open atmospheric bov.

Then I did the blow through setup and relocated the bov to the other side of the engine:And it ran WAY better!! Only problem is that my car puffs black smoke sometimes due to the bov but it never stalled on me I then took my car to the drag strip and we ran a 14.4 @98mph on a hot night and a slipping clutch. On the last run the engine went into redline with the clutch fully engaged!! So it was time to replace the stock clutch and I had it replaced with a centerforce dual friction around July this year..

I drive my car everyday to college about 17miles/day on average, 127,000 miles on the ticker and running strong!! Only problems that i've had since then were minor; like a front seal and whatnot. It doesn't burn really any oil, or leak. I've been blessed so far lol

KA-T project complete!! at least for now hehe..

^ one more cuz it looks ballin

Modified by spooled240 at 9:13 AM 11/30/2007
Modified by spooled240 at 11:01 PM 12/2/2007

[Tx-Sx-FS]

u say oil blow by like it will physically spray oil from that filter?? i havent seen anything like that, but one day i was driving along that the piece fell out and i re-inserted it, fine since...but when does it normally become a problem of needing a catch can?? just some motors have that problem more than others?? thanks in advance

[turbo2nr]

97 s14 ka-t autoboosted since feb. start at 94k i currently have 112k on it.

setuprevhardturbonetics wastegateturbonetices 62-1 turbo (t4 footprint)b.s fmic2" cold side pipes2.5" hot side pipeshks ssqvmsd 52lb injectorsaeromotive fpr255 intank

tuning safc and wide band on boost 11.4-11.8 off 14.7-15.5, pulled timing back form dizzy to 15deg. im only on 8psi

only noticeable problem is bad low end response.. feels slugish due to conservative timing

other problems turbo keeps coming loose form my manifold. other then that its been ok.

so far so good.. compression is still 180 across all 4

[nelson8708]

Boosted since 6/30/06 with 130K on the motor

Custom ManifoldCustom IC pipingCustom Down PipeS14 SMICSR T25Greddy Type-SBlox 12:1 FMUWalbro 255

Only problem i had was that i made that manifold because i made it out of the wrong kind of metel and it cracked a few times. I made another out of 304 SS and it works great now. The type s also started to fail due to a leaking diaphram....replaced it with a 1g dsm bov.

I rebuilt a motor to oem specs over winter and swapped it in during the end of winter (old motor had 143K when removed). Just wanted a fresh motor. I switched to a D21 clutch and flywheel during the swap.

Now i have add a FMIC and swapped in a integra radiator because it is double the thickness of the stock one. I got it for cheap too.

This winter i am going to swap the t25 for a H1E holset and am going to do a mafs to map conversion. Also have a set of 460cc injectors and wide band to tune with.

Has 8K on the rebuilt motor and have not blown it up yet

[Biggamehit]

u say oil blow by like it will physically spray oil from that filter?? i havent seen anything like that, but one day i was driving along that the piece fell out and i re-inserted it, fine since...but when does it normally become a problem of needing a catch can?? just some motors have that problem more than others?? thanks in advance

na bro.. just lil specks of oil.. that wil eventually dirty your engine bay. if you are running an high amount of boost the specks will increase and turn into a liquid form instead of specks

great looking setups guys nice to see differnt looking KA-t Setups

also i run the regular sucking maf setup no issues.. you must set the dec air setting correctly i have never stalled my engine

[Jookmasta]

im curious as to what was happening when your greddy type s bov was failing............were you having low vaccum? was the boost dropping off?

[spooled240]

also i run the regular sucking maf setup no issues.. you must set the dec air setting correctly i have never stalled my engine

I have a jwt ecu-no afc so i can't adjust anything to compensate for the oa bov. My mafs was giving more fuel from the air rushing through it, but the bov was blowing the air out when I slammed the throttle shut thus flooding my engine. After it stalled i had to crank the engine over for 6-8 sec straight before it started again..

NICE SETUPS GUYS!! KEEP 'EM COMING! btw, everyone except turbo2nr painted their valve cover black red/black they all look great

[Biggamehit]

ahhh ic bro

you can still slap an safc on it to fine tune becuase when the climate changes so will your tune..

ecu tunes are awesome, but the a fixed tunes safc can help you alter where needed wideband would be great for this if you dont already have it

psHAHAH black valve cover.. i just noticed that

[neverlift]

coming in as the slowest kat of the bunch..... couple pics.. and one from the window havent been to a strip yet so no real times, but the (cough ghey cough) gtech claims a 15.0 and 8.0 8th with retarded 60 foots in the 3.5 second range, traps at 105, lets start with the bad; stock clutchghey michillens 225 60 16 having issues in top of 3rdsr smic leakign my 8 down to 6psiwhats it like 90 in florida today setup is real weak right now. coming along tho; sr t25ssac manifoldebizzle bov(awsome without the whistle shyt)sr greddy hotpipesr side mount tillI hope today mod'd starion IC for 40 bux woot(I know they suck but I need front mount NOW)stock injectors at 50+psi de stock block/head unknown mileage or condition(bought from a guy with transmission and harness/ecu put vac gauge to it saw 22 at idle... went for it)I rom tuned a sohc stanza ecu to run the de injectors and z32 maf(tried a q maf but too much of a pita), no knock control or feedback. 3"d/p3"test pipe2.25" turndown(for "sound control" )walbro 255300zxtt filterplx smafr narrowband output to summit gauge cheapest way to have wideband...scv unhooked but still insmall arse intake pipe,going to change right now lolwelded diff tein and gr2s ftL on launches

future plans a t28 and some big *** injectors, have my eye on some 400cc mits injectors. cost to date is still under a grand with motor! getting close though.biggest issue I have had is bad IC's,and blowing inlet gaskets, went nissan and never looked back. estimated miles of pure abuse are well over 5000. the turbo broke my speedo/odometer btw nice setups you guys have, one day mine will be nice too.

Modified by neverlift at 12:38 PM 12/1/2007
Modified by neverlift at 6:16 PM 12/2/2007

[GEO]

I went KA-T on the stock Block back in 2005 at 8psi and am still on the stock block pushing 8psi. Only issues I have had were a leaking oil pan.

Other then that been running liek a champ.. **knock on wood** Going to be gettign rid of her tho in spring time when I graduate. Put that money towards the next project / graduation gift..

[Zippy69]

coming in as the slowest kat of the bunch..... ]

Oh I think I got you beat Neverlift. My ride is still sitting still due to an ecu issue.But I hope to heaven above that that will be over soon. But I did score some badass motegi racing D-6 wheels, and they look frickin' awesome sittin' still. I bet they will look even better on the road.

[neverlift]

you sure about those rims? I hate my mr7's, they are heavy and have fwd offset, but I have 6 of em, and the way I burn tires....

anyways anyone have thoughts on break up/hesitation on part throttle? just came home due to stupid ****, it was doing this the other day, when it was cool out. IDK wtf is up dont beleive it to be blow out.

[nelson8708]

im curious as to what was happening when your greddy type s bov was failing............were you having low vaccum? was the boost dropping off?

Because the diaphram was leaking it was like a vacuum leak but, because i had the bov recirculated it was still metered air. My boost gauge still read normal vacuum. The only reason i knew it was going bad is because i started to have compressor surge. So i just did the old trick of pulling vacuum with my mouth and you could tell it had a bad leak. A new diaphram is 80$ so i dont know if that bov will ever see action agian.....i am cheap

[Biggamehit]

you sure about those rims? I hate my mr7's, they are heavy and have fwd offset, but I have 6 of em, and the way I burn tires....

anyways anyone have thoughts on break up/hesitation on part throttle? just came home due to stupid ****, it was doing this the other day, when it was cool out. IDK wtf is up dont beleive it to be blow out.

im going to say your issue is injectors bro.. stock injectors are not safe at all for any amount of boost and you can have stock sr370cc injectors very cheap now...

[neverlift]

well thats funny cause its been over 5000 miles on them, and I beat this thing daily.., just yesterday I was sliding for an hour without one issue, no break up at all at any throttle position.

I geuss I forgot to mention it only happens at night. last night and the night before. also I would think an injector would be bad all the time or worse at wot in boost, rather then light throttle cruise, like its doing.

I'll pull a plug or 4 later on but IDK man, its random but predictable. I'm gonna also put on the msd coil I have, plugs are big gapped at just under .04, but thats only for 7~8psi...

[Biggamehit]

i looked at your setup again.. do you have safc controller at all.?. that is important so that you can add and subtract fuel etc.... also at nights its cooler.. and your A/Fr is going nuts it seems....

[neverlift]

well no I dont have an afc, but its rom tuned, for the z32 maf and injector pressure increase.....(I'm no pro but I'm pretty fvcking good seeing its a sohc ecu from a stanza that I manipulated to tune the DOHC motor, and had 30+mpg before boosting,the sohc the ecu was originaly on was making decent power with greater mileage(45+), just pointing out I've been doing rom tune for a bit with great luck)

afrs are rock solid, it feels like detonation but the motor still pulls 22 at idle and isnt making that "you owned a piston noise" I know its cooler at night lol its just out of the blue, I put on a greddy hot pipe and it started doing this shyt.

[spooled240]

Check for any ic pipe leaks, even tiny ones..maybe a coupler is f'n up once in a while???

[bruinbear714]

First setup, had a custom turbo kit with T4/T3 turbo , Emanage & 555cc injectors. Ran like crap but held up at 0.6bar for about 2 years. Yanked out the turbo to smog my car and engine is currently running stock without any issues.

Second setup same as first except different manifold & downpipe, 740cc injectors, and power fc. 2 - 4 autocross & drift events per month. No issues other than occasional pinging on hot/hard days. Been almost a year no engine issues except a loose downpipe & a rattling wastegate dump tube which needs to be redone.

[Biggamehit]

well no I dont have an afc, but its rom tuned, for the z32 maf and injector pressure increase.....(I'm no pro but I'm pretty fvcking good seeing its a sohc ecu from a stanza that I manipulated to tune the DOHC motor, and had 30+mpg before boosting,the sohc the ecu was originaly on was making decent power with greater mileage(45+), just pointing out I've been doing rom tune for a bit with great luck)

afrs are rock solid, it feels like detonation but the motor still pulls 22 at idle and isnt making that "you owned a piston noise" I know its cooler at night lol its just out of the blue, I put on a greddy hot pipe and it started doing this shyt.

ic bro.. im not attacking you im just pointing out the obvious... the max psi for an un vacuumed FPR is about 40-45 psi.. which is unsafe for an stock Fuel rail.. and you are saying 50psi... thats even more unsafe. what is going to happen is the injectors are simply going to get burned out.. right now it seems like you are running the stock 270cc's at 100% duty cylcle that is bad bro. narrow band is not going to help you with afr's and if this was wideband 22 is bad bro.. it has to be at about 13.7 to 14.5 maybe even low 15.s at idle.

also the z32 maf already makes them flow at a higher rate so by gettting a rom tune that pushes the injectors even harder will cause them to crash. I was not aware that you had and sohc, just go to the ka-t turbo basic thread and they have a list of interchangable injectors you can grab.. i have been through 5 motors for various reason, dont kill the motor dude lol.
Modified by Biggamehit at 1:08 AM 12/3/2007

[neverlift]

pretty sure my alt is going bad. issue happens only with lights on and fans on, or heater on full blast and lights, does it day or night. thanks though guys.

[Drift Machine]

Been KA-T since the spring of 2004.

Basically been running the same setup the entire time. Only upgraded tuning related stuff. Switched over from an SAFC-II in the winter of 06 to a BikiRom setup, also added an adjustable fuel pressure regulator at the same time.

http://www.cardomain.com/id/sparklemotion

[psi240]

bought all the parts for a T25 setup .. put the kit on the car in 1 day - took about 6 hrs in my garage and that included going to the shop a couple of times to get misc .. clamps .. hoses etc.

engine had 270,000 kms on it ... perfect 180 compression across.Ka-t lasted for 275,000 kms .. about 3 months. during the last 1000 kms there was blowby that got worse almost like a mini exhaust on the VC.there were mad vaccum leaks everywhere, idling issues etc .. changed spark plugs twice. boost started spiking and at times went to 12 - 14 psi because of the leaks.

Sr t25 turbodohc ebay bottom mount mani370cc injFmic kit with rfl boc3" catback exhaustplx widebandwalboro 255safc 2

bought another motor with 190k .. This time im getting the block off plate and getting rid of all the emission bs on the back of the motor and IM. putting in s15 injectors , Gt25rs or Sr t28 and maybe a tuned ecu.

[510six]

Can someone explain to me the facintation with T25-28 turbos on the larger 2.4l KA motors, other than they are commonly avalable.

[neverlift]

what is not to get, they are cheap/reliable/fast spooling. they wont make huge numbers on a ka or mad tyte25psi of boost but when your looking for a low cost turbo setup, it cant be beat. That and if you blow the snail it can be found for a 100 dollars or so, a t28 on the same flange can make a lot more boost and is still very quick to spool. I know guys with gt32's on ka's and the spool is in the 4400rpm range(with his old manifold) new manifold has him around 3500rpm IIRC 15psi waiting for his dyno results(lol inside joke), decent spool imo for a large turbo.. same boost on a t28 will come much sooner, but still net power gains are less.

IMHO its a trade off, little turbos are great for fast spool, big turbos make big power.....