LittleBlue!

On 1/29/2020 at 2:44 PM, Erisafirehawk said:

I'm looking at doing something similar this year (I hope). What injectors did you use? 

I would not recommend the injectors that I chose unless there really aren't any other options. Are you still looking to do this?

I took out the existing turbo related parts. Going back to NA to work out the CVT issues and then put a universal turbo on. Removed the turbo and intercooler today and added my temporary cold air intake. 

You disable vats with hp tuners. Its literally a click of a button to disable

Not sure on other companies outside of a stand alone ecu which I've always assumed was expensive and a pain but never really looked. An example is megasquirt. Probably beyond what you are looking for. As for trying a 2017 ecu, if it has the same plugs, I'm not sure there would be a harm in trying. The biggest risk would be investment. The ecu is cheap but hp tuners is like $300 and another like $200 to license the ecu. 

I'd be surprised if it worked but I haven't done research to say it won't. You could check with places like zzp or bad news racing for a tune but they usually use hp tuners I believe

Last thought, I feel like you already did based on your post but did you reach out to hp tuners because when I wanted to tune my 14 they didn't have it listed and I asked and the added it to their list so they may be able to do it but again they don't always update their info. Sorry if none of this info is useful. 

First, based on your post I am assuming the two years you reference use different ecus. If this is true an ecu swap would be outside of my knowledge. I'd assume it would be a giant undertaking if it would work depending on the pins and wire harness. 

If the ecus are the same, your ecu would likely be able to be licensed and hp tuners just doesn't update their website. So if you checked if your ecus is covered and it isn't, hp tuners might not be a viable option. 

If you did go through with an ecu swap, you can turn off the vehicle anti theft system (vats) very easily. I ruined my stock ecu in my 14 spark and am running an ecu from a sonic. Both are the e78. 

Another thought is look at what ecu you have an if there are other vehicles that have that same ecu that are covered by hp tuners, yours would also be covered. Look more at the ecu model number than the vehicle and year, if that makes sense. If you already have than I think it is unlikely hp tuners will work at the moment. 

Glad you were able to fix it! I was referring to the 3 day access. I was not able to find an electronic version that is permanent last I checked but there may be one available and I just couldn't find it or forgot.

3 hours ago, thismarks said:

Imo, I'd look into the manual swap. It makes the car perform much different and they can be had for a reasonable price from a salvage yard or even eBay. I'm still wondering when 5th gear will be useful as a power gear, but being able to demand the power when needed is so much better. Sad to hear the problems your facing, but I have been there.  Here are a couple of links: Manual  and CVT /Auto

That's kind of what I'm thinking. I will have to dig into what that will entail. I was looking into the cvt and what could be wrong but I think I'm over the cvt to be honest 

Thanks everyone who posted info here. My cvt appears to have thrown in the towel. It still wants to spin the tires but has nothing behind it so I'm hopeful this might help. I'm going to cross my fingers and give it a go this weekend. Might be my cars last hope.

 Well, something has gone catastrophically wrong as I was out and about today. I made it back but it had leaked a good amount of what I'm 99% sure was oil.

Also, I thought it smelt/felt like I was burning the cvt belt but I'm not sure if it is just a belt and that is plausible or it is a chain. Either way, it no longer engages. I did get it to spin the tires on the ice in the driveway when I started it up a few hours later to move it. Luckily, it was in the driveway but that's where it sits.

Now, I'm either going to replace the belt, do a manual swap, or look to a complete drivetrain swap or scrap it and save it for the project after the Jeep. 

Mounted the turbo and the intercooler. I was also smoking a Turkey so I had the timer in view. Happy Thanksgiving!

It would be a bit harder to come across in budget but I am a sucker for an older subaru wrx. All wheel drive, manual, turbo and reliable. 

3 hours ago, Bobby MSME said:

Makes sense since lube property of oil does not wear off for lots of miles. If engine is doing clean burning and not mis-firing, and not doing frequent short trips (which can cause rust inside engine from water condensate not evaporating off with an engine reaching operating temperature) oil can remain good for as many as 50,000 miles. .

On the other hand the filter gets clogged with stuff and when changed, helps oil from getting contaminated with carbon particles, which is the main reason to change oil.

Makes sense but I was not thinking logically and was thinking about how much oil would drain out in the process. As fire spark mentioned above, the amount is minimal.

14 hours ago, Fire Spark said:

He probably just changes the filter and adds a little oil to compensate for what the filter held and what runs out of the galleries. Most of the oil stays in the pan.

I was talking about this post with a friend and then it dawned on me that duh the filter is higher than the pan haha. I appreciate the response though. 

Thanks again for the info on the plugs. I did a quick double check and the one you recommended is perfect. Ordered a set for my car. I think it will help quite a bit

Also, for $20 you can view the service manual electronically through AC delco. That might help you identify all of the potentially relevant sensors and provide part numbers for searching. If you are interested and can't find the site, let me know. Best of luck!

Not sure if this helps but you might consider a pull your own parts junkyard if there is a spark in one nearby.  I'm not familiar with the sensors so I'm just thinking outloud 

That landscape is beautiful 

On 11/22/2019 at 9:39 PM, barry98 said:

Ok here is the deal. I purchased a 2013 spark from a co-workers mom. Mom had bought it new and has all documented service performed at the purchase dealership. 2019 Moms husband pasted away and she desided to sale the car because she did not need multiple vehicles. Car has less than 50k at time I purchased it. I enjoy the car up till a week ago when one morning on the way to work the check engine light comes on, the stability traction light comes on and the car would not go over 60. As most I do the normal thing of googling the issue to see if I can get an idea of what possibly could be wrong. Upon search I find hundreds of complaints of the same thing and no one getting any answers. So I take it to the dealer. I tell service manager what it's doing to which he shakes his head and continues my sentence obviously aware of an issue with this model. I tell him I have seen many comments and post about it and could they check it. This was Wednesday morning.  Friday morning they call and tell me either rebuild or new engine is the only solution. ????... A vehicle with 60k and always properly serviced needs a new 6k motor? I call BS!!!!  I need some assistance in resolution before seeking legal advice.  Would like to just have it fixed but why should I pay the full bill?....A little help here.....

I would be curious what the code for the check engine light is. You can go to an auto parts store like auto zone or o'Reillys and borrow a obd2 scanner for free. They usually just hold your license if anything. Scan the car and right down those codes. That will give you a better idea of what is going on. Did the dealership tell you what codes came up?

Awesome, thanks for the info on spark plugs! My new project and home remodel has taking all of my free time so I really appreciate the info. On the injectors, they don't seem to far off so tuning shouldn't be too bad. I just know the more data the company or seller provides the smoother that process goes.

Good call on the plugs, I need to upgrade mine. Did you get data with your injectors and what do they flow per hour? Good progress!

Pardon my 1 unrelated post but I just got the first few parts for my next project. I'm putting a gt45 on my v8 4.7 Jeep commander. I would have never thought to try this if I didn't learn by tinkering on my turbo spark project. The size difference is insane. On a related note. This means the spark needs to be reliable on e85 during the MN winter as it will be my daily driver. I have some tuning to do on the cold start side  of the equation. 

I had few people ask about the exhaust. I have been meaning to work on the mounts and vide the entire exhaust while under the car but I have been working on a lot of other projects. I did come across this picture of my homemade mid pipe. The welds are ugly but it works great 

Since my last post here, I looked at the engine bay in the Jeep Commander and determined there is not enough space for me to want to attempt my original plan of twin turbos. Instead I have ordered one GT45 turbo. It is a knockoff brand but I have done a lot of research and it looks promising for an initial set up. I can always upgrade the turbo later or even just the internals for quality and maybe ball bearings for quicker spool.

Due to space constraints, I plan on mounting the turbo under the Jeep towards the middle of the vehicle where the exhaust headers meet. I already have the Jeep licensed under HP tuners and the ecu is significantly easier to tune than the 2014 spark. I'm hoping to keep the injectors and fuel pump stock but keep an eye out to avoid running out of fuel. Below are the parts I ordered so far. Ignore the jacket, it's getting cold here already.

I don't know the exact answer but you can do two things to test. 1 pull the plugs and one should look different. I'm not good at reading plugs but I know some people can tell a lot by this. Also' while it is idling rough unplug the coil packs one by one and if you unplug one and it doesn't change you know that's the one. 

That being said I'm 99% sure it is the second one to the right or driver's side. I had an issue with injector 4 and that was the furthest on the driver side