Author Topic: looking for Tuning help and suggestions  (Read 20279 times)

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Offline Steve Wood

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Re: looking for Tuning help and suggestions
« Reply #60 on: May 25 2012, 11:40:18 AM »
Oh my, I guess you told me!  :D

First...

Please give me no credit for educating you.  Any fair minded grader would give me an F minus as I have failed in every aspect.  :O I don't feel too badly, however, because I think it is an impossible task.

Now, one cannot tune around a voltage spike.  One has to sacrifice something in order to minimize the effect of the spike.   Therefore, one is making the best of a bad situation rather than addressing the real issues.

A CS144 alternator will put out 14.4 volts on a cold start.  These alternators have a thermal sensor in them that reduces the voltage as the under-hood temps rise.  This higher voltage on start up helps overcome the higher battery internal resistance when it is cold.  This resistance drops as the battery warms up and therefore less voltage is required to maintain the battery charge.

When everything is in proper working order, you should be reading 13.8-14.2 volts at the back of the alternator and using the case as a ground.  What you read elsewhere will be dependent upon the quality of your wiring and the connections-both on the positive side of the equation, and on the ground half.

Volt Boosters were originally intended to provide a boost in voltage to the fuel pump to overcome the lack of flow in the early pumps that were available to us.  Pump output would increase by 15-20% for each additional volt delivered to the pump.  Some also thought that the ignition might benefit as well altho this has since been discounted somewhat on a system that is working properly.  Some have even "rigged" hot wires to the ignition rather than fixing the actual problem.

I recall that Red, or someone, actually installed a nicad battery pack to supply more power to the pump, but, this was quickly followed by the Volt Booster, but, by 1988 or so, enuf alternators had been destroyed that people had pulled most of them off and thrown them in the junk pile.

Harry (PTE), and others used to sell a manual regulator which replaced the internal regulator in the alternator.  You could adjust the voltage with a screw driver when you wanted more at the track (say 15.5 v) and then lower it when the night was over.  I have a new one still in the baggy out in the shop some place.

14.4-14.5 volts will not hurt anything altho it may slightly shorten bulb life.  The ecm, injectors, etc. are regulated so they can handle it.  Once you get into the 15's a steady diet may burn out more things that you wish to buy.

Today, such gimmicks are not needed and are just another thing to go wrong and cause problems.  We have fuel pumps that don't need that kinda voltage to supply sufficient flow and we know the ignition and injectors don't need it. 

Low voltage (my definition is below 13.5 volts under load can cause more problems than dim headlights, however.

I noticed yesterday that your fuel pressure was still falling off under boost and that you are pumping way too much alky for 19 psi of boost.  I guess it helps keep the cylinder walls nice and clean but it does nothing for performance.  The car was also very rich at idle which does nothing for the turbo spool just as too much alky does not.

I will try to refrain from helping you anymore as even I cannot abide a steady diet of failure :)
Steve Wood

http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com

A lot of broken parts does not make you a racer; it makes you a slow learner.

Offline TURBOPOWERED68

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Re: looking for Tuning help and suggestions
« Reply #61 on: May 25 2012, 12:06:25 PM »
Funny shit.
Thanks again for your efforts.
BTW I wasn't trying "tell you" or pretend to know better or to know more than you. I have nothing but a great amount of respect for you and the other guys on here. I am truly sorry that you took my previous post the wrong way.
I guess ill just take a good walk.
« Last Edit: May 25 2012, 01:15:57 PM by TURBOPOWERED68 »
Most talk about having thick skin but thats just BS.
This damn attitude of "you didn't listen to us/me now you should burn in hell for it" really sucks.

Offline Steve Wood

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Re: looking for Tuning help and suggestions
« Reply #62 on: May 25 2012, 01:00:26 PM »
No worries, Thanks for the entertainment :)
Steve Wood

http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com

A lot of broken parts does not make you a racer; it makes you a slow learner.

Offline Steve Wood

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Re: looking for Tuning help and suggestions
« Reply #63 on: May 25 2012, 02:04:30 PM »
As I said, No worries....

I was just trying to help you get that .75 secs out of your car that you are missing by fixing the things that are obviously wrong with it.

I have learned that bandaiding problems instead of fixing them often leads to far more expensive problems.  Sometimes we just have to learn for ourselves and all the help in the world cannot change that.  The old adage about learning from history certainly applies to cars and it is usually cheaper than learning from ones own experiences.

This is the internet and attitude is to be expected.  At my age, I can only laugh.  :)
Steve Wood

http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com

A lot of broken parts does not make you a racer; it makes you a slow learner.

 

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