[GFXjamie]

So i was at the track on friday and was looking to run some good times. last year ran a 15.1 and was hoping for that or less....

Well i didnt have it my way, and turned out i ran an all time slow of 15.7 @ 88mph....

Since last year i have got an under drive pulley and larger TB along with the FS mandrel exhaust. Im on falken azenis for tires and stock 15" rims for weight reduction. No stereo in the car or spare tire. I was running under a 1/4 tank of gas aswell and consistantly ran 15.7-15.9 with 87-88 mph trap speed.

Now some problems i think i may be having.
- Exhaust leak
- possibly reversed TPS
- Possible cam timing issue
- smaller rolling radius (smaller tires)
- blown rear shocks

Now all of this added together, would it reduce performance that much? I played with tuning and no matter what i did times would only vary by 0.1 seconds at most whether i went lean or rich, advance timing etc.

Now in order to fix my exhaust leak, what i think the problem is, is that when my header was installed, the mechanic used the automatic flex pipe, which is about 1" shorter in length and i dont believe i am making a good seal at the flex as i can hear the leak right under neath the center of the car.

Any suggestions would be great as im kinda pissed about how badly the car is running

Also the car has had a funny idle ever since leaving for the track. revs will bounce all over in neutral from 1000-2500 rpm

[darkpuppet]

If your revs are bouncing, I'd be more inclined to think an intake/vacuum leak somewhere. -- also what kind of air filter are you using?

If your car starts bogging down -- could be a DPFE issue as well

It is possible to lose power with all of the things you stated in your post.. so I think you may need to spend a little time repairing your issues.

[GFXjamie]

Just want to add one more thing, It also now has the FS cool flow instead of the K&N Typhoon short ram. It has an ITG filter.

The car wasnt bogging, rather hanging revs, similar to when my TB stuck but it would go up and down and sometimes disappear when i tapped the throttle. I would be in staging lanes and the car would all of a sudden rev to 2500 when i moved forward a car length and then hold for about 15-20 seconds atleast.

As for the runs them self, launches were good on street tires, hit 2.35 60ft which is decent for FWD and street tires as i hit 2.0 on slicks preloading. Mind you i did baby 3rd for a couple runs but not enough to hit me with half second slower times.

Im going to be working on the car VERY soon, as this is bothering me ALOT. I didnt expect to see higher times, i expected on the same mark or slightly faster. My trap speeds on street tires also dropped about 3-5 mph as i hit around 93 on all season hancooks last season.

Ill see what happens after some playing around and hopefully i get nicks rear suspension soon lol that will help a bit.

[NOS2Go4Me]

Who did your XCal2 tune? Did you retune after switching intakes? I'd say that there might be a significant diffence in running a FS CAI and a K+N short ram.

Also... gas used - same as before? How many KMs on the fuel filter and spark plugs? How dirty was the air filter? Those ITGs are serious dirt pigs.

Yeah, I'd fix the exhaust leak as well.

[NikiterZTS]

do you smell gases at all when the car is ideling? :huh:

[GFXjamie]

The plugs and fuel filter have 50k on them but the fuel system was flushed 10k ago. As for the tune, it is a 91 tune from FS. The tune shouldnt make all that much of a difference as its just the pre canned 91 tune like every other tune. The air filter im thinking about changing to one of my extra K&N cones from previous set ups.

As for gases, i can smell nasty exhaust smell because i am running no cat so its hard to tell whats weird and what isnt without a wideband.

Gas used is same as before, but with smaller tires and UDP in it evens it out.

I will be working on it tomorrow night and messing around. I will update as i go

[ZTWsquared]

GFXjamie,Apr 27 2009, 03:20 PM Wrote:The plugs and fuel filter have 50k on them but the fuel system was flushed 10k ago. As for the tune, it is a 91 tune from FS. The tune shouldnt make all that much of a difference as its just the pre canned 91 tune like every other tune. The air filter im thinking about changing to one of my extra K&N cones from previous set ups.

As for gases, i can smell nasty exhaust smell because i am running no cat so its hard to tell whats weird and what isnt without a wideband.

Gas used is same as before, but with smaller tires and UDP in it evens it out.

I will be working on it tomorrow night and messing around. I will update as i go
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50k on platinum plugs is fine for everyday driving, but you should change them up pronto for max performance ... true story >>>>>>>>>>>

When I had about 25k on my 07 wagon the tach needle started flickering a little at idle - when I first got the car it was rock solid.

A Ford tech I know said that if was really bothering me I should replace the plugs and it would go away - I did and it did ... apparently as the plugs started "going away" the deteriorating spark can sometimes interfere with the operation of the tach.

Just because the plugs are nominally rated for a set distance it doesn't mean they remain good for that distance - the ECU can compensate for some really bad plugs in terms of the driving experience - even as performance and mileage go to the s***s.

Same btw for the stock plug wires ... if you're not running something like Magnecor you should change them when you change the plugs.

[reldridge]

With the smaller tires (shorter all-round gear ratio), do you have an extra shift compared to last year? That could be 1/2 a second right there...

Blown rear shocks could also compound the issue, as the weight transfer to the rear could be taking traction away from the front. Are you noticing any 'squat' in the rear?

Replace shocks = less weight transfer = more traction on the fronts :)

Ryan

[NikiterZTS]

reldridge,Apr 27 2009, 08:55 PM Wrote:With the smaller tires (shorter all-round gear ratio), do you have an extra shift compared to last year? That could be 1/2 a second right there...

Blown rear shocks could also compound the issue, as the weight transfer to the rear could be taking traction away from the front. Are you noticing any 'squat' in the rear?

Replace shocks = less weight transfer = more traction on the fronts :)

Ryan
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he is replacing them :D

[GFXjamie]

Thanks for the help so far guys.

For plugs, currently i have sitting in my drawer a set of autolite 103's from focus sport that i was going to use with nitrous, now my plans have changed, atleast for this year and will not run it so will one step colder plugs change performance wise? im not sure my self.

As for wires, can you even replace the wires on a duratec? as it is coil on plug, give me a link or something so i can understand what your referring to.

For shift points, i can still do the same thing as last year, i can either ride out 3rd until im at about 7200RPM or i can shift 4th, both seem to yeild roughly the same times anyways (powerloss in high RPM or time loss from shifting)

And yes rear suspension is being swapped, just waiting...... u know who u are *cough* nick *cough*

Now one quick question, i doubt this has anything to do with anything, but when i left for the track, i removed my front pass. seat. Now will having it unplugged an all any way effect the car other then the air bag? remembering from that evening, the car didnt run the same with the seat out, maybe it was a coincidence, which im sure it is.

Im hoping to take a look at the exhaust tonite and get it fixed up. Hopefully ill hit the track again next weekend after i play with some of my issues and run slicks

[ZTWsquared]

GFXjamie,Apr 28 2009, 08:28 AM Wrote:As for wires, can you even replace the wires on a duratec? as it is coil on plug, give me a link or something so i can understand what your referring to.
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My bad - I was thinking of a Zetec - never mind.

[GFXjamie]

LOL figured as much.

I have however seen wires some1 posted about on focaljet, they have a huge ground strap on them but look to be fairly pointless.

[reldridge]

GFXjamie,Apr 28 2009, 12:31 PM Wrote:LOL figured as much.

I have however seen wires some1 posted about on focaljet, they have a huge ground strap on them but look to be fairly pointless.
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That sounds either like 'the big 3', or the throttle body ground wire mod. Both are debatable whether they work or not.

[GFXjamie]

well so far i have not had a chance to even look at the car... so hopefully tomorrow night i will have a chance to get underneath, fix the exhaust, replace the air filter with K&N, polish the throttle plate a little more and mess with TPS. Hope fully i can get the problems solved and maybe hit another track to see what it can do, this time on slicks tho.