T3/T4, dual exhaust and PiMPx project

As far as I know, there were only 2 sizes, models prior to 87-88 got the small and 87-88 got the large.

As far as I know, there were only 2 sizes, models prior to 87-88 got the small and 87-88 got the large.

Your VAM won't help me then. Thanks for all the pics of your build!

Apologies to anyone that's been waiting for more updates, I just don't spend much time inside/online in warm weather so updates to my progress got put off. When I last left off I was tuning boost, increasing pressure and tuning again. I ran into an issue that turned out to be a lean misfire because my fuel pump was getting weak and couldn't keep up with demand. I uploaded my tune and log to Stingers site and they told me what my problem was, if not for them I'd still be trying to figure it out. FWIW, a lean misfire is a very loud bang under acceleration when the exhaust valve opens letting the unburned air/fuel go to the hot turbo to ignite. It's kind of scary. Anyway, it took a while for me to replaced the pump & filter because of weather changes and other commitments but I finally got got back in business. Now my VE table is calling for way too much fuel at the boost levels I had already tuned so I'm basically starting over, then cold weather came along and here I am. All my fun toys are tucked away until next year.

I'm really liking the change in this car. When driving normal it pulls away from a stop more effortlessly than before, this is not under boost, just letting the engine do it. I wonder if that is because the VAM is sitting on a shelf in the garage and the engine can breathe now. I have no idea of how much more power it has but I can feel it. I would assume the fuel economy has increased but I haven't been able to check it because I'm still tuning under boost. The turbo is a lot louder than the ihi was, especially when the waste-gate opens. I don't find the exhaust to be any louder but that could be because I'm in the car shielded from the sound.

Wow, has it really been 11 months since I updated this project??? I think I said before that if the weather is nice, I'm out enjoying life. Now the weathers turning and I'm back inside trying to recall this years events for anyone who's still following this. 

I had one of the junk knock off boost controllers and it literally came apart. The story of how I found it is a bit long but I will say the PiMPx "overboost protection" saved me. I contacted Stinger and they explained in great detail how their original source for the Pierburgs dried up during covid and when they finally offered them again they were 3x the price. So they tried out some aftermarket versions that held up OK when tested in the lab but in real life the temp & vibration killed them. That was the one I had that looked like the Pierburg but didn't say it on the side. Finally they tried the Euro version used by Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, etc. These hold up good and have the same electrical connector as the Ford units so they sent me one. Again, great guys to work with, mine was out of warranty but they still sent it to me at no charge.

I had an occasional high idle issue and contacted them about it and after viewing my tune and data log they told me what to change in my tune to fix it. I saw a couple other guys with my high idle issue, apparently none of us read through the board looking for answers to our particular issue and keep opening new threads for the same thing.

Again, Stinger, great guys to work with but my feeling is more current (meaning recent) documentation of the TunerStudio software would cut down on people asking them the same questions. One of the documents they send on the usb drive is dated 2015 and a link in another of their documents takes you to a tuning guide from 2016. Some of the instructions and screenshots must be for older versions of the TunerStudio software because what they say/show has changed so you can't find it (perhaps removed from the newer version) or it possibly has a different name or path to find it.

Ironically one of my injectors started leaking right after I bought a used set of 66# injectors off of someone here. They're probably larger than my setup needs, but I bought them on a whim, thinking I may need them at a later date. Well that later date came sooner than I anticipated. Anyway I had bought several brown tops off someone else here years ago because it seemed like I'd have one or two start leaking every year so having extras on hand was a good idea. I could just grab another one put it in and go on. Well I've grown tired of them leaking on me, forcing me to drop everything to replace one so the 66# injectors are in. There are a few changes to make in TunerStudio for the car to run right but easy to do and nice to have the flexibility to do so.

There's so much to do and learn with TunerStudio that I've never really stop tuning. I'll get it running great, then stumble onto something else that I had missed before which starts me tuning all over again. I have not ran a full tank of gas through it without connecting the laptop at some point to log or change something. I'm curious to know how it affected fuel economy, speaking of that, I can't find a provision in the PiMPx for running the trip-minder I added years ago, so it's really just a clock again.

Once again, thanks to all who helped me along the way with this project, offering suggestions or experiences. It makes me sad to see how activity on NATO has dropped off from what it was years ago but I'm happy there are still some dedicated turbo ford die-hards here willing to share their knowledge.

Wow, has it really been 11 months since I updated this project??? I think I said before that if the weather is nice, I'm out enjoying life. Now the weathers turning and I'm back inside trying to recall this years events for anyone who's still following this. 

I had one of the junk knock off boost controllers and it literally came apart. The story of how I found it is a bit long but I will say the PiMPx "overboost protection" saved me. I contacted Stinger and they explained in great detail how their original source for the Pierburgs dried up during covid and when they finally offered them again they were 3x the price. So they tried out some aftermarket versions that held up OK when tested in the lab but in real life the temp & vibration killed them. That was the one I had that looked like the Pierburg but didn't say it on the side. Finally they tried the Euro version used by Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, etc. These hold up good and have the same electrical connector as the Ford units so they sent me one. Again, great guys to work with, mine was out of warranty but they still sent it to me at no charge.

I had an occasional high idle issue and contacted them about it and after viewing my tune and data log they told me what to change in my tune to fix it. I saw a couple other guys with my high idle issue, apparently none of us read through the board looking for answers to our particular issue and keep opening new threads for the same thing.

Again, Stinger, great guys to work with but my feeling is more current (meaning recent) documentation of the TunerStudio software would cut down on people asking them the same questions. One of the documents they send on the usb drive is dated 2015 and a link in another of their documents takes you to a tuning guide from 2016. Some of the instructions and screenshots must be for older versions of the TunerStudio software because what they say/show has changed so you can't find it (perhaps removed from the newer version) or it possibly has a different name or path to find it.

Ironically one of my injectors started leaking right after I bought a used set of 66# injectors off of someone here. They're probably larger than my setup needs, but I bought them on a whim, thinking I may need them at a later date. Well that later date came sooner than I anticipated. Anyway I had bought several brown tops off someone else here years ago because it seemed like I'd have one or two start leaking every year so having extras on hand was a good idea. I could just grab another one put it in and go on. Well I've grown tired of them leaking on me, forcing me to drop everything to replace one so the 66# injectors are in. There are a few changes to make in TunerStudio for the car to run right but easy to do and nice to have the flexibility to do so.

There's so much to do and learn with TunerStudio that I've never really stop tuning. I'll get it running great, then stumble onto something else that I had missed before which starts me tuning all over again. I have not ran a full tank of gas through it without connecting the laptop at some point to log or change something. I'm curious to know how it affected fuel economy, speaking of that, I can't find a provision in the PiMPx for running the trip-minder I added years ago, so it's really just a clock again.

Once again, thanks to all who helped me along the way with this project, offering suggestions or experiences. It makes me sad to see how activity on NATO has dropped off from what it was years ago but I'm happy there are still some dedicated turbo ford die-hards here willing to share their knowledge.

Good to hear you're up and running. As for your boost controller issue ("That was the one I had that looked like the Pierburg but didn't say it on the side."), I had the same issue. Nothing against Stinger but I had two that failed (circa 2021). They were adamant that the boost controllers were not the problem. I provided test results (video of real-time failure under load, with oscilloscope running), and pointed out to them that the Pierburg was a Chinese knock-off. They quickly moved my thread to a private area of the forum and sent me a MAC boost controller for free. Stinger did advertise their boost controllers as a Pierburg. I don't know if they got fooled or if they tried to fool others. But again, they made it right. However, I spend an entire summer pulling my hair out trying to diagnose boost control issues.

How are you running your boost control? Open loop or closed loop?

Brad,

I'm running open loop at the moment with all cells in the duty table at 0 and I get 18 psi out of it because I bought the wastegate with the 14# spring. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or not, I'd like the ability to limit boost to 10 ish #'s for when the grand-kids are old enough to teach to drive a manual.