Cool Hand Luke

I have some irritating detonation problems which i cant really put a finger on. All i have left to do is get the injectors cleaned and change the fuel pump from the vl turbo pump thats in it to a 500hp bosch. Other than that it can only be the ecu...

I just found out that my rb20 manual is running an auto ECU... What problems will that cause, no doubt its not helping my pinging problem, or the fact that sometimes it feels like it has double the power when i run it sometimes? Does anyone want to swap? .

I fixed the problem. I got rid of the spikes almost completley buy shortening the hose around 15-20cm. Its not possible to make it shorter now . I also fixed the wastegate problem buy opening the bleed valve more. As i turned it more it didnt increase the boost but made the wastegate shut faster when i close the throttle. I have it on around 16clicks open and it sits perfectly on 14psi, doesnt go over, and holds there to the crappy rb20 turbo runs out of puff .

Ive only wound it a few clicks but dont want to wind it much more. Fully closed it had 12psi... At the moment it spikes at around 13-4psi and drops off to 12-13 depends on the load. Will the spikes cause my exhaust wheel to fall off, or is it just long stints with 14+psi? Because if they are not too bad i'll just let it spike at 15 and run at 14.. Thanks!

Hi guys, I dont know if anyone else has experienced a similar problem, but when i shift gears after the wastegate has opened, it wont close for a while again. Im using a turbo smart bleed valve, and it has a bit smaller fittings on the valve, would this be causing it or have i forgotten something? Any help would be appreciated!

Anyone have any ideas?? Please

After fixing the pinging problem on my car (fuel filter ), i installed the bleed valve but its causing a few problems. The main problem is that when i shift gears, it only comes back with 5 or 6psi of boost. If i shut the throttle for a few secs and boot it again, it will work normally... Why is it doing this? The only thing that i could see that i could have mucked up is the bleed valve in the wrong direction but i have the air flow going from the turbo to the actuator in the same direction as the arrow on the valve. The other question is when setting the boost, i set it for max of 13psi but almost instantly drops back to 12 (wastegate opening?), and then as it reaches higher revs drops back again to around 11 or 10 which that part i know is an std rb20 turbo thing. Do i set it so it spikes at 15psi but drops back to 14? or set it so that it never goes above 14 and drops back to whatever? EDIT: - It seems like its the wastegate not shutting quick enough. If it doesnt open its fine, but when it reaches max boost it wont build up much boost for a fair bit after. I had to use a slightly smaller hose than what was standard because it wouldnt fit on the bleed valve, the fittings on the turbo for the hose are bigger than on the valve, would that be much of a problem? It is a single stage turbosmart valve

I just went for a drive in another 180 with an rb20, but with the 25 turbo. With the standard dump, crap cat and cheapish exhaust, ca18 fuel pump, and standard intercooler it was much faster and pulled noticably harder. Cant wait to get mine in, for the few hundred it costs to upgrade

How much will they be? Im looking to change ecu's in the next few months. I have a M4 sitting on a bike which doesnt get used, maybee i'll steal that How does that work? How is it a microtech only thing?

I had a PWR core with custom end tanks with the 180d bend. Its 550x270x68 and works really well. The intake pipe runs along the bottom of the core, into the drivers side end tank, does a 180 and exits the intercooler and straight up into the throttle body. If your interested i can give you the guys number, he is in queensland.

Just a quick question about raising the boost on my car... Will using a bleed valve make it run rich because its leaking air? Also because it leaks air will it effect the speed in which the turbo spools up? I know the proper way to adjust the boost is by changing the spring in the actuator but the bleed valve seems the most simple.. Im just not sure about it because its essentialy like having a small hole in your intake pipe or am i wrong there?

What sort of power gains would i get just by putting an RB25 turbo on my 20? I have a good frontmount and exhaust, but it irritates me how the std turbo runs out of puff at high revs... I was also told that it could run safley at 16psi with the smaller engine, is that true? EDIT: Or what other OE turbo would be good to use?

Read zoom, as they have done an RB conversion into a vs... I was going to put an RB25 into my VS berlina but it wasnt worth the time or money... too heavy and a VT is heavier. Out of the two i would choose turbo for the 3800, always more tractable and fun, but still easy on the engine if you drive slow... but like others have said it depends on your budget. I remember also in zoom they did a twin turbo conversion using oem turbos and doing it as cheap as possible on a falcon 6 and did it for under $5000. There is also a single turbo holden 6 up here in brisbane that hardcore performance built and made 320hp at the wheels with low boost but forged pistons so he can raise the boost later. There are a million things to consider.....

Have you tried any of that 104+ or any other octane booster?

I still have the standard cooler, but have a different filter, 3" exhaust from the turbo back with seperate dump pipe. It runs at 11-11.5psi then slowly drops off. I have a PWR front mount coming on friday. Has anyone had experience with octane boosters etc? It really makes me cringe when i hear it ping.... not knowing how much detonation the standard pistons will take. justified2.4 - i havent run it yet, and wont till i get the detonation sorted out. But they run flat 14's or so with standard cooler, boost and with a nice exhaust. Nothing a bigger turbo wouldnt fix though .

Is there a cheap oem fuel pump that i could use in the mean time? I dont think the standard SR pump thats in the fuel tank will cope with the RB? I cant really find the money for a bosch pump and its annoying to back throttle off when i get to 5000rpm.

I just fitted up a boost guage to my RB20 and was told that standard they run 8-9psi. Ive been having detonation problems once i get into higher gears but thought it was related to the standard intercooler (its in a 93 180sx so it gets almost no air flow). I was suprised that when the guage was hooked up it reads around 11.5psi or there abouts and slowly drops down at higher revs as i expected it to with the std turbo. Is this the standard levels? Im getting a PWR front mount on friday so im interested to see if the pinging is from that, or something like the fuel pump going because its currently fitted with a VL turbo pump which i would have thought it would be sufficient with the standard turbo... Is the VL pump that crap, or is it more likely the cooler, because if i take off it only starts to ping at higher revs in 3rd gear.

Is there any power advantage in changing/modifying the intake manifold on the rb20? I saw in zoom they modified an RB26 manifold to fit and lost hp even with a hks 2530, and have also seen the standard intake with the throttle body fitted to the front. Anyone had any experience with this?

How laggy will a hks 2530 be? And how are you defining lag? What i thought was lag was, where it would normally take boost, and you mash your foot... how long it takes to pick up boost, not at what rpm it starts to make boost? Could be wrong tho.. Im also looking for a new turbo for an RB20. Would the 2530 be a much better choice then say a R33 hi flowed? They would have around about the same price, what power outputs with aftermarket ecu, a good front mount + bigger injectors/fuel pump and and good 3inch exhaust and seperate dump pipe? I know thats a heap of questions but im just trying to work out a budget and whats worth spending money on . Im aiming for 220-240rwkw. With that power in a 1200kg car what times would i get aswell?

Can i use a 3 inch exhaust for 220-240rwkw? Or would i have to go for a 3.5?

Another few questions: Who is GCG? And how much did they charge to do that. These used the standard turbo to do it? Do you have a contact number for them? I was told also that i could use a VG30 exhaust housing with a RB25 compressor wheel and should flow 200-220rwkw... And another one. With intercoolers.. I have a few options and a bit of a budget to stick to. I can do a 600x270x57mm PWR core with custom end tanks fitted up for $1100 or a 500x270x57 PWR core for $900. My other option is using a truck core with 600x270x60 core for $900 fitted.. What would be the best option, i realise i wont be able to get 250rwkw, but aming for something more realistic like 220 will the smaller PWR cooler be fine to use? And is a 3 inch exhaust big enough for 220rwkw?

Where would be the best places to start looking for a 2530? Pref. in queensland but anywhere would do.. And what sort of prices would i be looking for a new and a 2nd hand?

Also with the correct tuning, would i be limited to 1.2bar as a street car, or should i be able to run 1.5 bar? Will the 2530 or the hi-flowed std be able to run those boost levels? And who would be able to hi-flow it in queensland? I also have a 3 inch exhaust with seperate dump pipe that enters the exhaust just under the firewall. At the moment it uses a 2.5 inch cat, resonator and straight through muffler, would upgrading the resonator cat and muffler so its 3 inch system all the way through be ok for 220-250rwkw or will i need to goto a 3.5?

Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated.... ive found it very hard to get anybody to take me seriously in shops when i try to ask questions. Sounds like the 2530 is the way to go, which is what they recommended in zoom. If i was to get my standard turbo hi-flowed, how would that compare to the 2530? I know that with it standard, it looses boost after 5500rpm, will it do the same with the hi-flow, or will it be able to rev to its 7500 rev limit? I also have a VL turbo fuel pump, how many rwkw are they good for? Thanks Luke

Thanks, where can i read more about them, or is there somebody in qld who i should talk to? I was going to go see Sub zero, fantasy performance, and TRP on saturday. Im new to turbos, but not a noob to performance cars so on this part i really know nothing.