Northern's Sterlingsilber M52 Turbo 325is

[Northern]

Alright, back to business:

I'm busy with school, it's cold/wet outside, and I have no money.

There, now that the excuses are out of the way, here's what I am doing:

1. My sunroof is rotten, and apparently all the other ones around here are too, so I bought one from the Southern US which looks perfect besides being the wrong colour. I'll probably pony up for some new sunroof seals, paint it, and slap it in this spring so I can open my sunroof without going blind.

2. I'd love to do the track school in the spring (pending money/car working/tuned) but I don't think the Z3m rad is enough to keep the heat away. I meant to buy an S54 housing forever ago, but I finally did it now. I also purchased the oil line adapter.

Once that gets here, I need to figure out where the oil cooler is going to go and measure for size. Probably somewhere near the stock location, bolted to the bottom of the rad support (there's only 2-3" above the FMIC)

Not sure what to get for an oil cooler, so I'm open to suggestions. I know people running the cheap ebay ones without issues, and they seem decently large... but I'd rather have fittings on the end, not the top.

[Northern]

More Arduino boost controller rambling:


Ordered a handful of arduino UNO boards for like $4ea. Probably will try to upgrade to something a lot smaller later if this works out.

I'm torn between a 3bar GM MAP sensor or something like a MPX4250AP. Not really sure of pros/cons, price is similar.

Either 16x2 or 20x4 serial display to see settings or something.

up/down buttons for selecting/changing target boost or whatever settings.

N75 solenoid

n-channel MOSFET (that I guess will be free hanging?) inline resistor to a PWM capable output on the Arduino board.

Get 5v power from an old car USB charger.


That's all for the basic boost control stuff... Other:

• VSS input
• RPM input -> Together could plot rpm vs wheelspeed to do some sort of boost by gear
• Take Wideband output from the LC-1 to use somehow. Maybe open solenoid if it goes lean, just how to define lean when cruise/coast will be even leaner...
• Spit out wideband 0-5v signal to DME for logging
• Spit out MAP 0-5v signal to DME for logging

I've found a few codes to look at, nothing specifically what I want, but seems easy enough to reverse engineer it and get somewhere.
Arduino stuff seems weird vs C, I'm mostly trying to wrap my head around the setup

[Northern]

The 5v PWM signal from the arduino is a good thing actually, use it to drive an N-channel MOSFET.

Also
P I D
Can't help you with code or Arduino. I don't like coding and have never messed with an Arduino.

The N-Channel MOSFET sounds like a better idea than trying to trigger a relay. I think I see how I can go about using one to switch the ground

Ok, so I sort of get what PID is now after a quick google, and it sounds like exactly what I need. Not sure how to go about that, or open/closed loop for it, but there appears to be lots of info out there for PID with arduino.

Not sure how programming it works. I think it plugs into a laptop and there's a program that flashes it onto the chip.
I don't know what language it uses, but it seems like it uses it's own compiler and is a dumbed down version of C/C++ with its own predefined functions.

[varg]

The 5v PWM signal from the arduino is a good thing actually, use it to drive an N-channel MOSFET.

Also
P I D
Can't help you with code or Arduino. I don't like coding and have never messed with an Arduino.

[Northern]

I've been hearing about Arduino for a long time now, and assumed it was some crazy shit that wizards used, so I never paid any attention. Recently I was talking to my friend at one of the other universities in the city, and they were building a robot that used arduino with a colour sensor to sort blocks.

For whatever reason, I googled "arduino boost controller" and found a decent amount of info. I've wanted a Turbosmart Eboost 2 for a long time since it has all the bells and whistles, but I don't have $700 to spend on a boost controller.

Long story short, I ordered an Arduino starter kit for my kid brother for xmas. I really think he'd be into this sort of stuff, so we'll start off with goofy stuff, then maybe we'll make a boost controller of some sort.

I'm thinking:
Arduino unit
Map sensor
VW N75 solenoid (or MAC, not sure)
digital screen
alarm/buzzer

random connectors, probably off spare harnesses I already own.

Goals:

1: Control the wastegate
2: Show boost pressure on a small screen, mounting location TBD.
3: Output a 0-5v signal to log MAP through unused input on MS41/OBD2 (ba114 has a post about this)
4: Audible alarm for overboost, set somewhat conservatively in the hopes it will be useful.
5: (future version) Set boost level up/down with buttons.
6: (future version) Boost by gear. No sweet clue how to implement, thinking of somehow mapping out RPM vs VSS curve for first/second gear, then running a check to determine if first/second/other and setting a different target boost for each scenario.


Implementation:
loop:
read map
if(map < target , solenoid fully closed
if(map >= target , solenoid fully open
if(map > target , solenoid fully open + audible alarm.
set ECU MAP output to x voltage.

Going to need some tweaks on what range is acceptable for "target" and how to taper as it approaches the target. Obviously if I keep the WG shut until the instant I hit full boost, I'm going to overshoot the target by a good amount...

Maybe implement a second circuit for a solenoid on the BOV line that closes (or vents to atm?) in case of overboost? Not sure why I'm so worried about this. Maybe I should just make sure my WG is doing it's job, and secure the line.


Arduino apparently does PWM with +5v, not ground (like MS would, for example), and not 12v that the valve needs. I assume I can get around this by using a relay.

[Northern]

It started snowing sometime around the second week of December, and the car was off the road a week or two before that once the city started their salt/brine bullshit. Right before I parked it, I reset the ECU's adaptations (which I hadn't done since the first start with the turbo...) and found I had some issues related to TPS or ICV:

From cold start, idles at 2000 RPM unless I physically choke the ICV hose to make the idle drop down. Very often it would rev hang while shifting.

I thought it might be related to the M50 TB, since I've heard a few people say it doesn't align the TPS shaft the same as the M52 TB... Now I reset adaptations again and for the last two days I drove it, it was fine... so no idea.

I might pull the TB off and compare TPS reading when closed to the same TPS on an M52 TB, then drill out/reposition the TPS mount holes as needed, but probably not for now.


Ever since I bought the car 6ish years ago, I've been looking for replacement black leather bolsters/foam for the driver seat that I didn't have to pay international shipping on. Two weeks back, I finally found a pair that were intact enough to use. One seat had the base snapped in half, while the other is pretty nice. Between the two, there's one of everything I need.

Since the worst part of the interior is getting fixed, I also ordered a new leather shifter boot (old pleather one is dry rotted and falling apart.) I probably should've done a shifter/ebrake boot combo, but I fucked it up. At the same time, I ordered a small generic washer reservoir which I might use, otherwise I'd love to retrofit an E9x reservoir inside the fender.


iX Content:
Since I finished exams on the 16th, I've actually been working on my iX for the first time in ~3 years (if you don't count removing/cutting pieces off of it or moving it out of the way)

The quarters are rotten and are made up of dozens of patches. I removed the spare tire well already, as well as the centre of the rear valence. More recently I had cut out the RHS quarter panel wheel arch, trunk pocket, and the last 6" of frame rail.

I spent the last few days patching all of this. I have a set of first gen early model Kamotors flares for this car as well as his rally mudflaps, so I just welded the inner/outer quarter together. Instead of a trunk pocket, I welded a flat piece(well, pieces) of sheetmetal in, and replicated the frame rail in a fairly half-assed manner.

For rust, I need to:
Do this again on the LHS.
Fix a hole in the rocker on RHS.
Fix three holes in the floor.
Fix massive hole in front battery tray.
Fix whatever other holes I find during this process.

Then it needs:
- New front calipers (I believe same as RWD, which I have)
- Brake hard lines: Fronts at least, check others. Probably buy prefabbed and bend them myself, then paint them after they're installed.
- Flush brakes and make sure they work now.
- Rear bilstein HD's from the iS, with IE RSM's from wherever they went
- Front diff/tcase fluid
- oil flush
- rad install/fill.
- Will it be turbo/NA? - Turbo: need injectors, fmic, and new turbo/HX40 comp wheel. N/A: Need exhaust manifolds/downpipes I think...
- Figure out an intake setup
- Build 3" exhaust from leftovers. Thinking offset center exit.
- Install MS+sub harness+ wasted spark.
- Install flares/flaps
- Shifter maybe?
- Mount tires
- Registration
- Insurance
- Hit some Rallycross.

I should make a build thread for this thing if I actually get close to completing it.

[varg]

I'm with you on the need for a lower ratio differential, my 4.10 is just not right for my setup. Amended the previous post because it's just a general rule, there are factors other than density of the material but it is the best one to judge something on at a glance. Unfortunately it's not often that you can see a good selection of automotive sound dampening materials in person to compare their properties, you can really only find the stuff online.

[Northern]

When it comes to sound deadening material, the heavier the stuff is the better. The goal in a car isn't to absorb sound waves in free air and reduce reflection like the foam on the wall of an anechoic chamber, it's to reduce vibration of the sheet metal. That's why you don't need to coat an entire panel in a good sound deadening material to significantly reduce road noise, you only need some rectangles of it placed in larger flat areas of the panel; the mass of the stuff is dampening the vibration of the body panel and that's what makes it quieter.

I get that, but I was hopeful that this would be a little heavier, but not undo all the savings from removing all the tar plates. At this point, I'm going to live with the noise and concentrate on getting a taller diff so I'm not spinning 4000RPM on the highway.

Dropping that down should do more than any sound deadening anyway.

[varg]

When it comes to sound deadening material, the heavier the stuff is the better (a simplification, there are other factors, but it's a basic way to judge how good it is). The goal in a car isn't to absorb sound waves in free air and reduce reflection like the foam on the wall of an anechoic chamber, it's to reduce vibration of the sheet metal. That's why you don't need to coat an entire panel in a good sound deadening material to significantly reduce road noise, you only need some rectangles of it placed in larger flat areas of the panel; the mass of the stuff is dampening the vibration of the body panel and that's what makes it quieter.

[Northern]

Must have different prices there, down here it's not too bad.
For the product you get as well I reckon it's pretty worth it

Though on a friend's car we stuffed the trans tunnel with house insulation lol, worked a treat

It probably works great, but I think it's like ~$300 for enough to do the trunk. This stuff was $50 for 33 sqft, which sounded great in theory, but it really doesn't seem to do much.

[econti]

I'm not rich pls.

Must have different prices there, down here it's not too bad.
For the product you get as well I reckon it's pretty worth it

Though on a friend's car we stuffed the trans tunnel with house insulation lol, worked a treat

[Northern]

RE insulation, get some Dynamat. Works tits

I'm not rich pls.

[econti]

RE insulation, get some Dynamat. Works tits

[Northern]

Ugh, I went out last night and did a few light pulls to see where I'm at with timing/fuel right above cruise, but of course RRlogger would shit the bed and not save the log at all.

Tried again later and it saved the log, but no wideband data? What a pain.

Also it's raining again. I thought after friday thru sunday night it would be done...

[Northern]

Can you update on how well this works out for you?
I wanted to put some under the delete plates I'm making for where my rear interior used to be!

What's the blue stuff at the end of your vacuum lines?
Is this M52 on the side going to be your "built" motor? Maybe go cut ring?

I'll definitely make a post about it when it goes in.

I used some rigid vacuum line for the BOV and boost gauge, I think it came on an M52? The blue is silicone hose to connect it.

The pink M52 is getting it's guts robbed, I traded the crank for another M52 today:



The pink block has all kinds of issues on the outside, and the head has a lot of exhaust studs snapped off, so I think it'll be just for parts unless I'm desperate.

This new one was definitely sitting outside for a bit, there's some rust on the valves visible through the ports. Safe to assume there's rust in some of the cylinders as well.


I'd like to do a stock block/cutring/spacer setup, but I don't think I can spend that much on a headgasket setup right now.

I'd love to try an MLS for 1/3 the price, but I'm just really scared it'll turn into one of those "buy cheap, buy twice" scenarios where I just end up with a cutring anyway.

The sliding scale for MLS/Cutring/Built bottom end really kills me. I mean, $0 for stock CR, $250 for MLS, $500 for the CES cutring/spacer, or $1000 for pistons makes the choice difficult (not including machine work and ARP's)