GravelRash

Fixed. if anyone else has this problem, a needle nose plier to hold the washer mechanism free from the car and brute force will push them together again.

Running 225/45/r17 PS4. Doesn’t seem to be too worried by the turbo.

Hi, Recently I've been observing that my AIM is being pulled during normal driving. Last night I was doing a regular drive and it's one that I know will cause my IAM to drop. Here's the ECUTEK / Datazap logs of the drive. I was in traffic, driving up a fairly steep hill. AIM was pulled from 1 down to 53 before slowly coming back upwards. The logs don't record this, but eventually the car will return the AIM to 1. My concern is this is happening quite a bit although not as low as 0.5 usually. I would like to understand what's occurring, any potential for engine damage, and ultimately how to fix this. https://datazap.me/u/xhf6z8vrcl08/aim-being-pulled-during-normal-driving?log=0&data=4-12 Car is obviously modified and only runs Shell vPower 99 E5. The last 4 fillups have been from different Shell garages around the country. Unless Shell has a nation wide fuel problem, I don't think it's the fuel. Any observations are welcome.

Yes.

The car is ecutek tuned and I've got the dongle and app on my phone, with a custom dashboard setup. The AIM is under 'Advanced Ignition' IIRC when setting up the widget.

To bring some closure to this thread. The car has spent some time with the tuners. I don't know exactly what they changed in the tune other than some fine-tuning but over the last few days I've been doing my usual driving and the IAM value isn't being pulled as often and when it is pulled it's not being pulled as much. The engine itself is in good working order and apparently there's no indication of knock actually occurring. The current thinking is that the sensors are hearing phantom knock, probably caused by the semi-solid engine mounts. Unrelated to the knock investigation I also had the car raised up 1cm due to it ground-striking on uneven ground. This ride height increase has made the car ride smoother which I think could also be helping with any phantom knock signals. Next steps will be to investigate putting some dampening material on the knock sensors and surrounding areas to further reduce any phantom knock signals.

I have my ecutek set to alert when my oil hits 115. I think that's conservative though and I suspect 120 would be fine. I'm just happy at that point to back off and let the oil cooler get fresh air over it. The other things I've done which seems to work; Is remove the rubber strip at the back of the bonnet In summer only, I put it back in winter as I didn't think I needed the extra cooling This seemed to stop my bonnet lifting at high speeds and you can also feel heat coming out of the bonnet I've also read (via Verus IIRC) that this actually doesn't do anything for cooling as it's a high pressure area Turn the air-con on. The aircon being on starts the 2nd fan in the engine bay. When I've done that in traffic I've seen the temperature drop fairly quickly.

I have the oil cooler fitted. I fitted before any mods. I would do this again if I was starting again. With the TD turbo fitted, for most daily driving the oil sits at 70, which is the thermostat level. On the track I've seen it get upto 100 before. Cruising on the motorway at 67mph, in cold weather I've seen my oil at a reported temperature of 68, but most of the time it's around 70-72. Sat in traffic it can jump up quite quickly to around 100. It's your call on if you worry about over cooling the oil. Doesn't bother me too much TBH. It's modern oil.

This is very similar to my use-case. Occasionally I will need to work away from home, often covering similar mileage (I just spent 9 weeks doing a 230 mile commute each way). I swap to the 86 for the same reasons. It's competent on the motorway (upgrade the stock speakers, add some sound deadening) and it does get fairly good mpg. Once I'm at the destination, then I've got a much more fun car for the short hops between hotels and sites and on the weekend or none-motorway roads then I can push on. I'd also agree with the people above. The car isn't going to shine bimbling around town. Whereabouts are you based? You may find someone locally who can let you have a more informed ride, or check out the events subforum on here. There's some videos posted that show the car out on track.

It's worth calling out that the 355mm discs will probably (99% sure) need 18" wheels.

I'm not aware that the rear subframe bushings need upgrading. Personally I think the rest of your list sounds like a great place to start. After that I'd upgrade the front door and dash speakers. There's a Focal kit (IS165 IIRC)that's pretty much plug and play and sounds so much better than the stock speakers, for not a lot of money. I'd also not waste any money on the sat nav; it's useless.

I had something similar after a long drive and heavy rain overnight. Car refused to budge on the 'usual' thottle. I gave it a boot, she shaked and then with an almighty bang, released. That was a few weeks ago and she's been fine since.

Interesting. I’ve got an accusump in the garage. I’ll be in touch.

That's not a good date as there's a trackday at Donnington which appears to have good attendance.

Message sent.

I'm not that familiar with the local area, but how about this place: Scenic, dog walking, cafe. Seems to hit the general criteria for an initial meet. Quick chat, say hello, probably fun roads on the way in and out.

You'll probably be fine. If it's a concern, just drive a little more cautiously. A long time ago I got stuck in Sheffield, heading to Middlesborough. Eventually drove home on a mixture of 14 / 15 and 16 inch wheels. No bother, and that was a Ford!

PS to HP isn't 1:1 (ok it's 0.9 :1) All the more reason to get this done

This is my dyno sheet from when I had it done. Would I do it again? Yes.

Good info, also just to add, I've seen it mentioned that it's the under bonnet heat that lowers the lifespan of the #1 coilpack, which is the common cause of the misfire people seem to experience. That's why I'm looking at the vents, I'd not bother if I was just daily driving, and also why once I get something else sorted I'm re-adding the rubber strip.

On my last track day, which I ran without the weatherstrip, I just lifted the bonnet when I come off the track. On the track, the car is moving quite quickly (it should be ) so the airflow through the front will probably suffice, unless you're running something seriously beefy under the bonnet. I'm looking at cooling for the car in traffic and more daily driving experiences where lifting the bonnet isn't really an option. I'm not sure the wife would tolerate me parking miles away from other cars and then standing around for 5 minutes with the bonnet up, engine running to cool the oil off.

Yes, the undertray is vented to allow heat to be excavated via the air travelling under the car. I believe Beatrush sell a panel that improves on this principle, although at a casual glance I didn't spot much difference between it and the OEM one. My preference is vents on the bonnet. I have the Verus ones, but I flip-flop between liking the visual change and hating it. Opinions also vary across the people I mention it to.

Mine has always done this. I've noticed that the noise ties in with the air-con pulley in the engine bay starting to spin. I've just therefore assumed that I'm hearing the pulley spin.

I've removed the rubber strip fairly recently as a quick (and free) solution to lower the under bonnet temperatures. I've not measured it, so this is entirely broscience, but I think it's having a marginal positive impact. My understanding (from Google, not any scientific knowledge) is that the air-pressure at the base of the windscreen is low and therefore the air gets 'trapped' in this zone by the air rushing over the top of the bonnet and over the windscreen. What I can say is that since removing that weather strip the bonnet no longer raises itself up at high speeds. It stays flat. Back to broscience; the miniscule gap must be making a difference as the air buildup in the engine bay clearly isn't as much because the bonnet isn't being forced up. I'm looking at other solutions and once I've decided on the way forward, the rubber strip will be re-attached. I've not removed the under-bonnet insulation.

It's the government. Just be pleased you can buy the tax online these days, rather than traipsing down to the PO to remember that you've forgotten one of the various documents you needed. I can only image the pain getting that simple system sorted, given some of the behaviour and personalities I've seen whilst doing some work.