HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke? - Performance Forum

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HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 4:27 PM
Hey fellas, looking for a little bit of help here.

I just finished my HO swap and I'm getting a little bit scared of what's been going on

little bit of history on the work done this past winter

HO swap
Cleaned throttle body 00' (original)
high out put alt
wiring replaced
ractive intake cone
same sensors as 00 (original)
air/oil filter added (on top of HO)
brake booster vac line air leak tight
2.4L intake spacer for HO swap
Rust proof paint

I did notice my emissions light went on prior to be putting it away in the fall.. so I don't know if this is related

the smoke is coming from an area I wasnt working on... and it doesnt smell like exhaust. (there's no odour)

When doing some searching I did read that the computer needs to adjust the air/fuel ratio...

After running it a couple of times, I have seen the smoke start to die down...

my carbon monoxide detectors were going off in my basement (thats before I opened my garage side door to get a breeze in the garage)



I guess the question I have really is.....

What you see here... is this normal after a swap?

Video of problem:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v498/g3na1r1x/HO%20Manifold/?action=view¤t=MOV00024.flv

Couple of pictures: before the intake was mounted.






Thanks in advance.




Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 4:44 PM
here is an Idle Video

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v498/g3na1r1x/HO%20Manifold/?action=view¤t=MOV00025.flv

Also too...

all the vacuum lines and sensors were checked, double checked, and tripple checked

I pulled a vac line from the manifold and a little bit of smoke came out of it... so at least I know it's inside the engine (obviously) and the manifold is sealed tight.

And another thing....

I did wire brush a lot of crap that was around the manifold... so maybe rust and dirt is what's burning?

before:


cleaned












Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 4:48 PM
one other thing...

does this spacer look right to you? seem a bit low.. I just noticed that now.







Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 5:36 PM
first off lose that little filter that is a 110 dollar fine if a cop asks you to open your hood

that spacer looks to be the same one I had on my cav, I am no mechanic what so ever lol but my guess is the head gasket just because of the smoke lol





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 6:01 PM
SINfire wrote:first off lose that little filter that is a 110 dollar fine if a cop asks you to open your hood

that spacer looks to be the same one I had on my cav, I am no mechanic what so ever lol but my guess is the head gasket just because of the smoke lol


lol I know about the filter... Justin already gave me the speech on that one. it's not difficult to re-route.

I was thinking head gasket too... but I dont understand why I don't see smoke consistantly... only after its been running for a bit. Plus the smoke is starting to go away the more times I run it.





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 6:03 PM
I guess I should add... I'm running very rich... very heavy smell.

where are the HO gods? lol




Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 6:11 PM
With that spacer you are disrupting flow. It is too low on the underside. You should have gone with a fel-pro head gasket.



GMR has got nothing on this
Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 7:48 PM
DOHC_tuner wrote:With that spacer you are disrupting flow. It is too low on the underside. You should have gone with a fel-pro head gasket.


Is this not the spacer adaptor people use while doing this swap?
From the Quad forums, it's been said there's a step there no matter what due to the size of the ports on a HO mani?





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, March 22, 2009 9:29 PM
why will they charge you 110 bucks for having a little filter for pcv?





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 4:17 AM
^^ that little filter bypasses the emissions. in ontario, its a nice little fine if they catch you with anything like that.


1997 Cavalier Z24
Bomz Short Ram Intake
Vibrant Cat-Back
KYB GR2 Struts
Goldline 1.75" Springs
RK Sport Upper Insert
RK Sport Lower Dogbone
Custom Tune by Shane @
innovativetuning@rogers.com

15.647 @ 88.02 MPH
Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 9:18 AM
zdoubledozen [ Matt wrote:]
DOHC_tuner wrote:With that spacer you are disrupting flow. It is too low on the underside. You should have gone with a fel-pro head gasket.


Is this not the spacer adaptor people use while doing this swap?
From the Quad forums, it's been said there's a step there no matter what due to the size of the ports on a HO mani?


Im sorry I cant help with your other problems but as for the spacer, the one I had didnt have that step, it ramped up to be smooth flowing with the port. I didnt get it from quad 4 forums though.




Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 1:00 PM
That spacer is no good. There should be a smooth transition, not a stepped transition like you are seeing.

The smoke you are describing could be @!#$ no the block that you loosened up, or something you spilled during the install.


-Trailblazer SS - not so custom 6.0L - custom intake - custom tune
- (1) 2.4L on an engine stand (1) blown trans (2) good quad trans (1) eco trans = party

Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 3:27 PM
i just went through all of this. first off. that adapter flange looks wrong. the flange should line up perfectly on the head, and then effectively "portmatch" to the manifold. thus the point of an adapter flange. second off. that flange is totally messing with your pcv system. there is a hole under the intake manifold under the middle bolt, that with the origional manifold drawls in vacum





i ended up drilling a hole in the adapter flange, and then routing my own vacum routing just like the stock manifold shown below.





at this point i ended up making my own gasket and then bolted everything back up. have not had a problem since.





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 3:29 PM
^^^^ exactly what i pm'd you about, matt.

good call ztwatyfo.



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Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 3:30 PM
almost forgot to mention. the breather hose that you have just a filter on, is preventing the oil seperator on the block below the manifold from functioning properly. i highly suggest returning that to a point of vacum. this will down the road cause oil leaks due to pressure building up inside of the block thanks to the oil separator.



Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 6:41 PM
Im glad you brought up the issue on returning the hose back to a vacuum. Now I removed my "little filter" and T'd off the hose to a vacuum. Then thats when my engine started to fucx up. Where exactly did you connect it too?


GMR has got nothing on this
Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, March 23, 2009 7:49 PM
i have mine ran into the air filter, but you want it to be a pre-tb vacum source.





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 1:43 PM
Hey guys... this is awesome feedback. I'm going to try it this weekend when I'm back home.

ztwatyfo and z yaaaa

What do you guys think of putting together a HO swap guideline for the JBO... the one on the quad forum has a lot of broken links and missing information (this flange modification for example)

z yaaaa thanks for the PM... very useful information.





Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 2:12 PM
If you need any help let me know.


GMR has got nothing on this
Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 4:09 PM
thanks, matt. glad i could be of some assistance.

did you get a chance to check the dipstick tube?



Needing 2.3 oil pump stuff? PM me...
Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 4:50 PM
z yaaaa wrote:thanks, matt. glad i could be of some assistance.

did you get a chance to check the dipstick tube?


No, I havent yet... unfortunately I only see my car on weekends for right now. I'll let you guys know how it goes, and I think you're right about the smoke because it is from that area. Good call on the oil cap check.

DOHC_tuner... forgot to give you props too on the help. thanks.

I still think this site is due for an official HO swap guideline sticky.








Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, April 05, 2009 5:43 PM
Bah!

Im really starting to get demotivated with my car.

1) I removed the small filter that was attached to the air/oiler bong and routed a vacuum line into the intake tube before the TB.
2) cut PCV vacuum channels in the flange (pics below)
3) I've ordered another fel-pro 1/32 gasket blank to make one myself. since I've drilled a hole in the flange for the PCV vacuum draw on the head, I've red gasket goo a temporary gasket. I'm not too happy with the results of the gasket, but wanted to see if there was any improvement. (there was)
4) checked around the dipstick area for leaks.... found there's a leak in the header gasket right at the closest to the drivers side exhaust port. Pacesetter header is going in soon anyway, so I'll be replacing the gasket. ( this could have been leaking before I put the car away for the winter since I removed the heat shield this winter)

Some things I've noticed since I've been testing and tuning.
1) My rad fan instantly turns on as soon as I start the car... even if my AC isnt on.
2) I drove down my street in 1st gear... after I let off the gas, the rpm continues to rise to 2900rpm then dies off back to 1000rpm.
3) Im not use to seeing black smoke come out my exhaust... its not heavy, but noticeable, Im assuming I'm burning oil now.
4) Im not seeing the heavy struggling idle that I was seeing before I cut PCV vacuum channels
5) it sounds like my car is cammed at idle, and I do see a faint rpm fluctuation of about 100 rpm.
6) I need to get an emissions test before I can put this thing on the road... and I know for sure I wont pass since my carbon monoxide detectors in my house go off everytime I start the car in the garage
7) I don't smell the richness in the air anymore... but it does smell like a stockcar race track.






Im almost to the point of changing back to the stock manifold just so I'm not up tight about driving long distances this summer (ie JBO bash). Any motivation push would be awesome from you guys.

Thanks,




Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Sunday, April 05, 2009 7:01 PM
On a N/A motor the PCV filter is not that big of a issue.

Truly on a N/A car the stock manifold is going to be better for performance.



FU Tuning



Re: HO Swap - sloppy idle, little bit of smoke?
Monday, April 06, 2009 5:31 AM
i would recommend just swapping back to stock for the time being and seeing if the issues cease. if they do.. well then its time to return to the drawing board.





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