things to do before dyno day
 

Breather mods are finally done on the Z and it's time for a tune. I've heard that doing a spark plug swap and oil change are necessary before a dyno day. Any thoughts or recommendations on what I need done before going and getting a tune?

How many miles since the last oil change? Never heard doing the spark plugs is a must..

Change the oil if close to 3k and spark plugs if you plan to be 100 more HP then stock or over 60,000 miles. Since you have a 13 I doubt you're over 60k.

1500 miles since last oil change total miles on the car 8500. I was doing one regardless since it would be due when I go in for my appointment. I just heard about guys burning plugs during a tune, and paying for plugs on top of the tune. I would do that before I go in.

Until you go FI spark plugs arnt needed IMO. You should change the oil just to be safe

You're good to go. I wouldn't change oil or plugs. Now if you was close to 3,000 miles on the oil, yes I would change it. Plugs, no. I've got 20+ dyno runs on mine so far. Plus 6 trackdays. All on the the same plugs. ;)

I'm still on the original factory spark plugs at ~40K miles and lots of dyno pulls and track weekends. I picked up a replacement set because it's kind-of about time to just do it before they ever become a problem, but honestly they could probably go quite a bit longer.

I never looked at what we have but I know the ngk iridium IX plugs on my WRX were good till 60k. Being turbo'd they should be abused more but if we get a cheaper plug then 40k seems pretty smart to change them out.

I've been using Mobil one for oil, should I change it up or keep it?

Leave it, just run

(To myself, please lord don't turn this into a oil thread!)

I ran M1 and Redline. Based off of oil reports I've had done I like the formula of the RL better. It has a higher yield of an element that protects better down to a microscopic level. Also, even coming out of the bottle M1 is like water, when hot its worse. I like my RL to remain thicker and protect when racing or for the aggressive street driver since it won't shear off like "water."

Oil change only if close to whatever OCI you follow; otherwise, should be fine.

Mobil 1 is fine.

Plugs should be fine to 100K, give or take; colder plugs might be needed if you were going FI (i.e., turbo or SC), but not NA with bolt on's.

BUT -- do you have a baseline? If not, it will be much harder to determine how much you gained over stock from the breather mods (although you can compare before and after tune, of course).

What kind of dyno?

Mustang
Thanks Synolimit!

Fresh set of plugs

Are you doing Uprev or ecutek ?


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8,500 miles on the car. Ain't worth it.

Must have misread, thought you had more miles.

Uprev or EcuTek ?


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Uprev

I'd have to dig and research more but we know these things "burn oil." Watery oil isn't good. You don't need a lab to see the pour rate out of the bottle. Based on a thinner oil flow rate and a motor notorious to lose some during OCI, I can't agree and say its fine. It might protect ok but you might end up spending more to refill and a number of other things that might happen which are just annoying.

I personally prefer Redline, based on the UOA's I was getting on my previous Z, where I was the original owner and responsible for break-in vs. "German" Castrol, but I don't recall any clear evidence of Mobil 1 being especially bad based on other folks' UOA's.

Are you going on something from the Oil Nerd's thread, BITOG or your own UOA's?

A couple of suggestions:

1. Mustangs can "break hearts" or "lift spirits" -- it all depends how they are calibrated. Don't get too wrapped up the absolute values -- look to see what you put down BEFORE tuning and then AFTER tuning.

I also advise you allow for three runs before AND after (i.e., 6 runs minimum in total) to give the ECU time to adjust to changes made to the target AFR map. Try to take all runs with oil temps between 180* F and 200* F. If it gets over 220* F (and it might), let it cool down before the next pull.

2. While you are there, ask for adjustment to the throttle maps to improve throttle response, turning the radiator fans on full bast a bit earlier (there's a few threads on each of these items) and if you have a 7AT, ask the tuner to firm up the shifts by adjusting the torque map.

Good luck! :tup:

6mt. and I have about 2 hours of dyno time. Clock stops on cool down periods.

Did you change the flux capacitor?

i never once even removed my factory installed spark plugs until several several thousands of boosted miles, guessing maybe 20K boosted, and they looked like I should just put them back in.

I cant imagine a NA VHR needing plugs before 50,000 miles, if not way more.

Wow I am surprised you had that many boosted miles on the stock plugs.. Maybe everyone is a little over paranoid about it?

Yes everyone is way too paranoid about the wrong things. These cars simply need hardly anything to support all the power the stock engine is good for.

Why do you say German Castrol? You talking about M1 0-40 euro oil?

I'm going off my UOA. They weren't bad. Just not as pretty as RL. And with the thinness, in the WRX's, those motors just burned right though it. I used RL there too and never lost a drop. This is the first motor I'm actually losing oil between changes. Same break in etc so I don't know whats up. If I ran M1 I'd probably lose it all by 3000 miles.

I lose about a quart a change... Thanks you guys! Also new oil thread!!! Now to buy some redline... also OEM filter good enough?

I had a lil over 33k on my Z when I did UpRev. Drove my car for about 1,000 miles with FI exhaust, ART pipes, pulley, and G3's. I had Intec Racing check my plugs and they were ****. I had them changed out.

I didn't do my oil though since I had only put about 1,700 miles on the car since purchase. So the oil was still decent.

I'm interested in what you put down. I may swap out my ART pipes for FI LTHs.

I would say three Hail Mary's before the dyno pull
 

can't hurt ?

Yes the 0 wt. oil.

Eh... you might want to check the TSB on oil consumption. I don't know what role the particular oil you used played a role (if any), but this is a known problem that crops up from time to time...

A loot of folks here like the K&N filter -- I use that one myself, FWIW

part number for the K&N oil filter is HP-1008

Wow. Sad.

The OEM filter uses cardboard inner stuff. Ok for 3k I'd guess. Never had issues with my WRX running 115 more HP than stock. Now I use Puro 1 yellow filter. It has steel inner stuff.

They were ****? Or they tell you they were ****? Big difference. I highly doubt they were ****. They are the most expensive plugs on the market with the best metals. And from data logging my car with cai, LTH, CBE, they look amazing!! Little rich WOT in the upper rpms, but nothing to hurt a plug. My WRX ran a full 1.0 richer at WOT and were fine. Unless they changed the tune in 13, I'm sure your logs were ok too.

Well thinner oil will leak past the valve seals and piston rings and get burned up in combustion. This is why RL says their oil is like a full 10w higher than others with the same numbers. If its a bad oil or left in to long, then you scare the walls and such leading to more leaking. Guys with over a 1qt per 1-3k have done something wrong. Subi was an issue because all turbos leak a little and the M1 just shoots by. I'd have to compare 5w30 and euro to see a difference. I ran 5w40 RL in the subi to lose zero over 3-4k. That's like a 5w50 M1.

Make sure the tuner has a Knock Sensor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ummm what? What car doesn't have a knock sensor and in the ecu definitions, fine learning knock correction and knock correction advance??

Don't confuse yourself with Subaru stuff!

But yes the Nissan has a knock sensor and the right tuning tools will tell you what's going on


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Trust me or not but any good tuner should have a knock sensor while dynoing a car.

Not trying to argue with you but any tuner that has experience can certainly do without aftermarket knock sensors.

That being said , I have a set of really nice ones but I very rarely use then. Used it on my 650whp STi and a few crazy GTRs when I first started working on them.

John




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Well, obviously I never built a car. Ever. This is my first build. Expensive start but hopefully it will eliminate stupid decisions; which is why I am here to ask the questions and learn from mistakes and not pull the same stuff others have. Thank you guys for all of your advice.

As for losing about a quart a change well, Mobil apparently is crap oil, if I would have known better earlier in my money pits life span things would have been different. Regardless, learn me the ways of not sucking at cars.