Apparently, 1999 - 2002 Grand Prix GTPs have been having engine fire problems. I drive a 2001. But the engine is from a 2003, so I'm ok, right? Right ( Read more... )

My car had a vacuum leak from hell. This explains why the last few iterations of tuning have been hit-or-miss. I'd be spot on for a few days, and then one day the LTFTs would be way over at -13 and I'd throw a "catalyst efficiency" engine code. WTF ( Read more... )

I guess it's been nearly a week since I last updated. I've been reading daily, but I haven't had much time/energy to post. In fact, actually, my sleep schedule has been pretty whacked out the past few days. Ick ( Read more... )

I took some more data for Iteration 3 (meaning I did not apply the MAF tune implied by Iter 3 in my recent post). The resulting tune has a bit higher peaks than the Iter 3 graph I posted. I'm not surprised. I decided the additional data was well advised, considering that most of the data for Iter 2 as well as the first data set for Iter 3 were ( Read more... )

I mentioned before, I used this perl script to calibrate my MAF sensor. The script works on a simple principle: If, at a given frequency output, the MAF table over or underpredicted the air mass by a given percent, simply scale that entry in the table by the same percent. Seems simple enough, right?
( Script description )

The Grand Prix rolls yet again.
( Read more... )

Decided what to do about the engine. I'm getting a relatively low mileage (24K miles) engine to replace this one. $2750 + labor, including supercharger and 1 year parts and labor warranty. Not bad for an essentially new engine. My on-engine upgrades (water pump, intercooler, cam, pulley) all will move from the old engine to the new ( Read more... )

Ever wonder what it looks like when you take a chunk out of a piston? Wonder no more!

• Well, Cylinder #1 doesn't look too bad... just a minor scrape, right?
  
• Cylinder #3 didn't want to be left out. What a cute little chunk blasted away there.
  
• Good grief! Who's been chewing on Cylinder #5?!
  
• Let's get a closer look at that, shall we?
  

Well, something's knocking around in at least one of my cylinder chambers. One of the folks over at FullThrottleV6 seems to think I may've blown a piston ring land off. Joy. Another says I should consider getting a new short-block ( Read more... )

Saturday night my car started clanking and even stalled out midway through a short, low-impact drive. I let the car cool down Sunday, and for a variety of reasons didn't get a chance to look at it until this morning ( Read more... )