Issues with Varying Performance - 3sgte gen 4 caldina

[trd_st184]

I'm trying to diagnose an issue at the moment. The car feels like an absolute gun when the cars at about 1/3 temp on the heat gauge (I can even hear the turbo spool up more), yet the second it gets close to the middle of the temp gauge the car feels lathergic.

When this happens, the best way I can describe it is, if I put my foot on the accelerator the car feels like if you were to accelerate at 700-800rpm (where you feel the engine vibrate a bit more through the car and you feel the car quite lathergic).

I am still using a Pod Filter which is open to the elements, and an aftermarket BOV but this doesn't always seem a contributing factor since even after 30-35mins of driving, occasionally the car feels really great in acceleration especially if i'm continuously moving.

I did a boost leak test a little while ago and found that my clamps weren't tight enough. I have a feeling I might have the same issue again, or something else is leaking when it shouldn't.

[tomvale13]

Could be something loose again.. are you using a top mount ic?

Heat soak?

(sorry, just guessing.. know starlets with top mounts suffered a little bit from this when copping a sweet pumping)

[trd_st184]

Could be something loose again.. are you using a top mount ic?

Heat soak?

(sorry, just guessing.. know starlets with top mounts suffered a little bit from this when copping a sweet pumping)

Thanks for your suggestions. I have a feeling maybe something could have come loose. I wonder how Silicone reacts to heat (may become more likely to leak as it gets hot, then again hose clamps would expand under heat and contract when cold) I just took the car for a drive just then and it felt perfect again. I probably went for a good 10 minutes driving (about 3 minutes sitting at the drive through at maccers lol).

I've still got the Top Mount intercooler, i'm pretty keen on putting my fmic kit on but i'm not sure if it will be worth the effort (quite a bit to cut out of the bumper).

Good question about heat soak, i'm wondering if it might just be heat soak. I wonder how badly the top mount would be contributing to this. It could be the problem i've been having the whole time.

[maj]

You need some more solid logging, not just using your butt dyno.
Usually heat soak becomes more noticeable when you are running a bigger turbo or more highly tuned etc. On a stock engine you might notice heat soak but most of the time it's nothing too dramatic. You should try to get some sort of data logging happening though to confirm no boost leaks etc.

Top mounts mean less volume to pump and therefore less lag, so on a stock turbo I'd recommend sticking with one, perhaps just look at getting a larger TMIC? Most of the time you can stick with identical width/height dimensions, but a core that's even 1" thicker can make all the difference.

On modern soobies upgraded TMIC's are common. You can also add water spray kits to spray down the intercooler when you are getting heat soak. Increasing air getting to the TMIC can help as well. If you can't increase the amount of air, a small air guide to help distribute air more evenly over the core also helps, again soobies use this method when they don't want a bigger air scoop.

[trd_st184]

Thanks for the info My main issue at the moment with Data Logging is finding the Toyota ODB system, I believe its not OBD1 or OBD2 but a propritory system. The only data logging I could find was insanely expensive.