E36 M3 S50 turbo build

[vollosso]

Maf is always considered as per my experience with obd 2.

To check, unplug your maf while idling and see what happens..

[Butters Stoch]

Being OBD1 and having a TRM tune, maybe buy a cheap multi meter and check MAF voltage. Then compare with another TRM obd1 tuned car. Even still, if it idles fine, then I don't think the MAF could be all that out of wack. It would be rich at idle as well. Try disconnecting the O2. See if its drivable. If its new, maybe warranty ? I have a bag of obd1 o2 sensors. I'll send you one if needed. I'd also check TPS with multimeter. Slowly open throttle watching voltage, it should slowly sweep from 0.XX V to 4.XX v. Nice and steady.
Unfortunately to sort the cars out, is going to take some diagnosis and finding the values and outputs of your sensors.

[rajicase]

I have OBD1 trm blow through 60# tune so if you need any comparison notes, LMK and Ill get em for you best I can.

[zJACKRABBIT]

I have a bag of obd1 o2 sensors. I'll send you one if needed.

Where were you a month ago! lol

Also, OP if you need test results to compare, I'm running an OBD1 TRM setup too. Have you talked to Mike? He could probably get you pointed in the right direction. He's helped my with my troubleshooting too.

[Trev51001]

Either trm farked your tune, its your maf, or some weird fueling issue like blocked return line.

That's pretty much what I'm thinking as its so rich that I feel like only those two could truly affect it this much, but TRM also told me it would be around 12 at cold start idle which it was relativity close to that until I touched the gas. I don't want to tell them to send me a new maf but it sure would make things easier figuring out if that's my issue.

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Someone correct me if I am wrong.. but if all this is happening when cold, doesn't that rule out the maf? I thought DME saw no input from maf when cold/open loop?

I'd suggest bov like mine. This is how I am running mine with a trm blow through tune and it has ran/ idled flawlessly from day one.

My maf has a red wire instead of a blue.. weird

Attachment 568026

I did let the car warm up to operating temperature and attempt to drive it but being that rich and wanting to die made it impossible, but that's exactly where I'm thinking of putting mine

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Maf is always considered as per my experience with obd 2.

To check, unplug your maf while idling and see what happens..

I'm about to start it and try this along with a few other tests.

[rajicase]

Doubt its the tune.... it rarely is. TRM has done a billion and a half 35r tunes.... They got it down.

[Trev51001]

Being OBD1 and having a TRM tune, maybe buy a cheap multi meter and check MAF voltage. Then compare with another TRM obd1 tuned car. Even still, if it idles fine, then I don't think the MAF could be all that out of wack. It would be rich at idle as well. Try disconnecting the O2. See if its drivable. If its new, maybe warranty ? I have a bag of obd1 o2 sensors. I'll send you one if needed. I'd also check TPS with multimeter. Slowly open throttle watching voltage, it should slowly sweep from 0.XX V to 4.XX v. Nice and steady.
Unfortunately to sort the cars out, is going to take some diagnosis and finding the values and outputs of your sensors.

My mistake if I made it unclear but it is rich at idle, and then goes much more rich when I touch the gas (the wideband goes as far rich as possible). I'm going to try a couple things real quick to try and rule out TPS and o2.

Also quick thing I just noticed was when I have the key on after about 15 seconds my idle air control vale begins to buzz, quite loudly. Certainly never heard this before the build.. So I'm curious whats going on there. I'm about to clean it but anyone ever heard one get this loud? (Video below)


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I have OBD1 trm blow through 60# tune so if you need any comparison notes, LMK and Ill get em for you best I can.

Thank you I'll definitely take you up on that soon if I can't seem to figure it out!

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UPDATE! Figured out the maf issue, or at least fixed it. First off cleaned the Idle control valve since it was buzzing so loud (even though some say its normal) because it still could have affected my issue. Also noticed a few of the pins inside the maf connector were a bit pushed up so I made sure they were "pulled down" I suppose you could say so that I have a strong connection. Also cleaned the tps connection up to make sure it was solid then rest the code and started her up. Viola, no code and runs fine. A/F ratio is much more consistent right at about 12-12.5 area on idle. I can actually rev it now without A/F going wack.

Now second thing I want to hear feedback on before I drive it.. After head rebuilds, is it typical to be quite loud "ticking" before driving it or really getting through the rpms and getting the lifters bleed and all? (Read another forum post where a guy said he had valve train noise before driving it and keeping higher rpms up for a few minutes) Vague statement but she runs fine, but the longer I had it running the louder it began to "tick" coming from the valve train and quite frankly its concerning(continued to get louder after the video). I have a video attached but obviously video quality is poor so it'll take a few listens with the volume up to hear what I'm talking about while ignoring the loud exhaust.
**I have 3 inch aluminum piping set in my hood exit exhaust to help ensure I wasn't getting outside air coming in and messing with the O2 sensor readings so it does make a bit of an echo through that tube**

[vollosso]

Did you fill your lifters? Or install them dry.?

[zJACKRABBIT]

The lifters should adjust rather quickly. I had a bad lifter in my old m50 that wouldn't hold oil. It was loud AF on cold starts if it had been sitting for a while but it went away seconds after getting oil pressure.

[vollosso]

The lifters should adjust rather quickly. I had a bad lifter in my old m50 that wouldn't hold oil. It was loud AF on cold starts if it had been sitting for a while but it went away seconds after getting oil pressure.

if the lifters were dry or low it could take a drive to build them up

[rajicase]

Driven it yet ???

[Trev51001]

Just spoke with the machine shop that did my head about it (which they said they installed the lifters "dry" but with some oil still in them), he was saying yes it would take some high rpms to get them bled but both him and myself were confused why it starts quiet and gets continuously louder the longer I run it, when usually it's the opposite(haven't drove it yet). So that being said, just to be safe I'm going to pull the turbo off and remove the valve cover and check that everything's tight and see if I can feel any obvious dead lifters. It's a PIA to take that turbo off with the bolts placement but I'd rather know that there's nothing obviously wrong in the head before test driving it and seeing if the sound goes away.

[Butters Stoch]

Pull the fuel pump fuse, crank engine till oil light goes off. Then start up, let it idle for 5-10 seconds. After that, if still noisy, hold at 2500 for a minute. Repeat @ 2500 till noise is gone.

[Trev51001]

Pull the fuel pump fuse, crank engine till oil light goes off. Then start up, let it idle for 5-10 seconds. After that, if still noisy, hold at 2500 for a minute. Repeat @ 2500 till noise is gone.

I'll give this a shot when I put the valve cover back on. Anyways have it apart and everything looks fine, no unusual wear or anything loose. Any chance ya know how to test the lifters with the cams in? Can't remember what you "want" to feel when compressing them by hand.

[Trev51001]

Hey guys, been real busy lately and haven't had a chance to update. But anyways I've taken it on a few drives since. Runs solid, the ticking seems to have gone away from the head which is a huge relief! I've only gone about 6 miles total as I've done two drives around the area of my home where I can vary load in 2nd and 3rd gear and let the engine slow itself down as I've read is the best way to break it in. I have hit boost up to about 6 pounds, first off wow soundgasm especially with a hood exit (for now obviously) you hear the turbo a ton. (Turned out not to have another 45 degree intercooler pipe so I've been waiting to get the new one in the mail to relocate bov before I drive more and hit higher boost and can do the real breaking in). I do have a few leaks I've been trying to trace. One I found today my oil feed line that goes to my turbo got kinked on install and sure enough under higher oil pressure its been leaking onto the top of my motor, so unfortunately I'll need to replace that. Then I have a slight drip coming down of coolant from somewhere on the front left side of the car, I'm guessing a hose isn't tightened enough somewhere which I'll have to trace when there's some sun this weekend. But other than that here's a picture I took out on the first drive which I like, sure has came a long way

[rajicase]

Nice! First time I hit boost was unreal

[Trev51001]

Nice! First time I hit boost was unreal

I started laughing just from how happy I was and how even 6 pounds put me back in my seat a good bit Can't wait to turn it up. Can I ask, on your build how long did it take for the rings to seat, aka get much smoke on higher rpm decel after load and if so how long did it last?

[rajicase]

Enjoy it while it lasts. I'm 3k miles in and at 463whp and it doesn't even feel fast any more. Still a ton of fun though

As for smoking.. I didn't really notice any. For break in, I just got it up to temp and did 10 hard accelerations from 2k to 6k in 2nd and engine braking in between. Then just a bit of city driving, keeping the rpms changing, engine braking, etc.

Change the oil out after no more than 15-20 miles. I did mine at 15 and I am glad that I did. It was awful!! By 3rd oil change it looked perfect for me.

[Trev51001]

Enjoy it while it lasts. I'm 3k miles in and at 463whp and it doesn't even feel fast any more. Still a ton of fun though

As for smoking.. I didn't really notice any. For break in, I just got it up to temp and did 10 hard accelerations from 2k to 6k in 2nd and engine braking in between. Then just a bit of city driving, keeping the rpms changing, engine braking, etc.

Change the oil out after no more than 15-20 miles. I did mine at 15 and I am glad that I did. It was awful!! By 3rd oil change it looked perfect for me.

How much boost are you running? Been debating how much I'm going to run in the end but I'm planning around 18-20 psi is what I've picked up some of these guys with built bottom ends are running. But anyways yeah I have smoke on decel not realizing my crankcase hose was going directly to my charge pipe.

[Trev51001]

Quick update, realized I needed to change the routing of the line going from valve cover to throttle body boot since it was pressurizing the system under boost and forcing oil everywhere and then sucking it in when I let off (the smoke). So fixed that and now it's perfect! Currently on 11psi for break in and still pulls hard. Will add videos later!

[Trev51001]

Hey everyone. Its been quite a long time since I've been on here being busy with work, school, and simply couldn't remember my password. None the less I figured it was time to give some updates. The M runs amazing. About 1500 miles on the build and have had zero issues. Still currently on low boost 11 psi as I haven't been in town long enough to schedule a dyno day to send trm my results and get a retune somewhere around 20 psi. But none the less I've still had plenty of fun. Here's some pics:
First one is in process of welding up the downpipe. Ended up with about 30 pie cuts on the exhaust which took quite some time but it turned out awesome!

Another pic with it on the car

Bare in mind this is the first time I've had the hood on since installing the turbo, I soon found that the compressor housing does touch the hood. Therefore it doesn't close quite all the way on the passenger side as you can see in this next picture. Still deciding what I want to do about that.. For now I've let it be ugly and you can see the gap

Another picture from that day, was in a rush to make it stancewars so didn't finish the exhaust tips as you can see the straight pipe hanging low after the diff

After that finally got the dual 3 inch tips on and turned out quite nice in my opinion


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Also realized I never posted the hood exit sound doing a pull. Here's a quick second and third gear pull when I was trying out my new Nitto NT05 tires. Little bit of spin but you can get the gist of the sound before the exhaust was made


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And a video with the exhaust on doing a slight second gear pull next to my buddy, bad video quality but at least you can hear it


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Few months later I finally caved and bought coil overs. The rear squatted way to hard under boost and would rub terribly. I also was looking for a bit stiffer suspension for the corners. Went with BC coils as I've been in multiple e36's running them and they felt pretty good for my needs and budget. Here's a pic of the old vs new the day I was throwing them in


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Buddy of mine got a roller after I got the coils on, didn't go much lower as I wanted to keep the functionality but overall looks pretty good!

Then Christmas came around and I decided to get her a Max Velocity RS lip, the GTR was a bit to aggressive for me so this one was perfect. (Yes my driver corner light is out, things like that have gotten so low on my priorities these days ) And that's how she sits now! I have lots more I plan to do but thats all in good time. Next thing I plan to do is dyno and retune

[jakelamp13]

Found this thread and read through it start to finish and I have to say...I am very impressed! Awesome build and very thorough! I'm curious if you have anymore updates on the build over a year later?