Dyno Tuning Melbourne – Sparkplug Tips

Sparkplugs are a big part of a tuneup in a car.  Back in the early seventies, you used to replace sparkplugs every 10,000 kilometres.  Late model engines now, you’ve gone to 20,000 to 25,000 kilometres.

Sparkplug materials have improved.  Engine efficiency has improved.  Now, sparkplugs can last a lot longer.

One thing to watch out for when removing the sparkplugs, and having a look at them.  Watch out for a warn or rounded electrode.  It shows that the sparkplug has done a lot of miles.  The color of the sparkplug might be quite good, and the porcelain may look to be in good condition.

But, if the end of the electrode is rounded, it effectively opens up the gap between the electrode and the earth strap.  The greater gap requires more spark energy to jump the gap.  This can eventually result in engine misfires because the spark cannot jump the larger gap.

What a lot of people tend to do with sparkplugs as well, is, if they are modifying their vehicle, they want to go colder sparkplugs because they’re putting a turbo charger in it, or they just feel that going to colder sparkplugs is a better option.

In some cases this is true.  You don’t want to go too cold, because then, you will have an inefficient burn for the fuel.  When you have an inefficient burn on the fuel, you will have incorrect running at idle, incorrect idle properties, and other similar issues.

Another thing to look for with sparkplugs, (we’ve done heat range), is what type of sparkplug.  Do you want to use copper core, resisted, platinum or iridium.  What type of sparkplug is required for my engine?

The general rule of thumb, is to find out what the manufacturer of the engine has specified.  Failing that, most auto outlets will advise you on what you can use, and what you can’t use.

One big thing to keep note of though.  In a late model engine that is running EFI (

electronic fuel injection

), resisted sparkplugs are a big thing.  You must use them, because the amount of electrical noise that can be generated when you don’t have resisted sparkplugs, may create problems with your electrical system.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

Dyno Tuning Melbourne – Superchargers

The difference between centrifugal and positive displacement blowers, is that basically a centrifugal is similar to a turbo charger.  It doesn’t rely on exhaust to push it around, but it relies on the engine RPM to spin it up.

The more you spin it up, the more boost you get.

Generally you find a centrifugal supercharger mounted off the side of an engine.  They’re generally made to be mounted on the side of engines, away from the top of the manifold.  One of the advantages to a centrifugal blower (over a positive displacement blower), is that you can mount an intercooler fairly easily, so you can get more performance out of it.

The other advantage is that generally they are a lot quieter than a positive displacement blower.  And, placement of them is fairly easy.  You can place them above, below, in front, behind.  So, there are many places they can go, so long as they line up with whatever is driving them.

Positive displacement superchargers generally have to go on top of the motor, or at least on top of the intake manifold.  So, fitting an intercooler can still be done, but it is often more difficult than when fitting an intercooler to a centrifugal supercharger.  There is a lot more engineering and pipework needed to fit up an intercooler to this type of supercharger.

The main positive for a positive displacement supercharger is that the minute you crack the throttle you have boost, where with a centrifugal one, often you have to build up the revs before you start seeing boost, and you often won’t see boost straight away.

There are two main types of positive displacement superchargers.  There is the roots type, and the screw type.  Generally you find the roots superchargers to be more noisy, and less efficient unless you put some type of intercooler on it.

The screw type, positive displacement, they are very good, but they are generally a long unit, so room has to be allocated for it.

If you see a boost curve when doing a chassis dyno tune, you will quickly see the difference between a centrifugal and a positive displacement supercharger.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

The most commonly asked question that I get regarding fuel injection , is, “If I convert my car from carburettors to fuel injection, what kind of power increase will I get”?

This is really hard to answer because, you are often talking about cars that were manufactured before 1985, and were not fuel injected.  They may not have been maintained or tuned properly in the past.

Back then, to tune a carburettor engine properly was approximately an 8 hour job.  Also, the control over the ignition system was a set of points, or a very basic electronic ignition system that had a mechanical advance system that was most possibly worn out.

So, to actually say truthfully, how much extra power converting an engine from carburettors to fuel injection is difficult.  But there is generally a power increase in the range of 8% to 15%.  That being said, it could be as high as 30% to 40% when you take into account that the original fuel and ignition systems on the engine may have been under performing at the time of the conversion.

The greatest gains can often be seen in terms of drivability, rather than simply an increase in power.  This includes making the car start well under hot and cold conditions, making it crisp on acceleration.  At the end of the day, this is often more important to customers than simply a high power number.

With fuel injection, we can set an engine to run at 14.7 to 1 (lambda 1) under cruise conditions, and still be very responsive under acceleration, plus get great fuel economy, and have lots of power.

To have that kind of tuneability is amazing, and to try to do that with carburettors was very, very hard.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

Fuel Injection How To: Often Forgotten Pre-Dyno Checks.

The checks that you should do before putting your car on the dyno, are pretty much the same checks and maintenance that you should do to your car on a regular basis.

Do you have anything around or near the exhaust; as the exhaust gets the hottest on the dyno.  So, if you have wiring that is close to the exhaust system, there is a good chance that it is going to catch on fire, or melt.

So, you want to make sure that you have nothing hanging around near the exhaust pipe, whether it be material wrapped, or you might have rubber line that is in braid, you really don’t want it anywhere near the exhaust.

Another thing to check are things like the condition of your engine’s fan belts.  Condition of radiator hoses.  It might appear fine for you to think that you can run the car with that fan belt on the dyne, and replace it later, because at the moment, it’s still spinning the pulleys.

But, once again, please remember, a dyno tuner is going to be getting the peak out of your engine, so, it’s going to be pulled to a higher RPM.  If that fan belt is in bad condition, for the sake of a $50 (or less) belt, it could come loose and take out a lot more in your engine bay while it is on the dyno.

Another thing to check, that a lot of people don’t realise, is oil condition.  If you haven’t changed your oil in 15 or 20 thousand kilometres, it’s going to be like slug.  Don’t put it on the dyne.

These were just a few examples of often forgotten pre-dyno checks.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

When doing modifications to your vehicle, like

fuel injecting

your engine, or doing an engine conversion, one of the considerations to take into account when you’re doing to the modification is under bonnet temperature.  If you are putting a bigger engine in, a bigger turbo in something like that’s moving it away from standard, your under bonnet temperatures are going to suffer.

One way to bring the Under bonnet temperatures down is to ceramic coat the exhaust,  Now by ceramic coating the exhaust, you are reducing the external heat from the exhaust from entering into the engine bay, keeping your inlet track cooler , your inlet manifolds cooler.  But it also helps by keeping the internal of the exhaust pipe hotter.

Now in the case of a turbo charged car that’s actually beneficial because that will help to spur up the turbo a lot faster.  By ceramic coating exhausts and exhaust manifolds, it also helps in protecting paint and paintwork in the engine bay, you may have spent a lot of money on paint and wiring and rubber hoses.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

When modifying a vehicle, one aspect that should be taken into account is your cooling system.

If you take an example of a 1971 model car, with a 2000 model fuel injected engine.  You can put a 2000 model radiator and thermofans into the engine bay.  One thing to consider is that you will have dual thermofans.  One on the left, and one on the right of the radiator.

You will wont to turn one thermofan on at a time, just above operating temperature, and the second thermofan should come on around 4 to 5 degrees after that.  This saves electrical load on the battery and charging system.  You are not turning on 2 thermofans at once.  And this also lets you turn on the second thermofan when the air conditioning compressor is turned on.

Something else to keep in mind is, if you have an air conditioning condenser sitting in front of the radiator you are restricting air flow passed the radiator.  But then, if you have an intercooler of some kind in front of that, you’re restricting air flow passed both the air conditioning condenser, and through the radiator.

So, alway keep this in mind, and try to keep the airways clear and allow air to pass through radiators and intercoolers for maximum efficiency.

One last thing to keep in mind with cooling systems, is that you are going to want to dyno tune your car, you will want to get the maximum out of it.  Make sure all of the pipes and hoseclamps are up to scratch, and there is not something that is second hand that is going to blow out or fly apart when it’s on the chassis dyno.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

When wiring up a car, or wiring in an ECU, one of the most important aspects, is good wiring.

Now, everyone thinks of wiring as being a good 12V power supply – “I must have a good 12V.  I’ve run really thick battery leads”.   It’s not the only thing.

There are two sources to power supply.  You’ve got a ground, and you’ve got power.

Let’s take an injector for instance.  That has power, and it has ground to operate it.  An ECU will ground the pin of the injector to open it.

If you are wide open throttle running down the drag strip, and you have a bad ground supply to the ECU, then that will have a bad ground supply to the injector.  That can lead to leaning an engine out, and even causing an engine blow up.

To ensure this doesn’t happen, you need to make sure all of the ground points on your engine are in really good condition and good spots.

On and OEM factory car, they often have about 4 different ground points.  They have one at the front of the engine, one at the back of the engine, they generally have one down on the side of the motor, and one that goes from the alternator bracket to the battery.

These are all critical to the way an engine runs.  Whether it’s to ground injectors, or ignition coils that need to be grounded to give good spark, once again, if you don’t have good ground for your ignition system, you’re not going to have a good spark, it’s going to break down under load when the engine is trying to produce maximum power.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

The linkage setup to a throttle body is very important.  Whether you’ve got an eccentric linkage, or just a direct one to one linkage.

In some cases with big throttle bodies they have an eccentric linkage, and what that means is that as you start to apply the throttle it will open slower than you’re actually putting your foot down.  Then, when you get to about 3/4 throttle, it will open up quicker.  That’s what an eccentric linkage is, and that’s what sometimes we recommend, depending on the scenario and the type of fuel injection.

So there is a lot to be taken into account with a throttle body.

Another thing to look at is, when you go replacing a throttle body with an aftermarket throttle body, there may be no idle speed device on the new throttle body.  Now, an idle speed device is a comfort device.  You want to be able to go out in the morning, hit the key, and have it idle up to 1200 RPM.  While it’s warming up, it can slowly come down to normal idle as the engine warms up.

You also want the idle speed to device to “catch” the idle as you are getting off the throttle coming up to a set of lights, or coming to a stop.

Sometimes people will say to us, that they don’t care about that, that they’ll sit and warm the car up.  That’s all good and well for about the first month, until they’ve gotten over that initial enjoyment of the car, and then they say, it stalls when it’s cold, it stalls when I pull up at a set of lights, or they have to keep the car running at 1200 RPM to keep it idling.  This is not the type of feedback that we want to hear.  That is why it’s so important to have idle control.

That is something to take into account when buying a throttle body.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

A symptom that I see sometimes, is a misadjusted TPS, which turns out to be a faulty TPS, and it’s creating issues for the engine management system.

What this means is, you can have a worn-out lug (the mechanical part that moves with the throttle plate), or they can be worm out electrically, inside the throttle position switch.

Now, what that can create is, if you are holding the throttle position switch at a given point, and inside electrically, it’s not actually connected, it’s worn out, bent, or just damaged in some way, the engine management system is going “I am at 5% load; no I’m not; yes I am; no I’m not….”.

What this can create, is an acceleration enrichment.  So, you’re driving down the street, holding the throttle still, and all of a sudden, you are getting enrichment, then you’re not getting enrichment, then you are getting enrichment, etc.  It can create a very poor mixture, very poor fuel economy, and sometimes very poor drivability.

What is can also do, because we have a nice sweeping arc of the throttle position switch, and for if some reason electrically, there are damaged points, as you accelerate, and your acceleration enrichment happens, you’ve got a break in that acceleration enrichment.  So, all of a sudden it’s getting enrichment, it isn’t, it is again, so once again, you create a flat spot.

That’s working on the acceleration enrichment side of things.

The throttle position also tells the engine management system where to start to work with the idle speed.  And as we have mentioned in other articles, idle speed devices are very important to achieving a great driving experience.

So, if for some reason, your throttle position sensor is not working, your idle speed motor doesn’t know where to be.

Now you’ve got two scenarios.

The first is a car that stalls at lghts, and a car that flat spots as it takes off from the lights.

And that could be due to just a faulty throttle position switch.

For more information, you can contact Robbie McQueen at:

Advanced Engine Management / Wolf Motorsport
22 Melrich RoadBayswater, Melbourne
3153, Victoria, Australia
Ph: (03) 9761 3161

One of the things when selecting fuel injectors for your car, or for your engine, is to know, what type of injector you want.  One of the biggest things you need to know when selecting injectors is the o-ring size of the injector.

Some injectors come in 14mm o-ring size, and others come with 11mm o-rings.  The dimension from o-ring to o-ring is a big thing.

Some injectors have 2 o-rings on them (one at each end), meaning it seals in the manifold with an o-ring, and it also seals in the fuel rail with an o-ring.

Another type of injector has an o-ring at the fuel rail end, and a buffer seal at the manifold end.

This is very important if you are going to start to run some boost, and you don’t want to lose boost past where the fuel injector sits.  So, the correct placement and the correct injector is a big thing for high performance and big drivability.

There is another type of injector.  It has a 14mm recess, but you can fit an 11mm o-ring to it.  That may be perfect to help with the scenario of your car.  This all comes back to working out what size injector you want for your engine.

You can also see there that we have different styles of connectors for different vehicles. Once again, generally you can match the injector to the car to save any kind of further cost and effort in wiring.

One of the other big issues with fuel injectors that we come across a lot is that people go too big with their injectors.  They always think that 800 or 1,000cc injectors is what you need.  You can match an injector to the power rating of what the car requirements are.

This is very easily done.  On average it takes 5cc of fuel injector size for every horse power the car wants to produce.  This is an equation that we use quite often in the trade.

For example, if a car was to produce 400hp, we would install injectors that would supply 450hp.  There is no reason to put injectors in it so it can go to 1,000hp.

It is a waist of time, and the drivability down low, at idle and fuel economy is not there.