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4x4 sapphire - need help with the spec + small problem
hi, I've recently bought a magenta 4x4 sappphire with a wallet of paperwork but no real spec for the car and reading through its mostly receipts for garage work. There is a set up report from motorsport developments from 2011 that puts it at about 340bhp so I assume it's stage 3. You will have to bare with me as my knowledge is limited. I've always been a huge fan of the cars but my technical know how doesn't leave much to be desired although I'm sure I'll be learning a lot over the next few weeks. I have a link here to some engine bay pics if anyone cares to air their thoughts or even identify some of the upgrades.
Also....after a week of running fine with LOTS of power it has now developed a fault. Runs fine under low revs and easy driving but try and speed up a bit and the rev counter jumps all over the place then you get miss firing and power drops. The boost appears to be holding steady according to the gauge and I've had all leads / dizzy off, cleaned and reseated... Now I'm stumped. But hoping it's just a loose wire!!
Looks like you are rocking the original engine harness, with the 3 large connectors across the bulkhead.....
From factory, the way they are secured means they're kinda bent back on themselves and stressed. Any change in that area by previous owners means they likely have some serious tiewrap strangulation going on too which makes it even worse. They can give running issues if they've any moisture in them, or are disturbed so give them a good coat of looking at if the coil wiring doesn't end up being at fault.
Just a personal thing but I noticed you don't have a heat shield over your turbo, or under it, or over the turbo side engine mount. If it's running 340ish and you've been enjoying it, your turbo's gonna have been whacking out some serious heat to everything in that area. Certainly your bulkhead brake pipes and all the switchery around your master cylinder.
Hope some of this helps. Just my opinion based on what you've described.
Looks like you are rocking the original engine harness, with the 3 large connectors across the bulkhead.....
From factory, the way they are secured means they're kinda bent back on themselves and stressed. Any change in that area by previous owners means they likely have some serious tiewrap strangulation going on too which makes it even worse. They can give running issues if they've any moisture in them, or are disturbed so give them a good coat of looking at if the coil wiring doesn't end up being at fault.
Just a personal thing but I noticed you don't have a heat shield over your turbo, or under it, or over the turbo side engine mount. If it's running 340ish and you've been enjoying it, your turbo's gonna have been whacking out some serious heat to everything in that area. Certainly your bulkhead brake pipes and all the switchery around your master cylinder.
Hope some of this helps. Just my opinion based on what you've described.
That's great advice, the 3 plugs seem to be a reoccurring theme so will get them opened up and cleaned today. As for the heat shield, I totally agree. The heat generated after even a short run is immense so something deffinately needs to protect the delicate areas.
No worries Andy.
Hope you get it sorted. I've had a look through the photos you put up and I'll list what I recognise.
Looks like;
No idea on what model turbo, but not stock judging by the size of the inlet. Collins billet actuator I think. And your in line generic turbo oil strainer/filter.
Bailey coolant header tank and swirl pot. (Have spec r header and same swirl on mine. Works well.)
Looks like possibly the bailey engine breather pot on there too. From data I've read, it's most beneficial to have this plumbed from both sides of the block. (This is how I plan to install mine.) Yours looks to breath from the rocker cover on one port so you might want to make that alteration if you're planning on turning her into a full on personal beast.
Group A coil. Motorsport or at least 8 or 10mm silicone ht leads. Green injectors, presumably bosch 803's. Other green injectors are available but they are relatively easy to id.
MSD padouch' valve. lol (I've got one on my 4x4 and sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't...)
Airtec radiator, good swag that. And, since you can see the top of the rad, she must be wearing some kind of rs 500 inspired larger volume intercooler.
Collins uprated engine mounts. (There's another heat shield missing of the back of the alternator.)
I can only guess what ecu you're running (as mine has the red topped sticker and is a 'red top' engine originally) I'm gonna say the later, cat equipped 'green top spec ecu with closed loop. Saying that, I can't see the lambda probe (the oxy sensor) sticking out of your turbo exhaust housing so you'll have to investigate that. It might be in a boss about a foot further down the front pipe.
Looks like underneath either someone fancied adding a splash of random colour (orangey red) or you have some adjustability on your rear beam.
Again, just from what I can see in the photo's. Not trying to pick fault only to give a big of helpful advice if I can.
Cheers
Cheers buddy! that's all really helpful. Just trying to get a feel for what I have already then can work on improving it. Looks like a lot of effort and money has been spent but still plenty room for improvement. I think one of the first things will he heat shields then new complete loom 👍
4x4 sapphire - need help with the spec + small problem
