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loss of power after burnout (on a swap)

S

sucks2bu

New member
Ok short story made long.
Swapped a 99 gtp engine, tranny n ecu into my 90 vw gti.
Dont bother asking why. Its been asked before. Something to do
With too much time on my hands, boredom and some sort of bet
I won but never got paid on.

Ok heres the problem and I dont know where to look....
Put it all together, checked rechecked n did more checking.
Car turns on, on the first try, idles like (well) a gtp (lol) .. no
Misses no sputters nothing that would indicate a problem.
Put e-brakes on, put her in "D" and mashed the pedal to the
floorboard.. I was rewarded with glorious whining n testosterone
Producing tire smoke, from both tires- weird I thought it was one
wheel wonder. I digress. All my friends are jumping for joy and
Clapping their hands together as if they had just witnessed the
Miracle of a lifetime..

I let it idle for a bit. Check fans fluids and all other nick nacks.
Everything is five by five.. let her cool off n more friends show up.
Im starting to think maybe I dhould be charging admission at this point.
They all want to see hitlers foot locker burn rubber one more time.
I say lets do this! Everything as before car gets about 6 psi of boost on guage
But no shredding of tires. Front tires push car forward. Put water under tires.
Same thing, car wont burn out for its life. It feels like a dog on the streets.
My brothers gtp will smoke the tires from a stop sign gor quite some distance
Ill be lucky if I can do it for 4 inches.

All fluids are ok. Tranny shifts fine. Just no power. Boost holds at 6-7 psi.
Could it be knock sensor pulling timing out? Tranny? Converter took a dump?
I had computer reflashed after problem happened but still its there.
Im leaning more towards the converter, but would like some opinions
Before I tear into engine n tranny.

Mods: stock blower /pulley. Stock injectors, fuel cell, -8 feed -6 return,
Walbro 255 pump, 4' cold air kit with cone filter (new). 3' exhaust front
To back with resonator and dynomax mufler. Rear o2 disabled on new tune
And thats more or less it. This thing should roast the tires on such a light car.

Your help is appreciated. Thanks..jpg1842116_600.jpg.jpg1842116_600.jpg
 


great swap!
6 psi doesnt sound like normal boost. normal should be at around 8-9 psi. maybe its a big vacuum leak? have you done the LIM gasket before?
 
8-9 PSI on stock pulley?

Maybe in the cold...maybe.

Most stock cars with factory exhaust pull about 5-7 psi at the shift....the restrictive part is in the manifolds/DP...6 psi is probably about right.

I'd do a pan drop and see what's going on, get a shift kit from Intense-Racing if you haven't cracked into the transmission yet...as I'd also recommend checking the cat if you haven't...could be clogged...could also be what you thought of the converter dying out on you as well...
 
I can't believe the first thing you did after getting it together is a burnout. Was the motor warm when you did it? Stock the knock sensors don't turn on until 160*
 


No scanner, car was about 160 when burnout was done. No cats on car. Complete 3 inch exhaust from manifold to tail pipe.
Whole ecm was flashed, fans now come on sooner tranny permanently left on high performance mode. Still does it.
Tranny shifts fine while while driving.. doesnt flare under acceleration.. its like im missing a lot of horses somewhere..
Lim gasket is fine,exchanged it 2 days after getting motor. No other mods made to engine.. all hoses prone to cracking
Have been changed. Like previously stated, idles n runs like a champ. But feels like a na 6cyl to me.
 


What kind of vacuum are you pulling at warm idle? Does it run fine if you stomp the gas while driving?
 
Sorry boost gague doesnt have vacum. Its a blower Guage from my old race car. Car accelerates just fine and idles awsome. No stumbles or hessitation of any kind. Just no power. My brothers car , 98 gtp roasts the tires at will. Mine cant drive itself out of a wet paper bag.
 
Pull the upper o2 sensor before the cat and give it a whirl.

It will sound like a tractor, but if the pick up and go is faster you may have found the problem.
 
he has no cats.Get a scanner from autozone or something.A scanner will tell you alot.You will probly need a scanner in the future anyways if you have anything newer than 1990.lol
 


Thanks for the help guys. I have a scanner. The only code I would get would be the rear o2 sensor, because I had it disconnected.
They tuned that out. The tune I got from zzp is what they call a dunebuggy tune. Basicaly everything that is not needed is turned off
And what not. The problem was there before the tune and didnt change a bit after.

I have no cats!
 
tune is probably fine.

I would imagine you have misfires... plugs, wires, too much fuel for some reasons.. check in that order.
 
darkhorizon said:
tune is probably fine.

I would imagine you have misfires... plugs, wires, too much fuel for some reasons.. check in that order.
Click to expand...

New taylor wires, iridium plugs. Dont have a fuel pressure guage on it, but I dont smell fuel at idle. It idles and accelerates good. Just no power.
 
how does it accelerate good with no power? gonna need to hook up to a scan tool to see what is going on.
 
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