Performance Modifications

[BV1]

Has anyone looked into the inner workings of the 2800 engine? How many psi the turbo boosts, typical upgrades etc. Dare I ask if the 2800 has ever been dynoed? :)

If not, I hope to help out in that department. I hope to aquire a L400 in the near future, and will be researching into how to make it better.

For now though, would like to know what you know?

Thanks,

Steve

[jessef]

2.5" exhaust
K&N air filter
solid intercooler pipes
up boost from 8 psi to 12 psi
up fuel a slight crack of a turn

These combined will net you the best bang for the buck acceleration/HP.

Of course having a healthy engine/driveline is first on the list.

[BV1]

Thanks, for the boost adjustments, what kind of boost control system does the L400 2.8 use? Is there a solenoid, or is it a manual system etc? I know the 94-95 4G63 is an ECU operated boost control solenoid, so Mitsu did go that route in those models, but how do you know how they monitor here?

Steve

[jessef]

Push wastegate away from the turbo housing via washers.

Use an aftermarket boost gauge to monitor boost levels.

[madmazda]

dont move it more than 3 mm as you could either rupture the waste gate actuator or create too much boost thus cooking a piston which from my experience is really a bad thing...

[deli1733]

I think once you drive the l-400 you'll find that the 4m40 doesnt need any more power really, it its tuned well its pretty peppy.

[BV1]

dont move it more than 3 mm as you could either rupture the waste gate actuator or create too much boost thus cooking a piston which from my experience is really a bad thing...

Did you overboost? Pics? Did it run hot or? Curious,

Thanks,

Steve

[madmazda]

ha ha no not on my delica.....I do still own a HIGH horsepower mazda 323 1.6 l my corvette killer I call it.... :) I've blown 3 turbos and a piston or two...... even with the TONS of fuel I throw at it and the other goodies that are in it however it still runs strong as will your delica if you go through the right steps SLOWLY....

[BV1]

Over the past couple months or so I have gathered a wealth of information on tuning the 4M40, many of the basic principles apply to the 4D56 as well. While tuning a Bosch VE style Injection Pump is old hat, coming up with a system of changes that works best for our engine in particular is key. There is alot more to doing it right then just "turning up" the max fueling screw.

I will be working through some changes and measuring the differences over the next months (patience please) to figure out what works best when going from a stock state to a performance state, I will do some dyno's and take some pictures and detail my findings.

Before starting through I am getting a good stock baseline for power, EGT, AFR, and boost settings.

Stay tuned,

Steve

[aclarker]

Any recommendations for Betty? She's the V6 Gasser. Parts are very easy to come by. Mitsubishi impregnated many North American Beasts with this motor. Any ideas?

aclarker

[madmazda]

as far as a naturally aspirated engine as it is an air pump the best thing can be larger exhaust and a k n air filter easy air in easy air out..... which makes the flow of air through the system more efficient.... you can also get a hotter coil better plug wires.... knology make a good set really expensive or msd makes some good gear...low impedance plug wire is what you need

[BV1]

Any recommendations for Betty? She's the V6 Gasser. Parts are very easy to come by. Mitsubishi impregnated many North American Beasts with this motor. Any ideas?

aclarker

No problem,

I believe thats the 6G72 engine? For that motor, coupled with an auto, you would do modifications that would improve your low end torque.

1) This would include things like replacing the stock intake box with a conical filter drawing cold air from either the fenderwell or a snorkle system.

2) An aftermarket exhaust, not too large though, with proper resonators and a catyltic converter, 2.5" is plenty.

3) A coolant bypass modification to the throttle body warming system, (rerouting the coolant) will decrease Intake Air Temperatures and improve HP.

4) Sythnetic Oil in both the Diff's and the engine will decrease internal resistance. Lighter weight oil will make more power and offer better mileage as well, 5W-30 vs 10W-30 etc, at the cost of faster thermal breakdown (high temps require longer hydro carbon chains, or "thicker" oil to maintain protection). But thats just an FYI really, no issue with lighter oils like 0W-20, 5W-30 if not towing IMHO...

5) Rotational Mass upgrades like the crank pulley are available and will free up 5-7 ft.lbs of torque in lower gears.

If you want to spend a bit more,

6) You can get an aftermarket WBO2 like an Innovate LC-1 and then tune the Wide Open Throttle AFR to approx 12.8-13.1:1 by adjusting things like fuel pressure and Mass Air Flow calibration, and it is doable without tuning software.

7) A 4-1 header system will add top end, and 4-2-1 header system will improve torque below 4500

8) Lots of camshaft options for the 6G72, most gear towards top end power though.

9) Mild forced induction, a lower pressure turbo system 6-8psi will work fine with stock compression, but will require tuning, fuel pump, injector modifications. Tuning being the harder part, but the mid 90's Mitsu ECU are reflashable.

Hope that helps,

Steve

[fab 1]

Not sure if you guys have LPG available there but adding ecoshot lp system that is available in the states not only gives greater perfomance but encreases your range.

[Orionsbelt]

@ BV1...very curious to hear what you've done to your machine and how it's testing...

Especially thoughts on cooling the air intake system...

[BV1]

^^Just getting into the tuning season now, not alot of info to share yet, but I did start down the path and complete the install of monitoring systems, Pyro, boost, and trans temp. I took a chance on the Glo-Shift all in one gauge. So far so good, I might actually recommend it if it holds up. For the cost it appears so far to be much better then its nearest competitor (mentioned on here).

Actually I installed it, against popular recommendation, into the EGR location, with the boost tapped into the IM location. So on installing EGR blanking plates holes were drilled for both sensors. The EGT sensor was mounted as deep as possible into the shaft, I suspected there would be enough turbulence under load to gather the information required, and so far this suspicion appears correct.

Installation was very straight forward and easy access, and information provided appears accurate. The EGT gauge does jump up very quickly under load. Since the intent was to establish a baseline and not on finding the absolute most accurrate location, this location does a very good job of this (and adds ease of install or probe swap if needed down the road).

After a few more weeks of gathering baseline I will do a dyno as it sits, ideally the EGR will not have affected total output power as it should have been closed on WOT anyways, so even if it was malfunctioning and was affecting WOT power I don't want that data in my results.

After the baseline, the boost will be turned up to 13psi, I don't expect to see any changes in output power from this, as this properly maintained and tune 4M40 does not currently smoke under WOT and runs well. This means its is already "lean enough" (leaner then 18-19:1) to not see gains from the extra air, as it should be from the factory.

Then the boost will be turned back down to 9.5psi. The van will eave the shop and get a custom 2.5" exhaust I have designed, and return to be dynoed another day, same thing boost up and down. I expect small gains starting in the mid range from the exhaust and also lower EGT's. Then the van will leave the shop.

Then in the following weeks more exhaust baseline data will be gathered and then the big change driveability and power wise will be some tweaking to the IP as it will come apart to have some adjustments made to its internals affecting the boost fuel delivery system. Basically how the IP delivers fuel based on driving conditions, such as pedal depth and boost. The addition of fuel will raise the EGT's but with proper monitoring and supporting modifications (exhaust, EGR removal, extra boost) I will aim to keep the EGT's similar to stock levels (hence the importance of gather solid baseline data before the exhaust, boost and IP modifications).

So the only extra stress (above stock conditions) on the engine should be the extra ~4psi, that most members are already running without IP adjustments.

The idea in spreading out the modifications over time and dynos and in making small changes, is to make a reliable "light" modification build.

There will probably be a slight smoke once completed (unlike now, none after EGR removal), but in keeping with a lower (stocklike) EGT's the fuel (and smoke) will not be adjusted too high and should be similar to stock levels.

Then as time permits I will look into intercooler, piping changes, IAT (intake air temperature) monitoring, custom intake, and other supporting modifications and their affect on performance, but the initial investigation suggests the TD04 turbo (spool up RPM, AR, boost levels and heat generated under boost) and stock breathing system is adequate for the engine displacement, boost levels and CFM the engine is flowing. I don't want to go to a larger turbo also because it will affect the IP tuning as well, so only if its really necessary or suggest major gains. I want to increase light load efficiency and maximum available torque between 2000 and 3500 rpm, not make more power above 4000 RPM.

The idea in tuning is to make something better at what is designed to do. This diesel makes its most efficient power between 1800-2600 RPM, I want to add to that.

On the other end of the scale this is very different from a K20Z3 Civic Si that is designed to rev, so adding low end torque type modifications will not improve what it was designed to do. However improving top end free flowing supporting modifications (throttle body diameter, intake manifold porting, adding cam shafts etc can improve a 7800 RPM peak HP into a 9000 RPM peak HP, and add about 50-60WHP with about the same difficulty as tuning the L400.

The ideal is to take what something is efficient at, and improve on it. I won't be adding 50-60WHP to the L400, but, I could be easily adding 30-40 ft/lbs of torque.

At least thats the plan :)

Steve