VX V6 with Turbo

[Grim304]

Hi all,
I am after any and all information around running a turbo on a VX V6 Auto.
Any help with this would be appreciated, The person has already done the conversion and is after a tune.

I can't help much more than that at present other than he wants it tuned.
Please try and keep it in noob terms as I am learning fast but still have a way to go to be fluent with all the terms.

What do I need to beware of, what works best, do I need to rewire change anything?

Thanks for any help

[immortality]

LOL, I think you have come to the home of "Holden V6 turbo tuning"

Really need to know how much boost pressure/turbo's it's running. What fuel system mods and injectors. A good run down of what's been done would be ideal.

For a stock ecotec, ideally you want to keep it to about 10psi max combined with a good fuel system and tune for a long trouble free life.

[VL400]

do I need to rewire change anything?

I have probably confused you a bit as in your PMs you mentioned it was VX/VY. So for those going to turbo and wanting to RT tune via NVRAM you would need to convert to a S/C PCM to get away from the flash memory.

VS have a memcal based PCM and The1 has some enhanced bins with lots of performance goodness .. http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2518

[Grim304]

do I need to rewire change anything?

I have probably confused you a bit as in your PMs you mentioned it was VX/VY. So for those going to turbo and wanting to RT tune via NVRAM you would need to convert to a S/C PCM to get away from the flash memory.

VS have a memcal based PCM and The1 has some enhanced bins with lots of performance goodness .. http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2518

Nope not you mate... me I had a brain fart, i was thinking if i could use a VS at the time I was writing this and put that down instead of VX

[vlad01]

Would would want to be careful boosting an NA ecotec. the upper rings are rather close to the deck and can't really deal with the heat generated from boosting.

Its very similar to what happen to WRX turbo engines, the rings over expand and cause he ring land to break.
A lot of people in the US do this and quite a number of engine failures happen even a low boost.

On L67 and pre ecotec NA engine the rings are much further down with tolerate boost heat well.

I would consider using different pistons and keep the rest stock. Should be fine then. And no you can't use L67 pistons unless you change the rods and rebalanced everything to suit.

The NA ecotec has one advantage over the L67, that is has longer rods which helps in boost applications with less side trust.



Or........................... you could just boost it and hope for the best lol

[Grim304]

Wow thanks for the info, I will pass it onto the tuner.

Sounds like the go is try and find a SCV6 PCM

[antus]

AFAIK the memcal based SC pcms are the same as the NA ones, its just the code that runs on them. So for a VX im pretty sure you can run the1s extended code on a VT pcm. viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2518

Ive done this on the bench, but not on the car. Hopefully someone can confirm.

[delcowizzid]

i tuned a late model ecotec turbo 3+ years ago took out the MAP ECU piggyback and converted to vr auto ecu in an afternoon as it was a vr and still running an auto loom.it was strong as hell on 12psi and had had a hard life on a very much untuned piggyback.its still one of the smoothest and hardest pulling turbo cars ive tuned it had a massive turbo when we first started was like a GT42 LOL before getting the smaller 60-1 T4.they handle it fine but the moment you get a boost spike into untuned territory say goodbye to the piston crowns i have pics of a piston from another ecotec that spiked to 15psi while tuning and spat the crown out the exhaust port
12psi while tuning vid [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tfULJbkje8[/youtube]

[immortality]

LOL, I remember that piston (minus the crown). I wonder what our old mate is up to these days (still a guest in the big house?).

[vlad01]

yeah the pistons are quite fragile in them, they shatter with any detonation big enough or if a bolt falls down the intake. Local mechanic this that lol. Shattered the piston upon start up.

On a 4L ford engine I blew up on purpose, I wanted to see how strong the pistons were after I took apart the engine to check my handy work, you can bash them with a hammer only beating them into a different shape, they are very malleable. Its all in the alloy and silicon content they are made from.

May I suggest using forged pistons. I found Mahle make forged NA ecotec pistons for saloon car series racing.

http://www.precisionintl.com/Stock.aspx ... 00L6040MMS

you can also get CP forged pistons for NA engines as well. The SC pistons have a larger pin diameter so they don't fit the NA rods.

Forged pistons with lower silicon (hypoeutectic) alloy can take a beating and gives some leeway if the tune is off a little, boost control not quite right, crap fuel etc..

And not to forget, correct piston-bore clearance and ring caps for boost