Altered Mental Status(1G AWD 5spd)

[CrackedDSM]

Not really a rant per se, but honestly I hate ordering parts these days. Every shipping service sucks and costs twice as much, but also ships twice as slowly. It seems entirely random too. Order two things from one seller and both are shipped out at the same time. One that’s heavier gets here in legitimately two days, the other is just some connectors in a small box and it’s gonna be a week or more. Both were same shipping speed and company.

It’s not just this order either. It’s like everything I order takes twice as long to get to me or more. Which in the past meant I cheaped out massively on shipping, and knew it was gonna take forever.

But if I pay for a two day service and it takes a week, that’s a different story.



But yeah. Again, not actually mad or ranting or whatever. More sad than anything. World keeps changing for the worse.

 

[Stapl3]

Not really a rant per se, but honestly I hate ordering parts these days. Every shipping service sucks and costs twice as much, but also ships twice as slowly. It seems entirely random too. Order two things from one seller and both are shipped out at the same time. One that’s heavier gets here in legitimately two days, the other is just some connectors in a small box and it’s gonna be a week or more. Both were same shipping speed and company.

It’s not just this order either. It’s like everything I order takes twice as long to get to me or more. Which in the past meant I cheaped out massively on shipping, and knew it was gonna take forever.

But if I pay for a two day service and it takes a week, that’s a different story.



But yeah. Again, not actually mad or ranting or whatever. More sad than anything. World keeps changing for the worse.

Have you loaded the deadtime values I suggested?

 

[CrackedDSM]

Have you loaded the deadtime values I suggested?

I work 12 hour shifts with an hour commute one way and every other week is my long week where I work basically every day.

Short answer: I rarely if ever am going to do something immediately or soon. Even if I have days off I generally have to use one or two to recuperate.



With that said, I loaded them just now. Car seemed to idle the same and AFRest/Wideband are super duper close. Basically, it didn’t change much. If I had to guess I’d say maybe it idles a ball hair smoother, but I genuinely can’t tell.

I mean that in a good way though.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Like, 3 months or more ago I ordered a grounding kit from a private seller/one man business on facebook. I've had it laying around and finally decided to install it as the grounds on this harness/car leave much to be desired. If it's not rusty, they're just outright missing. So I installed four out of the six. The only two I didn't install yet are from alternator to chassis, and throttle body bolt to chassis. Mainly because I don't really know where to hook the cable up on the alternator, and where on the "chassis" it means.

But the ones I did install outright replaced the OEM ones and really seems to help.

Not pictured is the transmission to t-stat housing ground cable I installed.

Batt to Firewall

Intake Manifold to Drivers Side Strut

T-stat housing to Chassis.


On all points I removed paint with a razor blade, and sanded it with a scotchbrite pad. Also cleaned up the underside of the bolt too just in case. Pretty happy.


And as a bonus, while I was digging around and looking at the engine bay, I think I discovered something that had to have been affecting alternator performance. The oil feed line from turbo to OFH, was like millimeters away from the positive stud on the alternator. Just touching the line made it touch the terminal and spark everywhere. So I moved it and ziptied it out of the way.

Much better. I really hope this helps but I 100% don't expect any kind of gains from this. Just wanted to add the missing grounding points and help out the existing grounding system because it's old, rusty, and crusty.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Tires came in today. They are some beefy bois. Can’t wait to see how the talon looks with new rubber on there.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Alternator came in today as well as my plugs and terminals for 1G maf plugs. Woohoo.


It’s gonna rain all god damned weekend so guess I’ll do wiring and dumb shit instead of driving the car.

Florida sucks.

 

[CrackedDSM]

So I did a little digging, and pulled the little weatherstrip/trim piece at the top of the windshield and oof is it dirty and rusty in there. I can also flex/pick up the top of the windshield pretty easily with a screwdriver. I feel like if the windshield is properly window-welded, I shouldn't be able to flex it or pick up on it at all. I can also actually move the black sealant too.

I wonder if it's so old that its just detached/not sealed anymore. That has to be the leak. I think what I'm gonna do is clean out the channel with my vacuum and some brushes, get it nice and clean, then fill the entire channel with window weld or silicone and then reinstall the strip. I have this feeling that the strip itself is supposed to seal water out, but it doesn't. So honestly, IDK if it's ghetto or not, but I am tempted just to fill the entire channel with silicone/window weld, and shape it with a credit card/old unused piece of plastic to look like the stock windshield strip. Might be a PITA to remove, but that's not ever gonna be my problem.

 

[Justin DuBois]

Yikes - call the windshield people - they will fix it on site.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

That tube of Dupont will do the trick. I just had a 2g quarter glass replaced, sealed in with that stuff. The rust is a concern though, if anything more than surface.

 

[CrackedDSM]

So yeah, I buckled down to make my conversion harness.

Boy that was a f*cking nightmare. I don't know if cheap connectors, or cheap terminal crimpers was the issue but it was a dismal failure. The pins wouldn't really "lock" into the connector properly, and the wires would never be fully secure inside the terminal. If I pulled on it more than just a little tiny bit, the wire would pull right out of the terminal and the terminal would be left inside the connector.

I stopped and just ordered a SD adapter harness w/ 2G MAF plug, and legitimately threw everything else away, including the crimpers. I don't even care. I'm sure if I took the time to order name brand/quality connectors, and a quality set of crimpers it would be foolproof, but honestly at that point I might as well throw $5-$10 extra dollars with it and just get a premade harness. Much respect to people who build harnesses because that shit is for the birds.


I'll tackle the windshield later.

That tube of Dupont will do the trick. I just had a 2g quarter glass replaced, sealed in with that stuff. The rust is a concern though, if anything more than surface.

Thankfully it's just surface rust and dirt. Tons of dirt. Gonna use my vacuum and a good brush and get it sparkly clean and see what happens.

Yikes - call the windshield people - they will fix it on site.

Tempting, but I'm not sure how much they'll charge me. I want to try to fix it myself first, or at least look and see. I may call and see if they'll quote me over the phone so it's not a surprise.

 

[DreamChaser7]

I have this feeling that the strip itself is supposed to seal water out, but it doesn't.

No, the urethane that seals the windshield to the metal is what keeps the water out. The rubber trim is nothing but aesthetics and an additional water screen at best. And the windshield will flex. We figured out that’s why mine was cracked exactly the same at the top corners. Whoever installed it didn’t put enough sealant there and pressed down on the corners to make the seal as was evident by how the sealant was squeezed out there and nowhere else.
I would not use silicone.
As @BLACK'98DSM said, I would be concerned with rust and metal integrity if it’s been leaking like that for a while. Might deserve more thorough investigation.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Yesterday sucked, but today so far so good. Got more done. Was determined to put the new alternator on, and soon as I got outside my elderly uncle came home and needed me urgently to move giant, heavy boards of wood for his shed. Never fails. IDK what it is with old people and thinking that younger guys have nothing better to do than stop everything they are doing and help them.


But with that out of the way, I set about to removing the alt. Had to remove the A/C fan, but the rest came out pretty good. Once I got it out, I noticed it was the original mitsubishi alternator, and a 75amp model.

Crazy.

This thing was so dirty. Caked on grease and oil, and this picture is after I wiped it down too. The new alternator looks so good. I really don't expect it to last near as long, which is why I'm keeping the old alternator, but in the meantime it's gonna be great.


Rewinding back a week or so, I mentioned to you guys how the B+ terminal was touching the oil feed line. The original cover for it has long been broken, so I did some research on the forums and found that someone recommended a subaru part number for a rubber terminal cover, and I can confirm it fits great and functions beautiful. Nice striking red. Was $7 shipped too. Lol.

Aside from the fact that it's a subaru part(yech), I'm very pleased with it. It slipped on no sweat with minimal effort, and looks/functions beautifully.

And there she is. Already dirty, but looking pretty.


Took it for a test drive and right away noticed it idling at 14v where before it was mid 13's. Under WOT and all the way to redline it starts out at almost 14v, and only drops down to mid-high 13's at the lowest point. Super pleased.


Still having idle issues, but honestly I think it's mechanical or something else. There's no hesitation on throttle input, there's no knocking/detonation under WOT and full boost, no kicking or bucking, zero other sign that would show tune/fuel related idle issue. When I floor the brakes the idle bogs and almost wants to die. I think it's something to do with that, or something stupid but honestly...I'm over it. I'll just feather the throttle and drive with two feet and learn to live with it. As long as WOT and cruise is good like it is...I'm calling it good.

Gonna tweak the tune a little bit more here in the coming days after I get the car tagged, registered, and the new rubber shoes put on.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I've been using that same Subaru terminal cover for starter wires on the 420A cars for years since the plastic ones have all crumbled to bits. I can tell you it's going to last a long time and retain the bright red color. As opposed to an Autozone part that fades and becomes brittle after 2 years of heat cycles.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I've been using that same Subaru terminal cover for starter wires on the 420A cars for years since the plastic ones have all crumbled to bits. I can tell you it's going to last a long time and retain the bright red color. As opposed to an Autozone part that fades and becomes brittle after 2 years of heat cycles.

Now that I remember it, it was one of your posts that recommended it. Credit to you for sure!

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Now that I remember it, it was one of your posts that recommended it. Credit to you for sure!

I don't quite remember sharing that info, but you're welcome anyway. Must've been a while, but useful info for sure. Those caps will fit most starter and alternator wires for DSM applications.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Here's a log for giggles. I revved it out to 6k. Honestly, the car runs like shit with the deadtimes from the ECMTuning Wiki, so I went back to the ones I found from DSMPT, and it was night and day difference. I need to take a little more fuel back out(I had to add some and mess with the deadtimes on the fuel tab with the other deadtimes, and it still didn't run as good) to get the wideband est to match the actual wideband reading at 5500ish RPM, but honestly pleased with it.


To clarify "running like shit" it idled worse, it had a hesitation at 1500-2000rpm when you hit the throttle, and generally just ran poor. Putting back the old values even with it running a little more rich immediately cured everything. No hesitation, no bucking while driving, idle was better/smoother. It's happier with these deadtime values so I'm leaving that alone.


Next up on the to-do list after this long-week is over, is buying a timing light and verifying timing. The CAS on the engine is adjusted all the way in one direction(spun counter-clockwise as far as it'll go), and that just can't be correct. I should've done this awhile ago, but eh. Better late than never.