Dave B

I started at about 945pm and finished at 330am. This is including pulling the manifold and installing the VI, labeling connections and bolts, soldering wires, and running the vacumm system and "hiding" everything so that it looks stock. I haven't installed the Harlan RPM switch yet, but I did do a neutral gear test with the MAP switch and sure enough the butterflies kicked open at idle. My eyes about bugged out of my head when I saw that sucker open.

After installing the VI (no working butterflies) I did a test drive and everything feels completely normal. Even though I disconnected the battery while installing the VI, my car felt damn good. Usually it's a little doggish after having the ECU reset.

No vacumm leaks I can hear or feel, idle is perfect while in neutral and rolling to a stop. I used a new EGR gasket and IACC gasket. I couldn't find a TB gasket so I carefully made do with the orginal. I torqued everything to spec and in the right sequence. I'll get the Harlan setup tommorrow. Time for freaking bed.


Dave

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

let the good times roll

KSU1998

Us Kansas Boys are keepin' up..........


Yee Haa..........

Confused

iTrader: (4)

nothing like late night modding... congrats..

NYCe MaXiMa

iTrader: (9)

time to hit the track Dave,
Shooting for low 14's?

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

Dave wake up and finish your install hehe.

KSU1998

LOL...let him rest....The KC maximas will be there at 3pm Dave, so sleep until then..

We should be able to get it done in no time, I will be there just to get in the way.

D

Iron Lung

iTrader: (6)

I love late night modding:
1. Nobody to bother you(i.e. wife, girlfriend)
2. Its not so freakin hot
3. When you get done you can go out and test in no traffic.
the only downside I see is if you need something(parts or tools) nobody is open.

Glad to see your almost finished. Cant wait to hear how it performs.

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

Same here. I think real enthusiasts always try to get most of the job done in one sitting. I know I do. I've stayed up until 5 am doing some sound dampening work back in the day.

Man I want a VI...

hokiemax

iTrader: (2)

Congrats!!! It's always nice to see a 4th gen a VI. Please go to the track soon.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

You finish your install or what? C'mon man don't leave us hangin here!!

KSU1998

It's done and .....oh I will let him tell you all..

Craig Mack

13's or bust!

And don't forgot to say if you noticed a loss in power in the lower power band.

Dave B

Man, what a long day!!! The wife gets me up at 10am to trim some of our trees and then clean out our gutters. At around 1pm I started working on installing my Harlan switch. I got all my connections soldered and hide all the wiring (Harlan switch is in the dash fuse box area). I set the RPM switch to 2000rpms and fired her up. At 2000rpms, the butterflies opened. Bingo, I'm done. By the time I had gotten this done, some local Maxima owners started showing up at my place for a small meet. At around 330pm, I set the RPM switch at 5000rpms and headed out to do some street testing..........




, Holly crap does this thing work!!!! The velvety smoothness of the VQ carries STRAIGHT to redline. The intake no longer makes that kind of a harsh "whoa, I can't breath" buzzing sound after 5300rpms, instead, you're greeted by VTEC-like (half as loud as the VTEC changeover on B16 with an intake) change in the intake pitch when the runners open. This sucker has urgency I've never felt in the topend. Yes, I can FEEL the extra power. I can tell absolutely no difference in part-throttle acceleration. All the part-throttle power is still there. I did most of my testing in 2nd and 3rd on the highway and my car has never felt this wicked. I can't wait for cooler weather because it was in the upper 80s today with nasty humidity.

I'm going to have to learn new shift points because I'm shifting too early. I adjusted my Harlan shiftlight to 6400rpms and I never got it to go off except in a WOT blast in 1st. I'm so use to the old setup. I've raised the RPM switch to 5100rpms because I think 5000 might be too low, we'll see.

The ONLY problem I've encountered so far is a confused Harlan RPM switch. While doing some neutral gear testing, the RPM switch would go into a mode where it wouldn't send a signal to the relay (no valves opening) and the RPM switch Led would flash constantly after we had accuated the valves on a couple RPM tests. After turning off the car and restarting it, the problem went away. During my street testing (~7 runs), it never screwed up once. Apparently a confused switch is a common problem. Neal and Travis (BSwithTF) have said thier RPM switches have done this. I'll e-mail Harlan for an explaination. The good thing is you would definately feel and hear it if the valves don't open (it's that big of a difference).

Track testing is schedule for this coming Wednesday

Look for my install pics, vacumm system setup, wiring, tips and tricks, etc in our KCMaximas page. I'll link it when we get it up (~1 week).


Dave

NZ Max1

Im glad you have had sucessful results. I used to describe to people that It was like a truck hit me from behind when the VI on my JDM cefiro opened. You are 5 speed right? I was auto and it was most apparent in 2nd gear WOT. Welcome to the world of a proper VQ

nismomaxima

congrats

Mr Cranman

iTrader: (1)

Man, that is awesome...Glad you have everything working correctly. And about the RPM switch mine seemed to open with a slight delay. When I had it set for like 5000RPM on the dyno it was actually or appeared to open up at 5300 or so Which is right around where my tq and hp lines crossed when I did a run with it open and closed. Can't wait to see your track results. Again congrats and enjoy

-John

Dave B

I'm excited for the track, but I've got to keep in mind that it's suppose to be hot and huimd that day and that my car will be .3-.4 slower and 2-3mph slower. 5 weeks ago when I ran last, the temps were in the upper 80s and high humidity and I was running in the high 14.9-15.1 range at 93mph. If I see some decent improvement, I'll know it's working right. When October rolls around (50-60s and low humidity), let the real fun begin I should have drag radials by then too.


Dave

JDM4LIFE

iTrader: (2)

just outta curiousity, can you hear any other noise when the vi kicks in? i've always wondered if you could hear a click or some other mechanical noise when it did the switch. nonetheless, congrats, it sounds awesome..

i want a VI now where's another g/d and $500 when you need it?

BluFlame

iTrader: (2)

Dave, does VI open up gradually as the rpm increase or is it more like all or nothing ? I'm looking to buy VI and I was thinking if it opened up gradually would be better. I know this would mean modified rpm switch. just a thought.

Thanx.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

Opening gradually would be pointless. It opens all the way, there's no way to change that, nor would you want to.

Dave B

The VI system is vacumm actuated therefore you can't vary the butterfly opening speed. When the set RPM is reached, the butterflies kick open instantly because the MAP/BARO switch opens and the vacumm sucks the actuator back.

There's no click, bang, or boom, the pitch of the intake just changes a little. You can definately hear it. I know another VI member got a heavy duty vacumm tank that unleashes a large amount of vacumm that actually makes the butterfly actuator rod make a "clunk" against the stop when it opens.

Dave

Dave B

Neal-

Have you figured out how to drive your car yet? I'm having to relearn how to drive again because I'm not use to the topend power. I originally set my shiftlight at 6400rpms, but I can't shift fast enough before I hit the limiter. I reset it to 6300rpms and now I'm fine in all the gears except for 1st. 1st gear winds out so fast now that I can't pay attention to the shiftlight and I've got to look at the tach and shift.

I took my car out on the highway today and layed into it pretty hard thru 3rd and some of 4th. WOW!!! It's like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going. I seriously impressed beause it was 95 out with a induce of 102.


Dave

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Wow, I'm impressed. I got to look into this mod.

voltman

iTrader: (1)

If you eventually had to go to a dealer and had this mod, would it be considered "aftermarket" or would it still be kosher since it's a Nissan part and everything?

KSU1998

We told Dave to go to the dealer and be like..."ahh something is wrong with my intake can you guys take a quick look"......They would be lost without a map.

SuDZ

Sometimes they seem that way with out stock parts.

SuDZ

nismo2020

iTrader: (1)

yeah all my projects start in the day but end in the wee hours

luckily there was a 24 hour auto zone

dave good luck at the track, you vi guys are about to make me a believer.

iansw

iTrader: (7)

Kicks azz, doesn't it?

I tested at 4500-5800 RPM at 100RPM increments, both with SC and without...a total of about 25 Dyno runs. 5000 was best both times.

Enjoy!

IanS

Dave B

It does kick azz. I'll leave it at 5000 for now and I'll experiment on the dyno.

Here's a pic of my new "lungs":

http://home.earthlink.net/~thunderlt...s/DCP_0002.JPG


Dave

iansw

iTrader: (7)

Very nice!

IanS

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

Yeah I'm having a bit of trouble driving it. I used to be able to hear when to shift, but that doesn't work now. At the track I just stared at the tach and try to shift as near to an indicated 6700rpm as possible. I've tapped the rev limiter a few times.

BTW your install looks great. Where is your vacuum canister? My project for the week is cleaning up my install and checking for any vac or exhaust leaks.

Dave B

My vacumm canister is mounted to the top of the intake snorkel as it passes by the battery (not really seen in the pic). The MAP/Baro switch is mounted to the intake snorkel too. You can see the switch if you look where the snorkel starts to bend down over the radiator hose. I tried to keep it as clean as possible.


Dave

BSwithTF

iTrader: (8)

I was super impressed with the way it looked. Almost made me embarassed to open my hood with my spaghetti mess of wires. Cleaning up that mess will probably be my project while I save some $$$ for something else.

JustMaxin96

iTrader: (3)

At the track I just stared at the tach and try to shift as near to an indicated 6700rpm as possible. I've tapped the rev limiter a few times.



How did you do at the track neal?