Lancer overhaul - Project Phoenix

[dhiman]

Nice! We are eagerly watching the space. You really have your hands full this weekend eh?

Just tell me one thing - did you experience the tri-phase first hand before deciding to go for it?

[razor4077]

Originally Posted by dhiman

Just tell me one thing - did you experience the tri-phase first hand before deciding to go for it?

Took a ride in Viper's VTEC in Bombay. Liked it. But it was mainly research done online. No one in Calcutta has one to the best of my knowledge.

Will find out soon enough first hand, as to how good it is

[BlackPearl]

great to hear that the parts have finally arrived. waiting eagerly for Phoenix to rise quickly and burn the streets of Kolkata and the GQs

[shuvd]

Any updates? Did you get the mechanicals sorted out on Tuesday?

[toiingg]

Yeah, even i am waiting to hear the good news.

[razor4077]

The news is positive on the whole. The car is mechanically much more sound now (touchwood). Viper was in town and helped sort out some of the important issues.
Major fixes that were made:
- Head retorqued
- Tappets adjusted (were very, very tight before)
- Timing was adjusted (was hugely advanced earlier)
- Distributor was tightened
- Spark plugs were gapped properly
- Brakes were bled and adjusted
- Steering, suspension work was completed
- Engine oil was changed to synthetic

As a result of all this, the car is running much smoother now, revving better and feeling less sluggish. The exhaust note has changed completely, with the bass kicking in at a lower rev. While the car isn't blindingly quick by any stretch of the imagination, there has been a significant improvement after all this work was done.

The coolant leakage problem has still not gone away completely... the head gasket may be the culprit - need to check that. Alignment & balancing are also pending.
Will also be fitting a Sard fuel pressure regulator and the Triphase after a while.

The engine still needs to "free up" a little more, which means I need to push the car a bit now... something I am looking forward to doing!
May need to fine tune the timing further after some more running in.

There are cosmetic issues (inside & out) that will need sorting out, along with adjusting the lights, eliminating squeaks and rattles, etc etc... They will be done after a few days.

Phoenix is not yet flying high, but at least has taken flight

[redeye]

some improvement is better than nothing i say.... good luck buddy .. may phoenix fly high soon....

[toiingg]

Woo hoo!

Thats great news Abhi, finally all that hard work and perseverance paid off.

[razor4077]

Been a looooong time since I updated this thread, so here goes...
Car's back in running condition now. Got the suspension issues sorted out and the engine leaks fixed (was being caused by a leaky head gasket).
Car's handling pretty nicely now, though I haven't got the balancing/alignment done yet. I had gone to the tyre shop a few days back for this, but they didn't have balancing weights for alloys and the alignment machine was not working properly... guy gave me an obscure reason of my car being a little too low!! In a way it was a blessing in disguise, cause I was forced to open up the front suspension again.

Performance-wise, I am not happy. Car's still very sluggish and restrained. Struggling at higher revs, slow to pick up, but pretty strong in the middle of the power band. Timing has been experimented with, and we have arrived at the best possible setting.
I am not fitting the Triphase or Fuel pressure regulator yet, because I want to get the current setup to work properly. I know a 4G15 is not a performance engine, but it can do much better than this.
I have checked the basics - injectors, throttle body, air & fuel filters, timing, tappets.
Is there anything else that I can have checked? Any suggestions welcome.

[Ricky_63]

How many kms have you clocked after the overhaul ?? I have clocked 2400 kms post overhaul & my engine seems to be silky smooth with a serious surge after 3k rpm range right upto 6500 - 7000 rpm.

I suggest let another mechanic try tuning it -sometimes it may just do the trick. Another point which I'd like to make is - you are right this is no race engine, I really doubt if a tri-phase / fuel pressure regulator will "really" give you the "feel" that you are looking for.

Just run in the engine & then change your driving style to suit the power band of the car, that is what I do. My style of driving the Skoda is totally different than driving the Lancer or the Accent CRDi.. :-)

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[viper]

Abhishek,

You need to do some more running in to free the engine as it is still restricted. You were running in on totally of the mark timing earlier. I think a nice long highway run of 200-300 kms should do it. Then recheck timings and check. Should solve the issue.

Viper

[razor4077]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

How many kms have you clocked after the overhaul ?? I have clocked 2400 kms post overhaul & my engine seems to be silky smooth with a serious surge after 3k rpm range right upto 6500 - 7000 rpm.

2000+ kms. Engine isn't silky smooth, and I cannot rev beyond 6000 RPM. Beyond around 5.5k the rev counter almost crawls and the car seems to be stuck until I shift up a gear. So redlining doesn't get me anywhere.

I suggest let another mechanic try tuning it -sometimes it may just do the trick. Another point which I'd like to make is - you are right this is no race engine, I really doubt if a tri-phase / fuel pressure regulator will "really" give you the "feel" that you are looking for.

I don't think much more can be done to the engine from a "tuning" perspective. When you say tuning, I assume you are referring to the timing aspects... not much more that you can tune. We've pretty much covered the bases on this front.

Dunno about the Triphase, but as far as the FPR is concerned, this is what influenced my decision to get one:
"Fitment of the Fuel Pressure Regulator kit eliminates this flat spot, whilst only marginally reducing your fuel economy. Without going into huge detail, trust us when we say, flat spots are eliminated, your car will actually accelerate properly without hesitating..."

Source: RPW Australia (possibly the best tuners of Mitsubishi cars globally)
(Racing Performance Works - VPMG - CE Mirage/Lancer 4G15 SOHC 12v Vehicle Performance Modification Guide)

Just run in the engine & then change your driving style to suit the power band of the car, that is what I do. My style of driving the Skoda is totally different than driving the Lancer or the Accent CRDi.. :-)

I already do this, but at the moment there isn't much of a power band to play with

Originally Posted by viper

You need to do some more running in to free the engine as it is still restricted. You were running in on totally of the mark timing earlier. I think a nice long highway run of 200-300 kms should do it. Then recheck timings and check. Should solve the issue.

I do have such an outing planned. Haven't been able to do any long highway runs yet because of the lack of reliability.
Hope this solves it...

[Ricky_63]

@ Razor

The RPW website is a great link. Thanks for enlightening me Ok so the fuel pressure regulator seems to make sense according to the RPW guys. Maybe I should also order one

Cheers

[razor4077]

One of my biggest problems with my car was the lack of light in the night. Eventually we found the problem - the Left-Right focussing screws on both the headlight units were kaput, and these cannot be repaired. A set of new OE Lancer headlight units would cost 11.6k plus labour! Fortunately, I came across a shop which was selling original HM parts at less than one-third their price (don't ask me how!) !! I was looking for a catch, but there wasn't one. The units were new, and manufactured by Depo, OE suppliers to HM/Mitsubishi. So I got myself a new set of headlights for 3200 bucks. I had eliminated the angel eye units from the equation - they are reportedly not reliable, reflectors are not the best, and they cost 15k!!

I also got 90/100 Philips Rally bulbs, but couldn't get the relay and ceramic holders, so couldn't fit these. In any case, this gave me a chance to test the Philips Xtreme Power (+80) bulbs I had bought. Went for a test drive sometime back, and the difference is huge! I can actually see the road ahead Need some more time and unlit stretches of road to evaluate the lights.

Also took this opportunity to fit the ORVM mounted LED indicators. They look pretty neat, and are pretty important for me, because the indicators up front are blackened and not very effective!

Pics:

New ES Depo headlight units:


Old lights removed:


One of the old units next to an indicator (blackened):


One of the new units fitted:


Phoenix with new eyes (also note the LED indicators on the ORVMs):

[toiingg]

Where'd you get these fitted and aligned ? I want to get my lights aimed properly. Currently my high beams point to the birds nest and catch quite a few of them in the act.
Lol.