TOPIC: 2007 Buick Rendezvous 3.5litre V6

So I finally got to the back bank of plugs.
Installed the Torquemaster plugs, all wires are now Granatelli and I did the low-speed component of the re-learn drive to fill the tank at my usual spot. Lucky timing for me: this past week I've been treating Wendy to ethanol-free premium, and when I got to the station, that's all they had, and they were pumping it for the price of regular. Fill it up!!! From there, I took her for 15 miles on the highway before I headed home to clean up for a dinner. A quick shower and then back on the highway for the 65 miles to Toronto.

The whole way there and back, my dash readout for instantaneous mileage was fluctuating 5.8 and 6.3 L/100km. That's high30s-low 40s mpg on the highway. Midsize car mileage. A new record.

And she's still learning!!!!

I'm going to run into the reserve on the tank (around 2-3 gallons from empty) and report back on how many miles I make. I'm thinking I'll hit 500, what I've been aiming for when I started, on15 gallons (tank holds 18), combined city and highway.

After that it's a MAP sensor replacement, and the nanocoils. And then the upper groove and a proper throttle plate shaping.
50 MPG, here I come!!!

good for you and Wendy, Greg!

Ignition improvements really work. And, it's going to be interesting to see how the nano-coated copper coils work...

Tracy G

There is no substitute for doing the WHOLE job!

Ron
Gadgetman

For anyone still following along on this, I've recently added a MAP Enhancer circuit to Wendy with more positive results: more distance out of the tank (or higher MPG, however you choose to look at it).
George Wiseman gives a pretty good rundown on it on his site (use his search function for MAP enhancer), and what he says about using a 10-turn Potentiometer is spot on for fine tuning it. So far I'm seeing about 15% above my established post-Groove and Ignition upgrade mileage benchmarks, and I'm hoping for at least 15% more once I've got the EFIE on my o2 sensor. Every little bit helps.

Here's a link to help you think your way thru it (and into other things, possibly, as well...):
AutoSpeed - Technology, Efficiency, Performance

speaking of other things, I've long since wanted to have a plasma ignition on this truck, and I think I may have it figured out. This video gave me the clue:

In a car with Waste spark ignition (with coil pack, usually), you need a diode from each secondary (the +ve of the two towers) to each primary. and you need a capacitor across each primary, and if you want to get REALLY sexy, you could put a bunch of HV capacitors across the secondaries...
but do your research into capacitors etc, and make sure your vehicle grounds are solid.

Again, once I've done it, I'll report back.

Stay tuned, groovers!

Greg, how about you do a little write-up on adding Plasma? I, for one, would like to see more!

Ron

Like I said, Once I've done it, I'll report back, but the basics are in that video.

If you've read Aaron's book, I think he's overcomplicated the waste spark aspect: rather than one coil and a CDI box with a capacitor on the primary, the computer is controlling several coils. (CDI boxes like the MSD were precursors to ECUs, right? to try to take the variability out of the distributor ignitions. computers and appropriate sensors can be much much more precise; knowing how they work and what they look for to make decisions on, we can fool them and use what they give us to get what we want...we're hacking our computers, basically, but for good). The penny dropped for me when I realized that the ECU in a modern car handles what the relay in the video is doing... but on coilpacks, there are several coils together, each with their own switch, primary and secondary, but to two plugs rather than one, like a distributor.

That's right, like many things in life, the basics haven't changed; they're now under computer "control." Figure out how they work, and you can think around 'em.

You'd need a diode (possibly 2...I've not gotten that far yet) between the primary and secondary of EACH coil, and a capacitor on EACH primary, and for the peaking capacitor effect, you could add high voltage capacitors across the secondaries of each coil to strengthen the plasma event. I've also thought about the pulsing effect the MSD box Aaron promotes, multiple spark/plasma events: it's possible a simple transistor across the primaries (triggered by what, I'm not sure) could replicate the effect.

Anyway, first off is EFIE to complete the control of fuel delivery. Once that's tuned up, then I can get to work on helping the computer with ignition.

Greg, good on you for all you've done with Wendy, and for diligently sharing it all w/ us.

Man is that short demo. video Seductive or what? That one and other similar ones got me into the Plasma stuff. But I'm no Electronics guy, so I really have to plod slowly w/it. A couple years ago Aaron Murakami did one where he showed one way to add Plasma on a coil-pack waste spark system. I'm hazy on it now, but if you do think of any further shortcuts for Plasma, I'm ALL into it! Or even if you wind up taking the longer road to implement, I'm equally interested. Same for whatever other stuff you do w/ George Wiseman. Just amazing that he landed just up the road from you...!

but then GW is Lucky too, 'cause he now has a Conservatory Grad to work with...!

Tracy G

Well, Greg, you are thinking the right way here. Understand the Principles first. I was motivated by Aaron's original method of using the inexpensive MSD CDI box, to avoid all the electronics component stitching, as much as possible. If you want a laugh at my expense, come watch me try to solder something...

but Aaron's original info download package was to use on old style dist. ignition, like Subie has. Coil pack ignition is a different configuration, needing different execution. I'll be watching w/ interest developments with Wendy, buddy!

Saving space for components always helps. Here in his youtube vid of his Plasma mod on an old Datsun pickup at the 32:21 mark, he shows a much smaller diode block. These obviously can save space and time. These small diode blocks are a fraction of the big ones I used on Subie. Those are seen a little earlier in this video. As well, in this vid, he gives good explanations re: how and why the Plasma mod works.



Tracy G

I think the way forward for me before putting it on Wendy is to prowl the local boneyards for a used coilpack and connector end of the harness, then to see if my hypothesis is true on a testbench with a 12v battery and diodes/capacitors. If I can get it to happen on the bench the way I think, then again on Wendy, I'd love to put it on EVERY car in the family and then get 'em all grooved. (I was just on Reddit and saw an article that says we're closer to an environmental point-of-no return than we realize). We need to be more proactive in spreading the word about these "new" "alternative" methods and challenge the status quo and powers that be.

(I've also put magnets on my fuel line, air intake tube and coolant line...and yeah, they work too. On my trip to Toronto earlier this week, my Instantaneous Mileage readout on the instrument cluster read around 4.4L/100km at 100km/hr...53.45MPG. I think the 85% humidity and >2000' Density altitude - Wikipedia may have had something to do with that - thin air that's mostly water)

good idea there Doktor! Bench testing w/ a coilpack does make sense. See, I knew you were smart- you got through a top conservatory. Me- well the 5th Grade was the longest nine years of my life...
Indeed, if you do find a practical method to add Plasma on the coilpack, that gives any shortcut, I will (and I'm sure others would too) really appreciate it!

Onward!

Tracy G

I've had the 'whistle' --- which sounds more high-pitch than a whistle; it's closer to hissing or squeaky brakes. It only occurs when throttle plate is open between 5 & 10 %, so I'll hear it while opening and closing ... it got so annoying to the point that I had to go back to stock TB until I am able to figure out a solution.

Fortunately and unfortunately not many people seem to have this problem, so it's hard finding any solution/reference. I wonder if it's just the design of the toyota's intake manifold. (2009, 2.4L toyo. camry).

Haven't been able to find much about it...

Since the whistle is caused by the turbulence created by The Groove, and is unpredictable as to when it's going to occur, we need a little help from those here who are experiencing it.

Here's what we're going to try. Take a piece of Duct Tape and place it over the INPUT end of the throttle body. Remove the ducting and simply put the tape across a portion of the opening. This will cause a change in the behavior of the air BEFORE The Groove, which SHOULD cause a change in the whistle.

If you try this and see ANY change in the sound, but it's still there, that's a sign you're on the right path! Then, simply try moving the tape to another location and observe the effects.