Matt Danger's B5 S4 Owner Log

I have discussed off-brand connecting rods with several people in the B5 S4 community and many believe all H-beam rods come from the same Chinese source that supplies IE, VAST, Rosten and a few other companies. I found one source, Racing Parts Maximum (RPM), that sells these rods for $390 shipped with ARP 2000 bolts. I ordered them last week and yesterday they arrived from California.

A visual inspection shows these rods are very similar, if not the same. We will see how they work out in the engine. If they fail, oh well.

The rods came with a calibration sheet from RPM that included crankshaft and pin end weights. I will be rebalancing them myself to verify.

The RPM rods also come with ARP 2000 bolts. These bolts cost $140 if sourced independently so it is a big savings to have them included. There has been some speculation on the forums that these bolts were Chinese fakes but they have ARP markings and appear to be quality. A rep from ARP confirmed they were authentic.

I weighed two of the rods (without bolts). They were 522 grams and 523 grams.

This post has some comparison rod weights:

• Stock 2.7T rod/no rod bolt: 529 grams
• Pauter standard 2.7L rod/no rod bolts: 530 grams
• VAST standard 2.7L H-beam rods/no rod bolts: 515 grams
• VAST custom 3.0L stroker H-beam rod/no rod bolts: 479 grams
• Rosten Connection Rods/no rod bolt: 542 grams
• IE Connection Rods/no rod bolt: 555 grams

So far, so good. I’ll post more info after they’re balanced and installed.

Yep.

Nothing to really brag about but I tried to hit 11s all last year on my heavy 18″ avus wheels and bad trans so I was happy to finally get my goal last night. I will make a few changes and head back on the 24th w/ bracketracer and see if I can improve.

Current setup:
PJ K04s
Self tuned on e85, 23psi spike to 22. Tune is evolving as I learn.
RS4 83mm MAF housing, airbox and accordion
Deka 60lb injectors @ 4 bar, about out of injector and will need to upgrade soon
Walboro 255 (probably also pushing it)
ER intercoolers
DevilsOwn injection using windshield washer fluid
AWE DPs, no cats, Milltek single 3″
Rebuilt 01E trans w/ JHM shift linkage/bushing/Nuespeed shifter
034 motor mounts (1 torn), Stern tranny, Apikol rear diff, snub, DTS w/ GM mount
18lb Volk TE37 w/ Pilots
No weight reduction other than an empty trunk (no spare) and 1/4 tank of fuel

Also, Sunday there was a local dyno day. Mustang AWD. Shop owners and locals say it reads low, but everyone says that about their dyno so IDK. It was like 90* out. I put down 400whp / 413 wtq (ok, 399, but the monitor said 401 at first!!)

Logs from the ride home last night. I’m still learning/working on the tune. I think my MAF scaling is off. Thanks to NOTORIOUS VR and judeisnotobscure for giving me some tips on my file.

Almost 2 years ago I had a minor front end accident. At the time I repaired the mechanic bits and put bandaid stickers over the dented body work.

That was “good enough” for then and the bandaids got a bunch of laughs. But I’d grown tired of a haggard car.

My friend owned a silver S4 that was rear ended and available for parts, so I pulled the front end off.

Hood transplant

Freshened up for the cruise to Great Lakes GTG a few weeks ago (ignore Casey). Also, new wheels (pictures soon).

So that took care of the front end. The rear end also needed some attention. The rear bumper & 1/4 panel needed a respray and the trunk had some rust coming through around the license plate frame & lights. Off to paint:

Finished pics coming soon!

It was bound to happen.. my 1-2 shift collar locked up at the track in October. The early 01E transmissions have a 1st/2nd gear shift collar tolerance that is too tight. If any burring or wear develops in the collar it will not slide smoothly. In addition, the stock brass synchronizers wear down prematurely and need to be replaced. I bought a rebuild kit from Scott @ Advanced Automotion. He took good care of me and helped me through any questions I had. I also sent him the center differential to modify to have a 4:1 rear bias. To make the rebuild easier I ordered a instructional DVD from JHM. This DVD was very helpful, without it the rebuild would have been a lot more confusing and stressful.

If you want to tackle this job you’ll need a few basic mechanics tools and some more specific tools like a gear puller, hydraulic press, c-clip and snap ring pliers and various little picks and things.

I borrowed a used core trans from a friend to reduce down time. This one was also in need of a rebuild. I used a pair of vice grips to shift through the gears. 1 and 2 were impossible to engage.

I popped off the tail housing and pulled out the center diff, and reached inside and pulled out the debris magnets.

They had some metal on them, but nothing abnormal.

Pulled the shift level out.

To remove the tail housing a bolt on the end of the input shaft had to be removed. To do this, I had to engage two gears at once to prevent the input shaft from spinning. The input shaft bolt is on quite tight and since I was working alone I had to strap the trans to the bench to keep it from rotating.

Once the bolt was out I had to pull the housing off from the input shaft. Undid the case bolts first. There is a bearing race that is pressed onto the shaft and holds the housing. I used a gear puller, though a modified steering wheel puller like that one used by JHM in their rebuild video would have worked better. I would tighten the gear puller a little, then pry between the case, then tighten the puller, then pry a little more, etc.

Then off came the 5th and 6th gears.

Then popped off the center housing & the gear sets. I installed a worm clamp on the end of the main shaft to prevent the front diff shaft from balling out and the bearings falling all over the place.

Here’s the center casing partially disassembled. Reverse and the input shaft have been removed, along with the shift forks and front diff shaft. I also painted the case.

After this I didn’t take many pictures. The remaining process involved pressing the gears off from the input and main shafts and reinstalling them with new synchronizers and 1-2 shift collar. That part was straight forward and went very quickly.

Reassembly was basically the opposite of removal. Some bearings & guides were heated and hammered on. I spent about 12 hours over the course of 3 weekends with the whole thing. I’m sure I could do another in a day or two.

The transmission has been completed for a few months waiting for the right time to install it. Hopefully soon!

I’ve been doing some bench flashing to get myself used to the flashing tools and the process in general. Pretty simple, here’s how I did it:

What you need:

• ECU
• DC power supply
• Flashing cable (Ebay, Galleto, etc)
• Multimeter
• Small gator clips
• Wire
• Small gauge connectors

Set up your DC power source. I have a $17 Pyramid PS-3KX that does 13.8v. I tried using an ATX (computer) power supply (12v) but it would shutdown after a minute or so of powering the ECU and harness. Not sure if I was overloading the power supply or if it was because the power supply was 10 years old.

The wiring is simple. Power the ECU and power the cable. Then connect one K-line wire between the two.

ECU pins:

• Pin 1 -> Ground
• Pin 2 -> Ground (can be shared/connected with pin 1)
• Pin 3 -> 12v
• Pin 43 -> K-line on your ODB cable (Pin 7)
• Pin 62 -> 12v

ODBII cable pins

• Pin 4 -> Ground
• Pin 7 -> K-line on ECU (Pin 43)
• Pin 16 -> 12v

 

ECU pinout reference

ODB pinout reference. NOTE: The ODB pin out on Ross Tech is from the vehicle side. The pins on your cable will be reversed.

The car got a few new parts over the past 3 weekends. WOTBox, ER intercoolers, new charge pipes and a larger fuel pump.

A few weeks ago I installed my WOTBox. It’s a hardware based 2-step launch control.

It wires into the clutch & accelerator pedal and cuts the ignition at a predetermined RPM when you have both pedals to the floor. The install was very easy and the color instructions that N2MB includes are wonderful! I haven’t been able to get the thing to work correctly though.. When it’s set up it incorrectly cuts the ignition when the clutch pedal is out. But I think I’m setting it wrong. I learned last night that there’s a secondary rev limiter “hidden” in Motronic that you can enable. I’m trying to find out more about it and see if it’ll build as much boost as the WOTbox.

Next up was the replacement charge pipes. The first set of charge pipes I was sent didn’t fit well at all. I think they were meant for another car. At first I couldn’t get a lot of sympathy about the poor fitment. A few months later I saw some install photos of the pipes on another person’s car and could tell an obvious difference. So I emailed photos of my pipes and the fitment to the actual guy who fabricated them at Vast. He immediately shipped me a replacement set.

Old pipes, the meth nozzle rubbed right into the timing cover.

New pipes. They fit sooooo much better.

At the same time I was installing the charge pipes I also installed the larger ER intercoolers. The install was annoying and I ended up cutting more than I probably needed to. They fit alright, better than the RS4s. It was still tight on the passenger side with the AC condenser very close behind.

I ran some intake temp logs last night and it showed a measurable improvement.

The old RS4 intercoolers + meth dipped to ~15* above ambient and rose to ~30*

The new ER intercoolers + meth stay a little flatter. They dip to ~5* above ambient and rise to 15*.

So an improvement of 15* up top. Not bad, I guess. Not really worth the $$ I spent on the ICs but I might spend some time revising my “custom” shroud setup.

Finally, the most recent install was a Walboro 255lph pumpthat I did Saturday @ Chris’ bonanza. Between the heat, my allergies and the gasoline everywhere it was a pretty miserable task. I didn’t tighten the top lid down enough and it leaked all over the place on the way home, so I spent some time Sunday making sure everything was tight. The good news is I have enough fuel now.

Pink is before on the stock fuel pump. Too lean.
Red is the Walboro. Getting better.

Today I went to my friend’s house and installed my WOTBox 2-step launch control. The instructions are awesome! Full color photos and very detailed and specific instructions. It was pretty easy to set the stall RPM, but after I set it I went out for a drive and found that the box was cutting the ignition even when the clutch was out and preventing me from accelerating past the specific RPM. So I disabled the box until I could figure it out later.

Afterwards I wanted to track down an exhaust rattle I’ve been hearing since I put the car back together 3 months ago. I couldn’t find anything loose. It sounded like the source of the noise was the turbo itself, so I used a long extension and placed on end on the turbo and one end against my ear. Sure enough I could hear a metal on metal rattle. The wastegate flapper on the passenger side turbo was loose.

I put the car up on jackstands and crawled under. Fortunately the passenger side wastegate actuator bolts were kind of accessible. A few small turns of the adjuster nuts tightened up the wastegate. No more rattle.

As an added bonus, the adjusted wastegate actuator seems to have greatly improved my part throttle boost oscillation!

I went down to Empire Raceway tonight with my buddy Brendan and his MK3 GTI with a cammed VR6. I spent all night messing around with different launching techniques, tire pressures, and shift points but I couldn’t get anything solid. My best time was a 12.4 @ 116 mph, with a 1.8 something 60 foot. I kept hitting the 1st gear rev limiter. It was frustrating. I dropped my tire pressure to 25 psi all around right before my last run and it seemed to help me get a decent launch. I’ve ordered a WOTBox and hopefully it will help me get the launches even lower.