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SVT 3.0L Dyno Mishap

dairdevyld

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
980
Location
Bristol/Waterbury/New Britain, CT
Alright well I highly anticipated getting on the dyno this fall after my swap. Thanks to greg (aircougar) my car felt awesome. The biggest improvement was the torquey feeling accompanied with the LSD. However once I got on the rollers and I pretty much was very dissapointed. Below is a list of mods I have done and as well as my dyno video. I'd love to get some feedback on what could be my problem, especially from the veteran CEG'ers.

3.0L from 03 Mercury Sable
Basically a hybrid setup with SVT UIM/LIM/cams but ported 3.0L heads
MSDS headers
2 1/2 inch flowmaster catback exhaust
Ford racing wires
Crank Dampener
Optimized throttle body



Hp 154 max and 184 max tq

I pulled this four or five times numerous times. The hp would start off promising and sort of fall off after 3800 rpms. The secondaries opened fine. I can't upload the graph unless I scan it than post it that way which I'll do in a few days. I was just curious what people thought about the results. I'm sure they are low and after talking to a number of other NECEG'ers I've come to the conclusion that the problem is my cat. I'm still on the stock cat and if it's clogged it could be causing the low hp especially once the secondaries open up. Also the curve is really rough which I think might have something to do with the plugs. I have a new high flow cat which will be going on next week and also a set of new plugs which will be going in. Hopefully this might give me better numbers when I jump back on the dyno on the 22nd. If not it'd be great to have some other ideas. I'll try to post the actual graph within the next few days.
 
your right about the hp being low..tq is around were it should be..maybe 10~ftlbs or so short. but hp is down huge...stock svt's put more than that down. do you have a tune at all? what octane gas were you running? the graph would help alot to see what was going on
..also,did the dyno in 3rd? iirc it should be done in fourth.
 
Looks like untuned #'s! What type of tune do you have if any?

Untuned numbers? :confused: Untuned 3L's still make more power than that :shrug:

To the OP, a graph would be nice. Also what did your air fuel reading look like if they took one? If it started to fall off at higher rpms it could be something like a cat as you suggested. It could even be a fuel related problem like a weak fuel pump or clogged fuel filter.

That description you had was crying out closed secondaries until you said they were opening... Are you sure they're opening? As in all of the linkages are attached properly and everything's moving? Sometimes those little white clips fall out and the linkage doesn't stay on the LIM bracket.
 
Yeah I'm pretty positive the secondaries are opening. I actually did two pulls in fourth gear so I'm pretty sure thats not what caused the low numbers. I'm gonna post the dyno on thursday so you guys can make a better judgment. I didn't get a chance to do air/fuel though. When I get on on the 22nd I'll be sure to have that done even if I am pulling better numbers with the new hogh flow cat and new plugs.
 
some untuned 3L might possibly make better #'s but most don't. The OP doesn't have AF ratios or has he confirmed that it is tuned or not. It looks like its untuned. I can post my untuned dyno chart if you like.
 
I'm untuned on a stock SVT computer. I would like to see your untuned graph though OB1. I have seen significantly higher dynos from straight swaps untuned running far less bolt-ons than I have. I expected to at least break 190whp and 185 tq.
 
It definitely does not have anything to do with the tune. Many untuned 3L's pull decent numbers with no trouble at all.

My untuned 3L with no mods except the 3L block itself, and stock intake and exhaust made 184 whp.
 
dynochart01.jpg


I don't know but here is mine if you take a look at the AF you see the reason the #'s were a little jacked up. Meh, what you are describing does sound like your secondaries aren't working but thats just a visual confirmation, look & see!
 
some untuned 3L might possibly make better #'s but most don't. The OP doesn't have AF ratios or has he confirmed that it is tuned or not. It looks like its untuned. I can post my untuned dyno chart if you like.

My 2.5 pulled better HP than that stock (definately not better tq) untuned or not plenty of 3L's put down better numbers without a tune that I think its safe to agree with everyone else that something is wrong.
 
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i cant tell from that video but if the wheels are not directly on the top of the rollers it can show different numbers than what it really is making. i cant remember off hand but i believe if your too far back it will show more torque and less power and too far forward will show more HP and less torque (i could have those backwards).
 
i cant tell from that video but if the wheels are not directly on the top of the rollers it can show different numbers than what it really is making. i cant remember off hand but i believe if your too far back it will show more torque and less power and too far forward will show more HP and less torque (i could have those backwards).


never head of this before ...
 
did you check the bushings on the secondaries? mine fell off and only the rear was there. so at a glance, it looked like "they" were opening, when in reality, only one was. i figured it out after about two days of thinking.... man, its lost power.
 
Dave, was this at bristol dyno? If it is, you can access your dyno plots from their site:

http://www.bristoldyno.com/vehicles/Ford/Contour/

and view them with this:
http://www.bristoldyno.com/programs/RunViewer7.0.1.0.zip

Although I'm looking at your dynos from Nov 27, 2007, and max tq looks to be about 175, which doesn't correlate with your 184 :shrug:

I'd post a pic of the dyno for you, but since I don't know if it's the same one, I'll wait.

yes it was, you can tell by the purple strip on the wall ...
 
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