Ok. I race with a couple friends of mine and I beat them most of the time, but sometimes they will stay right with me if they get a better launch. Their mods vary just a tad, but they are pretty much right around stage 3-4 (down pipes, test pipes, cat-back, underdrive, electric fan, ECU, and intake.) My mods include down pipes, test pipes, intake, and underdrive pulley (NO ECU, Stock exhaust). So why am I beating them without an ECU and them having more mods??? My boost guage pegs 14 psi every time, and it must be accurate if I am beating them. I know I don't have a chip because I checked today. Everything runs great. I don't know what the deal is. Are my wastegates ****ed or something because as cool as it is having a faster car with less mods, I don't think its a good thing. Please enlighten me with any info guys. Thanks.

 

Why comparing cars by street racing is a CROCK: https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx-s130-forums-77/why-street-racing-crock-compare-cars-15299/

The real link: http://www.geocities.com/row4navy/streetracing.html

 

Ok, well, why you posted that is a mystery to me, but anyway, I will compare mods instead of races for you. See, My mods include down pipes, test pipes, intake, and underdrive pulley. A friend of mine has 10,000 miles on his engine/trans from the TT swap he did. He has, down pipes, test pipes, cat-back, intake, underdrive pulley, ECU, lightweight flywheel, electric fan, boost controller, and stage 3 clutch. Now, we have gone from a roll and dig. Numerous times each. Same results. My car pulls ahead. We have switched drivers so that I drove his car and he drove mine. Same results, my car pulls ahead. Now I do not have a chip, and my boost gauge is hitting 14 psi every time at around 3800-4000 RPM's, so right around the time its supposed to hit full boost. So the boost gauge should be accurate considering my car pulls and seems to be faster every time. Now, my question is, why or how am I running 14 psi with no ECU or boost jets? I have checked for both. Is my car simply magic and runs amazingly? Or is something wrong like my wastegates broke or something?

 

are you 100% sure that a P.O. might not have plumbed in a manual boost controller and you haven't seen it yet?

 

The only things I can think of are:
1) you have unknown boost jets from a previous owner (unless this is a new issue)
2) you have an unknown manual boost controller from a previous owner (maybe got adjusted on accident)
3) wastegate getting stuck shut but opening after a high amount of boost
4) your boost guage is off

If you are truly running at 14 psi without an ECU, I'd park your car. DO NOT run it if you are truly running that much boost without an ECU. You need to have your fuel system remapped in order to safely run those conditions.

 

what is your friend's boost at?

 

are you getting this from the stock boost controller on the gauge cluster? If so get a real boost controller.

 

Thanks guys. I checked for boost jets. There were none. I haven't seen a manual boost controller, but haven't really looked closely yet. I figured that someone would have an ECU in before a boost controller though. I am going by the stock boost gauge, but I figure it is accurate because I am keeping up with my friends that have more mods and are running 13-15 psi. So how do I check my wastegates for any damage or know if they are working correctly.

 

OK. I hooked up my boost gauge and I am running 12.5 to 13 psi. So I don't know weather to take it to a Dyno and figure out why I am running that much, or to just buy a chip.

 

heres a link that might give you some info about checking your wastegates. im not sure if it will help or not, but good luck

http://www.3zc.com/showthread.php?t=77477&page=2&pp=30

 

your wastegates are sticking?? not opening fully??
did you check the vacum hoses going to them?