A few turbo questions....

[chris3385]

I want to turbo my 3.4L grand am gt, it is a 2002. I was thinking about this kit http://www.donkeypunchperformance.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=67&products_id=204

What else will I need to do? Will the tranny hold up if I'm easy on it? and will the stock axles handle the power?

[dballz]

my question is how??? how are you going tro be "easy" on your tranny once your boosted??

[chris3385]

I meant easy on the throttle, like not being hard on the gas all the time, no launches etc.

[97mintga]

why don't you just supercharge it and beat the piss out of it

[TheNewLMHDesign]

There honestly is no point in getting a turbo if your not gonna use it.

[dballz]

I dont know of anyone who is easy on a boosted car. Maybe you would be for the first couple of rides, but after that i dont think so.

[chris3385]

I am going to my daily driving it, so I can't really afford the gas to be hard on it all the time. I just want the power there for when I need it or want it, how long will the tranny hold up at 10psi daily driving? Will the motor need a rebuild?? 80k miles?

[praasch]

IIRC, for that kit, they say only to run the stage 2 (which i think is 5 psi intercooled) on stock internals....so going up to 10 psi will most likely require more motor work....but i could be wrong...

[Bjornboy81]

Originally posted by chris3385
I am going to my daily driving it, so I can't really afford the gas to be hard on it all the time. I just want the power there for when I need it or want it, how long will the tranny hold up at 10psi daily driving? Will the motor need a rebuild?? 80k miles? If you don't want the power all the time, can't afford the gas, and don't want problems with the tranny...don't get blown. Get nitrous...instant boost only when you need it...and a lot cheaper.

[99blackSE]

Turbo is gonna be a lot easier on the tranny than a supecharger will...
regardless both will drop it dead in a few months anyways....
Either have to do what Schweppe or Todd did or theres always the custom fit of a 4T60-E

[Bjornboy81]

how is a turbo any easier on a tranny then a supercharger???

[DontPassTheFence]

turbo does not provide constant boost, unless its a VERY tiny turbine with the wastegate set verrrry low so it spools fully or damn close at idle... while a supercharger is constantly compressing the air, IIRC it does provide boost at idle.

[NaturalKonc3pt]

I have a custom turbo setup that i did on my 3100 and so far it seems fine. I'm running 7psi with a front mount intercooler. as far as the tranny goes it should be ok. i know a guy who ran 5psi and 50 shot of NOS for two years and it finally developed a minor slip. but 10psi is pushin it. your internals will be taken care of for the most part when you get that kit other than your gaskets. i know that just running with my 7psi i've developed a small leak from the intake manifold gasket, so at 10psi you can imagine that the gaskets will be under much more stress. overall i think a turbocharger on your 3400 would be fun, safe, and pretty fuel effecient when your not pushin it cuz it actually improves gas mileage on the freeway when your not flooring it. so coming from someone who has actually turboed a 3100 similar to your 3400 i would say i think your ok, but maybe go for less psi, i'm running 7psi and i can beat a Camero Z28

[loud2kse]

s/c does not produce boost at idle. On a centrifugal (RSM/vortech) the Blow-off valve is open at idle. On a twin screw (eaton/magnuson) the bypass valve is open at idle. they must be closed to produce boost.

btw I've been boosted for about 6 months with no problems to speak of. of course this is on an LD9 and a different tranny than you 3400's have. But don't forget they made an eaton blower for the 3400 that gives like 10psi, and theres a number of people running it just fine.

[DontPassTheFence]

ah, then i am wrong, yet still I think a turbo would be better for a 'daily driver' if you will. Just remember to slap a front mount intercooler on there if you decide to go with more than 7psi.

[loud2kse]

thing is if it's 10psi non intercooled, it's gonna drop right back down to 7psi when you intercool it. "slapping" on an intercooler is a lot easier said than done too lol

[NaturalKonc3pt]

you wont loose boost just cuz its not intercooled it just wont be as effeicient the purpose of an intercooler is so that the air becomes colder and more condensed cold air makes horsepower not boost. i'm running 7psi turbocharged and i'm running an intercooler, i would recommend no matter what psi you run to use an intercooler just to make it more effecient. i'm running a TD04L turbo and it is small enough that it spools at about 2800 RPM creating about 4 psi about 3500 RPM i'm running 7psi

[loud2kse]

I'm just saying that an intercooler drops pressure.

If you run without an intercooler, the 7 psi you're getting will jump to about 10. An intercooler makes your psi go down, but compensates by cooling the air charge, which makes more power..

[DontPassTheFence]

i just figured if he 'wants to take it easy' making the turbo less efficient and less powerful would most likely be the way to go. But sooner or later he'd probably be fed up with a weak turbo, then would most likely up the psi, and start tuning for power. You really dont need to run an intercooler until you start getting serious about testing and tuning a turbo setup. (plus front mount intercoolers arent all that cheap when you add in charge pipe and all the custom fabrication you have to do)

[germ]

let me clear up some things here, since i am the maker of the mentioned kit above...


if an intercooler drops your boost by 3 psi, you have a shitty intercooler. an GOOD intercooler has less than 1 psi drop.

another thing is that if you hook up the wastegate, bov, and boost gauge AT the manifold, then you will ALWAYS see the same amount of boost, intercooled or not because the wastegate only opens at a set psi level, and if you use the upper intake as the boost/vac source, its always going to open up when the intake mani is at that set psi, never before, never after (unless you have a shitty junkyard wastegate)

as for the tranny, as long as you dont treat every stop sign and stop light as a drag race, you should be fine for a while on a stock tranny.

and IMO, a turbo is a heck of a lot better on the tranny than a S/C or N2O, for the simple fact that the turbo "builds up" power, where as a S/C and N2O is almost instant power which is what breaks parts.

[loud2kse]

you're right about the 3 psi drop. only a shitty IC would have that much of a drop. Mines only about 1-2 depending on the weather it seems like. My IC os from JRC, and they're known for top notch intercoolers

[germ]

JRC intercoolers are ok, better than most stock intercoolers, i have recomended them to a few people and they are quite happy with them.

however, for as cheap as you can find IC's now, i prefer to go with other manufacture that offers larger units. the JRC units are not really that good for 300+ hp since they are on the "small" side and i dont think they make any IC over 8" tall.

[loud2kse]

mines 30x6x2 pics in my cardomain. Works pretty well, but I've been thinking about ditching it for an injection kit setup...

[Cronk152]

What do S/C'd people usually do to beef up there trannys?
And can you move to Manual because that would be sweet.





Probably should be seaching this, but since your all here

[germ]

tranny upgrades would be the same for a turbo'd car or an s/c'd car. there is nothing different about "building" a tranny.

and yes, you could switch to a manual, but its not easy, cheap, or fun. but its possible with enough money, determination, and skill.

[NaturalKonc3pt]

my intercooler has a .5psi drop rating, so say i dropped th intercooler i would run a full 7psi that the wastegate is set too, but since i didnt drop it and my intercooler doesnt really loose much more than maybe .25psi i'm running about 6.75psi

[Cronk152]

Originally posted by Cronk152
What do S/C'd people usually do to beef up there trannys?



What do they do? Not what is the difference, I figured that out already.

And what cars can you get manual transmissions from, and how hard is it. Honestly.





Wow that came out all PMS'y, It shouldn't be. Pretend a clown is saying it.

[germ]

lol, basically, for a built tranny, you would need some better clutches, coated steels and bands, hardened shafts, and a metal acuumulator.


as for the manual swap, its not easy, you can get the tranny from older grand ams. im sure there are more in depth threads about this on here. i dont know exactly what it would be for a grand am.

[Cronk152]

Approx. cost? please specify currancy.

[germ]

built auto tranny would cost around $2000-3000

a manual swap, without building it up, maybe $2000 with a nice clutch

[SCGA1]

I found the first thing you need to help the tranny is install a tranny cooler. I blew the first tranny, but since installing the cooler on the newer one I have had no problems. Over 2 years and almost 30K miles on this tranny.:)

[DontPassTheFence]

the turbo doesnt create instant boost, and it usually creates more horsepower than torque, so it puts more strain on the engine, rather then the transmission. but yea either way forced induction is added stress on all of your drivetrain

or atleast thats what i assume from reading articles and seeing people destroy their cars.

[Cronk152]

Originally posted by SCGA1
I found the first thing you need to help the tranny is install a tranny cooler. I blew the first tranny, but since installing the cooler on the newer one I have had no problems. Over 2 years and almost 30K miles on this tranny.:)

Is your new one stock?