# did i blow my engine up? melt it? run lean? glowing cat? vr6 turbo help. plug questions



## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

i have a mk2 jetta with a vr6 turbo, je low comp 8:5:1 pistons 2.9 bore, factory head, stage 5 competiton clutch, fidanza 5.5 flywheel, turbonetics 60-1, atp manifold, tial 38mm wastegate, greddy bov/recirc, ebay FMIC, greddy pro fec b electronic boost controller, ford coil swap, factory injectors, c2 maf housing, obd2, autolite 3923 copper 1.98$ plugs

ran great, no misfires

was running obd1 then i swapped it to obd2 to put the c2 maf housing in, and a "42lb tune" (which was fake i believe)

with 440 green top's the car hardly idle'd didn't rev without falling allover itself so i put the factory injectors in and was going to run low psi (9)

last summer i had denso iridum ix plugs and it ran great naturally aspirated then i put the turbo in and it didn't go above 4100rpm's without choking so i changed the plugs to autolite 3923 coppers and gapped them at .35

car was not idling right so i took them out and they were a dry black

put them in and drove it then went out this morning and the car went for 2 miles and started dying on me, a little smoke came out from under the hood and i stopped with my fire extinguisher in hand and there was no fire, so let it cool as i went over everything. started it and chuged back home 2 miles popping, smoke coming from my shifter, missing, hardly reving. stopped at home and there was smoke! so i looked under the car as there was smoke coming from the shifter and i seen the cat glowing red! cherry red.

this was at 9psi, i didn't beat the car at all this morning

i have a total of under 100 miles on the car since the build

did a compression test and 180 across all 6

put the iridum plugs back in, cut the cat off and put the maf on the throttle body " natural aspiration simulation" and the car ran great.

yes don't say you need one, but i don't have a wideband o2 hooked up, the gauge is in the center with power to it but i don't know how to hook up this box that i have to the sensor.

PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!! any input will be appreciated 


my main questions are what should the gap be?

how do i hook up the rear o2?

where does the wideband go? by the turbo? or at the bottom of the downpipe before the cat?

should i run a cat? this one is shot and burnt and clogged. it was a brand new magnaflow high flow unit. i cut it off

here is a pic of my wideband controler "i didn't build this it was in my friends car"











here's a pic during the build


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## kevhayward (Mar 13, 2007)

If the Cat was glowing red and the manifold / turbine housing weren't, that suggests wild over fuelling to me. Black spark plugs is another clue to that.

Wideband goes after the turbo and before the cat.


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## TIGninja (Mar 21, 2010)

Poor motor never had a chance.


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## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

how could it be over fueled if it was 9psi on factory injectors?


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## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

kevhayward said:


> If the Cat was glowing red and the manifold / turbine housing weren't, that suggests wild over fuelling to me. Black spark plugs is another clue to that.
> 
> Wideband goes after the turbo and before the cat.


so about 6 inches from the turbo in the down pipe? or near factory spot by the cat?

should i run a cat?


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## TIGninja (Mar 21, 2010)

You had to rebuild the motor in the first place because you blew it up.

If you put a larger MAF on a stock motor its going to run lean. If you add any boost then its a recipe for melted pistons which is what you did (probably twice). You need to fix the problem here before you try to drive this car again.


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## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

TIGninja said:


> You had to rebuild the motor in the first place because you blew it up.
> 
> If you put a larger MAF on a stock motor its going to run lean. If you add any boost then its a recipe for melted pistons which is what you did (probably twice). You need to fix the problem here before you try to drive this car again.


i never blew it up, my roomate spun a rod bearing. so i inherited all of these goodies. with zero knowledge and vortex keyboard in hand specialists to guide me to my car's current death


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## sp_golf (Nov 28, 2007)

Could be your cat was so clogged that the motor couldn't breathe. The crank case pressure is sky high when that happens and your motor started breathing thru the PCV. Is your PCV system open? If not are there any holes in the PCV piping?
Have you tried running the car without the cat and with proper software? You may have gotten lucky and not done too much damage.


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## WannabeVWguy (Sep 22, 2002)

Questions you need to answer

Was everything wired correctly when you swapped to OBD2?

Are your vacuum lines all hooked up correctly?

Have you tried the plugs that are recommend by C2 for use with their software?

Get PROPER software from C2 if you think your current software isnt correct for the 42lbs injectors


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## TBT-Syncro (Apr 28, 2001)

kevhayward said:


> If the Cat was glowing red and the manifold / turbine housing weren't, that suggests wild over fuelling to me. Black spark plugs is another clue to that.
> 
> Wideband goes after the turbo and before the cat.


i'd say more likely lean. EGTs will climb fast due to timing or being lean, but slowly due to being rich.

the fact that it doesnt have proper software or injectors would tell me its leaning out as well.

i'm going to throw $1 in to the - motor is blown, pool.

:beer:


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## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

TBT-Syncro said:


> i'd say more likely lean. EGTs will climb fast due to timing or being lean, but slowly due to being rich.
> 
> the fact that it doesnt have proper software or injectors would tell me its leaning out as well.
> 
> ...


my motor is blown...............by a 60-1

if you read anything above, you would have seen 180 compression across all 6. and it runs fine. the cat was just clogged and the tune was bad.


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## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

sp_golf said:


> Could be your cat was so clogged that the motor couldn't breathe. The crank case pressure is sky high when that happens and your motor started breathing thru the PCV. Is your PCV system open? If not are there any holes in the PCV piping?
> Have you tried running the car without the cat and with proper software? You may have gotten lucky and not done too much damage.



just to clear it up, i took the cat off, changed the plugs and it starts and revs fine. now i have to wait for my tune to get here. untill then it sits.


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## KubotaPowered (Jan 27, 2005)

You ran 9 psi on stock injectors? Brave, very brave. AFRs were lean and caused the heat. Absolutely do not drive it until the proper injectors and tune are installed


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## oilpangasket (Dec 5, 2007)

I would buy an actual wideband. I don't know what that wideband stuff is you have but either get it hooked up or buy a new wideband with directions.


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## kevhayward (Mar 13, 2007)

16V VW said:


> so about 6 inches from the turbo in the down pipe? or near factory spot by the cat?
> 
> should i run a cat?


Mine's mounted about 18" from the turbo.

You can run a cat if you like. I've been using a 3" ATP cat for ages without any problems. Factory turbo cars run cats, so there's no reason why a VRT can't. Just make sure it has enough flow for the job.


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## 16V VW (Aug 1, 2004)

this was a magnaflow 2.5" high flow cat, im going to see if i can get it warrentied, im just waiting for the c2 chip


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## kevhayward (Mar 13, 2007)

I used this one - http://www.gt3turbo.com/Merchant/product.php?productid=465&cat=0&page=2

Cheap enough to replace once a year if need be, but mine still isn't blocked after 3 years daily use.


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## Jettin2Class (Jun 26, 2002)

I use a Magnaflow 3" high-flow cat. I pulled it off after a couple years of use and you wouldn't know it. All the honeycomb still looked new.

Proper fueling and tune work wonders.


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## Prof315 (Jan 5, 2009)

oilpangasket said:


> I would buy an actual wideband. I don't know what that wideband stuff is you have but either get it hooked up or buy a new wideband with directions.


I agree especially since whatever you are running is NOT a wideband O2 sensor. Widebands have 5 to 7wires coming out of them


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