need help on ga16dne tuning

**tuwato** · October 30th, 2009 02:26 PM

Hi! I'm pretty much a newbie in all aspects. I have a b14 with a ga16dne engine. My problem with the car is that it is lacking power specifically torque in the sense that it is comparable to a 1.3 liter engine.

I'm from baguio and there are a lots of uphill in here. There are instances where the car can't climb anymore (nabibitin) in uphills wherein a 1.4 sentra could handle well.

my noob questions

- If I have it dyno tuned, can they fix the powerband so that at least the power of the 1.6 can be restored? (I know it's just a 1.6 but can they at least make the powerband better)?

- engine settings are pretty messed up, can they tune it back to it's original state? (the distributor is adjusted to it's highest position but the timing light reading still says 15 degrees)

- If the cost of all these tuning will be very expensive. should I just buy a surplus jdm ga16de vtc? that way I will be having extra 10 horsepower as compared to the old engine? (p.s. i know that sr20's are a lot better but I just can't afford it at the moment.)

- any recommended shops that are familiar with nissan engines, reasonable pricing and can fix these problems? how much will I shell out?

- the oem aircon compressor of nissan is calsonic, but in my case (the stupid previous owner) had it changed to a denso (which according to a mechanic is for vans with dual aircon). could this have a big effect on the reduction of low end torque?

any inputs? suggestions?

TIA

**niky** · October 30th, 2009 04:33 PM

You have to follow a very specific procedure for adjusting the timing, otherwise the ECU will retard it back. 15, AFAIK, is as far as you want it to go.

Swapping for a VTC will be expensive, and will gain you little. That extra hp is rather high up in the rev range, so it won't help hill-climbing much, either.

The Denso will definitely have an effect. Changed the Calsonic on my SR20DE to a van-type Denso, also... cured my compressor clutch issues, but everytime the compressor kicked in, it felt like the car lost about 30 horsepower... :hysterical:

Does the car feel weak even with the aircon off? If not, it's your compressor. If it does, well... you can always get a set of headers (4-2-1) to help beef up your powerband. Also try cleaning out the MAF and replacing the air filter with something freer flowing. My 1.6 Sentra (with the VTC engine) kept dying when we were at Baguio... the air filter just didn't flow enough air at that altitude, for some reason.

**tuwato** · October 30th, 2009 05:30 PM

- I'll ask the help of my friend so we can tune it properly this weekend. I just hope it will solve timing issues.

- The engine upon take off still feels weak even when the aircon is of... and when I turn the aircon on, It's like driving a very underpowered car.

- I have a simota intake at the moment and just waiting for the headers to arrive. hopefully the GAY16dne engine will gain some horsepower.

addt'l question - could clutch be a culprit to this? my clutch is only six months old but is there such a bad or good clutch? ( quality wise and installation.. Is there such a clutch that slips or heats up easily?).

**speed unlimited** · October 30th, 2009 06:20 PM

Just want to help you .Your from Baguio Look for HelloKitty Litter his user name in Club Nissan Sentra . He got a Ga16 which he used in circuit racing in Subic and He got a lot of Racing Performance parts for Nissan . He is also a member of
WWW.BAGUIO AUTOFORUMS .COM . Just let me know what happen. He was the one who tune his engine .

**niky** · October 30th, 2009 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by tuwato

- I'll ask the help of my friend so we can tune it properly this weekend. I just hope it will solve timing issues.

- The engine upon take off still feels weak even when the aircon is of... and when I turn the aircon on, It's like driving a very underpowered car.

- I have a simota intake at the moment and just waiting for the headers to arrive. hopefully the GAY16dne engine will gain some horsepower.

addt'l question - could clutch be a culprit to this? my clutch is only six months old but is there such a bad or good clutch? ( quality wise and installation.. Is there such a clutch that slips or heats up easily?).

Hay, no ribbing on the GAY16! It's a strong engine if you tune it right. ;)

-

Try swapping back to a stock intake... the Simota might be interfering with MAF function. It's a long-shot, but it might help.

-

A sliding clutch could be the culprit... but it's hard for me to tell over the internet... a test-drive with your friend could tell you if this is the problem.

**tuwato** · October 30th, 2009 07:12 PM

* nicky - sorry for the term ... just losing a bit of hope on this engine..

* speed - I know hellokittylitler . he's a very helpful nissan guru here in Baguio. He's the friend I was referring to at my post above.

**niky** · October 30th, 2009 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by tuwato

* nicky - sorry for the term ... just losing a bit of hope on this engine..

* speed - I know hellokittylitler . he's a very helpful nissan guru here in Baguio. He's the friend I was referring to at my post above.

Nah, it's okay... I've been in that position, myself... engine issues can be frustrating if you don't know what to look for.

Sounds like you're in good hands. Let us know what happens and what the diagnosis is.

**tuwato** · April 24th, 2010 09:15 PM

- update -

-the delay in acceleration was caused by the simota tube. 3" is just too big for the ga16dne. I'm now using the stock airbox and acceleration is now much better. I've learned this the hard way during the slalom

, I've notice that my car can't accelerate pretty well. The simota is even prone to heat soak especially that I'm using stainless headers.

-the rough idle/hesitation was caused by a leak in the distributor oil seal. oil eventually reached the ignition coil and caused misfiring and eventually the car just died. (good thing I was just 50m away from our house.

)

*I DO NOT recommend BOSCH high tension wires for the ga16dne/de. The plastic part of the wire I was using got separated from the clamp. (no wonder I was getting electric shocks everytime I touch the wire). this also contributed to the rough idle/idle drop due to unstable current. (the Bosch HTW was only six months old when it gave up)... OEM/sumitomo or NGK are still the best.

with the help of tevs (hellokittylitter) and some nissan guru, my car is now running fine and stable. I even used it during the BAF trackday last week.

...

**ghosthunter** · April 25th, 2010 02:05 AM

You can still tune the engine using something like a digital APEXi S-AFC and add some dyno tuning time like an hour or two to get the settings right.

As for the intake, you might gain more if you have a cold air intake setup. And have the tube wrapped in insulation. That would avoid hot air getting into the intake and also preventing heat soak as well.