Pistons for the L15!!!!

[polaski]

Originally Posted by kylerwho

kelsodeez is making 175hp realiable. the rods are very strong. j's racing is running high compression pistons in their track l15a jazz. there is a member in the philipines who has sleeved the block and is running forged pistons and connecting rods with the stock crank and is making just over 400hp.

Well Hondas have had forged steel cranks for the last 20+ years, they're usually the last thing to go in any boosted application. Usually it's a rod through the block, a spun bearing, headlift, the occasional cracked sleeve.

Reliable is a relative term. I've grown up on d-series engines (assumed "reliable" up to 200 whp for 1.6L, 160 whp for 1.5L), and reliable on those setups I usually consider from what I've observed over the years at most a 40k mile motor. Some have pushed a z6 to almost 250 whp on stock internals but those don't last more than a few runs on the drag strip. Something almost always breaks from stress. Don't use head studs, the gasket blows; use a y8 block, spin a rod bearing; get greedy with boost, snap a rod; use a y8 head, don't get the tune quite right, ongoing det kills the motor; push the tune to the limit, get bad gas once and it goes boom. And those, the majority of late are fully tuned on an obd0/obd1 chipped ecu. When it's not quite so close to the limits of the engine, and the accumulating stresses don't pile up so quickly, it lasts a lot longer.

Many of these guys buy vitara pistons from fjt and tuner toys rods, all for cheap, rebuild another block, buy a t3/t4, put in race gas and sing to the tune of 400 hp. Much easier to tune with ~8.5:1 comp. Of course, you gotta live with the diesel-sounding idle.

If L15A rods are anything like D15B7 rods, I wouldn't push them too hard. (d-series aren't all that different, just the rockers point the other way, the heads flow a little better, and the motor is on the wrong side of the car.)

It's really too bad, the d16 rods and pistons together can be had for under $300, at least they used to.

edit: took so long to type that I forgot what I was going to say. The first weak point in a D is headbolts; after that, then it's rods. Usually you gotta put in aftermarket pistons with new rods because of the pressed wrist pins on the stockers, and the aftermarket uses floating pins. That, and you rid yourself of the weak ringlands that are so easily busted just by being far enough off the first run when you're tuning it.

[YeeFit]

So pistons are a nice backup if my motor blows from my turbo, but what about rods? and any other aftermarket internals?

If anything were to happen to my motor, i'd like to rebuild it with rods, sleeves, pistons, etc...

[dewthedew]

I wish we had more internals available.

[kelsodeez]

Originally Posted by YeeFit

So pistons are a nice backup if my motor blows from my turbo, but what about rods? and any other aftermarket internals?

If anything were to happen to my motor, i'd like to rebuild it with rods, sleeves, pistons, etc...

if i blow my motor, im just going to go K

[Nabisco]

I wish to keep the L15A1 but I'm not looking for 200+ HP either so sleeves are overkill. Just rods and pistons would be nice. A baffled oil pan for oil control would be very nice!

My realistic desires:

180 HP @ 9 or 10 PSI "high boost"
140-50 HP @ 5 or 6 PSI "daily"

[kelsodeez]

spoon sells a baffle for your oil pan. but it involves dropping your pan and welding it in. i almost got one but then decided against it because ive pulled my oil pan off about four times and i didnt feel like doing it again.

[Spooling]

what happens when you raise boost to say 15psi on the stock HKS kit with the stock tune?

[YeeFit]

Originally Posted by 1WayFit

what happens when you raise boost to say 15psi on the stock HKS kit with the stock tune?

You'll probably lean out and blow the motor. You need to have your F-con unlocked by a local HKS dealer and have it retuned.

[YeeFit]

Originally Posted by Nabisco

I wish to keep the L15A1 but I'm not looking for 200+ HP either so sleeves are overkill. Just rods and pistons would be nice. A baffled oil pan for oil control would be very nice!

My realistic desires:

180 HP @ 9 or 10 PSI "high boost"
140-50 HP @ 5 or 6 PSI "daily"

I pulled 170whp 163lb ft on a dynojet at 6psi.

[Spooling]

Originally Posted by YeeFit

You'll probably lean out and blow the motor. You need to have your F-con unlocked by a local HKS dealer and have it retuned.

really? how about a decent 10psi? Do I still need to get it tuned?

[kelsodeez]

i dont think trying to find forged internals will solve all the boosted fits problems. i think the development of a standalone ecu or a reflash would be the best thing for our cars. this whole closed loop open loop bullshit is what is going to blow your engine. with a good tune, an engine can handle ALOT of abuse and with this piggy back nonsense, getting a good, reliable tune is next to impossible.

[Spooling]

Originally Posted by kelsodeez

i dont think trying to find forged internals will solve all the boosted fits problems. i think the development of a standalone ecu or a reflash would be the best thing for our cars. this whole closed loop open loop bullshit is what is going to blow your engine. with a good tune, an engine can handle ALOT of abuse and with this piggy back nonsense, getting a good, reliable tune is next to impossible.

closed loop is real rpm range
and open loop is wot
correct?
I heard that the HKS v-pro is a standalone ECU.

[explosivpotato]

DO NOT up the boost on your stock HKS tune. Theres reckless, and then there's stupid. If you wanna up the boost, retune for the new boost level. Period.

Closed loop on the fit ECU is anywhere under 70% throttle. There are numerous ways around this, one of which is the ESC1 by Split Second. I've got one ordered and will make a post about it's effectiveness once I've got it installed..

[Nabisco]

What are you referring to when you mention under 70% throttle?

I'm under the assumption the tune provided by the piggy back is safe at all throttle ranges and stock boost of the kit (HKS).

[explosivpotato]

by under 70% throttle, I mean under 70% tps. I get my numbers from my ScanGauge II.

The HKS (I believe) has the ability to spoof the O2 sensor input to the computer to avoid closed-loop lean conditions in boost. The E-Manage Ultimate, does not.

[whtsjdm]

Originally Posted by kylerwho

kelsodeez is making 175hp realiable. the rods are very strong. j's racing is running high compression pistons in their track l15a jazz. there is a member in the philipines who has sleeved the block and is running forged pistons and connecting rods with the stock crank and is making just over 400hp.

400hp? I call bs. The head on the l15 doesn't have the potential.

[kelsodeez]

Originally Posted by whtsjdm

400hp? I call bs. The head on the l15 doesn't have the potential.

nope not bs. ive seen the pictures too. the guy barely posts on here but he posted dyno sheets and build pics in a random thread. AND HE DAILY DRIVES IT!! insane.

[whtsjdm]

Linky. I'd like to see this. I'll take your word for it, but I still have a hard time believing it.

[explosivpotato]

Originally Posted by kelsodeez

nope not bs. ive seen the pictures too. the guy barely posts on here but he posted dyno sheets and build pics in a random thread. AND HE DAILY DRIVES IT!! insane.

I don't think he hits boost till somewhere just shy of 4k... so It's probably not hard to DD... unless of course you forget to shift and accidentally cross over into boost....

damn, I wish there was a "pooped my pants" smiley... That's the one I need...

[Nabisco]

Well, I remember one of the posts by the guy and there was pictures however pictures don't mean anything on the internet.

I'm still not convinced, that said, I'm not calling it BS either.
I'm still wondering what he did for a fuel pump AND its wiring!
Make 400 HP and Ohm's law will introduce itself, ready or not.


As for ExplosivPotato, thanks for explaining this to me. I'm still a little confused but I understand the limitation. I really wish someone would ROM tune because it damn sure beats everything else. Thorough and proper tuning is worth every penny.