V1 Traé’s Goblin (06’ SS/SC #501)

[ah.b.normal]

Moving right along! I laugh every time I walk in the garage due to never experiencing something like this. I’m not sure if I’m laughing because I’m excited or laughing because I think I’m crazy
[/QUOTE]
That laugh is a well known psychological phenomenon, the "fear giggle". Driven by your "knowledge" that what you are embarking upon is well beyond your ordinary but may just work out. Every twist, every turn, will one day comprise "a normal" you had not imagined and only arrived at through curiosity and persistence. Then your new normal will make that guy you were look inept.(Be kind to him, he couldn't possibly have known the future.) I figure if the guy you were before doesn't look a little lost and out of his depth, when you remember him(your self) back then, then you aren't growing. This forum is full of sage advice, mounds of knowledge and quick thinkers, remember to call upon it when you are stuck. We've all been there!

 

[Traé]

Not too much to report on…Engine is still in but did get the rear stripped and the fuel tank dropped. Took off some other unneeded parts to sell this week. Slowly getting more traction on pieces and parts which is recouping a little cash. Got the wheels and hood sold today.

This week I’m planning to get a few furniture dolly’s for the engine and shell as well as get the wiring harness pulled as much as I can starting from the rear along with some much needed clean up and organizing.

 

[ah.b.normal]

Don't sell that bumper cover too cheap, you do know the SS bumper covers are different than stock? Cobalt guys eat that stuff up and there seems to be many cobalt SS guys in Ohio, especially around the south west Ohio. Ya gotta make that hay$$ while the sun shines!

 

[Traé]

Got the harness pulled up to the dash. In the videos they showed some things from the headliner being unplugged. Do you need to pull the wires above the headliner for use in the goblin?

While unplugging things I pulled the PCM and it is a tuned PCM from ZZP. It seems the car has been tuned so I’m unsure again with the engine idling and stuttering.

I read a little more about the stutter and found a forum mentioning a bad actuator causing a weird idle. Has anyone experienced this?

Forum Link;

https://www.yourcobalt.com/threads/ss-sc-bypass-valve.36201/

 

[Ross]

Are you using the DF electrical harness service, or doing the electrical harness yourself?
I don't know the answer for the DF service.
If you are doing the harness yourself, then ask yourself:
Do you want any of the features that were in the Cobalt headliner? There are 3 or 4 different headliner plugs, depending on the Cobalt options. Things like electric sunroof, interior lights on the bottom of the rear view mirror, etc. I am using my Cobalt mirror... might be nice to have interior lights for night time.

Lots of things can cause a stutter or bad engine idle. Your 60lb/hour Deka injectors are my suspect as to why, but it could be a vacuum leak, your modified engine tune... since HP tuners only lets us tune about 1/4 of the PCM tables, or a deliberately hacked boost bypass valve that is stuck in "boost all the time" mode, like the "Your Cobalt Forum" post mentions.

 

[Traé]

Are you using the DF electrical harness service, or doing the electrical harness yourself?
I don't know the answer for the DF service.
If you are doing the harness yourself, then ask yourself:
Do you want any of the features that were in the Cobalt headliner? There are 3 or 4 different headliner plugs, depending on the Cobalt options. Things like electric sunroof, interior lights on the bottom of the rear view mirror, etc. I am using my Cobalt mirror... might be nice to have interior lights for night time.

Lots of things can cause a stutter or bad engine idle. Your 60lb/hour Deka injectors are my suspect as to why, but it could be a vacuum leak, your modified engine tune... since HP tuners only lets us tune about 1/4 of the PCM tables, or a deliberately hacked boost bypass valve that is stuck in "boost all the time" mode, like the "Your Cobalt Forum" post mentions.

I am doing the harness myself, I didn’t plan on using the mirror or have any lights inside so that answers my question.

Would you mind elaborating on why you suspect the injectors? I did a few tests and made sure that each one was firing smooth and consistently. Not sure what else to check on that. I plan to take a closer look at the actuator tomorrow. I found a good video explaining how to test it to see if the diaphragm was bad. Apologies in advance for the lack of know how.

I moved on from this issue until I started pulling stuff and it got me thinking again.

 

[Ross]

The Seimens Deka injectors are designed with a cone shaped spray pattern, mainly used in single intake valve per piston engines. Our LSJ engine has 2 intake valves per piston, and the intake runner divides into 2 openings, with a wall in the middle. The Deka injectors will wash the wall with fuel, which isn't optimal for atomizing the fuel into the air, and is known to make idle difficult.
The Bosch EV14 injectors for the Cobalt engine has a dual cone spray pattern, which works better for our intake manifold.

Goblin builders have been able to make the Deka 60 lb injectors idle, and the Bosch 82 lb injectors, but that is about the limit, and not easy to tune for. As injectors get bigger, you loose the ability to inject small amounts of fuel, and you end up with a high idle just to keep the engine running.

 

[Rauq]

P1133 is the interesting code, insufficient switching of O2 sensor 1. You might expect to see P0171 of it's not switching because it's always staying lean or P0172 for too rich, but P1133 by itself could be a bad sensor.

I wouldn't assume it's the injectors yet. My default assumption would be that the injectors and tune are matched for each other, although it'd take reviewing a tune to confirm that. The previous owner would have had to be a real bonehead to throw injectors in the car without a tune and it never would have run well. I'm running the Deka 80lb injectors and while I can notice the not-perfect idle, I doubt anyone else would say it doesn't idle well.

Vacuum leak would be my next guess. I would think coils, plugs, or a bad injector would be more likely to throw a specific cylinder misfire or a random misfire code.

 

[Traé]

Backed up a few videos and got the cooling system drained, subframe pulled and wiring harness laid out of the car and out of the way for pulling the dash. Went to drain the AC and realized it was already empty so that saved me some time haha.

I also think I found the reason the O2 codes are popping up. Cat was deleted and one of the O2 sensor was snipped off. I didn’t see it attached anywhere else but haven’t followed that wire back to where it attaches. Could be contributing to the car running rich.

My garage is a hot mess so I need to do some organizing and shifting of parts but this week looks like the big week! I’m excited to get the engine pulled and even more excited to get the shell out of my darn garage. That will be the next milestone.

 

[Rauq]

The rear O2 sensor and the associated codes don't affect running of the engine. The P1133 is for the upstream sensor and does indicate an issue that may affect idle quality.

 

[Traé]

The rear O2 sensor and the associated codes don't affect running of the engine. The P1133 is for the upstream sensor and does indicate an issue that may affect idle quality.

Darn, thought I was onto something. I’ll definitely get a new sensor to replace the one that’s actually there.

does the goblin use 2 sensors? I haven’t watched all the assembly videos to see that step.

 

[Ross]

My goblin runs on 1 stock narrow band O2 sensor. If you run a catalytic converter, then you will want the 2nd O2 sensor on your goblin. I don't live in california... but you might live in an area that requires emission testing. I do have a 2nd wideband O2 sensor, but that is for a dash gauge, and for engine tuning, and the PCM doesn't know about it.

 

[Traé]

My goblin runs on 1 stock narrow band O2 sensor. If you run a catalytic converter, then you will want the 2nd O2 sensor on your goblin. I don't live in california... but you might live in an area that requires emission testing. I do have a 2nd wideband O2 sensor, but that is for a dash gauge, and for engine tuning, and the PCM doesn't know about it.

No emission testing here thankfully. There are a few counties in Ohio that require it but they are up towards Cleveland.

 

[Traé]

Engine and dash are out! Was a very sketchy process but got it done. Shell is getting picked up tomorrow thank goodness. Moving onto getting what I need from the dash and started on the wiring harness.

I broke what I believe is the evap solenoid while pulling the engine. With this not being used in the goblin do I just cap the port on the supercharger?

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Take every bolt, nut and washer you can from the carcass. Even if you don't use it in your build you will have some metric hardware for another project. Hardware has gotten very expensive.

 

[Ross]

The 3rd picture here has the evap solenoid being removed. I don't remember it going to the supercharger... most evap stuff goes back into the intake to feed thru the engine.

 

[Traé]

The 3rd picture here has the evap solenoid being removed. I don't remember it going to the supercharger... most evap stuff goes back into the intake to feed thru the engine.

Now that I look at it closer it is tapped into the throttle body. I was going to find a new one but looks like you just removed it.

 

[RCK605]

Yes, you cap it off so you don't get vacuum leaks.

 

[Robinjo]

Yes, you cap it off so you don't get vacuum leaks.

Correct.

 

[Traé]

Are any of the coils ( radiator, intercooler, AC) reused in the build? Starting to get the engine cleaned up today and just want to make sure I don’t toss anything that’s reused or repurposed. I’m nervous to get rid of something I will need.