Honda civic d16z6 turbo DIY

First, be careful where you buy your turbo.
Check for shaft play (side to side and in/out).
Look for signs of leakage or carbon on the compressor side.
Look for cracks in the exhaust housing, inside and out.
Even check for stripped bolts on the housings.

If you buy new, you pay more for a piece of mind that you don't have to worry. Be careful with 'ebay' turbos, you get what you pay for. Some people have had great luck with these, others have had them literally split in half.

You can buy a kit which installs easier, but you don't always get the most WHP for your dollar.
You can save a lot of money by piecing together your own kit, but this requires a lot of research and some fabrication. But you can build your custom setup to whatever WHP goal you want to shoot for. I would like to make 250 to 275 WHP with this setup.

Be sure you have the proper octane fuel in your tank before you start installing. this will save you from having to drain your gas tank when you are ready to start your car with the turbo installed

The Turbo

I have 2 Garrett T3, one is a Super 60 and the other is a .60 trim. I have 2 because I bought the Super 60 a few years back from another honda site when I was more trusting. I met and he sold me the turbo with manifold and Spoolin DP already bolted on.

I took it apart to install on my car and found a chipped fin on the turbine.



But it was not a total loss, as I was able to use some parts for my .60 trim:


Oil Restrictor


Velocity Stack



Compressor housing flange


Internal Wastegate
External is better for making more power. Internal WG's will spike/boost creep sooner than an external will. External WG's also require an additional exhaust pipe and room to mount them. I went with internal because i already had the parts, even though the internal WG is probably the bottleneck in my setup when it comes to making more power.


5 bolt housing - this is an internally waste gated housing. You can see the flap that opens to allow exhaust to bypass the turbine. This prevents too much psi. The stiffness of the spring (I have an 8 psi spring) in the wastegate determines how soon the flap will open, allowing the exhaust to bypass the turbine.



HF manifold and Adapter plate were both sold.

So I ended up not getting screwed too badly, plus I have a spare hot side, compressor housing & wheel, and center section which are perfect for a rebuild. The turbine with the chipped fin is the only part that is junk here. $150 of parts + balancing and this could be rebuilt as good as new.


So here's the .60 trim I am using with some of the old parts from the first turbo.

Manifold


My manifold came with a paper gasket, but I bought an oem metal one because they are less prone to blow.


I sold the HF manifold and purchased a new 'ebay' Drag cast manifold.
Ebay manifolds run the same risk as ebay turbos. They see high temperatures and can crack. This is more common with the tubular manifolds found on ebay. Cast is cheaper, flows a little less, and has no bling factor, but is reliable when it comes to cracking.


The Drag manifold has an external wastegate flange on the #1 runner. My setup uses an internal WG, so I purchased a block off plate. If I was going to use an external WG, I would have bought a manifold that has the WG flange positioned so that it sees gasses from all 4 runners.


Once you have the manifold and turbo on, clock the compressor side to get the outlet lined up exactly how you need it to meet your piping. Then tighten the bolts in a criss cross pattern, torquing them down properly.

Downpipe

This took me a while... owning a chop saw would have made things a lot faster.


Here is my donor pipe, a Spoolin Performance 2.5" that was from my previously planned setup with the HF manifold.




And here it is installed.


Note the radiator had to be modified and I installed a push fan on the front side of the radiator for additional clearance. The o2 sensor would have been in the way of the stock fan.




Here is where it leaves off and what I need to make it do.
The downpipe gets very hot and expands/contracts. The braided flex pipe section I am adding will help compensate for the expansion when the pipe gets hot.





Here's after a lot of cutting & welding.




Install the downpipe again and again...

After I had it all painted, I went back and modified it one more time so it did not hang as low.






When you're sure you won't have to take it off again, some high temp gasket will seal it nicely to the housing.


Slim Fan

This is more of a space issue than a cooling upgrade.



This was needed because of my downpipe. I used a push fan which will push air through the radiator. Not as efficient as a pull fan, but it fit.




I have monitored my temperatures since and the slim fan does the job.


Blow Off Valve

Your turbo is spooling away and your engine is being force fed a lot of air... Now when you shift gears, where does that air go for the half second your foot leaves the gas and the throttle body closes?
The blow off valve prevents the air from being forced back into the compressor side of the turbo, also known as Compressor Surge. This can do damage to the unit. So instead the blow off valve (BOV) is hooked to your intake manifold by a vacuum line. When it senses the change in pressure from the throttle plate closing, the BOV opens and releases the air that would otherwise be forced back into the turbo compressor. It makes a cool sound too.


Install the gasket into the flange

NEED PIC OF SNAP RING
There is a huge snap ring that is a bitch to install. Don't even attempt until you have a good set of snap ring pliers. It took me a few tries. One time it shot out so fast it hit me and I bled lol.


Here the section of pipe is installed

NEED PIC OF VAC LINE
Hook up the vacuum line from the BOV to your intake manifold or vacuum manifold.


Here's a T Splitter used to tap into an existing line instead of buying a vacuum manifold.


Oil Drain line

The turbo has oil coming in and oil leaving. the oil entering is forced in by the engine's oil pump pressure. There is nothing pumping the oil out, just gravity to get the job done. So the drain line must be free flowing.

Tapping oil pan for drain line (weld in fitting):


Plan the fitting to not interfere with the bolts. It should be toward the top of the pan, but not too close to make a tight fit with the hose fittings installed.


Drill a hole & clean it.


Sand off surrounding paint.


I used a nut & bolt to hold the fitting in place while I welded it on.


I should have tested the fitting first... I took my time welding it on and have a small leak that I found later on.




Install oil pan


Use teflon tape on all threaded fittings to ensure they are leak free




install the line from turbo to pan. Be sure that oil will be able to flow freely when the car is on the ground. If not, it can back up and be forced out of the turbo's seals, greatly shortening their life span.




I used a Function7 adapter for the drain line. It adapts to -AN fittings which is a more expensive but nicer setup. There are cheaper barbed adapters which allow you to use a rubber hose and clamps.


Then you can just weld a tube to your oil pan instead of buying fittings. That setup will be fine for a drain line, although this particular pan could have been welded at a slightly upward angle to help flow.


Oil line for turbo

Use a braided stainless line for the oil to the turbo. It sees high pressure with very hot oil. Many turbos require a restrictor. Research your specific setup.



I used an oil sandwich plate adaptor to provide up to 4 additional oil ports.
(the other port is for the aftermarket oil pressure gauge sensor - essential when installing a turbo)



Use the teflon tape on the threads and install in the turbo inlet.



Be sure to use an oil restrictor if needed for your application.


Intercooler & Piping

There's all kinds of options here... I used an old front mount intercooler that I got a while ago and bought a piping kit off ebay. The ends of the pipe were bead rolles and included silicone couplers & T-Clamps. Regular hose clamps are not strong enough, get T clamps. The rolled ends help stop the clamps from sliding off. Don't skimp here, the first time you're on the dyno, you don't want to have to pull your bumper off to tighten a clamp that blew off.


Here's the piping kit. It is aluminum which is lighter and easier to cut. However this means I could not weld it with my welder.

First mount the intercooler, be sure it will clear the bumper. I trimmed a lot from the inside of the bumper to make it fit. I also had to cut a little out of the front impact beam. Some remove it completely, but I wanted to leave some safety in case of a crash.



I mounted the IC in from the top through holes in the front impact beam, and welded on metal brackets to the core support, one on each side, to support the IC from the bottom. The IC must not move.


You will most likely need to do some cutting to make it fit your application.


It's a lot like a puzzle... test fit the pieces you have and measure twice before you cut! Too bad after cutting I lost some of my bead rolled ends... The T clamps have held them together OK though.



I had a piece of old steel piping that I needed on the drivers side because the radius of the 180° was too small with the aluminum piping.





I had to special order this 1.75" to 2.5" 90° transition coupler and the tiny 1.75" T-Clamp for the compressor outlet.
Looking back, I should have got a 2" T-clamp considering that it was for the outer diameter of the 1.75" coupler. I barely got the 1.75" T-clamp to fit.

Be sure to clean out all the dirt & metal shavings from your piping!

Air Filter

As the saying goes... you get what you pay for. Air filters are the same. Don't trust an ebay k&n knockoff, I have seen people's turbos get destroyed from sucking the filter into itself and into the compressor.



This T3 uses a velocity stack to bolt to the housing and allow a 3" filter.


I tried a foam filter because of the tight space.
It was a tight fit and that filter ended up being too restrictive for this setup.



I took exact measurements and finally found a K&N filter that would work. They have a big catalog with all kinds of sizes & types. The chrome top K&N's are stronger and less likely to be sucked in to the turbo.


Internal Wastegate


Now I'm going to install the internal wastegate. It bolts to the compressor housing, so loosen all the bolts in a criss cross pattern. I removed one of the 3 brackets that holds the housing to the center section. The wastegate bracket replaces that bracket.


Connect the actuator arm to the pin on the 5 bolt housing. Now the arm and wastegate are connected to the wastegate flap on the hot side of the turbo.


Boost Controller

A boost controller allows you to add additional psi and also can reduce choppy or irregular boost. There's manual and electronic types. There's also single and dual. A good manual boost controller starts around $100. Electronic ones get up in the few hundreds.


I went with a manual boost controller by Hallman.


Here is the MBC installed. The side nipple has a line gong to the wastegate. The bottom nipple has a line going to the compressor housing (pic below before I put it on)

The boost controller just tricks the wastegate by making it see less boost. The more you close the MBC, the more boost you will see.



Catch Can

A catch can is more essential to a turbo car than a NA car.
You are forcing high pressure air where the factory engineers designed there to be a vacuum. Your oem crankcase ventilation system needs to be upgraded as well. The positive pressure in the crank case needs to escape. There's threads on different catch can setups so I'm going to keep this simple. One line goes to the valve cover, the other to the black crank case box on the back of the block. The top of the can is vented, or can be routed back into the system before the turbo inlet on the intake pipe (I don't have one).



Fuel Pump
More air needs more fuel.
Here's a separate DIY to install an aftermarket fuel pump. I used a 255 LPH Walbro for my setup. http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=10841

Fuel Injectors

I used the common Blue Top DSM 450cc's and a resistor box. They already fit the OBD1 harness.

Relieve the fuel pressure and have some rags handy.


Remove the rail


Modify the donut gaskets to fit



If you are using DSM 450cc's - also remember to install a Resistor Box.
Here's a way to install one without cutting any of your factory wires: http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=10140


They were a tight fit, a little lube was needed to squeeze the tips in the rail.



I ended up lightly sanding the gasket to reduce the outer diameter to make them fit in the rail.


Note that i have a fuel pressure and fuel gauge installed - very helpful when tuning.

Boost Gauge


This gauge is essential for monitoring boost and noticing any loss of boost or spikes. Use the directions that come with your gauge.


I got a plastic T splitter to tap into a vacuum line and modified it to accept the small hard plastic line that the boost gauge uses. First I cut a slit on each side to allow it to clamp down onto the plastic line.


Then I found a nut that would thread onto the tip of the T splitter tightly, clamping down onto the plastic line.

I also have an oil pressure gauge installed as mentioned earlier. This is essential. Another very useful but expensive gauge is a wideband Air Fuel ratio. I have a Pyrometer as the third gauge which reads exhaust temperature.

NEED PIC OF T SPLITTER INSTALLED

Map Sensor

The stock map sensor is good up to around 11 psi.



I upgraded to a Motorolla 2.5 bar map which is reliable up to around 20 psi. It is fragile and should not be mounted in the engine bay. The pins are too small and close for regular connectors, but are perfect for sliding cut ends of wire right over.


Then I taped them up well so they don't slip off.


The stock Map harness in unplugged and de-pinned.


The original MAP was on the throttle body, some are on the firewall. I ran the factory de-pinned wires in through the firewall under the dash.


Here I mounted the 2.5 bar Map sensor and nave connected the wires to the ones I put onto he new map sensor. The ones on the map sensor were clipped off a junk harness so that I could connect them to the original MAP wires without cutting them.


Then I put heat shrink over them.

The nipple on the 2.5 bar is pretty small. The vac line I had was small and fit snug, but did not fit tight enough. I heard a tiny hiss when the car was running. When I pinched the vac line tightly on the nipple, it stopped. I put a tiny zip tie around the end of the hose on the nipple and that cured it.

Fuel management & tuning
There's 2 routes you can go... FMU (Fuel Management Unit) or chipped ECU.
FMU is old school technology. It increases fuel pressure in proportion to boost pressure. It is mechanical and not tied into your ecu or sensors.

A chipped ECU requires more time to install (soldering) and time to tune on a dyno which can get expensive. But a chipped ECU leaves your ecu in control of the fuel like it is intended to do. A chipped ecu that is properly tuned will be able to compensate for a wider range of conditions and optimize the fuel input correctly.
There's all kinds of different tuning software. AEM, Hondata, eCtune, Neptune, Crome and more. The ones I mentioned first are more expensive. Crome basic is free, there is an upgradable Crome pro that can be purchased.
You get what you pay for when it comes to this software. Spending more on the software can also save you time/money at the dyno. For example I had 2 ecu's. One shipped with Crome and the other Hondata S300. The S300 sells for $599 but is much easier to tune and is much more reliable than Crome. The tuner told me I saved dyno time by using the S300.
The ECU controls every aspect of your engine. Think how much you just invested into your engine & turbo setup... Do you really feel right controlling it all with free tuning software?

Never drive the car hard until it has been tuned properly. Remove the plug wires & unplug injectors & crank it for a few seconds. repeat a few times. This will build oil pressure to get oil to the turbo. Start it up, let it idle. Check for leaks. Depending on your setup, it may barely run, or die if you don't give it gas. If you are driving to the tuner, be sure to stay in vacuum by watching your RPM's and the boost gauge. It is best to drive it onto a friend's trailer and haul it there.

One more thing... Bring some heat range 7 or 8 NGK plugs, 2 sets. I didn't think about this and the stock plugs were blowing out past 4500 rpm. I have to make a second trip back with the new plugs.

You can see the whole build with pics here : http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=11082