Gernzhaust and PWJDM Intake installed
03-23-2014, 09:32 PM
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Gernzhaust and PWJDM Intake installed
Between some frustrating pieces and my own newbishness, what should have been the most straightforward of installs ended up taking me 15 hours. Just wrapped up, and I wanted to share some thoughts as they are fresh in my mind.
Some background - have never worked on an S2000 before, and never did an exhaust on my own before. Seeing as to how my S has 12k on the clock and has only seen one full winter, I figured the Gernzhaust install would be quick and relatively simple. I knew the intake would be a PITA, so only have one weekend to complete the work I started on Saturday afternoon. I did all the work in my garage with two ramps, two jackstands and harbor freight jack to do the heavy lifting. I had decent room to maneuver underneath the car but it was brutal work.
PWJDM Intake: Great design (so we're told), piss poor execution.
1. Missing parts: When I received the intake, I noted that the major components were all there - air scoop, cold air chamber, power chamber, intake, and a bag of parts. What I didn't find out until I started the install this morning were that I was missing two brackets critical to mounting the intake properly, as well as threadlock, allen keys, one proper-sized hose clamp, and the install instructions. Only critical piece being the brackets. Went ahead with the install... I will skip the instructions since they are everywhere but a few things to note.
2. Mis-fits:
a. some have noted troubles getting the silicone coupler to attach to the power chamber. I had 2 hours of trouble, at the end of which I had just about destroyed the inner layer of silicone and fabric weave. I did try lubricating spray, and heating the coupler, no luck with either. I do believe the coupler is simply too small. Ironically, I wouldn't have been able to get the coupler on if I hadn't destroyed it the way I did, because I ended up stripping out most of the remaining inner layer of silicone and fabric to remove about 1mm of material all around. That allowed me to get the coupler on.
b. Great, but due to missing the proper sized clamp (I got two clamps, both sized for the TB-side of the coupler), I had to rob the one from the intake filter.
c. The rubber grommet that mounts the intake air sensor was way too small, and while its not falling out of its mounting point, it moves around pretty freely.
d. I may chalk this one up to missing the brackets, but the air scoop doesn't sit perfectly in the recessed area of the front frame as it should. And one of the bolts connecting the air scoop to the air chamber doesn't go all the way in, so I screwed it in as best I could until more force would have done damage to the chamber. awesome.
e. Had slight issues closing the hood, but I raised the hood latch lock as high as the factory adjustment would allow and with some finagling of the air scoop, I can get the hood to stay shut. There's a small gap on the passenger side of the hood, not hugely noticeable and doesn't bother me a much as the other issues I've had with this ($1000) intake.
f. Not a mis-fit, but the installation instructions make no mention of what to do with the old hard lines connecting the valve cover breather hose. You can't remove it because its welded by a bracket to another set of hard lines going to the TB. Odd.
3. Suggestions to prospective users: start on the silicone coupler early, even if you don't plan on doing the install at that time. Having it attached beforehand doesn't muck up the install and saves lot of time. Also, of course make sure you have all parts before doing the install.
Gernzhaust Dingle: Fits great, sounds great
1. Gernby packages his exhausts extremely well. No bent hangars or marred surfaces for mine.
2. Other than a bitch of an O2 sensor to get off, the stock exhaust was fairly straightforward to remove. Liquid Wrench Silicone Spray made very short work of the exhaust hangars, no doubt they would have been near impossible with the spray. I also hit the spring bolts on the cat/header connection with wd40 overnight so I think that helped loosen those up. Obviously, it did not help with the O2 sensor. Stock exhaust is more than 50lbs like some have stated. I use 55lbs db's for some exercises and this was certainly more than 50lbs. I'd say closer to 65lbs if not more.
3. Applied anti-seize to all threaded things prior to installing the Gernzhaust, and other than starting from the wrong end, things moved fairly quickly. I ran into some hiccups and called Greg a few times between 7pm and 9pm, and not only did he answer on a Sunday but he was supremely helpful.
4. A few small issues: the driver's side exhaust extension pipe was much narrowed than its mate on the muffler, probably 2mm all around. So I had to slip the clamp half-way off of the muffler pipe to really clamp down and close it around the extension, otherwise it wouldn't be secure. Also, I ran into a similar issue as another user who's exhaust tip bolts were a tad too short to secure onto the new exhaust. I had a few 10mm longer bolts around so no issue for me, although I could have run it without tips and been happy.
5. Fits great after some fiddling. All clearances are OK thanks to Greg's handy dowel/block accessories included with the exhaust. Passenger tip is perfect, driver's side sticks out *maybe* 3mm more than I'd like but not noticeable to anyone unless they are looking.
6. I do hear a hiss on decel that I'll have to try and trace tomorrow. Not sure if its a leak somewhere that only presents itself when I'm 100% off the gas because if I'm on decel and I give the slightest bit of throttle, the hiss is gone. Definitely not the intake, although I certainly hear that too. The exhaust is noticeably louder than stock even at idle, I expected this and I like the sound.
Flashpro: not installed yet, but will be running it through Gernby's e-tune service and I'm psyched.
Thanks again to Greg for being a great vendor who certainly stands behind his products and is a great resource to the S2K community. Also many thanks to Tommy @ Gotuning for getting me the PWJDM Intake and Flashpro at fair prices and with quick shipping.
Some background - have never worked on an S2000 before, and never did an exhaust on my own before. Seeing as to how my S has 12k on the clock and has only seen one full winter, I figured the Gernzhaust install would be quick and relatively simple. I knew the intake would be a PITA, so only have one weekend to complete the work I started on Saturday afternoon. I did all the work in my garage with two ramps, two jackstands and harbor freight jack to do the heavy lifting. I had decent room to maneuver underneath the car but it was brutal work.
PWJDM Intake: Great design (so we're told), piss poor execution.
1. Missing parts: When I received the intake, I noted that the major components were all there - air scoop, cold air chamber, power chamber, intake, and a bag of parts. What I didn't find out until I started the install this morning were that I was missing two brackets critical to mounting the intake properly, as well as threadlock, allen keys, one proper-sized hose clamp, and the install instructions. Only critical piece being the brackets. Went ahead with the install... I will skip the instructions since they are everywhere but a few things to note.
2. Mis-fits:
a. some have noted troubles getting the silicone coupler to attach to the power chamber. I had 2 hours of trouble, at the end of which I had just about destroyed the inner layer of silicone and fabric weave. I did try lubricating spray, and heating the coupler, no luck with either. I do believe the coupler is simply too small. Ironically, I wouldn't have been able to get the coupler on if I hadn't destroyed it the way I did, because I ended up stripping out most of the remaining inner layer of silicone and fabric to remove about 1mm of material all around. That allowed me to get the coupler on.
b. Great, but due to missing the proper sized clamp (I got two clamps, both sized for the TB-side of the coupler), I had to rob the one from the intake filter.
c. The rubber grommet that mounts the intake air sensor was way too small, and while its not falling out of its mounting point, it moves around pretty freely.
d. I may chalk this one up to missing the brackets, but the air scoop doesn't sit perfectly in the recessed area of the front frame as it should. And one of the bolts connecting the air scoop to the air chamber doesn't go all the way in, so I screwed it in as best I could until more force would have done damage to the chamber. awesome.
e. Had slight issues closing the hood, but I raised the hood latch lock as high as the factory adjustment would allow and with some finagling of the air scoop, I can get the hood to stay shut. There's a small gap on the passenger side of the hood, not hugely noticeable and doesn't bother me a much as the other issues I've had with this ($1000) intake.
f. Not a mis-fit, but the installation instructions make no mention of what to do with the old hard lines connecting the valve cover breather hose. You can't remove it because its welded by a bracket to another set of hard lines going to the TB. Odd.
3. Suggestions to prospective users: start on the silicone coupler early, even if you don't plan on doing the install at that time. Having it attached beforehand doesn't muck up the install and saves lot of time. Also, of course make sure you have all parts before doing the install.
Gernzhaust Dingle: Fits great, sounds great
1. Gernby packages his exhausts extremely well. No bent hangars or marred surfaces for mine.
2. Other than a bitch of an O2 sensor to get off, the stock exhaust was fairly straightforward to remove. Liquid Wrench Silicone Spray made very short work of the exhaust hangars, no doubt they would have been near impossible with the spray. I also hit the spring bolts on the cat/header connection with wd40 overnight so I think that helped loosen those up. Obviously, it did not help with the O2 sensor. Stock exhaust is more than 50lbs like some have stated. I use 55lbs db's for some exercises and this was certainly more than 50lbs. I'd say closer to 65lbs if not more.
3. Applied anti-seize to all threaded things prior to installing the Gernzhaust, and other than starting from the wrong end, things moved fairly quickly. I ran into some hiccups and called Greg a few times between 7pm and 9pm, and not only did he answer on a Sunday but he was supremely helpful.
4. A few small issues: the driver's side exhaust extension pipe was much narrowed than its mate on the muffler, probably 2mm all around. So I had to slip the clamp half-way off of the muffler pipe to really clamp down and close it around the extension, otherwise it wouldn't be secure. Also, I ran into a similar issue as another user who's exhaust tip bolts were a tad too short to secure onto the new exhaust. I had a few 10mm longer bolts around so no issue for me, although I could have run it without tips and been happy.
5. Fits great after some fiddling. All clearances are OK thanks to Greg's handy dowel/block accessories included with the exhaust. Passenger tip is perfect, driver's side sticks out *maybe* 3mm more than I'd like but not noticeable to anyone unless they are looking.
6. I do hear a hiss on decel that I'll have to try and trace tomorrow. Not sure if its a leak somewhere that only presents itself when I'm 100% off the gas because if I'm on decel and I give the slightest bit of throttle, the hiss is gone. Definitely not the intake, although I certainly hear that too. The exhaust is noticeably louder than stock even at idle, I expected this and I like the sound.
Flashpro: not installed yet, but will be running it through Gernby's e-tune service and I'm psyched.
Thanks again to Greg for being a great vendor who certainly stands behind his products and is a great resource to the S2K community. Also many thanks to Tommy @ Gotuning for getting me the PWJDM Intake and Flashpro at fair prices and with quick shipping.
03-24-2014, 07:45 AM
#2
Thanks for the feedback!
I don't think I really followed what you were saying about the passenger tip and clamp, though. Could you ellaborate?
Now that you have put some miles on the exhaust, I suggest checking that the V-bands are still tight. The noise you hear may be due to the v-bands getting a bit loose after seating themselves better.
Let me know when you are ready to get started on the eTune!
I don't think I really followed what you were saying about the passenger tip and clamp, though. Could you ellaborate?
Now that you have put some miles on the exhaust, I suggest checking that the V-bands are still tight. The noise you hear may be due to the v-bands getting a bit loose after seating themselves better.
Let me know when you are ready to get started on the eTune!
03-24-2014, 12:55 PM
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Thanks Greg! Disregard that text from me, I'll get under the car today or tomorrow and re-check the vbands.
Regarding the exhaust tip, it was actually the driver's side. The l-bend piping seems to be a bit thinner than its mate on the muffler, its not a tight fit like the piping that goes to the exhaust side. So there was quite a bit of play even as I clamped down fully on the vband. What I did was slide the vband over the edge of the muffler-side piping so that it pulled the edges in a bit more and really tightened down around the L-pipe instead of having the vband sit flush with the end of the muffler-side piping. Kind of like this if you can picture it:
edit: ok, the diagram I "drew" didn't come out well in the actual post . But basically, I offset the clamp over the muffler-pipe and the exhaust pipe so thta it was clamping half off each.
I started by hanging the muffler first and *didn't* hang the passenger side exhaust hangar, which made the entire thing very lop-sided when I started to do the mid and front sections. Greg's suggestion was to start from front to back, and have the rear tie bar re-installed back on to support the weight of the front/mid section while you work on the rear last.
All in all, it went in pretty easily once Greg set me straight.
Regarding the exhaust tip, it was actually the driver's side. The l-bend piping seems to be a bit thinner than its mate on the muffler, its not a tight fit like the piping that goes to the exhaust side. So there was quite a bit of play even as I clamped down fully on the vband. What I did was slide the vband over the edge of the muffler-side piping so that it pulled the edges in a bit more and really tightened down around the L-pipe instead of having the vband sit flush with the end of the muffler-side piping. Kind of like this if you can picture it:
edit: ok, the diagram I "drew" didn't come out well in the actual post . But basically, I offset the clamp over the muffler-pipe and the exhaust pipe so thta it was clamping half off each.
All in all, it went in pretty easily once Greg set me straight.
03-24-2014, 04:21 PM
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Also I had mentioned previously but its worth pointing out again: if you plan on re-using the OEM tips, make sure you've got some slightly longer 10mm bolts on hand. They stock ones are only about 2mm too short in length to really grab onto the tips, but too short nonetheless.
I went ahead and left the exhaust hangars connected to the car and I regret not going back and pulling the center one off now that its not being used. Not a huge deal but worth mentioning.
Don't know if I was lucky or I just got a very good fitting exhaust, but I had minimal issues getting things to line up just right once I had both rear sections up on the hangars. Some slight rotation of the mid-section was needed but very minor. As it sits now, my driver's side tip sticks out a weeeee bit more than I'd like and there does not appear to be a way to resolve that but again, not a big deal for me. I suppose I could always cut some material off the end of the piping but I won't bother.
I went ahead and left the exhaust hangars connected to the car and I regret not going back and pulling the center one off now that its not being used. Not a huge deal but worth mentioning.
Don't know if I was lucky or I just got a very good fitting exhaust, but I had minimal issues getting things to line up just right once I had both rear sections up on the hangars. Some slight rotation of the mid-section was needed but very minor. As it sits now, my driver's side tip sticks out a weeeee bit more than I'd like and there does not appear to be a way to resolve that but again, not a big deal for me. I suppose I could always cut some material off the end of the piping but I won't bother.
04-21-2014, 12:27 PM
#6
Just received my PWJDM intake and I'm in a similar boat. The instructions were written 5 years ago so likely something has changed. Assuming the instructions are correct, here are my problems.
Missing:
PW Fender Washer (beveled) (secures snorkel)
Hose Clamp 3.75" Diameter (PowerChamber to intake manifold)
Hose Clamp 3.25" Diameter (PowerChamber to intake manifold)
Rubber Nipple Grommet (9mmID, 20mmOD, 10.2mm Short)
M6 Short Arm Hex Key
M2.5 Short Arm Hex Key
Medium threadlock
Install manual
Incorrect:
The BOM lists "M6x14 Flange head bolt (mounts bracket to snorkel)" but mine are 20mm long.
The BOM lists "M6x14 Button head bolt (secures ColdAirChamber)" but mine are 16mm long.
All of the "M4x12 stainless steel button head bolt" came pre-installed in the snorkel and power chamber lid.
The BOM does not list a 90 degree bracket.
I called them and they asked me to email a photo of what I received. I'm waiting for them to call me back and tell me what was supposed to come in the kit.
[EDIT] I spoke with Brian at PWJDM and it sounds like the BOM is old AND they forgot some parts. They really ought to update their instructions.
No longer included:
M6 Short Arm Hex Key
M2.5 Short Arm Hex Key
Medium threadlock
Install manual
Now included:
3x M6x14 Button head bolt (secures ColdAirChamber)
1x M6 Nut (secures ColdAirChamber)
1x 90 degree bracket (secures ColdAirChamber)
The rest of the parts differ because they have been updated. PWJDM is sending me my missing hose clamps and ColdAirChamber hardware.
Missing:
PW Fender Washer (beveled) (secures snorkel)
Hose Clamp 3.75" Diameter (PowerChamber to intake manifold)
Hose Clamp 3.25" Diameter (PowerChamber to intake manifold)
Rubber Nipple Grommet (9mmID, 20mmOD, 10.2mm Short)
M6 Short Arm Hex Key
M2.5 Short Arm Hex Key
Medium threadlock
Install manual
Incorrect:
The BOM lists "M6x14 Flange head bolt (mounts bracket to snorkel)" but mine are 20mm long.
The BOM lists "M6x14 Button head bolt (secures ColdAirChamber)" but mine are 16mm long.
All of the "M4x12 stainless steel button head bolt" came pre-installed in the snorkel and power chamber lid.
The BOM does not list a 90 degree bracket.
I called them and they asked me to email a photo of what I received. I'm waiting for them to call me back and tell me what was supposed to come in the kit.
[EDIT] I spoke with Brian at PWJDM and it sounds like the BOM is old AND they forgot some parts. They really ought to update their instructions.
No longer included:
M6 Short Arm Hex Key
M2.5 Short Arm Hex Key
Medium threadlock
Install manual
Now included:
3x M6x14 Button head bolt (secures ColdAirChamber)
1x M6 Nut (secures ColdAirChamber)
1x 90 degree bracket (secures ColdAirChamber)
The rest of the parts differ because they have been updated. PWJDM is sending me my missing hose clamps and ColdAirChamber hardware.
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05-01-2014, 12:56 PM
#8
The 10mm/10mm bung should have been a 12mm/10mm bung so a 1/2" hose could connect the valve cover breather to the bung. Furthermore, they supplied me with a 5/16" hose which absolutely would not fit. I had to buy a 3/8" hose to fit both the 12mm breather connection and the 10mm bung on the intake.
The IAT sensor gasket is incorrectly sized- the IAT sensor flops around. My K&N gasket perfectly secured the sensor. I plan to order a proper gasket, but I haven't had time to take measurements and find out if they spec'd the wrong gasket or if they just sent me the wrong gasket.
The hole in the air chamber is not sized correctly to fit the main intake body. Unmodified, it causes a kink in the coupler to the throttle body. As you stated, the coupler is not the right size. I browsed a number of silicone manufacturers and nobody seems to make the correct size.
05-07-2014, 05:37 PM
#9
Originally Posted by S2K Al' timestamp='1398469826' post='23130619
Curious to see how the rubber grommet for the air sensor fits on your intake. As mentioned, mine is super loose and I believe it is causing the car to throw a CEL.
The 10mm/10mm bung should have been a 12mm/10mm bung so a 1/2" hose could connect the valve cover breather to the bung. Furthermore, they supplied me with a 5/16" hose which absolutely would not fit. I had to buy a 3/8" hose to fit both the 12mm breather connection and the 10mm bung on the intake.
The IAT sensor gasket is incorrectly sized- the IAT sensor flops around. My K&N gasket perfectly secured the sensor. I plan to order a proper gasket, but I haven't had time to take measurements and find out if they spec'd the wrong gasket or if they just sent me the wrong gasket.
The hole in the air chamber is not sized correctly to fit the main intake body. Unmodified, it causes a kink in the coupler to the throttle body. As you stated, the coupler is not the right size. I browsed a number of silicone manufacturers and nobody seems to make the correct size.
I Purchased my intake from PWJDM . My issues were one hose and the TB coupler - both the wrong size. However the hose was easily replaced at the parts store and the coupler is available on-line just do a search. Just measure first. I found a reducer coupling in black. Perfect fit and looks great.
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