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FAKE OIL SYNDICATE BUSTED

As per title, please pay really good attention when dealing with engine oil. Recently, our boys in blue team just cracked down a fake oil syndicate which was based in Rawang. They (those fakers) reproduce those famous oil brands using the same jugs and label. There's even some incidents while the operation was held; mainly from the representative from the oil company itself.

According to the pics, there are plenty well known brands involved. All of Shell's Helix oil were re-produced; from regular dino to synthetic; probably a clear sign that these brand is famous in the market. There are also Pennzoil and Castrol brand caught in the pics. What worries me is, there's a bunch of label-less jugs in gray, which the jug design is IDENTICAL to Bardahl motor oil. Crap... I'm currently using this brand. Most of consumer nowadays try to avoid the common big and famous names of oil in Malaysia is because of the counterfeit issues but then, it seems that the much lowly rated (in Malaysia of course) brand such as Bardahl also might not as safe as we thought. Trying to comfort myself, at least the jugs spotted were in gray while the synthetic one is gold in colour; the one in my crankcase. But maybe there was a golden jugs but the reporter haven't snapped the pic... (I'm restless)

Big credits to http://ondscene.blogspot.com for bringing this matter to the public. You may get the full report by clicking here.

Bardahl Oil Jug

Caps Replacement : Code 7035

I've posted about this stuff before which can be reached here, but this time, I had the privilege of doing it to my ecu. Let me recall back the issue; if you owned a Mitsubishi car especially those 90's model, do take care of the capacitor in the ecu. Those caps are freaking vital such as vital as heart in human body. Do take note that Honda P30 ecus also exposed to this fragility too. One main reason is because, the capacitors used by the manufacturer were electrolyte type which uses an ionic conducting liquid as one of its plates. As this cap ages, so the body construction a.k.a the casing too. When a faulty capacitor is charged, the liquid-based electrolyte becomes unstable and breaks down, producing hydrogen gas. Since these types of capacitors are sealed in an aluminium casing, the pressure builds up within the capacitor until either the flat metal top of the capacitor begins to bend, or the rubber sealing plug is pushed down. Eventually the pressure exceeds the strength of the metal casing and venting occurs. When an electrolytic capacitor bursts, the acidic electrolyte will going to spill on the circuit board which eventually will further damage to the ecu.

There are 4 caps in 4G92 MIVEC ecu. When my ecu guru tested the caps, only 3 of them needs replacement while the other one seem perfectly working. A main reason why that one particular cap is still in mint condition is because it only regulate 5-volt connection while the other three were involve in higher voltage; 12V to be precise. The higher the voltage, the greater the strain the caps have to handle.

To make this post more dramatic, actually one of the three caps that have been replaced has shown some burn sign on the cap which indicate an "I've-replace-it-just-in-time-before-something-shit-happen" sign. This cap has served more than 10 years and as you may know, any electrical item with that kind of age can go nuts anytime without any further warning. Remember, it is way way much cheaper to replace those caps than to get another ecu; especially 4G92 MIVEC ecus. You've been informed.

Busted Aircond Compressor

On one fine day, I was rushing back from Putrajaya to KL using MEX highway. For those who used to travel using this route, you'll notice that hardly anyone obey the speed limit; which is ridiculously tagged at 90km/h . So, as I was travelling at 130km/h, there was a Wira with 17" alloys with super loud 4-tip exhaust complete with 3-feet GT wing (I ain't shitting you.. the spoiler was freaking high) hogging on the right lane. Being an almost considered driver, I followed behind the car (but not tailgating) for about 30 seconds until then driver give way as he moved onto the left lane. While I'm overtaking him, this driver with his 'Supa-Powa-Car-With-Supa-Loud-Muffla' floors his car as like; I'm racing with him. So, I was like "wtf dude!!". Since I'm not that defensive driver after all, I gave him a good run for what ever amount of money he has spent on his car; until he lost from my rear view mirror. Puas ati aku..

As I'm exiting the MEX highway trough Cheras/Subang exit, I switched on the aircond as it was very hot inside the car. Then I realize that my aircond wasn't cold. After I reached home, to my finding, my old aircond compressor making a weird noise; like something is snapping each time it was turned on. Crap. I went to my mech afterward and he confirmed that the compressor was dead. I told him about the outrun and he jokingly said that the driver must has cursed me or something.

A bad news about MIVEC part is, those taukeh will always look a way to cut your throat. It was quoted over $460 for a recond MIVEC compressor but then, settled for a 4G9X air cond compressor. As you can see, the OEM compressor is slightly bigger that the one that replacing it. Plus, my mech had to make a custom bracket to hold the compressor as it is slight difference between 4G92 MIVEC compressor with other 4G9X compressor which is way cheaper. Geee.. I was informed that MIVEC use a rotary type while normal one is piston type. The advantage of rotary type compressor is; the internal parts are lighter. You wont feel much of powerloss when switching on the aircond compared to piston type. But then, since it is lighter, it also much more fragile. Since I'm replacing the dead one with the piston type, there's a truth in that statement; the powerloss is noticeable now whenever the compressor kicks in. But I can live with it since, I don't floored the car whenever the aircond is on. Total repair.. RM600 for 1 piece of recond compressor + 1 brand new dryer + flushed aircond pipe + new compressor oil + R132 gas + compressor custom bracket + 1 set of Denso wiper :P

Ralliart Brake Reservoir Cover

I found this sock whilst repairing the central lock. Many including myself would ask, what on earth this thing is for? According to Spoon, their reservoir tank covers serve three purposes (Woww.. I couldn't figure out even one). One, they help keep the reservoir tank caps in place during racing and spirited driving, helping prevent spillage of vital fluids. Second, even if the caps are jarred open, the tank covers help contain the spill and minimize fluid loss. Third, the tank covers prevent dust and debris from accumulating on the tanks and potentially contaminating the brake fluid.

Ok.. point number 1 is quite BS to me as the factory reservoir cover is made from a very hard and durable plastic with rubber seal which could make one keep on bitching to open it once it has been tighten. So, it is almost impossible for the reservoir cover to pop out unless you banged into some walls or something. As it's capable to contain the fluid spill could make some good sense, but one still have to wonder, how much fluid this sock is able to contain since it not thick. The 3rd point seems to be clever, but then, again, it also related to the points above. If your reservoir cover is not doing it jobs properly, get it changed. Don't use this sock as an insurance because it's not. Get it for the sake of cosmetic.

When Alarm and Central Lock Went South

My central lock did give me some headache for a week or two. Whenever I arm the car using the transmitter, the door will lock and in a split second it will unlock the door back. On top of that, the lock latch on the driver side isn't locking properly which indicate, either the central locking gun has broken or the linkages were screwed. So I took it back to the shop I've bought and installed the alarm. To their finding, actually the wiring was the culprit. I'm quite surprise also since they are known as the one of the best in wiring job (as per claimed in Lyn.net). But then, even the mighty Microsoft did shit (remember Win ME?) They took more that an hour to troubleshoot it. Now everything is working fine.

Broken, Beat and Scarred Brake

I was driving on DUKE highway. As I'm passing 80km/h mark on the speedo, I felt strong vibration on my left-front of the car. A quick inspection told me that there might be a problem with the brake as there was heavy brake dust all over the wheel. Brought the car to my mech and it was discovered that the left front caliper has jammed. Maybe it's about time to get the front caliper serviced as I've done for the rear one 4 years ago. The service kit it self isn't too costly even though I knew my beloved mech already mark up the price for the stuff. Well, as long as the job done is well done, I don't mind paying a bit more.. Seriously, good service + cheap labour is an impossible combination nowadays.

My brake performance wasn't that convincing. I've changed to double layer brake booster/servo off from an Evo but I still feel that there are something lacking. I can almost never able to lock the front tire whenever I floored the brake.. and I don't have ABS on the car. Yes, I know that tire-locking ability isn't a way to determine whether the brake is good/strong enough. Maybe I should check the brake fluid hose. Anyway, I took the liberty of upgrading the front brake pad to Ferodo Zero. This pad is claimed to bite better than OEM brake pad and the brake dust produced is within acceptable range (as oppose to almost dustless on my OEM pad). I just finished bedded in the brake pad now and looking forward to trash it.

When Seal Ain't Sealing

I had this oil burning smell every time I wind down my window. The smell was intense if the engine is hot; such as after some wacking sessions. A quick visit to the workshop reveal that the seal around the oil sump need some attention. Due to my car ride height was very low, I've might went over some 'big fat bump' quite hard and swelled the seal. You can see that the base of the sump is dented, thankfully it ain't that bad. This 'treatment' is advised to do when you're doing an oil change since we have to drain the oil sump to start working.

It was quite amazed looking at the oil pickup screen. The passages (or more common phrase amongst us; holes) were so fine. The purpose of this screen is prevents foreign matter (such as lost washers, nuts and bolts) from entering the oil pump. Because of the screen is so so so fine; that makes me a fan and a firm believer of thinner grade of oil. Screw those 20W-50s. We don't live in the 60's or 70's anymore. Imagine those jelly-like oil forcing itself to squeeze into the screener in the morning; straining your hardworking oil pump.

After the old sealant was been brushes off, it gonna get some sanding using few grades of sanding paper until. After that, a new sealant paste was applied. This sealant looks like the stuff they use on cover rocker, but I was told it's kinda different between them. After the fitment, everything is fine, no more leaky and oily oil sump. Yey..

Hotbits Coilover

I've been saving for quite some time for this stuff. My initial intention was to get my ride height a bit higher than now. Well, I could get a set of non-short stroked absorber for that which is much cheaper, but at the same time, I also hate high ride height, especially on Satrias. The easiest way is to get a set of coil over. At first I was quite tempted to get those cheap coil over set. But considering that I always have this high expectation behaviour in term of durability, comfort and handling (of course), I've decided to go for this Hotbits coil over. Please be warned, whatever the seller convinced or promised you, this type of suspension is ALWAYS going to be stiffer than the average absorber. I found it's a bit funny when people change to coil over or adjustable (much more common word nowadays) and expect it to perform as good as stock suspension in term of ride comfort.

Installation wouldn't take much time but setting the ride height is a really pain-in-the-ass. My mech took around 3 times to set the height at each corner of the car. Even that, I still think that the ride height at the back was a bit higher than what I wanted. So, back at home, I did it myself. Put swearing and sweating aside, I managed it in 1 hour plus. At first, the comfort level was shockingly terrible. It was so freaking hard la wey. Then, after riding around 300km, the comfort level began to improve. Now, after more than 800km of traveling, the comfort is in acceptable level, well, at least in my book.

7th Year Facelift

To be frank, I'm bored with the same look of the car after owning it for merely 7 years. While Mirage Cyborg R bumper may looks decent, the current price of it is really pain in the ass. Plus, I try not to give an opportunity to those boys in blue to get an extra income from me, if you know what I mean. So, the cheaper option is to get Wira/Satria SE front bumper, together with grill and lip. This bumper isn't an OEM from Proton so the build quality is so-so, but definitely far better than fibre-based bumper that you can find at car accessories shop.

I always had this skeptical feeling when buying thing such like emblem from accessories shop. I always thought that they are selling ripoff item at a cost of arms and legs. For an instance, the front non-genuine emblem from one shop at my place cost RM25 and I found the genuine one at MUCH MUCH cheaper price at Proton Parts. Who said genuine part is always expensive? Must be those taukehs.

I've sprayed the centre grill of the bumper to flat black. It's much a trend nowadays. Eventually, this tend to give fresher fierce look, well, at least in my perspective though. It's hard to have a impressive facelift without churning out hefty amount of money. After sticking a few old newspapers and a few of paint layers, everything is done. Yeah, it does look very common but what the hell. Those so-called rare JDM bumpers also can be found almost everywhere on the road.

Broken Clutch Pump

My gear shift quality was degrading as the car gets older. At first I thought the synchro condition is getting worse but to my finding, it was the leaked clutch pump that make my gear crunches all the time especially when cold. There was no oil left in the resevoir. Shit, I've saw some oil stain at the lower part of the pump and some on the firewall but it never crossed to me that the pump has fucked.. i mean, spoilt. Silly me. And belief it or not, I've never change my clutch oil since swapping to this engine. Pity the pump never get the same pampered attention like the engine gets.

But after taking off the pump, it clearly looked like the pump has already past its' peak for quite some time. The rubber bush has went hard and swelled. Even if I took care the clutch oil, this pump eventually will fail one day, but a bit later I guess. Since it is almost impossible to get a brand new Made In Japan part with reasonable price tag for this car nowadays, an OEM clutch pump from 4G92 Wira will do the trick. Beside, the pump looks exactly the same.

The mech had a hard time to fit the new pump. Later it was discovered that the new pump was for Proton Waja. It seems like the spare part guys when asleep while searching for the pump. Soon after the designated pump arrived, the installation was quite fast. Now, the gear shift is much better. The gear grinding is still there and I'm thinking of using a lighter weight of gear oil. Redline 70W-80 again? Maybe...

When Anime and Oil Collides

As you may know, Japanese always came out with crazy ideas be it a television program, fashion or even, in this case, a girlish motor oil. Featuring 3 underage hot looking chicks wearing short skirts on the label, this Lucky Star Eco Engine Oil came with peach smelling fragrance(!). It came in two grades, either 0W-30 or 5W-40 (which most probably are synthetics) and were tagged at ¥2,520/L. Both are API SM rated. Ok, while the oil spec may look decent, the label on the package failed tremendously. I mean, people may get confused between this oil and kid's shampoo. Some more, it's going to look weird when you see some dude that you know which owned such a bad ass car queuing at the counter to pay for this oil which pretty much look like Sailor-moon kinda-like personal lubricant. This oil might be a direct competitor for the famous Ultraman Oil. As you may know, 3 chicks is always gonna win when competing with a man in tight whitish spandex with blinking light on his chest.

A Little Too Busy

Spark Plug Cable @ Ignition Spark Wire

Ignition wire or spark plug cable is a cable composed of one or more electric conductors and covered by insulation. In short, those wires are nothing other than conductors. Although most new ignition wires will perform the function of conducting coil output to the spark plug, what is important is EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) suppression. All electronic devices can be effected by EMI emitted from ignition wires. As production vehicles age, engine management sensors and wiring deteriorate and become more susceptible to EMI radiating from improperly suppressed ignition wires. To be truly effective, ignition wires need to be EMI suppressed for a reasonable time, while having the ability to maintain good conductance without overloading other ignition system components.

I been using NGK Power Cable for quite some time since it came when I bought the engine. I keep on wondering how old exactly that cables were since I've been using it for 4+ years and I have no idea how long it has served the last owner back in Japan. The trademark blue coloured cables were already turned to black. So when I opted to change those cables, I saw an advert in local car forums selling this new Quadcore 10mm cables for 4G92 MIVEC at a fraction of the price of the new NGK Power Cable. Pardon the name of the new cable. It really reminds me of Intel's Quadcore family processors. It was given that particular name since it has 4 inner core wires. Yea, but still...

When I pull out the NGKs, one of the rubbery boot plug was badly hardened and inside it, a small part of the metal tip was chirped off. A quick inspection later reveals that all the remaining wires were still acceptable in condition. This is one of the reason why big names put big tags on their product. The brand brings quality assurance. The new Quacore cables didn't snugged into the plug hole as perfect fit as the NGKs.The boot plug also look less durable. But these new cables did perform the task well. The car starts on every first crank. Power and fuel consumption did remain the same though.

Teflon-based Shift Knob

I bought this knob on the same day with the coil buffer. I was tempted to get my hands on Ralliart knobs but since it's pretty hard to differentiate the fake one with the genuine, so I went for this much cheaper shift knob. It is made from teflon which is considered to be the most slippery substance that exists. Once cured, teflon-based plastic is very durable and since it wasn't made from steel, I won't burn my palm when trying to shift into gear in our globally warmed hot afternoon.

I don't know why, but I totally very was into the awesome white colour knob but somehow or rather end up with the black one. Compared with the OEM shift knob, the new knob is slightly smaller and way lighter. Removing the OEM knob was just a matter of turning it counter-clock-wise. The new knob fits perfectly. It comes with several sized inner thread to fit almost any shift lever.

The smaller and lighter gear knob has a little bit improved the shifting at some level. Unfortunately the notchy on 2nd gear hasn't been toned down. This is not strictly a 'performance' upgrade for the car though but after using the old knob for merely 7 years, I think it's about time for some changes.

Coil Spring Buffer : The Poor Man's Choice

Since my car is too low and I don't feel like replacing the still-in-mint-condition shock or the spring to make it higher, I've decided to give this spring buffer a try. There are a few sizes to choose from as it covers quite a number of cars from different manufacturer. It was claimed that this spring buffer helps restore spring tension and extend lifespan to sagging coil spring. Is this quite true though as the thick rubber will fill the gab between the spring clearance, that particular area will hardly absorb any load or tension. This eventually will make the spring stiffer and the "restore spring tension" claim is somewhere eligible when applied to an old and sagged spring. Since this buffer is in its prime selling time, you'll be suprise the price that has been tagged on it. It can be anywhere from RM55 to RM120 per pair. Lucky me I've found this one at $60, including installation of course.

Installing the buffer isn't a hard job. Jack the front part of the car and wallahh.. this will enough space between the coil to slit the buffer in. The buffer is made from hard silicon rubber so improper installation may produce an annoyingsqueaking sound; you have been warned.

The outcome?? Ok, here we go. First of all, the tire and fender clearance increase roughly almost an inch. Not much but better than nada. Secondly, the car feels harsher as the coil is now stiffen. Handling feels a bit better as the front part wobble a bit lesser than before, but I still manage to hit the tire with the fender when driving over on certain flyovers on MRR2 (thanks to Uncle Sammy's brilliant road projects).

Why Octane Booster Is A No No

Since the government is going to officially introduce RON 95 into the market on Sept 1st and float the price of RON 97, we can actually see the RON-related or octane topic is increasing as every local forum in the internet is eagerly to discuss about this matter (well, I'm afraid I'm also included into the statistic). Some 'self-claimed experts' among the forumers even stated boldly that RON 95 will eventually destroy their pimped twin cam rides and suggested to use octane booster to rectify the additional octane requirement. But wtf is octane anyway? Octane numbers are something we see every day and probably take for granted before this. It is a rating means to measure a fuels resistance to pre-ignition. Let's first assume you have a car that runs well on 95 octane. What could you gain by altering the fuel you fill up with? By going down to 92 octane you might achieve better mileage (due to no ethanol which commonly used to raise octane in fuels) but could risk detonation depending on your cars engine. By going up to 97 octane you might allow your car to advance the timing gaining horsepower (but some cars didn't benefit the higher octane at all). Due to lower BTU (British Thermal Unit - unit of energy) per liter you will give up a few miles per liter. So right off you can see that it is a balancing act.

Looking closer at this, you notice that the extra horsepower comes from the ability of the car to advance timing and not the fuel itself. Higher octane fuel has less BTUs, but still nets power due to the timing advance and higher boost (in turbocharged application) it can achieve. In modern vehicles with knock sensors the ignition timing is constantly varied to achieve the best balance between performance and economy. Because this adjustment takes time, simply switch to higher octane at the track is not good enough. The fuel needs to be run in advance to allow the ecu to compensate for it. So using 92 all he time and then going to the track and filling up with 95 is not going to help your track times. You will have a faster car on the ride home though.

The other end of the spectrum is less octane. The down side here is the risk or pre-ignition and high EGTs (Exhaust Gas Temp). Both of these can lead to melted or bend pistons. Valves and the head are also at risk. If you have a modern vehicle it will detect this and retard timing to prevent damage. This timing modification is easy to detect with an OBDII scanner and it an easy to diagnose too fuel with too little octane.

Because of the above reasons, a lot of people turn to the boosters as a way of having both good fuel commonly and good performance at the track. The problem with them is most do not work as advertised. If you do find one what works, adding it to your tank a day before you go to the track can be beneficial. Despite the benefit, use boosters sparingly as most rely on MMT (Methyl cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl - what a freaking kind of name though..) or Toulene as a means of boosting the octane. While MMT is a pretty good octane booster but it leaves combustion chamber deposits very quickly. These deposits lead to pre-ignition and knock so people will evually add more octane booster which leads to more deposits, more knock ... you can see where this is going. MMT based boosters also quickly reach a point of diminishing returns i.e. the more you add the less it helps. And how much this booster cost in the market?? Much more than you actually pay for your fuel.

Toluene has the advantage of being relatively cheap, and fairly effective at raising the octane even in fairly high percentages. Plus it has good resistance to pre-ignition which is an important consideration in a high compression engine; in this case such as 4G92 MIVEC. The downside is as you raise the percentage of Toluene, the throttle response quickly becomes flat and mushy. So the engine won't knock, but it probably won't run any better either.

Commercial octane boosters are a scam. They are simply as bogus as those loan sharks. For example, if one says it'll raise your octane by 7 points, this is what they meant:

92 Octane + 7 Point Octane Boost = 92.7 Octane and NOT 99.

Most of addtive says "up to 5 points", "up to 10 points", or "up to 20 points". What does that mean? It means it goes up anywhere from 0 to 20 points, so you might get only 1 point after all. Who knows? 1 point is still within the number range to 20 and you can't sue them for misadvertising though.

92 Octane + 0.1 = 92.1 Octane = pathetic

By now you are probably confused again by what all of this means. To sum it up, if your car has no changes to compression, no raised RPM limiter or lots of boost, you should probably fine using the fuel without any booster added. If you have a beefy race built motor, stick to premium or race fuel that meets the need of your engine. If you have a lightly tuned engine and enjoy the occasional track day, regular fuel is already adequate. Don't touch octane boosters at all cost.

extracted from Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them ezine