I'm looking for others' experiences here.

I'm thinking of adjusting the valve lash. Car only has 77,000 on it but there's a little more noise than normal, definately valvetrain, and power is down a little. I've had plenty of experience on other cars but I was looking to see what kind of a change it made to the TL such as a change in power or noise or something like that. Anyone get it done early, before the timing belt and see a difference? Thanks in advance.

 

OK, I'll reply. As you, I have never done the adjustment on the TL, but can't believe that a performance difference would be noticed if the lash is out only a few thousands. If one or more were really rapping that certainly could make a difference, but then something would probably be worn in the valve train.

 

Damn you! You're supposed to tell me how I'll pick up 50hp.

I'm just grasping for straws now. Everything electronically checks out. Just raced a member with 20s and a CAI which should've meant we would be even or I should be slightly quicker yet he pulled me pretty good. This is with the high test fuel so detonation is ruled out.

 

Still running the heavy weight oil, that's supposed to shear down? How about the plugs, type and gap? Manual shift or let the auto do its thing? Extra weight in the trunk? Pump the tires up pretty good with air, especially the rear. No exhaust restrictions? Other than that I don't know. Guess you could take the Turbo off the GN for a day.

 

I changed my timing belt and tensioner at around 115k miles, and when i was lining up the timing marks, I noticed that the front bank and the crank marks lined up very close, but the rear bank was almost 2/3 of a tooth retarded! The belt had a significant amount of stretch in it compared to the new belt, and the stock tensioner was still good, even though i replaced it anyway. Needless to say, the car idled noticeably smoother and felt more powerful, i suspect this was due to the rear bank cam timing being retarded 5 degrees or more. Never had a CEL either... maybe this explains your situation to a degree? Btw, i never adjusted the valves either, they never seemed to sound like they really needed it... just not audibly noisy really, no ticking. When i changed the plugs at 100k the new plugs made the car slightly smoother running in general but no real appreciable difference in power or mileage at all. They looked excellent for that many miles.

 

U sure he didn't have a supercharger? HMMMMMM

My opinion.... Its the 200 lbs u got in ur trunk (speaker, box, & amps), plus your tires need a bit of air. You sure this other person didn't have his tires at 40psi? That could have made a difference.

Maybe he had an AEM V2?

 

I think the other "guy" was a girl. I saw a ponytail blowing in the breeze.

 

I'm sure SHE WAS ONE sexy son-a-bi#ch!

C- YA TOMORROW!