Tuning Feature: Nissan TB42S Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan TB42S engine!"

We often are getting messages requesting information on the best tips on TB42S modifications. So let us look into Nissan TB42S upgrades and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

The Nissan TB42S really good project engines and with a few sensible tuning upgrades like ECU maps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will noticeably improve your driving enjoyment.

TorqueCars will examine the options for your TB42S tuning and provide tips on the optimum modifications.

When talking about the best parts for your TB42S engine, we are going to concentrate on the tuning mods that give the best value for money.

Altering your TB42S cam will usually make a dramatic difference to your engines engines power. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the engines power especially at the top end.

NB: Fast road camshafts normally increase the torque through the rev band, you may sacrifice a little low down power but the higher rpm power will be higher.

Competition camshafts, increase the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Race cam makes it harder when driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally optimize your power band to your preferences so for a road car stick with a fast road TB42S cam

Each engine responds better to mild camshaft durations so view each engine as unique.

The ECU mapping and fuel pump and injectors also have a large bearing on the power gains you'll get.

Altering valve durations can alter the power band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

TB42S Tuning Stages

Stage 1 TB42S modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Intake headers, Fast road camshaft.

Stage 2 TB42S modifications: induction kit, Fast road cam, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 TB42S modifications: Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

Mapping will help release the full potential of all the tuning parts you've done to your TB42S.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but power output usually differs on the tuning parts you've done and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine performance tuning task to force more air and fuel into each cylinder

The intake plenum transmit the air from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine and mixed with fuel.

The shape and rate of flow of the Plenum can make a large effect on to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the TB42S.

Commonly we find the plenum chambers are in desperate need of aftermarket tuning parts, although some makers provide reasonably good plenum chambers.

Increasing the TB42S valve size, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also raise bhp and torque, and as an added benefit will allow you to get a greater bhp and torque increase on other modifications.

Turbo upgrades for the TB42S

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your TB42S

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes impressive power gains.

If the engine has forced induction parts are going to make more power and you'll see that turbo engines are made using many forged and stronger components.

However most engines will need better parts at higher power limits

Discover these limits and fit higher quality components to survive the power.

It's not unheard of mechanics spending a loads on turbo upgrades on the TB42S only to see the engine block throw a rod when it's finished.

Big upgraded turbo units commonly suffer low end lag, and low capacity turbo units spool up more quickly but won't have the high rpm bhp gains.

We are pleased that the world of turbo units is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbo units, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into two channels and push these at differently angled vanes in the turbo charger. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there is a limit in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on the TB42S when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped bhp and torque at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more challenging to get working. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating TB42S fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will have to increase the fuelling when you start exceeding 20% of a power increase.We strongly recommend you to be generous with your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% when buying an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and provides you some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best TB42S performance exhausts

You should look to upgrade your exhaust if your current exhaust is actually causing a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the exhaust flow rate is good even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Note that with the biggest exhaust you can source this will reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be located in the filters installed, so adding a higher flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the TB42S

The TB42S engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues. {But if neglected they can cost a small fortune|When neglected they get very expensive to run|They can however be quite expensive if neglected| }

Regular oil changes are vital on the TB42S, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your TB42S engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our TB42S owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which upgrades were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our TB42S guides and tips are kept up to date.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Nissan. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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