Tuning Feature: Nissan TD42Ti Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan TD42Ti engine!"

We are always seeing threads asking how to improve the TD42Ti from people wanting to know what are the greatest TD42Ti upgrades. So let us look into Nissan TD42Ti parts and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

The Nissan TD42Ti have loads of potential and with the best uprated mods like remapping, turbo kits and camshafts you will certainly increase your driving enjoyment.

We shall provide a guide to TD42Ti tuning and provide tips on the best upgrades.

The best TD42Ti parts on an engine are usually the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular TD42Ti parts, they need to be cost effective.

Altering your TD42Ti cam should make a dramatic difference to your engines bhp. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the bhp especially at the top end.

NB: Fast road cams tend to raise the bhp and torque over the rev band, you could drop a little bottom end torque but top end will be higher.

Race cams, raise the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

In a typical daily driver one, ideally, should ideally to optimize your power band to your typical driving style.

You will never have found a TD42Ti Race cam is a pleasure to live with when driving in heavy traffic.

Different TD42Ti engines respond better to extreme cam durations than others.

The engine timing and fuel pump and injectors also will say much on the torque gains you'll get.

Longer valve durations can alter the torque 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.

TD42Ti Tuning Stages

Stage 1 TD42Ti modifications: Remaps/piggy back ECU, Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 TD42Ti modifications: fuel pump upgrades, induction kit, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 TD42Ti modifications: Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

ECU mapping will help unlock the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your TD42Ti.

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

Forcing more fuel and air into your TD42Ti is vital to any tuning job.

Headers carry the air from the filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Structure and flow rate of the Intake can make a large improvement to fuel delivery on the TD42Ti.

We often see air intake manifolds are in dire need of aftermarket parts, although some OEM provide fairly well optimized air intake manifolds.

Adding a TD42Ti larger valve kit, doing a bit of port matching and head flowing will also boost performance, & importantly will afford you a better performance increase on other modifications.

Turbo upgrades for the TD42Ti

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 TD42Ti

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

When a car is fitted with a turbo tuning mods are more reliable and most turbo engines are made with more solid components.

However you will find an engines will have power limits

Research these restrictions and upgrade to better pistons and crank to utilize the power.

It's not unheard of drivers spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the TD42Ti only to suffer the indignity of watching the whole thing explode soon after it's used in anger.

Large capacity turbochargers often suffer no power at low rpm, and low capacity turbochargers spool up quickly but won't have the peak end power band gains.

In recent times the market of turbochargers is always increasing and we are seeing variable vane turbochargers, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo charger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a restriction in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the TD42Ti 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 was restricting bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more difficult to configure. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating TD42Ti fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will have to uprate the fuelling when you start exceeding 20% of a bhp increase.It is important to be generous with your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add another 20% when specifying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and allows a bit of 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 TD42Ti performance exhausts

You may need to improve your exhaust if the existing exhaust is creating a flow problem.

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

Sports exhausts can usually air flow out of the engine but avoid an exhaust that is too wide or you may end up reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Common exhaust restrictions are in the catalysts installed, so adding a faster flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the TD42Ti

The TD42Ti 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 TD42Ti, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your TD42Ti engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our TD42Ti 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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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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