Guess who bought a Lancer EX

[trinity]

2 hours ago, Hyaenidae said:

Whoa, no, it's not that bad  I don't think there's that much of a difference between 1.5l engine and the 1.6l one, only reason I can think for 1.6l engine to do worse in fuel in comparison to 1.5l engine is that the 1.6l version having HPS instead of EPS...  I don't think extra 100CCs of cylinder capacity would make a noticeable drop in FE anyhow, I might be wrong though...

What engine oil do you use @trinity? 

When I was searching for an EX I contacted one seller who had a 2014 EX for sale which was a 1.6 one. When I enquired about the fuel consumption, he told me the car does about 6-7 in Colombo. That's why I thought generally 1.6 cats consumes more fuel. Anyways I was bit surprised about his claim as previous generation CS3 with an equal capacity does very well one fuel. 

I just did my first service, used Valvoline 10W30 as recommended by the agent. Previous owner too had used the same oil throughout.

[Hyaenidae]

1 hour ago, trinity said:

When I was searching for an EX I contacted one seller who had a 2014 EX for sale which was a 1.6 one. When I enquired about the fuel consumption, he told me the car does about 6-7 in Colombo. That's why I thought generally 1.6 cats consumes more fuel. Anyways I was bit surprised about his claim as previous generation CS3 with an equal capacity does very well one fuel. 
I just did my first service, used Valvoline 10W30 as recommended by the agent. Previous owner too had used the same oil throughout.

Strange, considering the 4G18 engine returned better fuel economy even without MIVEC and high compression ratios 4A9 engines have... maybe he pumped 92 octane or something.

I've been using Valvoline premium conventional 10W30 too


 

Edited January 6, 2019 by Hyaenidae

[kush]

18 hours ago, trinity said:

Sorry for the delay guys.. Here are couple of photos taken from the front and side of the engine bay.

Boot and interior will follow.  

 

Invest in an engine cover it will improve the looks and protect the wiring and ignition coils from elements, for some strange reason this is an optional extra.

I got them down from the agents for around Rs. 15K in 2008 (cover and 4 mounting studs)

It is a 5 minute DIY once you have the parts

[Hyaenidae]

1 hour ago, kush said:

Invest in an engine cover it will improve the looks and protect the wiring and ignition coils from elements, for some strange reason this is an optional extra.
I got them down from the agents for around Rs. 15K in 2008 (cover and 4 mounting studs)
It is a 5 minute DIY once you have the parts

 

1.6L version comes with an engine cover

Edited January 7, 2019 by Hyaenidae

[trinity]

36 minutes ago, kush said:

Invest in an engine cover it will improve the looks and protect the wiring and ignition coils from elements, for some strange reason this is an optional extra.

I got them down from the agents for around Rs. 15K in 2008 (cover and 4 mounting studs)

It is a 5 minute DIY once you have the parts

I too thought about it, engine looks like a skeleton without skin when there is no cover. Most common engine cover I've seen is the one shown below,

But this cover cannot be used with my engine it seems. I believe the matching cover is the one shown below,

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Hyaenidae]

2 minutes ago, trinity said:

I too thought about it, engine looks like a skeleton without skin when there is no cover. Most common engine cover I've seen is the one shown below,

 

But this cover cannot be used with my engine it seems. I believe the matching cover is the one shown below,

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

That's the one

[Davy]

Seeing all these engine bays reminds me of a common mod that Aussie guys do to their Lancers to get a bit more power.

You see that grill just in front of the air intake snorkel? When the bonnet is closed, that's the only place that lets in air into the opening of the air intake. It's so damn restrictive because air comes in through the front grille, up into that small grille and then into the air intake. This means the car, in it's stock form suffocates a bit when you put the foot down as the airway is small. 

The mod is to (not for the purist) cut the plastic grille to make the opening a bit bigger. Some even swap it with a RalliArt snorkel. Others even do this. It's an aftermarket cut out for the bumper to allow proper airflow.

 

The FQ400 Evo X comes with that cutout from the factory.

[trish_auto]

2 hours ago, kush said:

Invest in an engine cover it will improve the looks and protect the wiring and ignition coils from elements, for some strange reason this is an optional extra.

I got them down from the agents for around Rs. 15K in 2008 (cover and 4 mounting studs)

It is a 5 minute DIY once you have the parts

What is the practical purpose of engine cover ? is this purposely avoided by lancer ex ?

[Davy]

4 minutes ago, trish_auto said:

What is the practical purpose of engine cover ? is this purposely avoided by lancer ex ?

1. Aesthetics. It improves the look of the engine bay

2. Protection. It prevents dust and debris accumulation on the engine cover and around the ignition coils, injectors and fuel rail.

3. Noise suppression. The engine cover has a thick spongy layer (the OEM one does at least) that absorbs much of the noise emitted from the valve body. 

[Hyaenidae]

10 hours ago, Davy said:

1. Aesthetics. It improves the look of the engine bay

2. Protection. It prevents dust and debris accumulation on the engine cover and around the ignition coils, injectors and fuel rail.

3. Noise suppression. The engine cover has a thick spongy layer (the OEM one does at least) that absorbs much of the noise emitted from the valve body. 

True on aesthetic and protection aspects. I think this would've been avoided if there was an engine cover.

However there is no spongy layer under my engine cover, it seems UNIMO got rid of all the engine bay noise suppression mechanisms of the lancers they imported. The noise suppression shielding for the firewall is also missing (See the mounting brackets sticking out on my engine bay pic, wonder if trinity's EX has it)

Edited January 7, 2019 by Hyaenidae

[trish_auto]

9 hours ago, Hyaenidae said:

True on aesthetic and protection parts. I think this would've been avoided if there was an engine cover.

However there is no spongy layer under my engine cover, it seems UNIMO got rid of all the engine bay noise suppression mechanisms of the lancers they imported. The noise suppression shielding for the firewall is also missing (See the mounting brackets sticking out on my engine bay pic, wonder if trinity's EX has it)

Good point. Engine suppose to be fully sealed. How noise is leaked from the engine block other than the exhaust ?  ( not referring to the noise from fan belts, water pumps, cooler fans, defected engine mounts, transmission or anything outside engine block)

[Hyaenidae]

1 hour ago, trish_auto said:

Good point. Engine suppose to be fully sealed. How noise is leaked from the engine block other than the exhaust ?  ( not referring to the noise from fan belts, water pumps, cooler fans, defected engine mounts, transmission or anything outside engine block)

Err I didn't mean it like that, if sound can't escape from the engine block we wouldn't hear engine knocks, piston slaps, lifter ticks etc etc... right?

What I meant was that the local authorized agent, in their infinite wisdom, has deliberately removed or opted out factory-fitted noise suppression mechanisms (engine cover, firewall cover and the under-hood cover)... maybe to offer the car at a competitive price? Wonder how much they saved by doing this

This is the firewall cover I'm talking about, mine didn't come with it. Take a look at the engine bay pic I've posted, the mounting brackets are sticking out uselessly. 

 

Hood under-cover. (insulation pad? hood liner?) This is also not present, irrespective of the trim. 

Edited January 7, 2019 by Hyaenidae

[Davy]

3 hours ago, Hyaenidae said:

What I meant was that the local authorized agent, in their infinite wisdom, has deliberately removed or opted out factory-fitted noise suppression mechanisms (engine cover, firewall cover and the under-hood cover)... maybe to offer the car at a competitive price? Wonder how much they saved by doing this

This is the firewall cover I'm talking about, mine didn't come with it. Take a look at the engine bay pic I've posted, the mounting brackets are sticking out uselessly. 

 

Hood under-cover. (insulation pad? hood liner?) This is also not present, irrespective of the trim. 

I assume this is to keep the cost down unfortunately. These are all standard in other markets. This was seen on the CS series imported brand new as well where no bonnet heat sheild was available and no trunk lid lining provided.

The lining on the firewall also acts as a heat sheild because the firewall separates the cabin from the engine. No lining means the AC has to work more to keep the cabin cool.

I'm a bit surprised to hear that there is no soundproofing material under the engine cover. 

5 hours ago, trish_auto said:

Good point. Engine suppose to be fully sealed. How noise is leaked from the engine block other than the exhaust ?  ( not referring to the noise from fan belts, water pumps, cooler fans, defected engine mounts, transmission or anything outside engine block)

Fully sealed doesn't mean fully soundproof. Although detonation cannot be heard from outside at full strength, noise from the block is heard from outside as the space inside the block is accommodated by solids and air mostly which are great sound conductors. Engines have become quieter and smoother than before, but not "electric car level" quiet. 

Usually, covers are designed to channel sound into them from the bottom, so it absorbs a bit of mechanical noise from things outside the engine block as well. I remember seeing a great YouTube video on it. Will share if I find. 

[trish_auto]

2 hours ago, Davy said:

I assume this is to keep the cost down unfortunately. These are all standard in other markets. This was seen on the CS series imported brand new as well where no bonnet heat sheild was available and no trunk lid lining provided.

The lining on the firewall also acts as a heat sheild because the firewall separates the cabin from the engine. No lining means the AC has to work more to keep the cabin cool.

I'm a bit surprised to hear that there is no soundproofing material under the engine cover. 

Fully sealed doesn't mean fully soundproof. Although detonation cannot be heard from outside at full strength, noise from the block is heard from outside as the space inside the block is accommodated by solids and air mostly which are great sound conductors. Engines have become quieter and smoother than before, but not "electric car level" quiet. 

Usually, covers are designed to channel sound into them from the bottom, so it absorbs a bit of mechanical noise from things outside the engine block as well. I remember seeing a great YouTube video on it. Will share if I find. 

Thanks Davy. You mean the wool like padding underneath bonnet is a soundproofing material. I suppose it is acting as a damper as well.  But in certain cars this is purposely removed for increasing the cooling efficiency.  Is that ?

You are correct, engine block can transmit the sounds from internal moving parts. I also agree that engine block has to be of correct mass, dimensions and internal channels to damp the excessive sound and vibration and avoid any resonance.  This could be  one of the reasons why lower weight 3 pod engines are not efficient in damping vibrations that of 4 pods ?

I am sure this is a more concerned issue with diesels than petrols. That's why diesels are coming with heavier engine blocks.

This is what I found from internet, from a research publications:

"The first principle, employing control by damping, entails a skeleton load carrying structure arranged so that it exposes to the sides of the engine only narrow edges which do not radiate much noise because of their small exposed surface area. Highly damped panels, which cannot be set into resonant vibrations, are attached to this load carrying framework.

Using the second principle, i.e. control by increased stiffness, an engine with a cast magnesium crankcase having a wall thickness of about 14 in was constructed. Magnesium was chosen so that the thickness of the crankcase walls could be increased to 5 or 6 times that of a normal cast-iron crankcase of the same weight. In subjective units these engines are about half as noisy as a normal engine using the same working parts. There are distinct differences in the characteristics of the noise of the two engines. The magnesium engine shows a tendency to be less noisy in the low and middle frequency range and is a little noisier from about 4Ooo c/s upwards."

source : http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1026.1276&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Also there is another method of sound controlling inside the cabin called active noise cancellation (ANC).  These systems seems more advanced. I am not sure how effective those systems in practically. But these have been already in the cars. is that ??

https://www.honda.co.nz/technology/driving/anc/

[Hyaenidae]

13 minutes ago, trish_auto said:

This is what I found from internet, from a research publications:

How about we theoretically analyse engine sound deadening elsewhere and focus on T-LEX

I'm happy with "engine goes vroom vroom, we cover it from all sides, witchcraft happens and we hear less vroom" ?

[kush]

9 hours ago, Hyaenidae said:

Err I didn't mean it like that, if sound can't escape from the engine block we wouldn't hear engine knocks, piston slaps, lifter ticks etc etc... right?

What I meant was that the local authorized agent, in their infinite wisdom, has deliberately removed or opted out factory-fitted noise suppression mechanisms (engine cover, firewall cover and the under-hood cover)... maybe to offer the car at a competitive price? Wonder how much they saved by doing this

This is the firewall cover I'm talking about, mine didn't come with it. Take a look at the engine bay pic I've posted, the mounting brackets are sticking out uselessly. 

 

Hood under-cover. (insulation pad? hood liner?) This is also not present, irrespective of the trim. 

Rs. 15,000/- in 2008

[Hyaenidae]

5 hours ago, Davy said:

 

The lining on the firewall also acts as a heat sheild because the firewall separates the cabin from the engine. No lining means the AC has to work more to keep the cabin cool.

There is a separate heat shield on the firewall, (Black) it's the topmost lining that is not present... so they've got rid of only the soundproofing  and left the heat shielding on I guess, thank god

1 hour ago, kush said:

Rs. 15,000/- in 2008

15k for all three or is it 15k each? Did you feel a difference in cabin noise levels post installation?

Edited January 8, 2019 by Hyaenidae

[Davy]

2 hours ago, Hyaenidae said:

There is a separate heat shield on the firewall, (Black) it's the topmost lining that is not present... so they've got rid of only the soundproofing  and left the heat shielding on I guess, thank god

I see. I thought it was just bare metal exposed. This is normal and what I expected to see. The soundproofing is under the carpet. I think they do it that way because the spongy soundproofing material isn't exposed to the elements. Also, I see that the exhaust manifold heat shield is also there, which reduces engine heat from being transferred to the firewall significantly. 

5 hours ago, trish_auto said:

Thanks Davy. You mean the wool like padding underneath bonnet is a soundproofing material. I suppose it is acting as a damper as well.  But in certain cars this is purposely removed for increasing the cooling efficiency.  Is that ?

Yes, the wool like padding. And it isn't removed to increase cooling efficiency. 

Finally found that YouTube video I was talking about. 

 

[kush]

3 hours ago, Hyaenidae said:

There is a separate heat shield on the firewall, (Black) it's the topmost lining that is not present... so they've got rid of only the soundproofing  and left the heat shielding on I guess, thank god

15k for all three or is it 15k each? Did you feel a difference in cabin noise levels post installation?

15K for each cover and 4 studs, did not notice any difference in noise levels.

Got it mainly for looks as the engine bay looks as if something is missing without it

[tiv]

Back in the day to heat shield defenders we used to buy a roll of mcfoil or alternative and go to town on the bits with some multibond. 

Did the job 

@Davy the intake in Montero an Montero sport is also fashioned that way, wish there was a after market solution for that, Maybe they thought the turbo will compensate for this? And probably to increase wading capability, 

Edited January 8, 2019 by tiv

[Hyaenidae]

1 hour ago, Davy said:

 Also, I see that the exhaust manifold heat shield is also there, which reduces engine heat from being transferred to the firewall significantly. 

Yes, there are 2 of them too, visible on trinity's pic. The one on my last pic is the one marked #1

Plus the 4A9 engine is quite small so there's a considerable clearance between the engine and the firewall  

 

1 hour ago, kush said:

15K for each cover and 4 studs, did not notice any difference in noise levels.

Got it mainly for looks as the engine bay looks as if something is missing without it

Thanks for the info! Fortunately the engine cover wasn't removed on 1.6L models,  got to ask unimo how much other two covers would cost when I take the car for the next service.

[trish_auto]

3 hours ago, Davy said:

I see. I thought it was just bare metal exposed. This is normal and what I expected to see. The soundproofing is under the carpet. I think they do it that way because the spongy soundproofing material isn't exposed to the elements. Also, I see that the exhaust manifold heat shield is also there, which reduces engine heat from being transferred to the firewall significantly. 

Yes, the wool like padding. And it isn't removed to increase cooling efficiency. 

Finally found that YouTube video I was talking about. 

 

Thank you

[Davy]

2 hours ago, tiv said:

 

@Davy the intake in Montero an Montero sport is also fashioned that way, wish there was a after market solution for that, Maybe they thought the turbo will compensate for this? And probably to increase wading capability, 

The issue with the Lancer is that there's a rubber wheather strip on the top of the bumper directly in front of the intake, and that seals the bonnet with the bumper restricting airflow. Is it the same with the Montero as well? The Lancer CS also had the same design for the air intake, but it had plenty of space for air to reach the intake through the larger grille and unobstructed space between the radiator and grill.

As for the turbo compensating for it, my observation is that Mitsubishi has opened up the air intake more on the RalliArt and the Evo X (and as seen on one of my previous posts, even cut out a vent on the bumper on the most powerful Evo X). So my opinion is that it becomes more important to have proper airflow for forced induction engines. 

This restriction of course doesn't play a major role in day to day driving. But from what I have read on Mitsubishi forums, NA Lancer owners claim to have experienced a slight increase in power after cutting out the plastic to channel more air into the intake. 

 

@Hyaenidae, as promised, here's the under side of the engine cover. I remember the sound deadening material being bigger than this, but it's rather small. ?

Engine bay showing insulation on firewall and similar aluminium heat shields. Also note the bigger cutout for the air intake (barely in the photo). Oh and @Hyaenidae, note the yellowing of the power steering fluid reservoir. ?

 

And the underside of the bonnet with insulation. Note the passenger side (left) air vent on the bonnet sits flush with the air intake and lets in more air. The aluminium part in the centre is the centre air vent that channels air for the turbo that sits at the back of the engine bay.

[Hyaenidae]

35 minutes ago, Davy said:

@Hyaenidae, as promised, here's the under side of the engine cover. I remember the sound deadening material being bigger than this, but it's rather small. ?

1

3

Is that material made to sit dead on the cylinder head cover? 

35 minutes ago, Davy said:

Engine bay showing insulation on firewall and similar aluminium heat shields. Also note the bigger cutout for the air intake (barely in the photo). Oh and @Hyaenidae, note the yellowing of the power steering fluid reservoir. ? 

2

2

Man, looking at this pic makes one realize that the 4A9 engine bay is mostly just empty space  

35 minutes ago, Davy said:

And the underside of the bonnet with insulation. Note the passenger side (left) air vent on the bonnet sits flush with the air intake and lets in more air. The aluminium part in the centre is the centre air vent that channels air for the turbo that sits at the back of the engine bay.

 

 

I've read somewhere that RA and EVO both have an Aluminium bonnet for weight reduction

Edited January 8, 2019 by Hyaenidae

[Davy]

27 minutes ago, Hyaenidae said:

Is that material made to sit dead on the cylinder head cover?

From what I can tell, It doesn't touch the cylinder head when the cover is installed. There's a very slight gap. I'll check to make sure.

27 minutes ago, Hyaenidae said:

I've read somewhere that RA and EVO both have an Aluminium bonnet for weight reduction

Correct, the Evo and the RA share the same lightweight Aluminium bonnet. From memory, the Evo (if no sunroof is opted for) also has an Aluminium roof. The RA doesn't.