Find out about "YD22DDTi Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Nissan YD22DDTi

"Comprehensive guide to performance parts and tuning the Nissan YD22DDTi engine!"

Forums like the one at TorqueCars are regularly getting emails asking about how to improve the YD22DDTi from people wanting to know what are the best tips on YD22DDTi mods that work. So let us look into Nissan YD22DDTi upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

Now we shall examine YD22DDTi tuning and summarise the ultimate mods that work. Nissan YD22DDTi really good project engines and with the ultimate sports mods like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will really maximise your driving opportunities.

The best YD22DDTi modifications on an engine are as we have found the ones that give the best gains for your money.

We won't be swayed by popular YD22DDTi modifications, they need to be cost effective.

Improving air intake on the YD22DDTi

You need air matched to fuel for an engine to work. If there is a lack of fuel then it will run lean, if there is little flow of air it runs rich losing power . We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So the fundamental goal to any tuning job to push air and fuel into your YD22DDTi but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

It is not unusual that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the YD22DDTi when loads more air is being drawn into the engine.

When tuning you may well find you need to get an air sensor or flow meter capable of upto 4 bars to cope with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting bhp and torque at a much lower level.

Headers transmit the on the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be fed into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Shape and flow rate of the air Intake manifold can make a noticeable improvement to fuel mixing and power on the YD22DDTi.

Commonly we find the plenum chambers are improved through an upgrade, although a few makers provide decently flowing plenum chambers.

Big valve conversions on the YD22DDTi, doing a bit of port matching and head flowing will also increase bhp, the fantastic side effect is it will make space for a greater bhp increase on other tuning parts.

YD22DDTi performance cam tips.

Different YD22DDTi engines respond better to different camshaft durations than others.

The map and fuelling also will say much on the bhp gains you'll hit.

Longer valve durations can alter the bhp 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.

Significant air intake, and exhaust improvements on the YD22DDTi can be made from cam upgrades. Changing the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.

NB: Fast road camshafts commonly raise the bhp through the rev range, you could sacrifice a little bottom end power but your higher rpm power will be better.

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

In a car driven daily you should ideally to match your torque band to your preferences.

I'd never have ever thought a YD22DDTi Motorsport and race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the YD22DDTi

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 YD22DDTi parts:

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

Stage 2 YD22DDTi parts:

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

Stage 3 YD22DDTi parts:

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

Remapping helps to establish the full potential of all the tuning mods you've done to your YD22DDTi.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage may rely on the tuning mods you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the YD22DDTi

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the YD22DDTi.

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

When a car is turbo charged parts are more reliable and you'll see that turbocharged engines are made with better components.

However engines will need better parts at higher power limits

It is important to find these limits and install better quality crank and pistons to utilize the power.

We see many car owners spending a loads on turbo charger upgrades on the YD22DDTi only to experience the motor catastrophically fail just after it's first rolling road session.

Big capacity turbo units commonly experience no power at low rpm, and little turbo units spool up really quickly but won't have the top end torque gains.

In the last 10 years the range of turbo units is always developing and we now see variable vane turbo units, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust gases into a couple of channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large torque gains, although more complex to get working. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the YD22DDTi

When you lift the power you will need to uprate to the fuelling.

More power needs more fuel. We would recommend you to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

The rule of thumb is to add 15% when buying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and allows a little spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended YD22DDTi performance exhaust upgrades

The only time you should look to increase your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if the current exhaust is actually causing a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the flow rate is still ok even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts equal out the flow of air through the engine.

But if the exhaust pipe is too big, ie: over two and a half inches diameter, you will lose a lot of the exhaust flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Typically exhaust restrictions can be traced to the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a higher flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Catalyst removal (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the YD22DDTi

Like most engines an YD22DDTi, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the YD22DDTi, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned YD22DDTi this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your YD22DDTi why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about YD22DDTi tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their YD22DDTi.

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This entry was posted under Makes and Models. Tags: engine, nissan
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