Dyno Tips?

[Jeff Chambers]

Originally Posted by Dark_5.0

These are the only tips I can think of.
1. Dont let the idiot shop helper tinker with your car.
2. Dont let someone else operate your vehicle for the dyno run.
3. Make sure your car is strapped down properly.
4. Dont go to the dyno if your clutch is on its last days cause the stress the dyno puts on your car will fry a weak clutch.
Have fun and post results,

As a shop owner/operator I'll take offense to the first two items. That shop idiot/owner has probably seen more cars that you ever will. Pay attention to what they say and try to learn something....you may be surprised. Secondly any shop's insurance will forbid anyone operating the vehicle on the dyno other than a shop employee. Now if you're great friends with the shop owner, you may eventually earn a status/trust that lets you operate your own car, but until then I wouldn't even ask. If you don't want to let those that have been trained to do it, then don't even go. There's a lot more on the line for the shop owner than there is for the car owner.

To answer the original question, make sure your car is in the best condition it can be in. No bulging hoses, frayed belts or obvious vacuum leaks. No badly leaking engines, transmission or rears. Put in a fresh set of copper plugs, properly gapped. Replace the wires if they're old (it does make a difference on the data the dyno will capture). Replace the O2s if you're having a tuning session done, even if you think they're operating correctly. I'm reminded of an old engineering saying about computer programs...."Junk in = junk out." Put your car in the best possible condition and you'll get the best possible results and the best possible tune from your tuner.