AU Falcon Turbo Project
This is an information page for anyone looking to turbocharge an AU Falcon 4.0L Intech using a Haltech Elite 750. Before starting out, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions to determine the correct direction to head in:
- Is your car an automatic, and if so, do you wish to retain standard gearbox shift logic?
- In my case, my car is an auto and I wanted to retain the standard shift logic. This is controlled by the AU Falcon’s standard ECU, meaning that the Haltech Elite 750 must be wired in as a piggyback style setup.
- If you don’t require auto shift logic, or if you have a manual, there is an option to wire in the Haltech Elite 750 as a standalone setup.
- Will you retain the AU’s standard coil pack block, or will you go coil on plug?
- In my case I am keeping them, which means the Haltech will need to be configured to run a ‘Wasted Spark’ ignition setup and use a Haltech Triple Channel OEM Igniter. Only three ignition channels are required, as each channel ignites two spark plugs at once.
In addition to the above, a WB1 Wideband Controller Kit + Wideband O2 Sensor is required.
Products Links
Wiring in the Haltech Elite 750
From this point forward, all information below is for wiring up a Haltech Elite 750 into an AU Falcon in a ‘Piggy Back’ style setup. The stock AU Falcon ECU is retained, but several wires are either intercepted or tapped to allow the Haltech to access sensor data and other information.
At this stage I would recommend Hooton Harnesses if you’re not confident to create your own patch loom. Simply tell Bill how you’re planning to set it up, and he’ll make you a loom to suit. Then all you need to do is follow the wiring information provided via the following link:
The AU ECU handles the auto gearbox shift logic, dash and other vehicle functions, whilst the Haltech takes over all aspects of running the Intech 6.
Base Map & Engine Start
Haltech provides an excellent resource on their website with most of the information required to setup a base map on the Haltech Elite 750. I used a generic Haltech base map for the Elite 750, and then used information from the page above to customise it to better suit the AU Falcon.
With very little effort, I was able to get the engine to fire and then run roughly on 3-cylinders. Due to an issue with how my loom was made, I needed to add “Home+” and “Home-” wires which spliced into the AU Falcon’s wiring loom – giving the Elite 750 a proper cam position signal. Bill Hooten later mentioned that only a “Home+” and “Trigger+” wires are actually needed for the engine to run properly.
Regardless, adding Home+ and Home- fixed the problem and the engine ran beautifully.
**USE AT YOUR OWN RISK** This base map was created on a Fairmont Ghia with an Intech VCT with stock injectors.
At this point, if you’ve followed the install process and loaded the base map correctly, your AU Falcon should now start, idle and even drive. Idle and fuel trims have been set, so the Haltech will continue to fine tune these settings as you drive. I would recommend driving sedately until you get a proper tune.
Fuel System Upgrades
For running any meaningful levels of boost, you’ll need to upgrade the fuel system – preferably larger injectors, a bigger fuel pressure regulator, and also a pump which can flow more fuel and keep up with the increased demand.
- All AU Falcons run 200cc Bosch injectors and a 2.7 bar (39psi) fuel pressure regulator (FPR)
- As a comparison B-Series XR6 Turbo’s run 295cc injectors and a 4.0 bar (58psi) FPR
- At a bare minimum, used B-Series XR6T injectors and FPR could be used and will fit an AU Intech.
- The stock AU fuel pump will most likely not flow enough fuel to support any meaningful levels of boost.
I used a BA XR6T spec 4.0 bar FPR, but decided to go for larger injectors – the same 1000cc Bosch/Raceworks injectors I used in my BA XR6T a few years prior. Perhaps a bit large for the turbo Intech build I have in mind, but they behaved well at idle and low RPM’s in a Barra – so I didn’t see any negatives in going slightly larger here.
I also sourced a 460lph fuel pump upgrade (again, arguably a bit big for what I need) to make sure the fuel supply will always be solid. Something around 255 – 325lph should be sufficient in most cases, but the Walbro 460 is surprisingly quiet and so far seems to be running fine on the AU’s stock fuel pump wiring.
T.I. Performance sell all of these parts and provide the dead time specs for the injectors, which you’ll need to configure in NSP.
Conclusion
The AU Fairmont now has most of its supporting modifications installed and the car is running nicely. It will be undergoing a turbo conversion in the near future, and this guide will be updated with more information as we go.
If you found any of this information useful and wish to support my projects, please consider chipping in with a PayPal donation: paypal.me/motoringbox