UNDERboosting

[Adam.Findlay]

hmm well here we go
in the weekend my vr-4 has not been able to crack the 9psi mark, the car has a gizzmo IBC electronic boost controller, and i have tried fiddling with the gain/duration settings, with no result. even with both at 100/100 the car still wont go above 9 at most,
when i turn the boost as low as possible it holds at 6psi but once it did fluctuate between 6 and 8 back and forth,
any ideas why it would be doing this?
-broken or leaking blow off valve
-broken or semi functioning boost control solenoid
-buggered gizzmo IBC control unit
-or (it scares me to say) turbo issues (slim chance as the turbos and engine have only done around 45000km

the solenoid is wired in exactly the same as the article here on the club and by boost gauge and the gizzmo controller are both fed by the same vac line of the back of the plenum

[gareth001]

hmm well here we go
in the weekend my vr-4 has not been able to crack the 9psi mark, the car has a gizzmo IBC electronic boost controller, and i have tried fiddling with the gain/duration settings, with no result. even with both at 100/100 the car still wont go above 9 at most,
when i turn the boost as low as possible it holds at 6psi but once it did fluctuate between 6 and 8 back and forth,
any ideas why it would be doing this?
-broken or leaking blow off valve
-broken or semi functioning boost control solenoid
-buggered gizzmo IBC control unit
-or (it scares me to say) turbo issues (slim chance as the turbos and engine have only done around 45000km

the solenoid is wired in exactly the same as the article here on the club and by boost gauge and the gizzmo controller are both fed by the same vac line of the back of the plenum

Could also be a leaking pipe somewhere, have you removed any pipework recently and not got a good seal or it's slowly loosended?

[Adam.Findlay]

nope the only piping thats been off is the elbow pipe and thats on there tight as. i have checked for vac leaks and so on cant seen to find a leaking pipe or anything of the likes

[Wodjno]

Vac pipe to dumpvalve ??

Edit: has this only been an issue since installing the EBC.. Or has the EBC run higher boost before and now it won't ??

[Adam.Findlay]

it has been happily running 1 bar for about 6 months now but the issues has arisen in the past few days. all lines are connected to the DV
did a bit of searching and aparently if the dump valve is opening the boost should make a significant drop, where as it jumps to 8-9psi and holds there.

[mike74]

if nothing's been changed or disturbed then it sounds like your EBC is fubared :(

[Wodjno]

it has been happily running 1 bar for about 6 months now but the issues has arisen in the past few days. all lines are connected to the DV
did a bit of searching and aparently if the dump valve is opening the boost should make a significant drop, where as it jumps to 8-9psi and holds there.

Have u checked the Vac pipe on te DV yet.. With this broken off or cracked/leaking! It will still allow bosst, but reduced in that region..

But as above if u have no leaks then it's pointing towards the EBC..

[elnevio]

Have you got a picture of your EBC solenoid(s)?

I'm just wondering if it's been installed upside-down. It would still work, but could potentially fill up with oil.

[Adam.Findlay]

Have you got a picture of your EBC solenoid(s)?

I'm just wondering if it's been installed upside-down. It would still work, but could potentially fill up with oil.
its lying flat on its back as per the article but good point. ill take it out and have a look when i get the time.

[Adam.Findlay]

well i have removed the solenoid and plumed the factory one back in exactly how it should be, but now the car will not boost above spring pressure, 6psi. its fully factory now i cannot understand why it has this lack of boost

[scott.mohekey]

Is the stock solenoid operating?

[VR4Kaos]

how dose it drive esp when you deaccellerate

[Adam.Findlay]

cant tell if the stock solenoid is working or not as i dont know how to test it,
fine to drive just down on power, as before i put mu ebc in it was boosing 9-10psi on the factory solenoid,

[scott.mohekey]

Well, if its down on boost with or without the ebc, that rules that out. It also means its not likely to be the stock solenoid or the ecu. So I would suspect either a boost leak, or sticking waste gate actuators.

[VR4Kaos]

it dose sound like a vac leak im going to buy some leak detection spray used by gas engineers today to try and find out were mine is leaking from (again) maybe you could try this

[mattnz]

is it getting -20inhg of vacuum?

[Adam.Findlay]

yeah the odd thig is it seems to be geting plenty of vaccum. but in saying that to see full vac you need to be off the throttle and when you are off the throttle the throttle body is closed and my vac pipe is off the plenum so under boost it could be leaking elsewhere, i will go over it with a fine toothed comb but if worse comes to worse my engine and box is coming out in a few weeks to install a clutch and radiator so we shall see

[mattnz]

Yeah, when I had a leak on the BOV actuator I was getting 4psi, but only -10inhg throttle closed. When the turbos were ****ed, I was getting -20inhg, but only 4psi

[Adam.Findlay]

hmm well so far i have replaced the BOV. the Air flow meter, going to replace the intercooler tomorow, have replaced the soft pipe on the far front drivers side of the engine bay, returned it to the factory boost setup and it still will not break the 6psi mark!!! grrrrrr.
any other ideas, scott thinks it could be the wastegate actuators?
I highly doubt it is the turbos as the engine has only done aproxx 50000kms and 20000kms of that has been amsoiled every 5000, and when it does boost it comes onto boost fast as it should it just wont pass 6psi. if my flywheel is finished this week the engine is coming out this weekend to install a new clutch so i can have a good thorough check then i hope

[Wodjno]

hmm well so far i have replaced the BOV. the Air flow meter, going to replace the intercooler tomorow, have replaced the soft pipe on the far front drivers side of the engine bay, returned it to the factory boost setup and it still will not break the 6psi mark!!! grrrrrr.
any other ideas, scott thinks it could be the wastegate actuators?
I highly doubt it is the turbos as the engine has only done aproxx 50000kms and 20000kms of that has been amsoiled every 5000, and when it does boost it comes onto boost fast as it should it just wont pass 6psi. if my flywheel is finished this week the engine is coming out this weekend to install a new clutch so i can have a good thorough check then i hope

So have you done a pressure check by pressurizing the system and searching for leaks ?

[mike74]

You could try hooking up a foot pump to the actuators & see if they hold pressure or not. It could be weak actuator springs though...

[Adam.Findlay]

dont have the equipment for that. but the guys house who i am doing the clutch change at has a air compressor so i can try then

[mike74]

Just a normal foot/bicycle pump should do it. I don't imagine you'd have to go over 14 psi or so

[Adam.Findlay]

sweet ill try track one of them down for when i have the engine out
i should have acess to an aircompressor though. this issue is doing my head in. and the cars so so slow on 6psi and i have a track day coming up :(

[The Vee]

Check the couplings from the actuators to the actual wastegate. Difficult to see at the front, but it just sits over a pin with an R clip stopping it coming off.

[Adam.Findlay]

Check the couplings from the actuators to the actual wastegate. Difficult to see at the front, but it just sits over a pin with an R clip stopping it coming off.
the rear one is fine, and i will check the front when the engine comes out, thanks

[Adam.Findlay]

well hopefully after delay and more delays my engine should be coming out this weekend,
but so far i have replaced all soft pipes between the throttle body and turbo y pipe. intercooler included. so that pretty much rules out a boost leak as the only other soft pipe is the one on the rear of the engine which joins the y pipe to the rear turbo. and i checked it and its seems fine.
might try a manual boost controller to double check that my ebc is not farked
grrr driving me insane

[elysium]

I have just encountered pretty much the same problem.
After inspecting the hoses & piping which turned out to be fine, I checked the Recirculating Valve for leaks. Well, the RC did leak after I put it to the test.

Just my 2 cents.

[Adam.Findlay]

yip i just fixed it and my recirc valve was fine but the vac hose that feeds it pressure had collapsed under vaccum and sealed shut, so new vac hose and back up to 14psi :)

[Wodjno]

but the vac hose that feeds it pressure had collapsed under vaccum and sealed shut, so new vac hose and back up to 14psi :)


Vac pipe to dumpvalve ??




Have u checked the Vac pipe on te DV yet.. With this broken off or cracked/leaking! It will still allow bosst, but reduced in that region..



/pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan /pan

[Adam.Findlay]

yes yes haha i know i just waited to fix it when i did my clutch

[dickytim]

if nothing's been changed or disturbed then it sounds like your EBC is fubared :(


if the EBC was stuffed it should be going down to 6psi (wastegate pressure)

I have just had this issue.

Does the boost sensor for the EBC come from the solenoid or seperately.

is the boost reading from a seperate guage of the controller?

I would initially guess a leaking BOV at higher boost.

[Wodjno]

yes yes haha i know i just waited to fix it when i did my clutch


/Hmmm ....