taug6

I have an STI II and I have made the Phase1 ECU conversion at power engineering, as well as changing the exhaust downpipe and the air filter for a free induction kit.

After the mods the car was running very well for some time. Even when the car was running OK there were a few occasions that I heard the sound of detonation (but only three or four times within a month). Another small side effect was the check engine light that was illuminating when backing off from high revs (usually with fourth and fifth gear).
On the other hand the car's performance was really higher so I'didn't bother that much at that point.

The problems started after I run the car on a track for about ten laps. The car start stalling after 3.5 Krevs, and effectively almost every time I tried to push relatively hard.

I went back to PE and asked them about the problem but they were not sure. At some point they found that the car was detonating really badly and the sensor was peeking that detonation, setting the car in safe mode.
As they couldn't find anything wrong with the mechanical parts of the engine, they tried a number of things over some time period(spark plugs, ignition coils, putting back the standard chip, checking the camshafts position, detonation sensor etc). They only found the problem cured after they did an ECU reset (with a detonation sensor from another WRX which they didn't believe that it made any difference but it was there because they previously made some attempts to check the car with it).

After that the car was not stalling but it was detonating very badly (on 3rd, 4th and 5th gear) so I had to go back to them. They put the car back on the rolling road and retard the ignition timing. When I got the car back the performance was not the same. I could feel the car being not as quick as before and also detonating with the 5th (and sometimes 4th) gear. The story was repeating. I had to go to PE once again. They put the car on the rolling road and they told me that the power of the car was in fact more than the first time I did the phase1 upgrade (exactly 10BHP more) and according to the subaru diagnostics it wasn't detonating at all. When I asked them how could it have more power (or torque) by retarding the timing they first told me that it may have been a colder day than when they originally did the phase1 upgrade. As I couldn't find that answer satisfactory (gain 10 BHP and analogous gains for torque by similar conditions inside the same building after retarding the ignition timing, especially when it feels definetely slower) I asked another mechanic in the garage. After asking him a few times he said that they had increased the boost pressure to compensate for the retarded timing. Under the circumstances I still don't consider this answer satisfactory. The end result (after so many times I visited them) is that the car still detonates and feels like having less torque and (maybe power) than it had after the phase1 upgrade and tunning.

I have recently checked the check engine light warning codes and these seem to be the following:

23: Mass air flow sensor signal is abnormal

45: Pressure sensor - pressure exchange solenoid valve is not functioning

I guess that I should expect the ECU code 45 because some sensors and controls for the turbo have been bypassed.

What I wasn't expecting is the ECU code 23 since that is still in place and I would expect to function in the same way as before.


Although the people from PE were really friendly and in many cases helpfull (even giving me better prices), I still feel that they should try to make a better job (especially considering the amount of money spent for this mod).

I would like to go to PE again to cure the detonation problem but without loosing performance significantly. I guess is a matter of time for them to tune the car properly but I really need to be assured that they will spent sometime to tune the car properly.

The same question comes to my mind over and over again: Has anybody else had similar experiences from PE ???

I still believe that PE has the knowledge to properly tune my car but are they willing to do so (without having me to visit them 10 times) ? If Mr Power personally assure me that they will tune my car propely keeping a similar performance to the original one (after the
phase 1 upgrade) I would seriously consider to visit PE again and be a regular customer there.

I would welcome any sugeestions on this matter.


Best Regards,


Alexander Makris

IWatkins

Alexander,

Just give them a call explaining your problem and get it booked in (I know, again) and get them to solve all your problems in one go. As soon as they have finished their mapping/tweaking etc. get the car on the real road and give it a good test, especially through the conditions that in the past caused problems. If still no good, go back, until they get it right.

If they cannot get it right (after a resonable number of attempts) you are entitled to ask for some/all your money back etc. But at least give them a chance to put it right.

Does sound like you have had enough though. I would have kicked up a fuss a long time ago (but I'm like that :-)).

As for why the problems, don't know. Could be a dodgy wire, dodgy sensor, dodgy re-map etc.

If you are still not happy with the service you get after sorting the money side of things etc., go to another tuner. There are more than one. I can recommned one, but I'm biased :-))

Cheers

Ian Watkins (GT4)

Anders

PLease read

Ian Cook

If the MAF sensor is faulty it will have to be replaced, £200 pounds on average. Will definitely cause the car to run lumpy. The ECU uses the info from the MAF sensor, even though its been remapped ???

None of the sensors would/should have been bypassed by the remapping as it is they that protect the engine ?????

MorayMackenzie

Paul Wilson

One error code is always present when a PE remap is carried out, (I believe 23) but PE will be able to confirm that easily, this AFAIK is due to the imformation provided by the sensor now being outside the parameters recognised by the ECU.
You might find your best bet is to leave the car with them for a few days / a week so they have the time to do the job, it can be difficult to do the sort of work you think it might require if the customers got to drive it home that night.

taug6

After another visit to PE the problem is now sorted. The car does not detonate anymore but I can feel a significant performance drop. Although power remains pretty much the same the car now does not have the nice flat torque (between 3500 - 6500 revs) response.

The detonation sensor is fully functional, controlling the boost and ignition but as I' ve been told false detonation is still detected while the engine seems to run OK.

At least this time there are no other side effects since the ECU retards the timing and decreases the boost when it senses the detonation (even if it is faulty).

Regards,


Alex.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by IWatkins:
<B>Alexander,

Just give them a call explaining your problem and get it booked in (I know, again) and get them to solve all your problems in one go. As soon as they have finished their mapping/tweaking etc. get the car on the real road and give it a good test, especially through the conditions that in the past caused problems. If still no good, go back, until they get it right.

If they cannot get it right (after a resonable number of attempts) you are entitled to ask for some/all your money back etc. But at least give them a chance to put it right.

Does sound like you have had enough though. I would have kicked up a fuss a long time ago (but I'm like that :-)).

As for why the problems, don't know. Could be a dodgy wire, dodgy sensor, dodgy re-map etc.

If you are still not happy with the service you get after sorting the money side of things etc., go to another tuner. There are more than one. I can recommned one, but I'm biased :-))

Cheers

Ian Watkins (GT4)[/quote]

Ian,

Hello Ian,

I spoke to Mr Power who explained to me that they now have access to better software for programming the ECU. He believes that he can cure the detonation problem by using this software and letting the ECU to control the boost (which was previously bypassed, running at constant boost).

Since the car was not detonating before the phase1 upgrade (but only a month later) I expect that they can find exactly what the problem is and fix it.
I hope that everything will be OK this time. I'll let you know about the progress.

Best Regards,


Alex

[This message has been edited by taug6 (edited 18-04-2000).]