drew.goodwin

Evening All,

Seen a few of these postings knocking about, is this a common problem on Scoobs ?

I have a 97 UK Turbo, just done 80k. Only mods are TSL Back End & K&N. Had the car a couple of years and it's always run (atleast for the last year when I got round to fitting a boost gauge !!) at approx 0.5 Bar. I just accepted this as a "UK" car thing being new to the cars..

Have since been told that I should be achieving 0.9 Bar ?

Did an ECU Reset this evening, all came back clear. Have cleaned out the boost solenoid, while the pipes were off I could hear and feel the solenoid flicking and cleaner being blown out as expected.

Any ideas ?

Since the reset, she's running alot smoother, but still only 0.5 Bar.

Knack'd Solenoid ? MAF ? 02 Sensor ?

Any help / ideas appreciated.

Cheers
Drew

StickyMicky

possibly a restrictor or an actuator fault?

a manuel boost controller would help you raise it a small amount if you cant track down any kind of fault

drew.goodwin

Thanks mate.

Fitted an MBC but she ran like a pig so I've taken it back off. Although, that said, I didnt reset the ECU when it was fitted. Idled badly.

Refit and reset again ? Or shouldnt that have been a problem.

Could it be the MAF ? Not long had its MOT and she passed emissions etc without any probs - So asuming that lambda sensor not involved.

Only getting 220 to a tank of Optimax.

Cheers
Drew

drew.goodwin

Any idea what the SAFEST Boost on a TD04 if MBC involved ?

StickyMicky

MBC shouldnt affect the idle?

you sure you fitted it properlly?

drew.goodwin

Pretty sure. Followed instructions on Chiarks site.

I had it upto 0.7Bar with MBC fitted, but just didnt feel right. Hard accelerating from 50MPH upto 70 it felt like a spluttering / flooding type thing going on.. The main reason for taking it off to be honest (I could have lived with the Idle problem - reasonable trade-off)

drew.goodwin

BTW, Set it at 0.7 as a precaution, never tried it over that....

JamieMacdonald

Hi mate,

It won't be the lambda as the ECU ignores O2 signal on WOT. However it's worth replacing on a car of that age anyway - you can get a replacement from Halfords for 20 odd quid.

One way to check the MAF - unplug it and the car should stall immediately. If it doesn't then it means your MAF is knacked and the ECU has adjusted the map to compensate. But then a reset should clear this, so it should try to run full boost for a while.

If the ECU detects a fault then it puts the car into 'limp home mode' or something, which halves the boost (i.e. 0.5bar) , but again an ECU reset should cure this and you would be getting a CEL.

I had low boost when I got my MY97, but cleaning the boost solenoid sorted it. I think it was about 0.7bar then went up to 0.9bar after cleaning. I'm now running just over 1bar with a Dawes MBC (Walbro/decat/K&N panel/AFR meter & KL) and it's run sweet as a nut like that for years.

I would take off every vacuum pipe and clean them all with brake cleaner, also checking that none of them are unplugged.

Jamie

ReggieMY99

check the rubber hoses comming from boost solonoid up to the T joint at the turbo

i snapped that T joint and had to temp. use a home made which made the car boost at 0.6 got a new T joint from dealer a couple of days later and the car boost normal again, my home made T joint were apperently either stuffed up or leaky so the ecu goes into limpmode

found that the hoses where "tender" after heat from turbo hence i snapped the plastic T joint because it was litterally fried, did this in process of cleaning out boost solonoid and hoses

pwhittle

My '93 WRX is doing the same, won't get over 0.6-0.65. There's pretty much nothing over 5000 rpm - is that normal?
I want to try checking / cleaning the hoses. Does anyone have a nice labeled diagram of the engine bay - it takes some navigating!

cheers

drew.goodwin

Thanks gents !

I've just tried the MAF disconnect, and she tried desperately to keep going, and stalled on the 3rd surge... so guess that means MAF is OK ?

Strange thing, no CEL errors at all. Ran Diags / Reset and all clear.. Checked all jub clips to intercooler etc, and all are tight. The main stumpy one looks a bit naff, so probably worth a replacemnet anyway.

Recently changed the t-piece for a non-dealer one, prob worth getting one of those at the same time... and a few meters of breather hose

Have put my MBC back on and she's taking 0.8 quite happily. No sign of overboost or anything. Not spluttering like it was before either.

Still, would be nice for it to run at same BAR without the MBC.. makes me nervous !

Cheers
Drew

StickyMicky

how long scince the plugs were changed?

drew.goodwin

Platinums put in about 18 months ago...

David MY99

Are you sure you've mounted the boostgauge propperly? and not on the boostactuator

WallacePerformance

Pull off the pipe to the actuator, run the car to find out boost level (please be careful as this does away with the control of the solenoid). IF the boost level is no greater this is almost certainly turbocharger or actuator fault.

Gavin