low boost, any ideas?
 

hey guys, had my 2002 bug sti looked over as its only boosting at 0.5 bar. all pipes etc were checked for leaks etc. swapped out the maf and also the boost solenoid and both were found to be working fine. codes were checked on diagnostic but nothing came up. diagnostic confirmed its boosting to 0.5 so that rules out the gauges being faulty (defi,s) so any ideas what i can look at next? car pulls fine but just seems to be lacking that little something? it seems to kind of hit a wall at 0.5 and wont boost past it but still pulls ok. any ideas would be good. it has an ecutek remap from andy f. i tried the pedal to the floor and flick demister switch in case 2 boost settings were set up but unless i did it wrong it made no difference. thanks

See when you did demister did you press it twice quickly

no m8, is that how its done? i wasnt sure at all how to do it. i just pressed it on and off but not in quick succession. so is it ignition on but not started, then acc. pedal to the floor and held there then 2 quick presses on demister switch?

When i got mine done by andy its foot to floor and double click mate and if you read codes its puts it to low boost

ok cheers m8 will give it another go when i go to the shops lol.

wastegate crack / leak?

Surely 0.5 bar is too low even for a low boost setting, (its not even actuator pressure is it??)

Any other sympton's at all?

Hope it sorts it mate

0.5bar is wastegate spring pressure, if your solenoid is working correctly it must have an alternative boost setting

there is a little stutter up through the gears around say 3000rpm but no other obvious issues. it def feels like hitting a barrier at 0.5.

Have you just bought the car? has it always done this or were you making more boost previously?

Double check map sensor pipes. I had same issue and found that pipes weren't tight enough. I put zip ties on and was boosting perfect after that.

just bought the car but knew it previously. all pipes were checked as per 1st post bud also maf and solenoid were swapped out for known working ones.

So was it making more boost previously then?

i dont know my boss had it but didnt have a clue about it and only used it as a weekend car but wasnt an enthuisiast. peak setting button on the defi,s showed about 0.8 bar so it must have been boosting higher at some point.

That could just be boost creep???

Id check it has actually had the ECUTEK remap!

i have the reciept for the remap from the garage and have contacted them to confirm they contract their work out to andy.

When you contacted the garage did they not tell you how to adjust the boost (if 2 maps have been done)?

its not maps bud just boost switching. yeah i tried the method but might have done it wrong (see earlier post) just hoping for other ideas i can try apart from the things already mentioned

Turbo actuator?

we tried the actuator bud and it seemed to be free and moving ok. i think i,ll have to book a session with andy f. am i right in thinking if andy did the ecutek map origionally i will only pay the tweaking fee as the licence will be on the ecu?

Yes mate

There should be a restrictor pill in the pipe from compressor cover to tee piece

thanks jgm ill have to check. the guy who checked it over attached a seperate boost gauge to the pipework and confirmed its only boosting to 0.5 bar. another weird thing was the car threw up a cel which the garage switched off (when my boss had it) and when he got the car back the dv had stopped working? its an hks so not a cheap one, the guy who looked it over said it might need a service kit to sort it but seems weird it worked before the garage had the car back? ill ask the boss what the cel was as i cant remember atm.

Restrictor pill or boost solenoid, thats what my money is on, if you can feel the pill in the pipe its defo the solenoid, quick test pull the pipe off the actuator and drive it, bet it pulls like a train, the boost solenoids can get stuck closed and stop bleeding boost away from the actuator which happens to be set at 0.5 bar, il be very surprised if its not that.

cheers gaz, we have already swapped out the boost solenoid for a known working one so its not that. will try and pull off the pipe and have a quick spin and see if it goes as you describe. will also check for the restrictor pill.