Is it bad when my turbo guage...

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself' started by mattprzy, Oct 16, 2005.

  1. mattprzy

    mattprzy Active Member

    Ever since dyno day, putting a ristricter in the vaccume line, I have been loving my car (+42 hp). My boost is now a lot higher. When I gun it, my boost will hit 16 and go back down to 13-14 and go up again to maybe 15-16, then lower and stay steady at 14.5. It happens all in a second to a second and half.

    I have read a lot on Nasioc that turbo spiking is a bad thing. But one thing I never read was an idication of what turbo spiking is, and how to detect it. I don't want to ruin my car if my boost is not acting normal.

    Is my boost normal or is it something i fix?
     
  2. miloman

    miloman Retired Admin

    i would stick with the stock diameter restrictor if i didnt have engine management

    sorry... dunno much about turbo spiking
     
  3. Trey

    Trey Active Member

    Time for ECUtek. :p

    Seriously tho, now that the mayhem has died down at TS, call and talk to Doug and see what he says.
     
  4. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    While it's my opinion that futzing with boost and other things without proper engine management is a bad idea (turbo cars are complex beasts)... you might try loosening the wastegate arm a bit. Not saying it will help, but it's a possibility.
     
  5. bigb996

    bigb996 teh Wannabe Mod

    yea sounds like adjustment maybee......my boost from 1st-2nd stays around 5-7psi then jumps to 9-11psi and if im gunning it will hit as high as 17psi. Overall average in higher gears is between 11 and 14psi though.
     
  6. jonnyboy0150

    jonnyboy0150 Member

    If it is spiking it can be caused by a factory downpipe flange. An aftermarket dp with a bellmouth at the turbo would solve it if indeed that is the problem.
     
  7. married05gt

    married05gt starting over

    It is spiking because by changing the restrictor you are changing the factory wastegate duty. The surge is not going to hurt the car but what you need to look at is.

    A. stock- no surging, constant boost level, smoth power.

    B. smaller restrictor- Feels surgey when driving(that will get old soon), Higher peak boost but drops instantly.

    It seems to me that if you tested it at the track they will be exactly the same.
     
  8. Cool_____

    Cool_____ Banned

    I dunno if you have the same thing as me but I am doing the same crap and it is making me extremely mad as I got tuned twice for this. If in 3rd gear and I go WOT I will surge and then levels off.....that is normal. If I go WOT in 4th it'll boost to 20psi, then fall to 15 psi, then boost to 20psi, and fall to 15 psi and it's a never ending cycle. Does it in 5th as well if I past someone but I am not worried about 5th a much as 4th. Every once in a while it'll surge continously in 3rd but it always does it in 4th bad. The car is tuned for 17.5 psi according to Doug @ Topspeed. Cold weather has nothing to do with it as it was doing that a few days after the tune in 85 degree weather.

    I don't know what to do. I have a Perrin downpipe and I switched to an ERZ and no real difference except I can tell the car likes the ERZ better. BOV isn't the issue. The Perrin EBCS is tight and fine and dandy. Everything else is not leaking as I check 4 times already. I think it has something to do with the wastegate duty cycles Doug set as the car was tuned in 3rd gear on a dyno.

    Don't get me wrong Topspeed did a great job and I got 304 hp 29X tq on my 18g but dang this just isn't streetable if I am boost surging and the car is constantly pulling timing. Every time it surges the car will pull timing and runs like crap until I cycle it. Not my peice of pie if you ask me.

    When the car was first dynoed I had an unknown boost leak and Doug thought the wastegate was the issue and he tightened it but later loosened it back. I wonder if that could be the problem? Maybe it isn't set to where it originally should be? I dunno but I am aggravated as I simply can't enjoy what should a decent nice WRX.
     
  9. yerrow

    yerrow Active Member

    mine did the same thing while i had a MBC. once i got the AP it went away
     
  10. Goose013

    Goose013 Member

    For those of you who don't know his WRX did not have a restrictor to start with and it was making about 167 to the wheels. Doug recognized the problem and put one in for him. If I remember it is now making 212whp.
     
  11. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    Problem is solved then ?
     
  12. mattprzy

    mattprzy Active Member

    Well i was wondering if there was a problem to begin with. Since I read a lot that spiking is bad. But apparently not in my case.
     
  13. Cool_____

    Cool_____ Banned

    I wonder if it is because I don't have a restrictor either? I have a Perrin EBCS setup on fast interrupt mode and the instructions told me to ditch the restrictor entirely. Ideas? I didn't have the problem at all but I can use AP with FMIC, 820cc injectors, and a 18g turbo without a protune and I already have Ecutek.
     
  14. miloman

    miloman Retired Admin

    i pulled out my restrictor too when i installed the EBCS
     
  15. Cool_____

    Cool_____ Banned


    Okay cool that is good to know. Do you have any surging issues at all in any gears? Did ya ever have those issues? How does your boost act? In other words does the boost climb maybe spike slightly and settle?

    Sorry for the million questions.....just trying to track down the issue. SS thinks it's the wastegate duty cycle.
     
  16. miloman

    miloman Retired Admin

    boost is VERY smooth in my car... no spiking at all... here are some logs from my tune
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  17. JJang12

    JJang12 Active Member

    I'm also experience 5th gear surge as well. It's kinda scary. It was okay for awhile and it came back again. I'm in process of gathering VF34 set up. So i'm just gonna ride it till i get new tune of VF34. BTW, i have ecutek right now with smaller restrictor which is causing this turbo surge.
     
  18. Cool_____

    Cool_____ Banned

    Sweet log Milo. Just so you know I have an appointment officially on Dec. 21. 8:30 AM I will be rolling into Atlanta again so if you want to meet up come on. I will remind you as the time gets near. Long time I know but money and work schedule (mostly work) prevents me coming sooner.
     
  19. miloman

    miloman Retired Admin

    crap... i'll be on my yearly trip back home to india at that time... will be leaving on the 17th of dec and returning early january... damn, i really wanted to experience the 18g
     
  20. Cool_____

    Cool_____ Banned

    I'll just have to make to one of your meets after that sometime then.
     
  21. Doug@DBW Motorsports

    Doug@DBW Motorsports Active Member

    AS I told you on the phone... try hooking a manual boost controller to the car and see if that fixes your boost surge issues... I believe that your Perrin EBCS is sticking open and shut.
     
  22. Doug@DBW Motorsports

    Doug@DBW Motorsports Active Member

    The spiking is normal for a car that has an exhaust but no flash.. its caused by the free flowing exhaust and the stock turbo dynamics in the ECU. The restrictor I installed was a stock one from a WRX... eighter way I wouldn't worry about it spiking to 15-16psi as most boost gauges are innacurate anyway.

    Doug
     
  23. Cool_____

    Cool_____ Banned

    Doug:
    I typed that before calling and talking to ya. Everytime I called you were either on the dyno or too busy to talk. The boost controller works but now the tune sucks as boost builds up SLOW. I'm talking only 10psi at 4000rpm.

    Doug I honestly don't think the EBCS is sticking. 3rd gear pulls work just fine. It only happens in 4th or 5th gear. If I floor it in third, shift and floor it in 4th it'll work like a champ. Something about going WOT after crusing in 4th and 5th. I called Perrin and they want to charge me to test it or to get another. Now why would I want to spend money on something again?

    This is getting frustrating as I am now throwing P0171 codes. Grrrrrr damn devil child of a car!
     
  24. bjtyson3

    bjtyson3 Member

    my car does the exact same thing..it boosts about 16 or 17 lbs,drops to about 14.5 jumps back to like 16,then sits on like 15..i have no idea what the problem is
     
  25. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    Sounds like your Ecutek reflash needs a little love...
     

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