keeweechris

Haha, classic. How does $60 sound? Where in NZ are you? Cheers Chris

3 years later, feeling hopeful... do you still have this?

So 4yrs 1month later, I've wrapped this mofo up. Put everything back together today, and she runs as smooth as silk. Starts after a couple of cranks, power comes on early and smooth, VOD is manageable, and no more hissy sucky intake noise. Hit me up for any details if you're planning on doing the intake pipe fix.

Got the job done today. Yeah, dropped the prim dp off (had to angle-grind rear bolts off), then was able to loosen turbo just enough to slide it back about 10mm and wedgie the intake pipe on. That coolant pipe under the turbo must be an ass to reattach! I left it on, but it was the thing stopping the turbo moving further. If I did it all again, I'd loosen the sec turbo too. Too risky rough-housing those rubber bits. Joker, I found a good condition 2nd-hand pipe for $40. Rubber ends were thick and solid. Tempted to go with an ebay silicone one, but still about $300 and I'm not planning on making this into racer. Such a huge job just to fix 1 part. Not likely I'd ever try it again to be honest. Like when the knock sensor dies. Or water feed pipe seals go. Or fuel lines leak.

I'm doing the old twin turbo intake pipe replacement, and finally got the thing back together today EXCEPT for the inlet of the primary turbo. The bendy part of the intake pipe had to be bent up to bolt the last manifold bolt on, and I assumed it could then be fitted to the primary turbo inlet. But I've pushed and pulled and got to that point where I know it will tear if I roughhouse it any more. Any tips? I think I need to loosen the primary turbo somehow to move it back, drop the intake pipe into place, then slide the turbo back. So it looks like the primary downpipe needs to come off to access the 3rd turbo/uppipe bolt underneath. Can I just drop the downpipe off, or do I need to completely disassemble the whole exhaust? Turning into an ass of a job, mid-winter, in the driveway.

Yeah, it's almost like its dissolved or something, only on the under-side. The replacement pipe I got has fairly thick rubber there. I guy I talked to thought blow-by oil collects there, and over time eats the rubber. Makes sense, as I had a fair bit of oil in my intake and IC, and all over the top of the engine. The big ol hose clamps wouldn't help. I'm going to replace with T-Bolt hose clamps, which should be gentler on the rubber.

Got that intake pipe off today, it's shagged!

Silverdale Transfer Station take it, free of charge. Noone else seems to advertise doing it, but a guy from ChemWaste (Onehunga) said I could bring some down for free if it's a small volume (~8L).

OK, cheers. I was concerned it was a sign of a bung PCV system/valve, or rooted piston rings. But I guess it's not too much oil.

Howzit, Got a GTB RevB TT and preparing to swap out the big intake pipe due to perished rubber on primary end (common problem I've heard). Took the IC off today, and there was a reasonable amount of oil inside, mainly around the TB outlet and primary inlet. Quite a bit of dirty oily muck all over the PVC piping leading into the intake pipe and primary end of the main intake pipe too. Wheres it coming from and what can I do about it? I heard that the oil collects in the primary intake end of the intake pipe, and perishes the rubber over time, which is exactly what I have. Seems feasible. Some pix: https://photos.app.goo.gl/21d9KQeS5PnHuikV8 Cheers for the help!

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated!

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm definitely just a "quick street driver", not race or anything like that. I'm after something on par with modern cars, where you feel nice solid positive braking, rather than sloppy "old car" braking. I think I'll stay away from those Bendix Ultimates, just due to the dust issue.

People often say "make sure you put on good pads", but hardly ever mention what brands/models are "good" and where to get them in NZ. So I thought I'd ask. Couldn't find that info anywhere else. I've been thinking about how to upgrade the fairly crappy braking performance on my stock BH5 GTB, which has 2-pot sliding calipers on 295mm rotors and stock 17" wheels, without spending heaps. I've settled on fitting BP/BL 316mm rotors and calipers, and good pads and bleed. As I understand it, just fitting WRX 4-pot red calipers on my 295mm rotors will not do much, which makes sense. Increasing rotor diameter and making sure the sliding calipers work well is the best bang for buck. But what are "good pads"? Do you base it on cost? Cheapies tend to be ~$60 a set from supercheap/repco. I'll stay away from those. Are Bendix General CT's or Ultimates classed as "good pads"? They're at Supercheap for $90. Or do you have to spend $150+ for a set of "good pads"? What about TRW? They seem to be about $200. What makes them better? Cheers for any advice guru's!

Yeah, I'm seriously considering doing a similar thing. If I can get a good condition used pipe, I might be able to cut mine off at the red line without having to remove the whole intake manifold/etc. Cut in same place on the new part, then find a metal pipe to fit inside as a sleeve, then hose clamp both sides down. (red arrow is where the damage is)

Haha, I know. Thought someone might benefit from hearing how I got on. Yeah, there's plenty of life left in the old girl yet. It's a challenge too, learning about how they all work. Over-complicated though... a single turbo system is so much simpler. I inspected the pipe properly today, and it's rooted. All perished underneath the end rubber bit. Someone told me it's caused by oil (from crankcase breathing system) sitting inside the pipe, and the oil eats the rubber.

Problem fixed, the primary boost solenoid was stuck closed. I opened it up, looked like the plunger/seal got stuck to the port inside, and solenoid couldn't pull it back (open). This is interesting, because the Exhaust Gas Control Valve Duty Solenoid (in BBOD) is the same type, and I had exactly the same problem after cleaning out the BBOD the first time. A day after flushing it through with CRC Carb Cleaner it got jammed shut. Had to open it up (pry back the metal tabs) and clean it again from the inside. After reassembling it worked ok again. I'm guessing the carb cleaner reacted a bit with the rubber seal inside and made it stick to the port inside. Anyway, back to 10/15psi boost. Now to replace that intake pipe with a new silicone one.

Bringing this thread back from the dead... thats ok, I'm the OP. Finally got round to making a smoke tester (soldering iron in jar with babyoil, works brilliantly). Found a pretty obvious leak around the primary turbo intake, mostly from around the worm-clamp head, but also from somewhere on the other side of the fitting. I'm guessing it's time for a new intake pipe... that looks like a b!tch to change. Cleaned out BBOD solenoids and boost solenoid too, and did hose 10 mod. Also got a boost guage hooked up a while back... about 10psi on primary, 15psi when secondary comes in. So guessing the bits from turbo's onward are ok. Saying that, after putting everything back after BBOD cleaning today, I'm only getting 9psi, and nothing later in rev range (5-6k). Almost like there's no secondary now. I think I missed something. Any idea's?

I forgot it was USD, so price ended up being $600. So that set me back a bit. Gotta fix a few bits and pieces on the car first, then will probably do it. Can't see any other way to easily retune a BH5 RevC.

Thanks guys, good advice. So my plan will be to install the ProjLambda 91 base map, then carefully and progressively log runs then check for any knock detection (through the ECU IAM values). If I get to full-noise with no knock, I'm safe. Based on the fact that it's a base map and used by them as a tuning starting point for this exact model/revision of car, I'm fairly confident it will be ok. But totally hear you, be conservative at first. BTW, I'm just looking for mild gains and better driveability from stock for relatively little coin, not full-on performance. I think this is a good foundation, and means I can go harder later if I want, with bigger mods and dyno tune. TBH, I can't see that happening though... I'm 40, got kids, and this is the family wagon. I did all this years ago with my other car, a stock 2006 nz new WRX (2.5L manual). RomRaider plus a random dudes (Gabedude) base map on the RR forums. Maybe I got lucky, but it's been about 6 years now and has transformed the car. No knock detected.

OK, will do. Would it be good enough just to check the IAM/retardation values during a pull? Or is the factory knock sensor not good enough? Good spotting, cheers! ProjLambda do 91 and 94 (AKI) base maps. https://lambdatuning.com/2016/12/18/jdm-legacy-bebh-base-maps/ This translates into 95 and 98 (RON), according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating I'll use the "91" map to start with I think, but the "94" would be fun to play with on 98RON.

Haha, ok, will think about that.

Will do. I'll probably place an order today. Seems like a) They have exactly the same cars over there, and it works, b) they have stage1 base maps free of charge, and c) can do all the cool things ecuflash/romraider/learningview does, ie read, log, and flash. Can't see any downside, and should be easy for a NZ tuner to use if I ever went down that path. ProjLambda also will check logs after reflash, just to check nothing is too messed up. He said they'd do E-tuning too, for extra $$$ of course, but might be a good option. I figure their 94RON petrol is close enough to our 95RON. I don't really want to tune for 98 exclusively anyway.

Been chatting to a RevB owner in Canada who used one of these (and also got them to dyno it). Says it works beautifully. Lambda say they have a Stage-1 base map, that they will throw in too, which does nice things like bringing boost on earlier, upping primary power a bit, and smoothing out VOD. https://lambdatuning.com/2016/12/18/jdm-legacy-bebh-base-maps/ The thing I like is the ability to either E-tune it, or take to a tuner. All the hardware is there. The interface looks like RomRaider, which i like and have used for my WRX. $350USD + $30 shipping, which is about $600NZD.

What do you make of this? I contacted Project Lambda Tuning to ask if their products were compatible with my 1999 RevB GTB. They said yes, and that it was able to reflash the ECU. Come again? I thought RevB's were not reflashable? "To tune your ECU, you will need to purchase our Bluetooth Tuner and an ECU license here: https://lambdatuning.com/product/tuner/. It is capable of reflashing your ECU through the OBD port. This is not a temporary chip or piggyback module that has to 'trick' the ECU into running differently." Is he on drugs, or is this actually possible?

Cool, thanks for your intel Andy. I found it's ECI ID: A2UG002T. Nothing specifically matches an existing tune, that I could find. I thought a stock car would be the safest to re-map without any specialist input? You know, all the specs are known (intake, turbo, internals, injectors, fuel pump, exhaust, petrol octane, etc). So if someone came up with a good safe tune, they could distribute it and everyone with that stock car could remap and drive off laughing. Thats my noobie take on it, anyway. The tune I uploaded to my 06 WRX was developed by a dude called Gabedude. It changed the fueling or timing slightly, and brought boost in at lower revs if I remember correctly. I checking learningview for a while after using it, and no knock. Made a big difference to the drivability of the car, almost no discernible turbo-lag, and pulls very nicely. That was about 6 years ago, and no problems yet, with some spirited driving over that time. Anyway, thanks for you help. I didn't buy the car, it was in pretty poor condition.