No boost - Single turbo legacy

[Rosssub]

Yip, no T piece used on the 3 port solenoid. Only the 2 port setups use a T piece.

[Skiier]

If this is the final piece in the puzzle I will be one very happy man. Thank you again rosssub for lending your wealth of knowledge

[Skiier]

-Replumbed solenoid as per above

-used air compressor to check for intake manifold leaks, found one on the house that goes to the L side fuel rail, added hose clamp. manifold holds pressure now.

Now I have boost! but this has uncovered some other bugs. Turbo starts spooling around 3k and starts pulling strong around

5k but then has a weird 'surge'. feels like either boost or possibly a fuel issue. Its hard for me to tell what PSI its running as my boost gauge is broke ( looking for a good mechanical one if any one has one going?). it still does not feel right, although a massive improvement from before.

Not sure where to start now is it is a totally different kettle of fish

[Rosssub]

Sweet. The hose that was leaking goes to the fuel pressure regulator so it would of been leaning out big time under boost. Then probably running rich of boost. Might pay to do an ECU reset so it forgets any bad habits it's learnt. (right bank when sitting in drivers seat).

The surge your feeling around 5k could be a boost or fuelling issue, maybe fouled plugs etc. Definitely pay to get a reliable boost gauge fitted before going too hard on it.

[Skiier]

Yes this old girl has plenty of bad stuff to forget from driving around with the old worn out turbo. As far as I can research ECU reset is a matter of unplugging battery and draining all electrical current?

Yes in the market for a good gauge, any recommendations that wont break the bank? I had a look on trademe but I ended up sifting through endless amounts of knockoff and cheap crap.

Yes im very wary of giving her much, like I said it still doesn't feel right. Im guessing if it has been running rich with no boost on old VF24 that would have possibly fouled up the plugs?

[Rosssub]

Yip can disconnect the battery, then flick the hazard light on. Or connect the green and black plugs and drive until the CEL starts flashing constantly for all ok, or a code for any faults.

Subaru speed has a few gauges, apexi etc for $30 odd.

http://www.subaruspeed.co.nz/collections/interior

Plugs could be fouled, be worth checking them out.

[syphe]

 Skiier said:

Yes in the market for a good gauge, any recommendations that wont break the bank? I had a look on trademe but I ended up sifting through endless amounts of knockoff and cheap crap.

Usually not that cheap, but if you can scrounge the parts for a defi setup I'd recommend that. I put one in mine nearly 2 years ago and it's been the most trouble free gauge i've installed, so nice not having to route vac hoses into the cabin.

[Skiier]

Sweet cheers for that. ordered new gauge from subaru speed (shipping hurts with them tho!) and ill whip out a plug tonight and have a look see. Out of interest should I need to replace these what plugs are best to use?

[Rosssub]

Take note of the code on the plugs when you check them, BKR6E etc. I'm using NGK iridiums BKR7EIX, stock plugs might be platinum PFR6G etc but they're not cheap.

[Skiier]

on a side note any one know the exact size of restrictor pill from turbo outlet to solinoid I should be running on a v3 STI 3 port 6S ecu, VF23?

I have done some research and seams to be 1.5mm to 2mm according to internets but as I understand it that can make a large difference on boost pressure. I think what I have currently is approx 2mm but will remove and measure when I check plugs tonight.

[Skiier]

Pulled out plug and it looked like this

its hard to see on the photos but had a white/yellow build up on bottom part of gap that rubbed off under finger. Looks like it has been running lean?

Part No. Bosch FR6KPP33X which is a Platinum tipped plug as far as I can see. plugs are <3000km old so wondering if cleaning them up will do the trick? hate to waste good expensive plugs!

[Rosssub]

If you've got a set of feeler gauges check the gaps and throw them back in. 0.7-0.8mm.

[Skiier]

so judging by what you can see they look ok? more that happy to replace if it eliminates one more thing from the list

[Rosssub]

Yip, look fine. No major wear on the electrode tip and good colour. Plenty of life in them yet.

You can pull the fuel pump relay, then put the plug in the lead and earth it onto the block (with hand insulated). Then check the spark while someone turns the engine over. Should be a strong blue coloured spark.

[Skiier]

pulled out other 3 plugs for sh*ts and giggles and looked like this

checked gaps and all at 0.8mm note residue on plug from cyl 2. cly 1 had similar . Found that one of the leads was barely connected to plug tip, it basically fell out of head by looking at it. I reckon might have something to do with the surge/miss.

Also curious as to what this is

just noticed this while I was pulling out plugs that it looks like at one point it had some vac lines running to it but look like they got broken off?

[Rosssub]

Purge control solenoid. Only for emissions really so not that important. Just make sure the vac hoses aren't open/venting.

Build up is from the loose lead/weak spark. use a soft brush to get the crud off, fix the loose lead and do the earthed cranking spark test to see what the spark is like.

[Skiier]

Had a good week of further bug fixes. ended up replacing leads as 2 of them had decent splits in the silicon insulation and I wanted to eliminate this as a potential issue. I also ended up replacing plus as the residue from bad spark would not brush off and I also broke a plug while they were out (clumsy). Also made sure everything was fitted nice and tight as it should be.

installed the Pivot manual boost gauge so I have an idea of what is going on boost wise. I also discovered I have a 2 port boost control solenoid as opposed to the 3, see pic.

I have it plumbed so the port at 90 degrees from the solenoid connects to the "t" between the wastegate and the outlet port of turbo and the vertical port at the bottom dumps back to the intake post AFM.

The MAP sensor connects to the intake manifold as it should.

I ensured I have a 'pill' in the hose from the outlet of turbo, not sure on size but its a mig tip possibly greater than 1mm.

The problem I now have is that it will only run 0.5 BAR of boost (factory WG spring pressure) regardless of weather I have the boost solenoid plumbed in or if I have it direct from turbo to WG.

After some research I figured I either have an incorrect size 'boost pill' or the solenoid is up to no good. Im going to have a play around tomorrow with some different size pills (starting big then moving small) to see if that is the issue.

Does anyone have the factory spec of a VF23 / V3 STI / 6S ecu 2 port pill size?

Also interested in what clubsub thinks is the more likely problem?

Edited May 17, 2015 by Skiier
decription

[Rosssub]

Connect the green test mode plugs together under the dash, ignition on/engine off, so the fans start cycling on and off. Then check that the boost solenoid is pulsing/working in test mode. If the solenoid has no power it will be set closed giving WGSP.

List of pill sizes in here, looks like it should be 0.9mm:

http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/mechanicals/48287-restrictor-pill-what-why-you-need.html

Edited May 17, 2015 by Rosssub

[Skiier]

just to be sure, this how I'm currently plumbed.

[Rosssub]

Sweet, yeah that's right.

[Skiier]

hmmmmm, Im going to get a 0.9mm pill machined up tomorrow to be sure that is right. Will check with test mode and see if its cycling. sounds like its not getting power or something if its staying closed?

This is also a great article I found for understanding subaru boost control that could be sticked under engine/turbo.

https://cobbtuning.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200025164-How-Subaru-s-Factory-Boost-Control-System-Works

Will see what happens tomorrow and post update

[Guest]

Just grab a welding tip from your nearest engineering shop.

[Skiier]

So ran test mode with ign on and solinoid is fine, opens and closes as it should.

Got hooked up a 0.9mm MIG welding tip from the engineering shop down the road and lathed it down to fit perfectly inside vac hose. checked the ID of the old restrictor and it was 1.5mm so just lost 33.33% in flow rate. Went for a drive and it is now letting it spool up to 0.7 BAR bettern than 0.5 previously, so far so good.

This has made another boost leak apparent as you can here the hissing at 5000rpm or so, must of tweaked something while playing around so going to run it up with the air compressor again and some soapy water to write that off good and proper

Call this a hunch but Id be keen to test with a different orange AFM once I have checked for leaks. Reason is it looks like someone has opened the top of mine and reglueed it (guessing replacing the internals?) most likely means nothing but would be nice to write that off too. Not currently throwing any CEL codes.

If anyone in CHCH has one I can use to test send me a PM, will save me having to buy one needlessly if my current one is ok.

the saga continues...

[Rosssub]

Test mode is also the perfect time to pump some carby cleaner through the solenoid to clean it out.

[Fortyone.co.nz]

Interesting read. Frustrating to not find what's wrong eh. Got me hooked - awaiting the magic solution! Good luck!