Below is a fine example of EXACTLY how the tech assistance threads should be written. The format is exactly what we are looking for when giving you help. User: Salty Dog has proven that it is possible to not sound like a moron, get your point across, and give plenty of pertinent information when asking others for help. I hope everyone takes note of this and follows his example. Notice how quickly we were able to begin diagnosis? And how there were very few questions asked? Think back to your tech assist thread, where everyone bashed on you for not giving enough info, or you wrote words on the page like you were smacking the keyboard with your face...or it took weeks to diagnose because you spoon fed information to us one tidbit at a time. See below, this is how it is done! Kudos to you Salty Dog. -Readymix ________________________________________________________________ Car: 2002 WRX Modifications: 2005STI engine/drivetrain swap. Engine: EJ257 2.5L Turbo: VF39 Intercooler: 2005STI Wiring/Injector changes: Top feed to side feed injector plugs. Side feed STI injector plugs installed on OEM wire harness, all WRX wiring was retained with WRX intake manifold. Intake AVCS not hooked up or controlled. ECU changes: OEM WRX ECU tuned with COBB Accessport. Fuel pump: Walbro 255lph. Exhaust: Grimmspeed uppipe, Grimmspeed downpipe and ProDrive axleback. Transmission and Rear Diff.: Baja Turbo/Forrester XT 5sp with 4.444 Final Drive. Problem Description: While at normal operating temp and at start up the boost gauge reads in the minus 8-10psi. Also, it reads in the minus at all times when not in boost. While accelerating under normal driving conditions, 15-20% throttle, the gauge does creep up to 3-5psi. While accelerating at WOT it will JUMP up to 15-17psi. The gauge resets and reads at 0psi when the car is turned off. She boosts at 10-12psi normally. Recent Modifications/Maintenance: Recently replaced alternator with one from an '09 Forrester. The battery was disconnected while I was trying to diagnose the alt problem, not sure if this can affect the flashed map or not but wanted to give as much info as possible. Is it probable the stock BCS was affected? Since the last thing I want to do is damage my car and as I'm clearly not the most knowledgeable person on this site, I would appreciate it if anyone with an idea of what the problem is or could be would take the time to respond. Thank you in advance.
So you are over shooting your target boost? It's rather cold out...which will cause a slight spike in boost. Does it drive normal?
Yeah, I was gonna say, all of that boost gauge business sounds about normal. At idle, you're going to have vacuum, which would read a negative boost pressure. -7psi to -10 is about normal. At 20% throttle, 0-5 psi is par for the course, especially if you are neutral throttle up a slight incline. At WOT, 15-17psi isn't that big of a deal, especially with air temps hovering around 10 degrees right now. 0psi at shutoff, um, you aren't drawing air in for negative pressure (vacuum) or pushing air in for positive pressure, you are reading atmospheric pressure minus 14.7psi, or zero. Completely normal.
This sounds normal to me too. On an unrelated note: Thank you for putting in as much information as you can to help us diagnose the problem. Your ability to use punctuation, grammar, complete sentences and paragraphs is a wonderful thing, please keep using it here.
No kidding, right? I think once the OP returns and says thanks or this issue is fully resolved, I may change the title and sticky this thread as an example of the right way to ask for help around here. Seriously. And the guy has 8 posts, which means, he's new, and he followed the format that I posted forever ago. Which means he knows how to read and search as well. Seriously, to the original poster, you're going places! Keep up the good work
With the name like salty dog, I am going to take a stab at former military (USMC). Is the vehicle acting/feeling any differently? Is the reading on the boost gauge the only issue for the question? When at WOT, does the boost gauge settle back down at all or does it hold the 15-17 psi? What kind of gauge are you using?
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Accessport reads: VF39 map- I did not flash it, and know next to nothing about A/P's. Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm not so much worried about reaching a targeted boost, i just don't want to damage my engine. I don't want too much back pressure and lift my heads or anything.... not entirely sure that could happen, but don't want to risk any damage. It feels like it is a little sluggish, not as snappy. Or maybe I am just freaking myself out, thinking something is wrong when there isn't. You know that feeling when one thing breaks, you always feel like the snowball effect is going to happen? Thank you for taking the time to respond. I bought the car at the end of last winter and I truly don't remember the gauge dropping this negative. I hope I didn't sound retarded referencing the the gauge zeroing out, just wanted to explain that i don't think the gauge is faulty. And i forgot to mention that at idle it does read at -10psi, which is apparently very normal. Thank you for noticing, I've been practicing at home. lol. Thank you for the kind words, and thank you to everyone for helping alleviate my worries!! I think it is V1, but i'm not sure. Unsure as well if it is a reflash or realtime. I think that it is a reflash, due to the fact that the person I bought it from built and tuned the car himself. And I don't think he road tuned it if thats what you mean by realtime?
The V1 is a big black brick, the V2 is smaller and more streamlined. Seriously, the V1 looks like a black brick.
