I got in on the last AMS turbo group buy back in June. I decided to buy the AMS 3071 turbo kit, which I thought would work great with my Xede, 272 cams, cam gears, and walbro fuel pump. When I ordered my turbo kit, I spoke to Eric who told me that the kit would ship in two weeks and would be at my house in time for me to intstall and attend the SoCal Vishnu dyno day. Unfortunately this never happened. I recieved my turbo kit the day before the SoCal dyno day, which meant that I would not be getting tuned by Shiv. Also, when I ordered my turbo kit, I decided to sell my Vishnu Exhaust and buy the AMS Exhaust system to make everything an easy bolt on project. On the day I recieved my turbo, I did not get my exhaust system and I was missing the intake pipe for the turbo kit. I called AMS and they said that they would be shipping my exhaust out the following week. I was dissapointed because I thought AMS could pay a little more attention to detail.

A week later I recieved my exhaust via UPS and I called up Tuning Technologies in Colton to make an appointment to install my turbo kit and new exhaust system. On the day my parts were getting installed, I found out that AMS sent me a mismatched exhaust system consisting of a EVO cat back exhaust, a Eclipse cat delete pipe, and an Evo straight pipe. It was a total headache for me because I had to pay Tuning Technologies an extra $110 dollars for them to fabricate me a new cat delete pipe for my Evo. AMS did make good by refunding my money for the cost of the fabrication, but I was pissed again that they were not paying attention to what parts they send to their customers.

Now let me move on to more problems from AMS products. Prior to getting my AMS kit installed, I had a perfect running EVO that responded great to all the upgrades that I had installed on my car. I was running a Vishnu 1++ setup, which consists of a complete Vishnu turbo back exhaust, cam gears, 272 cams, Xedeflash, Walbro fuel pump, and 10.5 hotside. Once Tuning Technologies (TT) installed my turbo kit, my car started and then shut down because it was running to rich at idle. We figured out that my 780cc AMS injectors were too big, so I sent them back to AMS for some 680cc injectors. Also, I sent my ECU out to Shiv so he could reflash it for the 680cc injectors. Days later, TT recieved my reflashed ECU and injectors. They were installed on my car, but the richness problem at idle continued. We thought that the problem lied within the ECU, so it was sent back to Shiv so he could check it and make sure that it was indeed flashed for the right injectors, which it was.

A month later now, my car still sits at TT's shop. The guys at TT have tried everthing to try and figure out what is wrong with my car. They have swapped everything out such as different Xede, MAF sensor, fuel rail, and I even bought new Denso 660cc injectors. I now owe over $1300 dollars to TT for trying to trouble shoot and fix this rich idle problem on my car. TT called AMS up and talked to Martin who told them that the problem lied with the MAF, so TT extended the intake piping. However, this did not work so I asked them to do a custom fabrication job to get my stock air box to work with the AMS turbo kit. Even with the stock air box installed my car still runs rich. I have been on the phone with both Eric and Martin and AMS who tell me that they stand behind their products. However, I am getting the impression that the problem with my car runs with their turbo kit and not my car. Martin insists that the richness problem is a problem with the hardward on my car and not the turbo. When I talked on the phone with Martin, it seems like he is confident that the AMS kit on my car is perfectly fine and that AMS could not make a mistake and send me a faulty turbo.

So far AMS is not offering me any solution such as sending me another turbine or turbo kit to fix this problem. They still believe its the hardware. I have exhausted a lot of money and time into this project with no good results. I really would like to send this 3071 turbo back and get a 3037 turbo to see if the problem really lies within the turbo. However, I am only getting the runaround from AMS to have further diagnostics done to my car, which means even more money out of my pocket. The best part is that if this problem does lie with the AMS turbo kit, what are they going to do to reimburse me for the $1300 plus dollars I have invested to fix this problem which could probably be attributed to their turbo kit. Also, I would like to mention that I am not the only member here who has had problems with their products and shipping. I am not going to mention the names of these other members because I feel they can post their problems up here if they wish.

I am not here to bash AMS or their products, but I am not feeling the "We stand behind our products" statment that they made to me. My last resort is to get rid of my ECU and go with a stand alone system such as the AEM EMS. Also, I have tried phone calls and talking but obviously this is not working, so my next resort is to post on the internet to let everyone know what kind of problems I am having with AMS products and their ability to start helping me solve this problem.

 

Turbo's don't cause a rich fuel problem at idle. Your problem is in your fuel system. Probably your fuel pressure regulator or it has to be something to do with the tuning.

 

Its not the fuel system because the entire fuel system has been checked. This means lines, fuel rail, fuel pump, and three sets of injectors. The car should run at idle even without the Xede because the ECU was reflashed for the proper injectores, but for some reason it does not...

 

Do you understand how a turbo system and fuel system works? A rich fuel condition at idle will not have anything to do with the turbo you selected. It has to do with something in the tuning or the fuel system. You did not mention the fuel pressure regulator, did you check your fuel system with a guage to see what psi it is at? Your fuel pump might be over running the system and have your psi too high. Have them put a guage on the fuel system and see what psi it is at.

 

The problem lies in the tuning. If you want to keep the Xede, it would be wise to have it flashed/mapped while on the dyno/road, not by mail. The AEM EMS would be a wise investment, but only if you have a good understanding of the system or a local tuner that does.

 

I know that you will not like this, but have you tried re-installing the old/stock turbo set up back on the car to see what happens? I know that you have already invested more then you should have so far, but that seems like it would be the only way to eliminate either the turbo or the Electronics from the equasion. It would cost more, but if you have exhausted all other options then it may be the only solution. Could the MAF have been damaged in removal or re-installation? They are easy to swap out if you know someone close who has an Evo, you could even put yours on the other car to see if it runs correctly. Just some thoughts..

 

Changing the injectors won't fix a fpr issue. I had the same problem you are describing on my turbo edlipe and I had a walbro 255 and 650 injectors. I tried so many different things to fix the problem but kept overlooking the regulator. I ended up putting a guage on the system and it was way over the amount it should be. I replaced it with an adjustable aftermarket fpr, lowered the pressure to the proper psi, and it fixed the problem immediately. I hope this helps.

Someone else said the MAF could've been damaged in removal and that would be the next guess.

 

The entire turbo kit was taken disconnected and the car was run like a NA car. The car runs perfectly that way. Once the turbo kit is hooked back up the car stops running. We have already connected a different MAF from another EVo to my car and it still runs bad.

Also, all the intercooler pipes were disconnected and checked for obstructions, but nothing was found and everything flows perfectly.

 

Any boost/vaccuum line leaks? What was the vaccuum reading on your boost gauge (if it has it) while running the car with the turbo kit and w/o?

 

What comes in the kit?

 

The regulator was checked and replaced with one from another running EVO. I talked to Chris from TT and that the old DSM had a stock fuel rail which could not even handle a Walbro fuel pump. Chris said the EVO 8 does not have this problem and they have been able to run 1000cc injectors with the stock FPR with no problems.

 

I know that this has probably already been done, but are both the intake and exhaust housings on the turbo free of obstruction? Does it spin smoothly? An obstruction in either end would affect air flow, but more so through the compressor side of course. When it was run N/A was the turbo still conected to the manifold? Did it seem to rotate freely, even when at idel? Although a turbo does not produce boost so to say at idel, it should be spinning pretty well. If it is not then the compressor blades will slow the incoming air charge. Is the DV still recirculating? Like I said, I expect that you have already checked these things, but anyway they are possible problems.

Another thought, was the turbo shipped in the little foam "peanuts"? If so maybe you could blow high pressure air through the exducer and see if any blow out through the front, like they could be lodged in there where it starts to taper down thus choking the air going in to the turbo...

 

Running NA, does this mean you are running open exhaust? What about your O2 sensors when you have the turbo and exhaust hooked up? Could the O2 sensors be fried, thus giving a bad reading to the ecu? Did you run race gas through your old exhaust system and are you running the old O2 sensors when the turbo kit IS hooked up?

 

Hey man i am sorry to hear about your problem. It does seem though the guys at AMS are doing the best they can over the phone to fix this problem, heck they are even paying your bills.

I know that you have spent A LOT of money on this project of yours, and i am not going to sit here and say its this or that its hard to trouble shoot just by reading and talking. But why don't you try to talk to AMS and work something out so they can get their hands on your car. They know their own product better than anyone else. I think actually looking at the car physcially would be a lot easier for them to trouble shoot the problem.

I have talked to the guys at AMS a few times and they are great guys. I am sure you can get something worked out with them to get your car up and running nice and strong.

Please keep us updated with the status of this. Just incase it happens to someone else on the forum and they can find a way to solve the problem. Godd luck. If you need other help with anything man please contact us and we would be more than happy to help you.


GOOD LUCK!!!

Steve
GnV Motorsports

 

I am willing to bet the fuel pump is over riding the fuel pressure regulator and causing your rich idle condition. Your psi is too high. Switching out with another stock regulator will not fix the issue because the fuel pump will still over ride that one too. This exact thing happened to me.