hey al i have tried to call you a few times now and i have had no luck, i left a message about a week ago. anyways, i had a custom tune done by you on 3/9/05, my mods were 3" turboback, hks intake, hks 272, 255fp, ams ic piping, and a hallman mbc at 22psi. i put down a basline of 291 that day and finished off with 338 when you were done i was very impressed with the work you did but recently my car has been having some major issues. my mods have not changed since my tune and for the last month my car has had a loss of around 50whp. i checked for boost leaks and it came out fine, checked my compression and it is 160 across, changed my plugs and it didnt help, changed my o2 sensor in the o2 housing and it didnt help, and i checked my turbo for shaft play but there was incredibly minimal play and the fins were not touching the housing. i know i have had substantial power loss of around 50whp because i have lost 6mph in the 1/4 on multiple occasions, and a friend of mine just baslined at 250 something on your dyno the other week and he is a dead even race with me, now that he is tuned by you he pulls me pretty good and he finished off with a tune putting down 301. i recently hopped on my local dyno and had a a/f reading of around 10.2:1 so i used a safc2 to lean the settings to 11.1:1 and my car picked up around 20whp, however i am still running very slow and have no idea what it could be i just recently installed the safc2 just to compensate for me running very rich a few months after my tune. also i have an upgraded clutch that is not slipping. i am very unhappy with how my car is performing right now and am getting very frustrated because i am getting nowhere in finding the problem. i would really like your help/input on this thanks!

 

If your a/f ratio is indicating 10.2 the first thing to look at is IF the collant temprature when you were doing your dyno pulls was too high or too low - (the evo has significant coolant temprature enrichment). The best way to test this is with a generic OBD II data logger to view the actual collant temps as you are doing the dyno pulls to make sure you are in normal operating range - e.g. 180 - 189 degrees and not too hot which can esaily occur on a dyno.

Assuming that your coolant temps were proper when dynoing, then the 10.2 a/f is obviously WAY to rich and a indication that something is amiss.

Just to clarify for many customers who may experience problems or issues with their evos, the reflash CODE is set in the ecu and DOES NOT suddenly change after a few weeks of use. The hexidecemal code target a/f mapping in the fuel maps is black and white and does not change unless the car goes into limp mode with a cel.

When you find the car suddenly slowing down and loosing power generally we find some MECAHNICAL problem which has arisen which has changed the operational dymanics of the car. Boost leak and spark are the two main culprits and low compression follows.

The fact that you are STILL 20 whp down in power AFTER adjusting the a/f t target with a SAFC is a strong indication that there is some newly developed mechanical or electrical condition which has effected your engine's operation.

It seems that you have tracked down many of the common diagnostic functions. All I could ask on that front is to inquire HOW you boost leak tested the car ? Proper technique is key to getting a good test.

Also, have you checked your cam timing ? Sometimes a slipped tooth can throw off the tune, althogh rare.

Some other things to look at is your MAF sesnor, fuel pressure regulator and cats if equiped with a cat.

Finally, if you can make it down to Pruven I will be happy to test drive your car and review the flash calibration which is in the car to assure that the tuning is accurate.

 

i am not running a aftermarket fpr, and am running no cat, i think that i will be checking in the next day or two if my car skipped a tooth of timing. i tested my car for boost leaks by pluging the turbo inlet and pulling the line off my mbc that is connected to the turbo and running a compressor onto this line, i pushed about 25psi through all of the lines and only had one minor leak wich was fixed but it did not help with my power.

 

if not the cam timing do a leak down test. Other than that, I can tell a lot about evos just by the sound and the feel. You should ythink abour bringing the car down for me to look at

 

i might just do that, i am going to do a leakdown test and check the timing tonight, if that turns out alright i will be giving you a call to see what else you can come up with for issues

 

oh and what is wierd also is that my car runs and drives fine, its just under full throttle the car feels slow, but yet it is still smooth??

 

what dyno was your second numbers from if it was a dyno dynamics or a mustang they read lower, but trap speeds too, russ were ur plugs gapped right and you could need new spark plug wires

 

plugs are gapped fine, it could be a bad wire but im not sure, it was on a land and sea dyno wich is known to dyno high, see you soon derek