Man, I don't know what the hell is wrong with my car. It holds boost up to 5500 RPM or so, then dumps it down to 1 bar.

It's been pressure tested up to 30 psi twice now, and there's no leak.
It's been tested with three different BOVs.
2 boost control solenoids, with no results.
An EBC seemed to fix the problem for a minute, but it cropped right back up again on the second run.
The results are the same whether the UTEC is in or out of the car.
I don't have a cat, so that isn't clogged.

My mods are as follows: Walbro fuel pump, HKS 272's, Helix Cam Gears, HKS SSQV recirculated, stock air box with drop in, Buschur TBE, UTEC. I am baffled, and more than a little pissed. Does ANYONE have any clue what it could be? Before the cams and tune went in the car, it held 1.3-1.4 bar no problem. All of a sudden it's taking a dump.

 

Maybe your actuator took a crapper?

 

Check to see if your snorkel for your stock airbox is still riveted to the front bumper assembly. A few people had the same problem when their plastic rivets broke and the snorkel would suck up against the hood choking off the air supply.Easy fix if that is the case.

 

The wastegate has been replaced with a brand new unit. It's not that. I'm not sure what the 'snorkel' is, but I'll have a look at it in the morning.

 

The snorkel is the plastic inlet tube for the stock intake box. At high speeds if not clipped down to the frame it can get sucked up and choke the motor. Id put $50 down that its your problem.

 

I'll take that $50 and raise you another $50!!

It amazes me how people don't know what a snorkel is, but oh well. It's funny how I went through all the same trouble trying to diagnose this same problem with pressure tests and changing BOVs before figuring out it was the snorkel fasteners. It's also funny that with all those mods, he's retained the stock airbox (like I recommend), and it caused what seems to be a big problem, yet is really nothing...

 

This is what My boost leak turned out to be! THe installer accidently lost one and while driving I lost the other one. Man. Was that a *****. Thanks for the suggestion Warr and FSU

 

Wow. All I can say is, wow. 3 days, constant tests, expensive part replacements, and my whole problem was two plastic rivets. Running on map 1, the car is holding boost fine. What can I say? I love you guys.

Now just to get it tuned like I wanted before this whole garbage deal showed up. THANK YOU!

 

Glad it worked out for ya.

 

BTW, anybody know where to get EXACT replacements? Not the screw-in types but the actual push-pin types in the right size. I have plenty of screw-in type replacements for the splash gaurd when I have to break one to get it off, but I like the original type for the snorkel. I had to borrow one from the center console because I lost one somewhere.

 

You can buy them at the dealership, but they're expensive, of course. What I have chosen to do so far is to use the ones out of the trunk lining, since they are exactly the same, and then I use cheapo autozone replacements in the trunk lining.

 

I'm extremely pleased that this was your problem. Kudos to you for trying to fix it yourself using every imaginable form of troubleshooting available first, but it's unfortunate that this is a rare case where the answer is not intuitive. I'm glad that's all it was and that you are now fixed. I remember how I felt when I went from a car that was basically useless to a car that was 100% back to normal in a matter of 2 minutes.

 

my dealer gave me a bunch of them for free

 

Damn, that rocks. They charge an arm and a leg just for a few of them down here...

 

Dealership.