I have a problem with my ix mr that i encountered recently. I initially thought it was a boost leak, once i didn't find any boost leak i need someone to direct me as to where my problem could be.

Problem
I launched the car and redlined every gear all the way to 4th, then cruised on 6th gear for a minute or 2 before i parked, let the car idle for a minute to cool down and shut her off.

3 hours later, i was gona go to my friends place, as soon as i started the car the exhaust sounded a lot DEEPER then normal. Straight away i knew something was wrong. Drives normally everything is smooth just sounds deeper then normal.

When i got on the highway, the car woud not boost passed 12psi, and it would take forever for the boost to increase to 12psi and stops there.

Did a boost leak test, found nothing. I am now scratching my head as to what it could be.

Mods
Evo Green
680cc injectors
GSC S1
mellon tuned
AMS TBE
Buschur Intake
Walbro FP

What do you think it could be? I am thinking problem with the turbo, intercooler hoses (although i did a boost leak test) or a crack in the manifold/exhaust.

From what i know, if i have an exhaust leak, my idle AFR would be off, it's normal at 14.7. At full boost (although only 12psi now) the AFR is quite lean at 12.5.

Could my turbo be the problem?

Help me out guys..

 

sounds like you are only boosting wastegate pressure. check your wastegate and boost controller vaccum lines

 

i'll give that a try tomorrow morning (car in garage). What should i check for exactly? leaks/hoses in vaccum lines?

Anyone else have any other ideas?

 

change in exhaust note could be due to an exhaust leak so check that first. should be quite noticeable if you can hear a difference in noise.

if you are experiencing some problems with spool, look at your turbo/wastegate. check to see that the wheels spin freely and that the wastegate flapper operates smoothly.

 

12.5 is lean.

 

after the dealer was checking for exhaust/hose leaks, i came in started the car and found a check engine light. Now i have been driving the car with the same problem for a couple of days and nothing came up.

Their MUT couldn't get a reading when trying to read the code? weird. I'll try my code reader and see if i can read the code and report back.

 

+1 on this, as for your 12.5 AFR - sounds like something came loose. As to what?

 

Sounds like your wastegate may be stuck open. It would explain the deeper tone, slow spool up, and low boost. I'm guessing that your CEL is P0234 for wastegate malfunction which is detected by comparing airflow/tps/load. It can also come from a
big boost leak, but if you checked that, it's probably the wastegate itself.

 

a few things:

Pull of the hose leading to the turbo compressor inspect the fins and check to see that it turns freely and that the fins haven't been touching the housing.

I'd pump some air (gently) into the WGA nipple and see if the wastegate arm moves and slams shut when air is removed. To do this I setup my air compressor regulator so it doesn't pump out too much air too fast and blow out the diaphragm.

If you have a leak, sometimes your boost gauge will read low and the load in the logs will read very hight, that's because the turbo is pulling in a ton of air though the MAS but leaking much of that out somewhere else (ic piping, intake etc..)

 

That's exactly what i'm experiencing! I really hope that is the problem. I haven't had time to go to the dealer, will do that and get my my code reader as well. In such situations, would i need to order a new wastegate?

Mellon - I'll give that a try tomorrow and report back!

 

outbost

for some reason the MUT from the dealer couldn't get a reading from my ecu to determine the check engine light. I brought in my code reader today and i also got "no link" as well. This is the first time that i get NO LINK using a code reader.

What could the reason for this be?

Nevertheless, i asked the dealer to remove the WGA and check if it was stuck open as you suggested (the symptons you described were exact to my scenario: deeper tone, slow spool up, low boost). What would the procedure be here? change the WGA?

Anyone have any idea's as to what my problem could be? or why the MUT or my code reader couldn't get a reading from the ecu for the check engine light?

 

bump ..

 

I think i found the problem ..

when i separated the evo green from the 10.5 hotside .. i saw that the valve/flap on the inside of the hotside was broken!

Strange, i've heard of this happening to a couple of people in my area, not often though.

I'm getting that fixed tomorrow, and we'll take it from there. Hopefully that is my problem.

 

UPDATE

Car is running fine now. Problem was with the valve/flap on the inside of the hotside (broken). Replaced and problem solved.

Thanks for the info and everyone who helped me narrow down the problem!

 

glad to hear you figured it out