I'm fairly desperate at this point so i'll take just about anybody's advice with any of my many problems. Went on 10 hour cruise with car club in japan today through some twisties, etc. I took it easy because the car already had me worried. Problems listed below:

1. Horrible flutter (surge) under hard acceleration and/or shifting and sometimes deceleration. Blow-off valve doesn't seem to work at all (p.o.s. HKS). I have a new one on the way but am looking for any other ideas that might cause this problem as well... just in case.

2. Tires rub fender well now. Never, ever happened before and I've had the car for 7 months. This was a sudden thing just started today. Is it possible i broke something or some components are just so worn that the car sits too low now?

3. Car hits fuel cut under hard acceleration in every gear after 3rd only. I can bounce the tach off redline all day in 1st and 2nd. After third i can't really get past 4500 rpm without hitting fuel cut in 3rd thru 5th. My guess is either stock boost solenoid or wastegate (or both) is screwed. Need some serious advice with this one.

4. Never did this before today but when i'm not on the throttle the car dies. If i stop at a stop sign or traffic light i have to stay on the throttle a bit while in neutral to keep the car running.

I'm beggin you guys for a bit of help here. In middle of nowhere Japan and I'm probably more qualified to work on my car than any mechanic that is within distance for me to limp the car to. I do not know a ton about turbos though, i should be able to perform any kind of tests, etc you guys want for further information to help.

 

1. I would check all vacuum hoses for leaks for this one. It may also just be the bov. Im using one and have noticed a decrease in performance and am starting to get effects like yours, even idling problems as u described in no. 4, so this may fix both 1 and 4.

2. What suspension are u on stock? Check all bushings to see if they are dryrotted etc replace as needed. If ur on coilovers I would go through and check the settings as they may have changed over time.

3. Do you have a boost gauge? What psi are you at and what mods? Its very possible you are having creep issues and in higher gears is creeping past the set psi level. Need to know the mods tho to tell if that's likely the problem.

4.as I said in number 1 they could be related. Is the bov recirculated or vta? It could also be your tps or ias check those sensors, also check vacuum lines to see if something came loose this could affect it as well.

As u check all of the following go ahead and perform a compression test, leak down test, change ur plugs, and a boost leak test. These will give u a lot of info and may fix some issues or let u know of possible culprits. Good luck.

 

1. no noticeable leaks that i can find in all the vacuum lines. Hoping the BOV will at least fix these two problems then if that's what you've experienced.

2. I'm on stock suspension. Auto hobby shop on based closed today for some reason so i can't look at the bushings until next weekend.

3. Boost gauge was ordered a couple weeks ago. Once it gets here i'll have to ask on forum where best place to connect it is, then i'll install. I'll have more boost level info for you after that. I'm all stock except an HKS intake. Guess i need to start researching boost creep to find out what you're talking about and how to fix it.

4. bov is vta (trust me, i know better, it came on the car when purchased) either way it doesn't work at all. Won't even vent to atmosphere. It's just plain broke. Is there a specific way to check the tps or ias sensors or are you just telling me to replace them?

I'm changing my plugs today because i can do that in my driveway but i can't get the compression test, leak down test, or boost leak test done until next weekend when the auto hobby shop is open and i'm off work. Thanks for all the help/info thus far.

 

I have had rub problems on my fenders for my back as soon as i bought new tires. i had little clearance before but it got worse when i got new tires. i found out the suspension in the back had cut springs so had to fix it. the leak test is really easy if you need a how to u can get all the stuff at a hardware store and just rent a compressor

 

middle of nowhere japan. We don't really have decent access to a hardware store within the area and my car won't make it far enough to where there is one Hoping the autoshop has something i can use.

 

ahha can u order some kind of setup online? shouldnt be costly

 

Best place to tee the boost gauge into is at the intake manifold.

Boost creep is basically when the wastegate reaches a point in the rpm range it gets choked and can't flow enough exhaust out increasing the amount of air going through the turbine therefore boost creeps up bc it can't flow through the wastegate. Remedies for this are porting the stock housing and o2 housing for better wastegate flow. If your on stock turbo and stock turbo back exhaust creep should not be a problem and if that's the case check ur boost solenoid, fuel pump, and fuel system to make sure all injectors are firing and not clogged.

Check in the how to section for testing the sensors. U test them by measiring the voltage at the sensor and if they aren't in the specified range then replace them.

 

if anybody knows of a place i can get something to use online that would be great... Would probably take 2-3 weeks to get here but then at least i would have it.

 

hrmm... yeah, i'm on stock turbo and exhaust. I've been told that i should bypass the stock 2 stage boost solenoid anyway and it wouldn't hurt anything. Been trying to figure out which hoses to move and/or cap off to bypass it. Also, i've read that the stock waste-gate is prone to failure because it was poorly designed in the IV. Apparently it easily gets wet and rusts to where it won't open. Any chance this could cause my problems? I'm not really able to check until i get it into the shop next weekend as well.

 

replaced the plugs today. Old ones were rust colored... good?... bad?.... I have no idea how to read plugs.

 

wow. 1 roll your fenders. 2 replace your bov / recirculation valve ( order online ) 3 check your vacuum lines ( might as well replace them ) 4 email your current map to someone who knows what they are doing and have them look it over for some $. 5 Punch yourself in the d*ck because your a dipsh** and could have easily found this info searching for it.

 

There is the Autobacs in Hachinohe...They could help you out. Big D's on the way to Shimoda might be another option. Sounds like you might have blown your turbo. My old Suby, the camo one that rolled around North area, had its turbo fail after I JCIed it. You can tell if your turbo whines really loud at the higher RPM levels. I am guessing you went around Lake Towada??

 

as already advised, the BOV will heal 1,2, and 4

bov springs are typically about 5 psi. they rely on boost on diaphram to hold higher psi. so at anything over 5psi the valve will leak. this causes massive over fueling as meter air is being dumped. no power, no boost, fluttering, stalling, bucking, all goes away with proper BOV.

no point in diagnosing running problems with this car till that is fixed.

 

now now, no need to be a dick. I have plenty of other people making extremely productive posts helping me out a lot. If you want to bad mouth people and talk trash please go intrude on somebody else's' post. Especially since I've been searching through the forums for info almost non-stop since i joined for information.

 

I know where BigDs is at. I'm suppose to drop by there but they don't open for another week. They are closed for Golden week, whatever that is. I'm praying i haven't blown the turbo but it does seem to have a bit of a high pitched wine too it. Not necessarily at high rpm though, just all the time in general. I agree with you 94. I've been primarily focused and trying to solve the BOV problem before getting too deep into troubleshooting other problems. After i replaced the plugs the car ran good for about 8min then started to act up a bit. It never came close to dying though so that's a plus.