I'm not understanding what is meant with standard fuel pump. Is it stock?
How is your boost solenoid damaged?
What mods do you have and was it tuned?

 

@2006EvoIXer Yes, standard fuel pump. They have been saying that I should replace it.
When I received the car, I think last owner removed an aftermarket boost controller and I was only getting 1bar of boost.
A friend offered a T Boost and I installed it. They mentioned it was installed incorrectly but didn't want to reveal how to fix it and said I should purchase the standard lines that go to the standard solenoid ($180AUD). But as I said it held boost at 1.3bar they said it would be fine.
I have now been informed that I had lines going to the boost Tee and the standard solenoid. It is not Damaged!
Mods are:
Titanium exhaust from the Turbo back (this is for an Evo 8 and IS the correct exhaust, however, I have an Evo 9 rear bar so it touches the bar
Pod filter
8MR Blow off valve and boost tee running at 1.3 bar.
The car was tuned before I purchased it and found it is a Ralliart ECU.
Ohlin Coilovers

This is an JDM 2003 Evo 8 GSR that was previously a show car for a well known Importer here in Sydney, Australia. I purchased this car because it was close to stock and anything that was added to it was expensive and top quality and it was clean as hell - it took +6 months to find and was completely rust free, many of the cars I checked out had rust, actually most of them even the best looking one I found.

 

I didn't know a Ralliart ECU works in an evo. If cooling system is fine, then you should start looking at the ECU, tune, and injector #3. Mark #3 and get them all flow tested and cleaned. I wonder if cylinder 3 was running lean and caused the heat cycle those mechanics are blaming on the fan.

 

They said it was a Ralliart ECU for Evo 8 GSR. They could only find one other ROM for it and encountered the same fan issue mentioned earlier on in this piece.
Is it possible that the fan was set up to run that way by Ralliart when they tuned and released this ECU?
It would suggest that would be safe to do so then right?

 

 

Check your blown head gasket and verify that all the holes line up. Make sure it isn't the wrong head gasket without a few holes for coolant/oil passages.

 

I feel like no matter what I do, I will lose out with this situation.

New Info;
- Ralliart ECU comes tuned to make roughly 350hp at the wheels with supporting mods (exhaust, pod filter, boost controller, thermostat) and is set up to run the thermo fan from around 73C at 100%.
- My car has a titanium 3inch exhaust from the turbo back, blitz pod filter, boost tee, it had a Ralliart Thermostat but they changed it to standard while troubleshooting the "fan issue".

I approached them with the above info and told them that there was no cooling issue as the car was running as intended via the Ralliart ECU and had a matching Thermostat. I hypothesised that as we have now determined this, that any changes in temperature in the the head would have been caused by the thermostat being replaced with a higher rated thermostat (~80C vs 71C Ralliart). Keep in mind that the car had been running for at least 50000km's with this set up.

They dismissed this and said that it is not optimal for the fan to run this way and either way the head has cracked and that the repairs had all been done. Here are their points;
- The car is repaired and I am asking questions now! (I can own this, I did confirm to repair the car as I felt I had no choice and I didn't understand what had happened, but after mentioning the cause as they reported, it just doesn't sound right, still doesn't. I feel I should as a customer be able to question their work and diagnosis)
- Ralliart ECU are meant for race cars and is not suitable for my application. It may work, but we do not recommend it.
- They are not sure that the Ralliart ECU has the standard ROM on there and can't see all the maps - I assume they do not have the correct xml.
- The car is now repaired and the ECU is running on a stock Tephra ROM and has had errors "removed" - stock rom, stock boost etc. I am not sure I want this as it feels like a hacked ROM and I am not sure if this is ok.
- As the issue relates to overheating, it is best to have the cooling system working as intended by factory.

So they want to hand me back the car, second hand head, stock tune over the Ralliart ECU with codes removed, I don't even think they are willing to connect hoses to my boost tee and charge me for this work.

I am not sure I want the stock rom and have been considering asking them to return the ECU back to how it was but I know I will have to fight for this. They will still want to charge me $350 for the tune. Its not a question about money but I feel like I will be paying for a detuned car.

Opinions people?
Would change of thermostat cause issues?
Can the Ralliart ROM be bad for a daily driven car? It was made by Ralliart FFS?!?!
Would you take the risk of running the Ralliart ROM?
Would it be easy enough for me to restore it as they have it backed up?

At this point, I believe that their work is up to standard and that they are not hiding anything. But I lost faith in them for their diagnosis of the fan causing the issue. I am really questioning them still chasing the fan issue and if changing the Thermostat would cause any problems. Finally, I would prefer to go back to the ralliart tune, but they are really advising against it and I believe they will try and charge for this as they have spent so much time on it already.

 

Yes, you will lose. At this point, would you pay and trust their repair? For me, I would tow it to another trusted Evo shop. Get the new shop's diagnostic of the problem and have them fix it. Top priority is to get your car fixed right and running. Save every document for a lawyer later.
I've been ripped off many times by dealers and repair shops that I was forced to learn and do my own repairs. Sorry you have to learn the hard way like I did. GL.

Make sure you inspect the new head gasket to verify that all the coolant passage holes are there. Save the old head gasket and post a picture of it. And post pictures of your cracked head too.

 

Post pictures of your intake manifold and the hoses. I wonder if the fuel pressure regulator and the diverter valve are hooked up correctly.

 

Cliff notes version: They worked on your car and now its a come-back and the shop won't warranty their work.

 

this really sucks to hear, but theyre jerking you around. they either dont have any business working on cars at all or theyre trying to get out of paying for their mistake.