Hello everyone , long time lurker here , i've tried to find solutions on different Evo forums but nothing seems to work for me.
Recently got a tune and following mods:
ETS Intake stock maf
Tial QRJ 1.5psi spring
Injen UICP
Tubular manifold (unknown brand)
AMS Widemouth DP
Grimspeed EBCS 3-pot
1050x cc injectors
WB 255
ETS 3.5" intercooler
The rest is stock

Long story short , i got this car about a year ago ( 2008 GSR ), it was running ok wot @ 18 psi . Found a reputable tuner, we discussed my goals and what parts would suit best for my goals and his tuning. So i bought the stuff above minus the UICP.
First session went bad because i had boost leaks , went back home with a base map. I did a few Boost Leak Test around 15 psi and fixed all the leaks i could hear and the water and soap could detect.
New map arrives the following day , i flashed it and then let the car warm up for a good 20 minutes before i head on the road to test it. Tuner said boost target should be around 26psi with 11 afr and i got 22 psi with 8 AFR. My tuner says you have a boost leak , checking again 7th boost leak at 17 psi and i cant hear anything or see with water and soap. Sometimes i get p0300 random misfire only @ WOT , sometimes cylinder 4 misfire p0304. After clearing it and swapping spark plug 4 to 1 , misfire came back. Swapped Coil 4-1 now just random misfire and no specific cylinder. Im not sure where else to look. My tuner has been responding to all my messages and kind enough to deal with me even after working hours and honestly i dont want to become annoying.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Well for one your one a base map. Boosting on a map that basically gets the car started and driving isn't a very good idea so stop doing pulls on a base map before you **** **** up. Your stupid rich on your gauge because of this. If you still have boost leaks those need to be addressed. If you cannot find them, then there is another issue somewhere. I would check your throttle body seals and or anything related to the throttle body. I had a nasty boost leak I couldn't find back in the day and it was one of the screws broke on the throttle plate causing it to leak and never saw or heard it. I would start there.

 

I appreciate the input, after all leaks where fixed he did send me a new map to flash, on the base map he cut my boost completely so nothing goes wrong on the drive home. On my way to check the throttle body!

 

My question is why is he worried about boost to begin with? I mean I get boost leaks, it happens to all of us. Unless he just sees that your afr's are way out of wack just driving to dial in fuel trims. Idk, good luck finding the last leak if there is one. Hopefully the tb isn't an issue and you can progress in your tune.

 

I guess because target boost is set for 26 and im hitting only 22 on every run. I've done about 7 boost leak tests until today , but what kind of boost leak would make my AFR go 8 as soon as boost goes 0-2psi and staing 8 afr untill 22 psi ?

 

A big *** one lol. Like I said if your going that rich you have a bigger issue then you think. I am editing this being I am going the wrong way. If you have that much fuel scaling cant be right. If you had a big leak you would be lean not rich. Maybe you fixed the leak and being he tried to compensate for the leak all the fuel is still there.

 

Boost leak on a MAF car will make it rich. The MAF has compensated fueling for air that isn't there.

OP how high are you boost leak testing? How quickly does that boost bleed off to 0?

 

@cursedsm lol , the question is where is that one. With the previous tune and setup i was hitting 18 psi and none of this happened.
Hey @black_out Highest i've gone is 17psi , honestly i haven't paid close attention to it , but its pretty quick, id say 10 seconds 2-3 psi . I hear the hissing inside the engine , maybe from an open valve ? No idea. My tuner said try to boost leak test with oil cap off and go 20psi or more, but air is escaping so fast i can only see 7 psi on the gauge.

 

You should be testing over your target boost ideally. If air is escaping fast enough you can watch it taper then you have some major leaks. If an intake valve was open the exhaust valve should be shut. There’s only a few specific points in the cycle you can be getting bleed through.

 

True, but how would i do a boost leak test above 22 psi correctly ? I've read around here some people got their turbo seals blown from excess pressure, if im not mistaken. At 17 psi when i did last time , i heard gurgling and i immediately stopped.
Any help would be highly appreciated!

 

Lol Idk how i missed he was on a stock maf. I guess reading owns me sometimes lol.

 

Hissing inside the engine is air going past the valves being engine isn't tdc. Blackout correct me if I am wrong being its been years since I have done a boostleak test being I haven't had a car that ran but doesn't the boost leak test have to be done at tdc when all the valves are closed? It is way to early for me to be replying but I figure I would reply before i went to work. Plus you have to pinch off the bov line too being it will open and allow air to escape as well. And for people with double pumpers you have to block off your hobbs switch or you will spit fuel into the cylinders when you put pressure in the system.

 

Thank you guys , I will try to boost leak test first TDC and then oil cap off and go above 22psi. Will update today afternoon !

 

TDC is only TDC for 2 cylinders (one being on a different stroke). You'll always have at least 1 set of intake valves open on any cylinder, so the exhaust valves should be shut on that same cylinder. Air into the crank case is either rings that are loose/not sealing well, seals in the turbo, or a PCV that isn't sealing the check valve. If you're hearing gurgling check those 3. I get a small amount of CC pressure build up during testing on a few of my cars but all of them hold 30+ psi with a slow taper. I have a video of one of my 2g dsms and it holds 30psi to 0 for over 90 seconds. Most cars don't seal that well, my evo 8 with loose ring gaps takes 30-40 seconds.

 

Sorry for the late update fellas , New Jersey weather decided to rain for 2 days straight , ill try everything on Sunday, looks like theres no rain !
@black_out I'll start from PCV which is easier to do , test and then proceed to the rest, just to confirm you mean the PCV valve thats on the bottom left of the valve cover correct ? For the rings im guessing you mean piston rings ? As for the turbo i dont think i'll rebuild it , probably just upgrade to a better one. Apologies if im understanding something wrong. Im totally new to this and all work im trying to do by my self!