Turbo Troubleshooting

[DryBear]

Last week, Thursday the car was running fine for the day - drove it for a while, but had stalled out a couple of times. Let it sit for a bit and was able to continue. Friday, one of the hose couplings (from turbo compressor to IC piping) worked itself loose but I was able to fix that. However, now I can't seem to get her going for long. What else can I check?

I checked my e-manage wiring and everything looks okay. Pulled #4 spark plug and it was covered in black carbon deposits, as if running rich. Suggestions? The plugs I am running are NGK Iridium BKR7EIX.

Tonight I am going to disconnect the battery and try to reset the ECU again and see what happens.

[seth98esT]

Ever do a boost leak test?

[DryBear]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seth98esT)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ever do a boost leak test?</div>

I did a test using that link on my install post:
http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html

but that was a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to do it again :?

[Tearstone]

I've been rackin' my brain trying to figure something out on this Len. All I can say, is that I have a suspicion it's something really simple that we are overlooking here.

[Danger DANJ]

You aren't getting an SES or CEL light? I'm just thinking that maybe you are looking at the turbo when it's something else causing the problem, like a bad O2 sensor.

[HeadAche]

I have had that same problem with my srt4. It turned out that I had gotten a bad tank of gas and all 4 plugs had to be changed along with the injectors. Pretty much had to flush the entire fuel system, change the plugs (thank god for a napa that is close my house), and pull the injectors. After that everything worked fine.

[DryBear]

Currently, the car will start up and idle fine, with AFR at around 15-17, and vacuum at 17-18. Once I try and get her into boost, right after it will stall and have problems starting up. Let her sit for a while (I waited an hour) and she will start right up again idling okay.

Only SES code I've thrown is the P1400, Manifold Differential Pressure Sensor Circuit Malfunction, but I'm not worried about that one as I'm told it can be safely ignored.

I'm going to check all the connections again tonight from exhaust to IC piping to see if anything worked loose.

I wouldn't be suprised if it was something simple - I'm the only one who has touched the car and perhaps through fatigue I may have missed some fine detail. I'm going to retrace my steps and note down everything I did.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HeadAche)</div><div class='quotemain'>I have had that same problem with my srt4. It turned out that I had gotten a bad tank of gas and all 4 plugs had to be changed along with the injectors. Pretty much had to flush the entire fuel system, change the plugs (thank god for a napa that is close my house), and pull the injectors. After that everything worked fine.</div>

Ewww, that doesn't sound pretty. How much did it run you to flush your fuel system?

[DOHCstunr]

sounds like a boost leak, or some other type of post mas leak.

you aren't venting your bov are you? i'm sure you know better than that.

but if you have nay lines hooked up before the turbo and after the mas if they are sucking in unmetered air your car will stall. and when you try to restart it, the plugs will be fuel fouled. so it won't easily fire up.

is your pcv valve stuck open?
are you running a breather line to you intake? or is your breather line vented to the atmosphere or a catch can?

how old is your pcv valve?

also, is the egr port on the back of your manifold seated and sealed?

are all of your vacuum/boost lines zip tied and secure from slipping off?

[DryBear]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DOHCSTUNR)</div><div class='quotemain'>sounds like a boost leak, or some Â*other type of post mas leak.

you aren't venting your bov are you? Â*i'm sure you know better than that.

but if you have nay lines hooked up before the turbo and after the mas if they are sucking in unmetered air your car will stall. and when you try to restart it, the plugs will be fuel fouled. so it won't easily fire up.

is your pcv valve stuck open?
are you running a breather line to you intake? or is your breather line vented to the atmosphere or a catch can?
Â*
how old is your pcv valve?

also, is the egr port on the back of your manifold seated and sealed?

are all of your vacuum/boost lines zip tied and secure from slipping off?</div>

No, the BOV is recirculated.

I will have to check the PCV valve - its pretty new, as I put in a new one at 60K (mileage is now at 62K), but I've got a new spare one I can swap in - they are pretty cheap anyway.

I'll add the EGR to the list of things to check. The EGR gasket should be reusable, right?

All Vacuum/boost lines are zip tied, but I'll also check to make sure nothing is getting pinched/etc. The line to the BOV is a bit long, so I'm going to shorten it a bit. I'm using a plastic four way tee, BTW.

Other things I'm going to check are the voltage to the O2 sensors in the rear that I extended.

[seth98esT]

I used to have all my lines zip tied but I had a few leaking so I replaced them all with small worm clamps.

[DOHCstunr]

i think its all in the size of your boost line and the type of zip ties you use.
i could never find a worm clamp small enough to put even pressure all the way around the line.


as far as reusing the egr gasket. if you do, be sure that you use some copper spray to ensure a seal, then after that, don't boost until the copper spray has had a chance to bake, otherwise you can blow out the seal.

[DryBear]

Wow, I didn't think they made a worm clamp that small. Where did you find them?

The vac lines I'm using are goodyear 5/32" lines. I'm using the tiny zip ties that came with the kit. You guys think it is worth it to pick up a zip-tie gun?

[seth98esT]

Wel for the majority of my lines I am ussing a little bit thicker hose. I am just using the smallest ones they sell at AutoZone. For things like my breather line, intake mani lines, they are all thicker and zip ties didnt cut it. Everything else zip ties did just fine, where the hose was smaller.

[Stewi]

if I were you, I would also ditch the Iridium plugs, Im not sure of other's experience with them, but I had them on my car and I fouled out 3 sets in a day. I switched to NGK BPR7ES, and I have never had a problem since.

[4-G-rim]

Do you think it may be a MAF problem? If you checked for boost leaks, vacuum lines, etc etc and everything seems to be intact...it could be electrical, fuel or management. I would try to find a working MAF and see if the problem continues.

[DryBear]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stewi)</div><div class='quotemain'>if I were you, I would also ditch the Iridium plugs, Im not sure of other's experience with them, but I had them on my car and I fouled out 3 sets in a day. I switched to NGK BPR7ES, and I have never had a problem since.</div>

I've already got a different set of copper plugs on order already. I tried my local car parts stores, but of course, none of them have the plugs I need in stock :?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(4-G-rim)</div><div class='quotemain'>Do you think it may be a MAF problem? If you checked for boost leaks, vacuum lines, etc etc and everything seems to be intact...it could be electrical, fuel or management. I would try to find a working MAF and see if the problem continues.</div>

Don't think it is a MAS problem (and hoping it is not) as I was able to run her for a day, but that's one more thing to add to the list of things to check, as I had to extend the harness for the MAS.

I might be able to get my hands on a roll-over 8G I4 for parts - anyone know if the I4 and V6 share the same MAS? I seriously doubt it, but worth a shot.

[seth98esT]

Try Advance Auto? They always have NGK BPR7ES and 6ES plugs in stock for me

[DOHCstunr]

whats the gap set at w/ the ngk iridium plugs.

i'm positive if its set to the stock gap its going to be too wide.
if you are running under ten psi i'd gap it arond .036 (does that sound right?) whats the original gap? .043?

besides all that. your symptoms really seem like that of a intake leak. between the mas and the turbo. i've had that happen before and i had similar issues when my breather line slipped off my intake tube

[DryBear]

There aren't any Advanced Auto stores on the West Coast, but I have tried their sister company, Kragen. All the stores in my vicinity don't have any of the NGKs I'm looking for.

The original plugs I bought were gapped at something like 0.030 or something like that - I was told to gap them to 0.040 so that's what I gapped them to.

God I hate the thought of taking off the bumper, especially after the thousand test fits after cutting the bumper to fit the FMIC and piping

[DOHCstunr]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wanderingpinoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>There aren't any Advanced Auto stores on the West Coast, but I have tried their sister company, Kragen. All the stores in my vicinity don't have any of the NGKs I'm looking for.

The original plugs I bought were gapped at something like 0.030 or something like that - I was told to gap them to 0.040 so that's what I gapped them to.

God I hate the thought of taking off the bumper, especially after the thousand test fits after cutting the bumper to fit the FMIC and piping Â*</div>i thought you weren't supposed to gap iridium or platinum plugs.

well on my car running stock boost at a very low 7.8:1 compression, the stock gap was .034 or something like that. and we are talking much less cylinder pressure than your 9.5:1 boosted motor. .040 seems rather wide. but idk its a different motor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10-X-T-bolt...1QQcmdZViewItem and never worry about your charge pipes again.