Warlock

Im in Bridgewater, MA

You have some fine learned knock correction being applied between 3200 and 5500 RPM and you can see the boost control system disabling, your boost dropping down to wastegate pressure, waiting for FLKC to raise above -1, then slowly add boost back into your run. Strange how IAM is not being changed, maybe correction is disabled for tuning purposes and never turned back on. Also doesnt appear that you are ever even hitting the stock boost limits OR MAF load limits, so you shouldnt be getting any overboost triggers (unless the limits were lowered, which is unlikely). A look at the rom and a more detailed log would answer some of these questions. Anyway, Are you getting any specific check engine lights? Please post the codes. Your vaccuum seems healthy from the logs. I wouldnt suspect a vac leak.

I always laughed at the idea of "locking" tunes, especially on heavily modified cars (I use to see thsi ALL THE TIME on evo 8 and 9s, before flashing the car they would load the rom into a HEX editor like HxD and change the ROM ID by 1 character. Anyone could load the rom from the ecu with ECUflash but once it had pulled it from the ecu, it came up as an unknown rom and would appear to be encrypted. You could either simply load the rom back into HxD edit and change the bit back to correct OR just simply take the calID from the rom you pulled and edit the name of the XML in your definitions folder to match and reload ecuflash). Yeah I get maybe trying to hide a common tune like "stock + K&N intake" because that is a VERY common first mod for cars, but even then its locked to that exact car (example, will only work on a 2012 WRX, not an sti or legacy or ANY other car/year combo). Sure, the person could go into the tune and steal the MAF scaling tables and injector latency/scaling data and transfer it to another cars tune, but that that point, so what? There are DOZENS of free tunes posted on forums such as romraider that you can do the same thing to, so essentially you ARE getting your own tune at that point. Fact of the matter is, there is no secret sauce or special technique that one tuner uses to make a car better than another. The tuner either does a good job or doesn't fully understand what they should be doing. I love high performance academy's motto: Tuning isnt magic, its science. There is a correct calibration that makes the car run at peak reliability and performance. Any deviation from that is just not a 100% correct tune. And lets be honest, no one ever gets it 100% on the dot. Even from the factory there is a decent margin for variation and error. Thats why closed loop systems exist, to make changes on the fly to correct for the things your cant nail 100% because of interpolation. Also I am not saying that a tuner cant do SOME things to make his calibration "feel" better like better smoothing of throttle on drive by wire cars and SI drive. But that comes down to preference of the driver, what I may enjoy for throttle response may drive you crazy. TLDR: Fact of the matter is locking the ECU is silly as each tune SHOULD be calibrated for the car its being installed in.

I agree with lilredwagon, once your car is tuned, your only ever going to use the AP or Tactrix for little things like to clear engine codes. Your bluetooth adapter can do that with your phone. Also, any pro tuner you hire for the job will be able to install a launch control / flat foot shift patch into your rom for tactrix. I will agree that Cobb has one of the best solutions if your going to go e85 and want a flex fuel sensor installed. So to answer your first 2 questions: Can the accessport do everything the tactrix and laptop can do? In regards to just tuning, yes. You will get a couple of extra features like being able to adjust your launch control and flat foot shift from the device itself while the car is running. I will also say its more user friendly to load in an etune to the accessport, flash it, data log, and send back to the tuner. Are there any drawbacks to the accessport? You cannot self tune without also taking a course online and paying, if I remember correctly, another $100 for said course. Once you pass the course they will give you access to access tuner race software. You then will still need a laptop You will need to find a tuner that supports accessport.

If its any consolation, that are so few tables in the ECU that even reference gears from the transmission, the 6 speed will have no precievable effect on the way your motor works. For example, I dug through my stock 2008 Spec B rom and here are all of the tables that referenced gearing: The top 2 tables control if you want to modify your boost targets for first gear amd at what speed you want this compensation to stop, which from the factory is not even in use. In this instance, you could TECHNICALLY make a small modification here because of the different gearing ratios of first gear between the 6 speed and 5 speed. HOWEVER this works based off of a speed signal, NOT a gearing change, so unless you had the ecu already tuned to use this feature AND it was setup to PERFECTLY match your first gears top speed peak shift point, your not going to gain any benefit of re-tuning this parameter. More than likely your not setup at all in this field just like stock. The 2nd larger table controls when your can switches from closed loop to open look fueling. Although tuners typically DO tune this field, you should also notice that 5th/6th gear is setup as the exact same field. This means whether your running in 5th gear or 6th gear, you are running the exact same compensation (AKA in ecu terms, If vehicle speed when compared to engine rpm is geared that what 5th gear would normally fall under, then consider this 5th OR 6th gear.AKA no tuning required because the ECU treats them the same.) I hope this shed some light on why the 6 speed swap is purely a mechanical swap.

You do not need to swap maps when swapping out the transmission. As long as you plugged in the harness so the reverse lights work, your good to go. Its purely mechanical.

Sorry for the delay, I used the computer model 13105 https://aeromotiveinc.com/product/compact-efi-regulator/

I also used ETS for my legacy GT intercooler setup. They can make just about anything work. I have an STi style turbo on my car with the Legacy GT intake manifold and all I had to do was let them know what I had and they sent me the exact parts I needed. Cant recommend them more! Heres what it looked like going in, it was a great fit.

With that year car, there is little you can do to make it faster. I do not recommend putting an intake on it becuase the ECU cannot be reflashed to calibrate for the MAF sensor scaling difference so it will likely lean out and potentially damage the engine if pushed hard enough while lean. And yes, a turbo kit would significantly wake it up, but to what end on cost? If you are emotionally attached to this car, such as you love that body style and do not like the new ones, or it has sentimental value, then I can see it being worth it to fix up. My honest advise? Drive it like a normal car. The amount of money it will cost to do anything to that car is MASSIVLY out weigh the cost of just buying a turbo model car. The cost to make the car tuneable via a usable ecu alone can almost pay for a turbo model subaru. Sorry to bring you down, but if you dont believe me, look at what it would cost to: -Have a turbo header fabricated for the single exhaust port EJ22 -Have a custom downpipe made for the turbo to the exhaust -The turbo itself -intercooler pipes and intercooler (you cant use your intake manifold with a stock style intercooler and an ej25 manifold will not fit) -fuel injectors -fuel pump -fuel pressure regulator -MAP sensor -Electornics to be able to make it all work such as ECu and custom wiring harness Even after all of this, your still dealing with a stock bottom end of the engine that is NOT designed for power (open deck block design is very weak, single cam heads really hold you back on any power, weak pistons, weak crank, weak rods). My advise, if you really do love this particular car, just swap it! An EJ25 from a WRX / LGT can be fitted into the car and you will start right off the bat with a turbo motor that is ready for some power. Just make sure to grab the ECU and wiring harness from the donor car as well so you will be ready to go when it comes time to make it run.

Did the donor 2005 LGT already have a transmission swap before it came to you? The 2005 LGT never came in a 6MT, it only ever had a 5MT. It wasnt until 2007 that Legacys were available with a 6MT, only on the Spec B model. I note this in case you did not know or if any future reader of this post was not aware. As for flashing an MT rom over a AT rom, yes this is do-able. You just need to flash over with the same model year rom as the ECU matches. The key here is the first 4 characters of the ROM ID need to match (Example: A2WC521C can be over written with A2WC500N, but not A2UG000B).

There will always be some fitment issues with installing an after market turbo unless you learn the tricks to doing it. One thing that really helped me get my FP Red turbo, which has even more clearance issues than the 1.5xtr, was to loosen the up pipe bolts that hold the up pipe to the exhaust manifold, which allowed the up pipe to swing back just a hair so I could get the turbo in place. Then I tightened the hell out of the up pipe bolts and the intake tube which even FP admits it will need to be pressing up against the TGV housings and look like its about the fold in, but it wont. TLDR; its been done on larger turbos, so it definitely will fit, just try different things to get the room you need.

In general, I would look to trust the after market o2 more than the potentially 15 year old narrowband on the car itself. That being said, you need to verify. I would look into doing one of the following to verify which sensor is correct: -Take your car to a dyno that is equipped with a wideband and see what its readings are vs what your seeing. A professional dyno SHOULD be keeping their widebands up to date and accurate. -Borrow a friends wideband and install it on your car and compare the numbers of your front o2 to your wideband vs their wideband. -Install your wideband onto a friends car with a known good wideband and compare Which ever 2 sensors read the closest are likely the more accurate reading. Also keep in mind placement of the sensor in the pipe can throw off the readings as the further down the pipe you have the sensor mounted, the more it should read slightly leaner. Good luck with your findings.

Hi Dennis1, Nothing is impossible, but realistically, if your looking to reflash the stock ecu, you are going to be out of luck. Keep in mind almost ALL modern tuning software requires an OBD2 port on the car and those did not become standard install until the mid 90's (1995 in USA).Here are the common tuning packages available: Cobb - See their website for confirmed supported applications, but in general its the same as ECUflash out the box, at least turbo model cars ECUFlash - 2002+ WRX, 2004+Turbo model subarus, 2007+ Canbus (NA or turbo) is supported out of the box with just a basic install. KEEP IN MIND ecuflash is very modular, so if someone out there can write the flash instructions and write the rom definitions, anything can be supported. ECUtek - 2004 and above turbo model subarus There are lots of software choices above and beyond what is listed above, those are just the most common. The pattern seems to indicate though your likely going to need a turbo model ecu from the 2000's to begin. Also keep in mind, there is NO model restriction or year range where you couldn't fit an aftermarket ecu to your car like an AEM standalone or Haltech for examples. You would need to wire in your own harness but once you got it wired in correctly and get the initial engine config loaded, theirs no reason the route wouldn't work for you. Just be prepared to spend $$ to get this done.

additional photos

I will finish posting details as soon as I get a free minute at work. Hello All, this is my 2008 Legacy GT Spec B. I bought it with a low compression motor back in December, it ran but I knew it wasnt long for this world. Luckly, I had quite a bit of spare parts laying around from building my drag car, a 2012 WRX. I had a 2005 LGT laying around that became the doner of several parts such as the heads (its the Red LGt in the photos below, it will also be getting built soon). Heres the specs on the parts: 2004 Forester XT block honed 10 over Manley Forged Pistons, stock compression STi rods w/ ARP Rod bolts King Race Bearings Brand new STi Crank Perrin lightweight pulley 2005 LGT heads OEM Gasket set, oil pump, Gates racing Timing and water kit ARP 2000 head studs Brian Crower dual valve springs, valves. retainers, seats, keepers, ect GSC bronze valve guides Stock LGT intake manifold Torque Solutions TGV deletes Grimmspeed TGV spacers Cobb intake (came with red car) FP Red turbo, ported, with 10CM hot side, internally gated FP inlet pipe (expensive!) ID1000 injectors Perrin fuel rails Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator Grimmspeed EBCS Stock exhaust manifold and up-pipe from 2008 LGT motor Generic catless downpipe 3" Stock catback, nice and quiet ETS black Intercooler piping ETS 3.5" intercooler, anodized black GFB electronic blowoff valve Mishimoto Radiator, slim fans, and rad hoses ACT Heavy Duty 6-Puck Disc Clutch Kit New OEM power steering pump & AC Compressor Generic catch can Braided turbo oil and AVCS lines DW300C Fuel pump Mods: Complete PCV system delete, all routed to catch can Air pump removed due to 2005 heads Intake air box delete to make room for intercooler pipes custom ran fuel lines Sti turbo side pieces to match an sti style turbo to an LGT intake manifold - THANK YOU ETS!!!!!!! Software: Open source via Tactrix -15psi on intelligent with smooth throttle -23psi sport with normal throttle (still tuning this area) -29psi on Sport sharp with very aggressive throttle (still tuning this area) -tinywrx flat foot shift / launch control patch Visual: Redline tuning hood rods 18X8.5 ENKEI TUNING TX5 PLAT GREY wheels with Nitto NT05 97W Tires 245/40/R18 for summer use Raceland Coilovers Drilled and slotted rotors

Are you on stock cams? Do you have a boost gauge? If so, what is your vacuum at idle? Do you have access to an OBD reader that can liew live data? If so, what does your long term and short term fuel trims look like? Might be abbreviated LTFT and STFT.

Hey tech, Those are all normal. Every time you load up ecuflash, those get loaded and display in the console. They are the default car read templates available from ecuflash. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Here is a little more info, because I know just hearing "no dont do it, its worse" usually would never convince me without facts to back it up. -The NA EJ253 in the legacy is an open deck block, where as the EJ255 in the GT model is significantly stronger because it is a semi-closed deck block. -The 2.5 in the GT has much stronger connecting rods over the NA counterpart -You get DOHC cams on the GT vs single cams on the NA -If your goal is boost, the NA has higher compression pistons. This does not lend itself well to turbo or supercharged applications, at least when it comes to gasoline. It will make the motor super knock prone and their for will make less power than a lower compression piston. If you use more knock resistant fuels like e85 this can solve this problem, but if you are planning on E85, you have ALL of the previous reasons listed to not even consider using the NA 2.5 -The parts you would needs to swap from a turbo motor to this motor to make the setup work would negate the money you would save just buying the turbo car. If you plan to fabricate these yourself, then disregard this bullet point. -ECU tuning support is SIGNIFICANTLY better on the turbo models (2002 and up turbo model cars are supported on ecuflash out of the box, NA really isnt supported until after 2007 and even then, its not nearly as feature rich). You might as well factor in an after market ecu to support boosting the motor which can easily cost over 1,000 dollars by itself. I hope this info was helpful.

OK so it looks like your car originally has the rom A2WC510C and your trying to flash over it with something like A2WC522N, correct? From my past experience, as long as you match the first 4 characters of the ECUID, the roms should be interchangeable.

We need some more info before we can begin to help. What is the year/make/model of the car? Which cable are you using to read / write to the ecu? (openport 2.0, tactrix brand 1.3 cable, generic Vagcom, ect) and if a generic cable, WHICH exact generic cable? If the car is pre-2007, did you connect the green clips under the dash to put the car into reflash mode (for lack of official better terminology) before trying to read/write?

With very little info to go on, here is my two cents: -My first suspect is probably your boost control solenoid: Assuming your running the stock one since its not mentioned in this post. The stock solenoid can fail over the years and even if working properly, can easily be overcome by boost pressures higher than stock and sort of "forced" open which will make the car run wastegate pressie (which is in the range of what your saying its running. I throw grimmspeed boost control solenoids on all of my cars. - Also, and please dont take this offensively, because I am victim of it myself, you may be ASSUMING you have all of the vacuum leaks fixed. Have you pressurized the system and did it maintain the pressure, or did it slowly lose pressure? A quick test I usually do if your running stock cams/heads/ and the such is check with a boost gauge for what your vacuum is at idle with the car running. A healthy leak free car should be around 15in/hg or more (i believe spec calls for 17). If your sitting around 13, 10, or less, you still have an issue on your hands to address. - Sounds like your self-tuned, which is great, but definitely requires more troubleshooting on your end. How are you tuning for boost? Whats your base and max WGDC setpoints? If your target boost map is set to 19psi but you have an initial wgdc of 20 and max wgdc of 50% in the WOT areas, your likely not going to see 19PSI. Just something to look over; im not sure how familiar you are with subaru boost control / PID control strategies. I hope this was helpful; good luck.