Carmania24

Downpipe flange is different too. Also, why VF38? You can spend all that money on a better single scroll turbo I'd think.

Thanks for the response, I wanted to twin scroll for better spool. Good to know the downpipe has a different flange. I found the entire set up minus downpipe with 40k miles for $450 shipped.

What turbo do you recommend in the same price range that wouldn’t require a tune for a single scroll setup and direct replacement?

Thanks again.

Hello again,

I have seen a bunch of topics on this but I wanted to double check that in order to make a VF38 turbo work with a USDM legacy I just need:

VF38 turbo

Up-pipe

Manifold

Do I need anything else in order to make this work properly such as downpipe?

Thank you.

Am I the only one thinking that the up pipe cat has come apart and killed the turbo?

Thanks for your comment, I am so dumb I forgot to mention I have a cat-less up-pipe (bought the car like that).

I'd stop driving the car and no more revving. Something is coming apart. Very hard to say what it is, but if you have a stethoscope (harbor freight has them) you can check around various parts of the motor to determine the source of the noise. The turbo doesn't sound very healthy.

Thanks for the response. I don’t drive the car anymore. It’s just been sitting besides the occasional starting it and moving parking spots. I haven’t even put 1 mile on it since I got the issue, thankfully I don’t have to be anywhere.

I'm all for DIY but at some point you gotta stop trying to fix this problem yourself and take it to someone who can diagnose the spendy stuff. If your turbo sucked up some pieces of catalyst then you're in for an expensive day.

 

Go for an OEM boot/axle when replacing the old one. Aftermarket ones tend to vibrate and not last very long. The boot fails because the hot downpipe is right next to the boot. You can wrap the exhaust with some heat wrap to help prolong the life of it.

Thanks for the response. I will do that once this whole thing calms down a bit. Luckily I don’t have to go anywhere. And I’ll make sure to go oem for the boot/axle.

--Bump again--

White smoke seems to be caused by ripped CV boot on the passenger side; it splashed grease all over the catalytic converter and some got splashed on the turbo. However, still no closer to finding out the issue. It sounds like it is knocking from the bottom end, but I read that bad air/fuel ratio could cause this? Not sure if that is accurate.

—BUMP—

Dumb question, could a faulty fuel pump cause this? Or could my turbo be dead?

Oil and coolant levels are good.

Hi all,

Please see links for a couple videos I did of what the car sounds like. (Usually I can hear turbo and intake just fine, however I can not hear it as much). Called my tuner awaiting to get a call back. Also, it may be hard to see but the in the second video there is white smoke coming out. IMO it does not smell like oil but I never really smelled burning oil before so I may be wrong or it might just be condensation. It has been chilly here the past few nights.

I also can not figure out what that noise is in the first video. Anyone have an idea?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FCxHSE4CSXwY2UykM6W2RU42BdEOtkVW

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13FFxfs4vQbCDRd9b6YdMErXsEEH_aAdU

Thank you all.

@cryo, did you get my email? I have been having internet issues and not sure if went through or not. Thanks.

Stay safe out there!

We actually do not tune catless at all so please do not put a catless pipe on regardless of local emissions laws as it breaks federal law and you dont want to be stuck in that position.

 

Its almost impossible to diagnose something like that when we dont know the settings its currently running on but honestly I it takes a lot to make the car not want to run and want to stall etc. I would check the simple things as well and make sure the IC to Throttle body hose is connected and not sliding off etc.

 

It appears your long term fuel trim is at 11 but that log is not very useful due to whats being logged.

 

You can shoot me an email and we can lightly discuss but I really would make sure you get ahold of the tuner and find out his thoughts as well.

 

Thanks!

 

Dave

I went ahead and emailed you. Thank you!

Started the car today, started up fine. Sounded A LOT quieter so I decided to pop the hood as the car was running and upon further inspection (unrelated) saw the CV boot on the passenger side ripped and spat grease all over the cat. However, I checked my intake and it was tight, visually checked the throttle body area and it seemed to be fine. I think everyone and anyone who said my cat is bad is probably correct. Can't hear the turbo or intake as much as I used to. I did not drive it just let it start and idle for a couple minutes. I logged whatever I could and uploaded it here. I am uploading a short video to youtube and will attach a link once it has processed.

Thank you all again for your help. I just wish I still had my office job to keep my mind off of things but that did not go as planned and now all I can think about is the car.

DataLog-Apr_01_2020_1-01-19-PM.csv

Catless Dp and you live in CA... Don't you have emissions laws ?

 

A catted DP may save you some hassle later on.

Thank you for the response. I will be registering it in Nevada later this year in Pahrump where they don’t have smog (my friends dad lives there).

I'm sorry to hear your having these issues, I can say that your tuner will be the most helpful with this as he's looked at the data before and after the event and he knows what changes were made.

 

I can say that burble tunes in general are not just fuel based and changed timing and such, I have opinions on burble tunes and do not provide them to customers for a bunch of reasons but I can say I dont feel thats your current problem. Hope that helps a little.

 

Dave

Thank you for the comment. Only issue is I’m quite far (32 miles) from the shop and with everything that’s happening to the car I’m not sure if I will make it. So dumb question— I know you said my tuner would know better, but what else do you think it could be? Only reason I ask is because I’m not sure how old this cat is or if it’s even been replaced. Judging by the way the previous owner took care of it I assume it’s original. If you would like to reach out to you via email or anything else please let me know.

OP ^ that is one of the best Tuners for these cars. after you find your issue, I would recommend you contact Dave and have him tune your car.

 

IMO there are only two people I would have tune these cars, Dave is the one for west coaster's.

Thanks for your comment and recommended. I only went with this tuner because others told me about him and his work. I guess it just didn’t work out in my favor. I could be wrong and the map could be fine but maybe like others said the cat could just be failing.

Either one should be fine.

 

Have you made sure no vacuum lines have be come disconnected ?

Thank you for the help.

I have not, but when the car is cold it runs completely fine. It idles really good...then the issue starts when the car is warm.

Sounds like a blocked / melted cat to me.

That would make things quiet and put you down on power.

 

If you flash the stock tune and it's still quiet and slow, I'd suggest finding a test pipe of some sort.

Thank you for the advice.

I contacted my tuner to send me the previous tune and guide me on how to do it because I would rather not risk driving the car all the way down there and then get stranded somewhere.

Also, WTF is a burble tune?

 

NVM I googled it. :/

Lol thanks for the comment; I liked it...until now that is.

I’m now expert on this stuff but going by amateur’s instinct it’s sounds to me like whatever tune you have now jacked up your air to fuel ratio. Just a guess. I would assume going back to your old tune would fix it unless it’s a mechanical issue which then you would still have the same problem and you could narrow it down to look at air and fuel delivery systems

 

 

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Thanks for your comment. I have the same suspicion that the tune has really messed up the fuel/air ratio and thus causing this issue.

I would datalog and look at the fuel trims to see how the ECM is adjusting before doing anything. The tune probably needs some adjustment. To get it to running properly you may need to reflash to a known good tune.

Thanks for the comment. I am going to try to get him to send me an e-tune with instructions that has my previous fuel map. That way if that does not work, then it could be the cat mentioned by others.

Yeah sounds like you clogged a cat. I messed around with that for a month or two. When I dropped the downpipe there was some sand like fragments from the cat that fell out. I would not reccomend.

 

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Thank you for the comment. I am going to try and get my tuner to send me an e-tune of the previous fuel map that way I can determine if it is indeed fuel/air ratio or possibly the cat.

Either way I was planning to get a catless downpipe later this year (not now) as I have to save up for it. Luckily I found the Invidia one for the 5EAT for $300 on eBay.

Flash back to your old tune.

Should I keep my current boost of ~15psi and just go back to the old fuel map or should I tell him to go back to the first tune of ~9psi as well?

And thank you for your help.

Hello all,

I am back yet again. Long story short:

I got my car reflashed a couple weeks back and decided to get a burble tune (messed with the fuel map) as well. The car was running fine until it was not. It starts up just fine during cold start but it would struggle to start when the car is warm. I would have to give it a little bit of gas while starting it to not let it die. However today I wanted some fresh air so I decided to take a drive by myself just a couple blocks. Upon driving back home the car started hesitating to move and sounded a LOT quieter than it normal does. I was giving it about 50% throttle to go up the hill and it was barely moving. I parked the car shut it off and turned it on and now it will just die instantly when the car is warm. I am going to take a wild guess and say the new fuel map is throwing everything off and thus causing the car to act up?

Mods:

Intake

Exhuast

JDM bottom end (EJ20X)

EBC

Cat-less up-pipe (bought the car like that)

Mileage ~190,000

Everything else is stock. I did email the tuner telling him about the issue. This only started happening after it was reflashed.

Prior to this I had the infamous P0171, got it fixed, the light came back on for couple days then went off. Before the tuner did his magic, the mechanic they have working at the shop did a full inspection to ensure it was safe to reflash. He did not find anything and they proceeded with the reflash. The car does not have any CEL on and I have scanned it a few times via BlueDriver and it did not even find a stored code.

Thank you all in advance. And please no rude comments, I am just trying to figure it out and want to avoid going anywhere right now.

My advice is do not drive it in boost if you have to drive it. Keep the revs below 4k and no boost at all while you're uncertain of motor and tuning issues. Until you see a tuner and have consistent data logs, I'd baby the shit out of it, not drive it when convenient.

 

You can download the BtSsm app and run it from your phone with a cheap cable. Good intro to data logging.

 

Nice looking LV from BtSsm the other day! My specB seems to be running great with my Cryotune:

Thanks, I have bluedriver so I use data logging on that. I do not let my throttle go past 20% and I manually shift at 3200-3500RPM's. Car was tuned by EDO performance a while back maybe I will have to go to him and see what is going on. But I am going to take it to the shop again tomorrow and see why is there no vacuum going to the BOV...makes no sense to me. Luckily the shop is 1.5 miles away from me and the dealer is 3.5 miles.

Anybody have issues with low beam/parking lights not working

 

 

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I suggest you create a new thread on this that way others can provide feedback/advice!

I definitely agree with this - back to stock on the air intake.

 

The aftermarket warranty on the other hand sounds like a terrible idea.

 

If you fill in your profile location someone could offer a good shop name, or sometimes members will offer to come help you if you're in a particular area. I've had members do some pretty incredible favors for me over the years and I've returned the favors to others.

Once the MAF comes in I will go ahead and put the stock intake back on. I also decided no go on the warranty. I attached pics of the MAF the shop used (rockauto pic) and the OEM MAF.

I thought I had added my location but I will add that now! Thanks

Have you seen this for P0171?

 

Yes, it's for the 2L turbo however many of the same checks and considerations still apply.

I have not seen that...thanks a bunch for this! So it could be any number of things listed. As for vacuum leaks I do not have any--mechanic checked and found nothing.

However is it running a little rough so I believe it is MAF, the brand is does not have a good name behind it. I hope this fixes it and nothing wrong with the fuel system.

I do have a CAI that I installed towards the beginning of this year, but still have yet to get a tune for it. I will go back to stock until I am ready to get a reflash.

Have you checked your MAF sensor by chance? My car stalled out on me a couple times about a year ago. Changed the MAF sensor and hasnt had an issue since. Figured I'd throw it out there.

Sorry for many posts

@sez752 I picked up the car from the shop after a new valve cover gasket job and got the P0171 code. Car feels rough so I will be purchasing a MAF. Odd that is was replaced last year but just to play it safe I will get one. Looks like the shop used a cheap brand and did not go with OEM Denso. I just purchased one.

I think you are wasting your money on the the warranty. The car doesn't have the OEM engine in it.

 

There are 100 reasons they could (and probably would) deny any claim you filed.

 

Warranties are really only good for stock vehicles and the manufacturers warranty is the only one worth a damn.

I get what you're saying. I will not pursue it then. I will just deal with the places directly.

No on the warranty, and you need to find a real subie performance shop to have it looked at.

 

Or there is a specB motor for sale in the sale section.

Alright I will walk away from the warranty. My friend recommended 2 shops that he has been to and both are not far away. If it happens again I will be going to one of them (I hope it does not).

I absolutely can not buy another car. Too many other expenses at the moment. It would have to be a Honda or something that is waaayyy cheaper to maintain. Though where I live, old honda's are stolen a lot...

There's a lot of ambiguous lawyer speak in that contract.

 

 

 

 

 

They will do their best to not pay claims and an investigator will be sent out prior to expensive repairs.

So I should not get the warranty?

Get a cheap Honda, recoup some savings, and get some of your money back discarding that thing, and not to some unsuspecting buyer.

 

You need to walk away from this from where I'm sitting.

If I could walk away I would, car is financed.

Have you checked your MAF sensor by chance? My car stalled out on me a couple times about a year ago. Changed the MAF sensor and hasnt had an issue since. Figured I'd throw it out there.

Yes. The first thing I did was clean it out. It was also replaced last year by a shop. I believe tho the throttle body was the issue from too much carbon/dirt build up, cleaned it up. Replaced the TCM and air filter. In reverse I no longer need to step on the gas to actually reverse. In manual shift mode, I do not need to step on the gas in 1st gear to move. Smoother shifts too. I believe the transmission mount is going back tho. Right now the car is getting the valve cover replaced since it decided to dump all literally all the oil that was in the engine in 1 week. But as soon as I figured that out I didn’t drive it I let it sit.

From what I have heard including one of my friends who worked as a mechanic, is that aftermarket warranty companies are always looking to deny repairs. Not going to right mechanic, not getting proper authorization and modifications. My friend had a factory supercharged car that he bough tased that had an existing aftermarket warranty. They figured out that the SC had an aftermarket pulley on it from a prior owned and denied his claim. The mechanic replaced the serpentine belt and it wasn't the factory length. The warranty company invalidated his warranty of his drivetrain.

 

You have a EJ20 motor in your car, if any mechanic working on the car realizes this or the mods, you may be flushing money down the toilet with an aftermarket warranty.

Thanks for the response...here is a sample contract of what mine would look like. Thoughts on it?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CBYlnbXp3KuuS4Sdy4z9vrp3HIT1-2l3

Update--TCM replaced, TB cleaned, replaced air filter. Oil leak was not a leak, turns out it was overfilled; mechanic drained some oil into a bucket. I will see if it still leaks tomorrow morning. Car is driving, idles better and seems to be no more dip in RPM when I from Park/Reverse to drive.*

Looking into extended warranties and I was able to found one that I am highly considering.*No out of pocket except for paying for the policy.