Gazza

Thanks 45T-XR. Its very strange as you are running far better mods than I have with far more power so if was going to happen to someone, it should happen to your car. I figure if that mod can work on a car like yours, it should work on mine too?? Re the data logging - yes I have had a go at it and I have a file that I logged at home (am at work now) so I don't have access to the file. It was just a few random parameters that I logged. Will upload later. I did log the waste gate duty cycle and I notice that when I get my 'boost cut' the wastegate duty cycle goes from about .8 (I think) down to 0, then back up to .8 and down to 0 again. I also see that the MAP voltage increases slightly as the duty cycle is reduced. Not sure what that means.... The decrease in duty cycle would be the boost cut right? aussie1926 - I have cable tied every air line connection so everything is as sealed as I can make it. So the line that comes out of the turbo to the solenoid and then goes to the actuator is cable tied firmly on all ends...

Freight Train - traction control can be on or off and the issue is the same. 45T-XR - Freight Train is right, for testing purposes only I bypassed the boost controller and plumbed the turbo directly to the actuator just to eliminate any flaws that might be in the tune (I guess?). I did test the 7lb actuator multiple times actually with various pre load settings. It didn't really make any difference, it still went up to 14-16lb sometimes so I decided to revert to the factory actuator as the pressure is less to open it (was just concerned for my engine - didn't want to blow it!). I'm not sure what software my tuner used to tune my car but I know that he does a lot of Fords... I think my old tuner (the one I was not happy with) used VCM suite, I think. I'm not 100% on that. Re the porting job. I asked the guy who did it yesterday (who seems to be quite well respected for his knowledge with turbos...so not MTA..) and he said that he bored the hole to 31mm and he "contours around the short radius into the hole". It seems like he does these Ford XR6 port jobs quite often too as he had multiple housings in his garage waiting to be ported when I was there.... he said that this mod generally works up to about 400 wheel kw for 99% of cases and that's my impression too from going through this website/forum with a fine tooth comb. So he said it might be time to go external, but it seems a bit excessive for such low grunt and boost?? I don't know? I also talked to a friend of mine who has owned multiple turbo cars and he says that the internal gates work up to a point but once you introduce some free flowing gear I.e. exhaust and intercooler etc then the internal gates start to show their flaws.... I also want to change the intake on it soon too by putting a U.B.P. intake on and changing the intercooler piping but I think that is only going to exacerbate my issue if I do that so I think I need to solve this first!

hawlass - this happens in 2nd and 3rd. I notice it more in 2nd because I am not usually travelling fast enough to use 3rd... I have used 3rd a few times and it feels the same... ie its the same issue and the magnitude of the issue is about the same... freight train - it happens almost instantly, as soon as it builds up boost I encounter the issue. The other day I took it out, put it in second and floored it from about 2k rpm. It built up to 6lb pretty quickly, then the boost cut came in and then spooled very quickly to 12lb and the the boost cut came in again and then I stopped. It feels to me like it spools up so quickly that it cant stop at the desired pressure and 'overshoots the mark' then the boost cut comes in causing the fluctuation??

Hello xr6turbo.com members I am reaching out for your help as I am at my wits end with my car.... First some details on my car.... it is a 03 BA and the mods that I have done to the car are; Xforce 2.5" cat-back exhaust (no cat - I live in NZ) HDI Intercooler kit 42lb injectors (I think that's what they are, they are green if that helps?) K&N filter (if that counts as a mod) Ported waste gate and bigger swing valve (and im sure this is where my issue lies) I recently had it re tuned and it made 280kw at the wheels on 10lb. The issue I have is that the boost seems to be uncontrollable in the sense that it spools up so quickly that the car doesn't have time to regulate the pressure and the amount of fluctuation I have (if I was to accelerate through the whole rev range) is ridiculous and extremely annoying. The strange thing is that once I got it back after being re tuned, it seemed fine. However, this issue is not since I had the tune done. I had the vehicle re tuned by another tuner that I was not happy with about two years back and one thing I noticed was once I start driving the car hard, for an extended period of time was that the boost seemed to spool up so quickly and the car could not manage to stop the boost at the set pressure. I did not do anything with this for a long time but now its just driving me mad. I figure that is because the intake cools down a bit when you're driving on the motorway etc vs when you're driving round town the intake is hot?? Not sure.... I figured this was the standard waste gate showing its flaws so to test it I connected the turbo directly to the factory actuator and took it for a drive. What I noticed with the boost was that as the RPM increased, so did the boost pressure. By the red line it would be at ~12lb (my old tune was for ~14lb so no stress). So I asked the guy who has just re tuned my car what I should do and he advised that I didn't need to have the waste gate ported. When he told me this I was convinced that was the wrong answer, I am no car expert but I cannot see a way to tune around the boost spikes. Sometimes it would be fine and not spike (when the car is really hot) and when its cold it seemed uncontrollable. So I went against the tuners will and had the waste gate ported and had the bigger swing valve fitted. I thought that my issues would be over at this stage. So I fit the turbo back to the car with a Turbosmart actuator that I purchased (7lb I think) and take the car for a test drive. I encounter the same issue of boost increasing with RPM (this is with the turbo connected directly to the actuator still). I figured it was the actuator so another time I pulled the turbo back off the car and fitted the factory actuator again. I take the car for a drive again and I get the same problem of boost increasing with RPM. After this I figured I would connect the boost solenoid back in and see how it went (this is on the old tune). The car seemed to hold the boost pretty flat at about 12lb (I think from memory) so I figured I could take the car for a tune again. Once I had the car re tuned by another tuner, the car felt wonderful and I was really pleased with the results. But about a month down the track now, it seems like my boost issue has come back to haunt me and I am convinced that the waste gate was not ported correctly and this is why I am posting my issue on here. The car will build up to the desired boost pressure so quickly that it goes past a little and the boost cut, cuts in and causes massive fluctuations all the way through the rev range. If it is really hot, it seems to be fine but once I start driving it round a bit and its getting good air flow through the front of the car, I am back to this issue... Also, I feel like there is nobody around in NZ that really knows these cars inside and out which is the other reason I am asking for your input. I know its a long post, but I am trying to give all the facts so its clearer what my issue could potentially be. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated Cheers Gaz

How many litres does the radiator hold and how much should you put in of each?.

I had my car tuned at Eastern Automotive recently and the car pulls pretty hard. Made 274kw atw. Did 42lb injectors (should have gone bigger because I want more power) and gutted the cat and made 274 atw. Plus I did the modification to my airbox but its not a typhoon snorkel its just a bit of pipe. I can post my dyno graph if you want. I have seen 'Hawless' dyno graph and it looks a bit better than mine in terms of the boost and power line is much neater/smoother whereas my boost goes all the way up to 18psi!! (I think its for a good kick in the ass) but makes 274 @14 psi which I guess is ok? I am a bit worried about my trans with this much power though..... Dont mean to confuse the s*it out of you, just thought id give my experience with Eastern Automotive. Good luck dude

I would not remove the heat shield, it is there to protect sensitive plastic bushes in steering shafts. You can take it off to have a look, its easy enough to remove, there is 3 bolts holding it on, 1 at the front of the heat shiled (where the split between the front and rear heat shield), 1 at the rear that holds some gold thing on ( I think its an earth point) and one on the side below the coolant reservior. Best to do it when its cold because if it is hot the metal has expanded and it will be extremely tight. I have the same problem but I think its the cat converter, im not sure. Cheers.