Boost Problems Solved! Thanks DAZ-13B

[LVRossi]

Background: I've had a boost problem since I purchased my car and its been an ongoing battle to fix it.

Symptoms: No primary boost a majority of the time. When the first turbo wants to comes on, boost builds up extremely slowly. Basically it was like driving an N/A rotor which isn't fun at all.

The Solution: After guessing what it could be, I narrow it down to a leak in the solenoid housing. With the help of Darren aka DAZ-13B, we tackled the infamous rats rest by taking off the UIM in an attempt to fix this problem.

Lucky for me, we both had some experience taking this apart but surprisingly we still managed to get confused with where a few hoses went.

Photo of the engine bay before we start:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture010.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture012.jpg

Photo of after we took the UIM off to reveal the leaking housing held together by some cable ties:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture027.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture028.jpg

[LVRossi]

Testing the Solenoids: As we removed the old solenoid housing, I wanted to check whether all the solenoids were actually working just to put my mind at ease. Daz hooked up his voltmeter and away we went with each solenoid registering around the 38 mark, meaning they were all working just as I initially thought.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture009.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture007.jpg


Replacing the housing: To fix the problem, we were going to replace the entire housing with another one. Thanks to Daz, he had 2 lying around and we decided to put in the one that had all the hoses still attached to it...which turns out to be a very bad idea.

What should of started out as a simple case of matching up the hoses turned into a bit of a nightmare when we realised there were double up of hoses from the old housing. Daz went to fetch his trusty shop manual with the vac diagram only to realise old mate Paul (BT) still had it in his possession.

We almost called it quits when I remembered Luke had posted a great thread of where all the hoses go so FDowners to the rescue. Daz's computer was all the way in the back of the house. To top things off his printer was busted so we couldn’t print it out so we had to do it the hard way by running back and forth through the house to find out where these extra hoses went.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture001.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture030.jpg

[LVRossi]

Putting it back together...with a few extra's: Although it seems like a complex task to perform, taking the UIM apart and replacing the housing merely took 30 mins. Compared to workshops which charge an entire days rate for a job like this, I recommend doing it yourself along with someone that knows what their doing. It'll save you a lot of money.

In fact the very first time a workshop charged me for a job like this, it was around $1k plus the price of 2 new solenoids on top.

I purchased a Trust SMIC and an Autoexe intake (Thanks Luke) and thought no better time to slap them on now that my boost was fixed. I highly recommend this setup as they were like made for each other. The fitment of both products were excellent, simple and there was no rubbing between each other. I was highly impressed with the intake as it literally took 2 mins to install unlike other intakes I've setup in the past and best of all it didn’t rub the hood.

Moo Sound: Anyone who runs aftermarket pods or filters will know the infamous moo sound associated with the car around the 2k rpm mark. The autoexe actually has a muffler to where the hose from the airpump plugs into which I thought was ingenious. I can officially say this intake is Moo free :D

Why I chose this particular setup: My previous FD had the whole FMIC setup, pod filters, moving the battery etc and it was such a PITA that I wanted something practical this time around. Most importantly I wanted to retain my A/C and this setup eliminated all the cons of the previous setup. Added to this I'm not chasing big hp therefore I thought this combination would be well suited for my application and easily reversible if I want to sell the car in future.

To a certain extend I would say this setup is quite legal?


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture024.jpg

The man himself - no that isn't Red Symons working on my car!
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture034.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture038.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture039.jpg

[LVRossi]

First Drive: To see the boost gauge rise with the slight touch of the gas I was already stoked. No more driving an N/A FD I thought. Primary boost was still a little weak and it felt like we were driving on only 5 psi of boost....and not surprisingly the PFC didn't lie. Apart from this the response was great and the intake temperature was a low 40 the whole drive. Note: I'm using the stock IC duct which only covers about half of the Greddy SMIC. Its not even sealed properly so once this happens I expect the intake temp to drop even further.

Next morning I popped the bonnet and lo and behold, we missed 2 clamps which held one of the couplers on the intercooler pipe. Boost had been leaking out of this which explains why we were only hitting 5psi max. Tightened both clamps and I hit 10psi instantly on my next drive.

Big Thanks to Daz:For letting me use his garage and tools :D Helped me unscrew the bolts that were too tight (which was most of them were...yes I'm weak). We finished up in the evening and he even cooked up a delicious thai curry. Highly recommend him for anyone out there who has boost problems and want to get it fixed once and for all. Thanks again for a great time and warm hospitality Daz :)

[LVRossi]

Thought I'd post some pics of Daz's very friendly cat Angel. Yes I love my cats although I have 4 dogs my myself :D

Lets see someone come up with a caption for the 2nd photo.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture004.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/Lateo/Picture015.jpg

[DAZ-13B]

Your welcome mate !
Yes angel is very careful in FDs :D

[RXHEAVEN]

Link to the other s8 vacuum thread http://www.fdowners.com/showthread.php?t=31&highlight=vacuum

I have cross linked this one from the other thread too.

PS: It's a good idea to cover your intake with a cloth or something to prevent junk falling down into it while you're working with the UIM off.

Well done though.

[MAVRCK]

Great stuff Daz, good to see you're still remaining somewhat involved in FDs

Jack

[kiwi fd3s rs]

Just out of interest, were you getting decent boost once the secondary turbo kicked in? Ive been trying to sort my 2000 rs boosting issues, have checked all solenoids and replaced check valves and replaced all vacuum hose with good quality silicone. But im only getting around 5 to 6 psi on primary turbo but getting a solid 11 psi once secondary kicks in till redline. Cant quite figure out whats going on..

[BigWillieStyles]

Wow, what a great story, a happy ending and everything!

[Raffmeister]

Wow, what a great story, a happy ending and everything!

Another great example of FD owners helping each other out, that's what it's about!:D