Boosted Z6 in an EF, AVCR as boost controller.


Had a problem where the car wouldn't hold boost, and I heard this weird clicking noise, process of elimination led me to the AVCR solenoid. Swapped it out for another working one, and it worked great.


Fast forward to today, same freakin thing again. Try to boost, and there's the clicking again, almost metallic/relay-ish. Solenoid isn't letting me boost again now. If I completely bypass the solenoid and run just off the wastegate, it works fine. So I know it's not a wastegate problem. Those solenoids can't really break can they? I have it mounted close to my radiator, but would that really keep it from working? It's not like my radiator radiates a bunch of heat. Enough to kill that solenoid anyways.


Any ideas??? I'm stumped. Guess I'll check for power to ground, or shorted wires.

 

My AVC-R clicked the same way and it worked fine so Im not sure what could be wrong in your situation.

 

Would the radiant heat from my radiator be enough to keep it from working? I'm thinking it's either that or an electrical problem. No reason why I take a working part off the car at the beginning of winter, put it back on a few months later, and it quits working lol. There is a 12v wire going to the solenoid, and I would guess a signal wire, so is it supposed to get grounded by the screws that hold it in?

 

Back up, any ideas??

 

Well, the clicking is simply the solenoid activating. It may be in a location that just resonates the sound louder. Unless we know your duty cycle and boost settings, its going to be difficult to diagnose the problem.

 

Boost was 1.35 I think and duty was around 65-70%. I'll check for sure when I get home, although I'm not sure what that has to do with the solenoid not working? Can you enlighten me?


I'm going to play with it a little more when I get home from work, and take it out again and monitor the solenoid duty cycle by itself and see if it's doing anything goofy. Thanks for the help so far!

 

Just to make sure that you've left no stone unturned. Here's the manual. Perhaps you're missing a step. AVC-Rs are not the most fun to "play with" when it comes to tuning that boost controller. Can get tricky at times

http://www.alamomotorsports.com/apexi/savcr.html

 

Is it hard mounted to the chassis or is there some type of dampening? Where is your power source coming from and is it keyed hot or constant hot?

 

I used the included rubber pad to put between the solenoid and chassis. Then used self tapping screws to actually screw it into the chassis.

Power source is coming from the ECU pin as directed by the manual. It is keyed hot.



TheShodan, boost is 1.25, duty is 72%. I'm not following why that matters though, because even with the AVCR set to "OFF" it still won't let me boost. But if I unhook the solenoid vacuum lines and run completely off the wastegate, it holds wastegate spring pressure perfect. That's what led me to the solenoid. Called Apex and they said to make sure the vacuum line for the diaphragm is T'd into the FPR vacuum line. It is, and they also verified that the 2 grounds for the unit have to be on the same wire, BUT in different points, and to make sure the correct one is closest to the ECU. I'm going to fix that right now then take it for a drive.

 

what spring wastegate are you using? If you are using about 18.375psi of pressure, the spring may be too small.

 

It's a 10lb wastegate spring. The thing is, this exact setup ran totally fine last summer before I pulled the motor over the winter. Dyno tuning and all.


I wonder if the solenoid is supposed to ground via the self tapping screws? I took the car out just a few minutes ago, and it was hit or miss. Couple times it worked, then once it didn't work.

 

Hahahaha. Turns out it's not a solenoid problem. Turbo is shot. That "clicking" was the turbo blades hitting the housing Im guessing since I can wiggle the shaft and make it hit the housing. Dang! Time for a re-build.

 

Thanks for posting up the results y0.

 

No prob. Makes it easier for someone searching for a similar problem in the future. I hate finding threads of my EXACT problems that are like 4yrs old, and no one ever posted results lol.


Thanks for the help! I hear Columbus Diesel will rebuild a turbo for a good price. I'd rather stay with the same turbo since it means no re-tune.