Dylan_boosted95

Hi everyone. I know i am probably going to get roasted for washing my engine bay in the 1st place (a mistake I wont make twice). But nonetheless here it goes

After I washed my bay (I did cover the dizzy and the gearbox vent) I let the car idle and dry up everything before i drove it. The idle and everything else is still perfect it is just the very low boost that is the problem. When im supposed to be getting about 12psi its only going to 4.4psi?

My 1st thought was the boost control solenoid which I took off, cleaned and tested with the wires straight onto the battery and it is clicking. I put everything back and im stuck with the same problem?

All the vac lines are connected and I DID NOT pressure wash it. The boost controller im using is a BCU+ so it is not one of the expensive ones.

Any thoughts on what it could be would be greatly appreciated thanks.

2kdrift

What spring are you on? I'm thinking solenoid

just cuz its "clicking" does not mean it's funcioning correctly

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Spark plugs. Even if you have covered the distributor and your filter, the spark plugs still get water under the valve cover occasionally. Swap those out too, after blowing some compressed air down the tubes and everything will be fine.

And no, you should clean engine bay out. That is something you should always do to get leaves, dirt, and other items so it can prevent an engine bay fire. Just make sure that the engine is running while you're doing it

ls joker

agreed. Try disabling the BCS on your ems. Then see what the deal is.

ErosIsHated

What EMS are you running? are you running S300? any check engine lights? it really does sound like a vacuum line got blown off and its just running off the waste gate spring.

Javane

So since this post is active, unlike the other engine bay washing posts.
First off, I hope the OP's car gets fixed.

What's the recommended procedure to actually washing the engine bay? What to cover? Car on or off?

Dylan_boosted95

My wastegate spring is 7psi.

Dylan_boosted95

if it were my plugs would it not backfire and splutter a bit as well? Its revving up smooth, its just the boost is low.

Thanks i will definately try that next time then

Dylan_boosted95

the wastegate spring is 7psi and im only getting 4 psi in my "high boost" setting on my controller which should be 12psi.

Dylan_boosted95

At the moment im runnomg a Dicktator std which is quite outdated and simple so no check engine lights, ill be upgrading in December.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Not necessarily, no.

2kdrift

I fail to see how it would run perfectly and just low boost if it had bad plugs.

I would try what LSjoker stated, see what it does with no boost control enabled, changing plugs is also never a bad idea at worst you will know you have new plugs and rule that out

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

That was really more my point. I've asked my engine bay many times knowing that it was time to change plugs as a practical matter, because they can foul from an engine bay wash.

Just because it isn't sputtering doesn't mean that plugs aren't a factor. But the solenoid should be checked.

Dylan_boosted95

Okay so i bypassed the solenoid to run the wastegate spring pressure and it didnt change anything, its still doing the exact same thing

ErosIsHated

Are you sure your spring is 7 psi??

2kdrift

this indicates a problem with the solenoid. Even tho it's a 7 psi spring that does not account for intercooler pressure loss etc so 7psi at the gate quite easily equates to 5psi at the manifold

Dylan_boosted95

Hi guys just a quick update/confession. Upon final inspection before sending it in to the tuner for fault finding, I found the boost pipe had come off the intercooler very slightly. Its very coincidental that it happened at the same time as i washed it which is what caused the confusion.

On a side note before I did this i took the wastegate off to inspect it and I found it was leaking between the manifold and the gate because there was no gasket. I cleaned it up and put it back on with a gasket and it is running better than it has in months so I think the wastegate leak has been there for a while.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Awesome. Good for you for finding the underlying cause, and owning up to it. Most just don't comment on their own threads anymore if they've made a slight misstep.
Since the problem is solved, and I'll go ahead and close this chapter. Congrats again on the solution.