Too much Boost - Help :)

[steve-elise]

Hi guys,
I know most people have recently been complaining about low boost with a variety of contributing factors.

I recently had a dyno run with a lot of anomolies, many of which I think were related to a VVTLi issue that hopefully is now solved.

On the dyno, we saw 10.5 PSI at around 7,000 rpm !!!
Today, I connected a standard analog boost gauge and in 2nd gear the car was producing between 10 and 15 PSI !!!

How is this possible?

I bought my car with BWR kit already installed and as far as I am aware, I have a standard BWR kit now running with the Charlie-X tune.

I have attached a picture of the Pulley on my car which has markings of
58-62-06-034

1) Can someone please confirm this is the original BWR 3.4" pulley?

2) If this pulley is standard, any idea what else could be contributing to such high boost levels?

Many Thanks
Steve

[jim-clayton]

Stock pulley in your picture.

[fpitas]

Maybe the exhaust is excessively restrictive?

[steve-elise]

Thanks for confirming the pulley Jim, that's what I thought but just wanted to be sure.
Francis, the car has a sports exhaust on so I doubt it's restrictive at all.

Really puzzled by what I'm seeing here??

Anyone else ever seen high boost like this or have any other ideas?

Cheers
Steve

[dasmoofler]

You need more....

[turbophil]

what did dyno look like?

[steve-elise]

Hi Phil,
Dyno is attached. We ran in 4th gear and did 4 runs. All were similar - put down only 160HP.
They dyno operator (a very experienced tuner) also found that the car (at least in 4th gear) kept hitting rev limiter early (like 7200rpm) you can already see the power curve flattening before then.

You helped me trouble shoot a potential problem with the VVTLi the other night (thank you ) and I found a couple of things that may have contributed to the 2nd cam not coming in. These DTC's are now cleared and after a few test drives have not reoccured.

I'm now trying to figure out why or how the boost is so high?

Best Regards
Steve

[turbophil]

Hmm, that dyno plot is just about useless (no offense).... I hate some of these really low rez dyno print outs... If either the VVT or VVL solenoids are malfunctioning, you can see your boost increase. It *looks* like the VVL is working on the dyno chart. Perhaps you're not getting adequate/correct VVT action which can cause your measured boost to go up and power to be down. Have you checked for good wire health at the VVT (connections and wire integrity)? Continuity to the ECU, etc? If all wiring checks outs, you could try replacing it the unit ( I saw a blower manifold bolted down in such a way that a wire was pinched for instance. Weird things happen)...

The ECU monitors cam position and its always trying to obtain a target (setpoint). I would think a code would be triggered if the cam was way out of range relative to its target (indicating a VVT problem). Charlie would know better about that...

It's difficult to diagnose without a scan tool that can tell you what the engine is actually doing and seeing, so we just have to check things off, bit by bit...

All that said, the data seems a bit wonkey, but I guess it's all we've got...


Phil

[steve-elise]

Thanks for the feedback Phil and what you say makes sense.
I have been trying to data-log the car via the OBD port but unfortunately the tools I have aren't really well suited as they show info and logs on the iPhone but no way to export.

I have downloaded some more sophisticated software and will try and data-log all key parameters to get a better picture. I will also try and check those solenoids/wiring again.

The guy that installed the BWR kit was actually a Lotus mechanic and he also made some other changes including, as I found out the other day, installing Eibach valve springs. Although I'm no mechanic at all, I am starting to wonder whether a change made during that upgrade has caused these issues.

I will post up some real data as soon as I can get the logging working properly which will hopefully give you and Charlie some info that is more useful in the diagnosis.

There are very few (maybe 2 or 3) SC kits installed in Lotuses in Western Australia so very little local knowledge. I really appreciate the time that people like yourself, Charlie and others take to help people like me out

Many Thanks
Steve

[turbophil]

FWIW- I think you need an actual Lotus scan tool to see cam set points, position, and the like. Would be good to get your hands on one of those... maybe... I'm pretty handy with the engine and chassis hardware and I can diagnose engine problems well with the EFI... However, when it comes to diagnosis tricks and tips with the stock ECU, Charlie is really going to be a much better resource than me

Best,


Phil

[Thomasio]

FWIW it is VERY easy to damage the passenger's side VVT valve when installing a supercharger. (Not that I would do something like that. Sheesh. )