Having trouble with boost levels on my 2001 s60 2.4t. I had this problem before but I thought it was from using 87 octane gas, ive been putting 91 octane or 93 now since last summer and my problem is starting to come back as the weather warms up.
It seems that when it is below 4 degrees celsius my boost runs around 12 pounds with the rica ppc. Usually when its above 4 degrees and I give 'er I get 12 pounds of boost for a second or two and then it drops down to 5 pounds and it wont pass 5 pounds of boost until i turn the car off and restart it. But then im in the same position and I only get full boost for a couple seconds. I am absolutely lost with what the problem could be, im thinking maybe something to do with my intercooler since thats one of the things that are still original on my s60 so its never been touched and my car has 180 000 km's.

Anyone have any suggestions to what the problem is or how I could go about fixing this? Thanks in advance.

 

Try resetting the ECU....

Wait for others to reply

 

It only loses full boost and goes down to 5 psi when its wide open throttle, if i try to play with the gas pedal to keep it between 7-13 psi its fine and i dont get that drop with 5 psi limit. As soon as i put full throttle and my turbo spools the boost spikes at 15 psi for a second then its gone. Hope this helps give a clue to the problem

 

Maybe the stock boost controller is bad.

 

is the boost controller the turbo control valve for my car? i replaced my stock one with the IPD heavy duty TCV and i have the Rica PPC so i dont know what else would control the boost.

 

Try putting the stock one back in to test. Lately I have seen alot of people have this problem with the IPD one.

 

My stock one is garbage, my service light was on last summer saying i had a bad turbo control valve so i got the ipd one, it automatically made a difference because i had never got over 5 psi before so it improved since it does have more boost then before but its just inconsistent. I could see if IPD will give me a new valve but is there anything else either than the TCV that would cause this problem or is it guaranteed to be that.

 

Is your tune designed to shut boost down if you over boost?

 

I have no idea, Its the Rica PPC you plug it into your OBDII and it flashes the ecu, i bought it from eurosport tuning. Could it be anything to do with the wastegate maybe?

 

Possible I mean something might be wrong and it might be overboosting and the ECU is shutting the boost down.

 

Yes it definitely goes into a limp mode type thing when it happens ,im going to check my wastegate because it seems fishy to me that when I put the ecu reflash back to original only get 5 pounds of boost max, shouldnt it be around 8 stock? Also i have the stage 3 program on my PPC, I would think that a stage 3 program (and I've got all the supporting mods) would produce more than 12 pounds of boost. Shouldnt it? If my wastegate is the problem whats the best choice for a new one?

 

My R only had about 7 and 10 was supposed to be stick. They are all different.

Not sure about and aftermarket one.

 

Im pretty sure its my intercooler that is the problem now, i messed around with my IPD TCV by changing the placement of the black little valve on it and it helped somewhat, i turned the wastegate rod ending 1 rotation tighter and i am now gettting 15 pounds of boost which is perfect but its a real let down when it goes limp mode to 5 pounds. I've looked around and the only thing I found was phuzzy motorsports selling a FMIC kit, it says fits 2001-2009 2.5t models but im pretty sure there was no 2.5t models in 2001 so I'm thinking it will fit my 2.4t, does anybody for sure?

 

What makes you think intercooler?

 

Im thinking intercooler because I first noticed this problem when the temp started to rise, my boost basically worked all winter and then springtime came along with this problem. I know now its not the intercooler but it could have a little part to do with it, I found out yesterday that when i reset my computer by unpluggin my positive battery cable for 15 min that my boost is somewhat better. It was going limp mode everytime i gunned it recently so i reset the comp and now it holds boost for 1st, 2nd and probably to about 4000 rpm in third then it cuts out. Hope this gives a clue. I need to figure out this problem its just killing me, I got smoked by a WRX STI the other night when my boost was going limp mode right away and I cant handle the power issue anymore. If i bring it to the volvo dealership will they be able to figure it out for sure? Will it cost too much money? I would much rather DIY but if I can't get it figured out soon I'll have to take it to dealership.

 

Not sure if Volvo will be able to figure it out with aftermarket parts on there. They will only tell you to remove all the parts and bring it back.

Is there any steady codes? (sorry but just to refresh)

I wish you were close so I could help.

P.S. You would not have done much with the STI if all was working good anyways.

 

YOu probably could tech....

I think I can

lol

 

LOL not yet but eventually.

 

The most steady code I've had was....i forget the actual code number but it says, Turbo Control Valve (flow too low).....I've got it twice maybe 3 times in the last 4 months id say.
Hope this helps

 

Did you try swapping out the new own for the stock one?