Yes that could be the problem.
I was having a similiar problem with my chipped computer and when I took it out and it got alot better.

 

so should i get a stock replacement coil, or an MSD blaster?

 

I would go with the OEM coil, as once in a blue moon too strong a spark can cause damage on the top of a piston. But see what Tech says.

If you did not see any arcing around the coil, it was probably ok but if you did see arcing then I would replace it.

I still like to think that the lack of boost was fuel cutting off, as there seemed to have been a pattern as to when the boost was diminishing.


JPN

 

Alot of people have installed the performance coils and haven't seen any difference from them.
You can go with either one it really doesn't matter.

 

i just checked the coil again with it disconnected from the wiring

results:

Fac spec

Primary =0.5 - 1.5ohms mine = 0.8ohms
Secondary = 8000-9000ohms min = 7710ohms


how could i check the fuel pressure regulator? just disconnect the hose and see if gas drips out?

 

That is one way. The other way is with a guage connected and casr running disconnect vacuum source and make sure the pressure goes up.

 

I just took off the vacuum line from the fuel pressure regulator, there was no gas or anything in it, but i when i put the line up to my nose i could smell gas inside the line, is that normal?

Hey Tech, I just got my new spark plug wires and before i installed them i took out the spark plugs to re-gap them to 0.028(they were at like .021 before) and the tips were all black which means its running rich, so that should mean its not a fuel problem?

 

Or a sensor making it run to rich.
O2 sensor,Mass Flow,Coolant temp sensor ETC could make it run to rich.

 

And no the gas smell means it is leaking some if the small vacuum like smells like gas.

 

well i've replaced the O2 and the Mass flow, but not the coolant temp sensor, what problems would that sensor cause? I'm not throwin a code for it.

yeah it does smell like gas inside the vacuum line for it, does that mean its bad or just goin to go bad, there were no leaks in it.

the new wires didn't help by the way

 

hmmm, i just did some fooling around with the wastegate and bcs. I took out the bcs and put in a mbc and it spools much faster in conjuction with the t3 10psi wastegate that i have, but the problem was still there and got worse. to give you an idea of how fast it spools, its like as fast as it does if the wastegate was fully closed, (instantly to double digits at like 3k rpm)

My wastegate is a t3 10psi actuator. The wastegate was adjusted to keep the wastegate flap completely closed and there was no slack on the actuator arm, so that means with 0psi the wastegate door is shut, but it would open under boost. so i decided to extend the arm a little bit but it wouldn't come out far enough because the wastegate actuator arm is smaller in length than the stock one. So then I put the stock 5lb wastegate back on and i extended the actuator arm as far as it would go , so it left the wastegate flap open by a good few mm's. I then took the car out for a drive and it felt like a completely different car, boosted slower ofcourse but i can get a constant 7-8psi with minimal fade now with no dip in the powerband and the power is all there now it seems like, but the turbo spools up slower ofcourse, i don't know what the mbc was set too. And now the compressor vacuum hose came off so i'm waiting for the car to cool off before i put it back on to do some more testing.

Could that crap have been my problem all this time? How far is the wastegate flap supposed to be open? Also the wastegate flap is loose inside the turbo, so it makes a rattling noise, i just need to tack weld it in place.

How was the wastegate supposed to be factory wise? I don't remember the flap being open or closed before i made the first adjustment almost a year ago.

Before the turbo would spool much faster(it would hit almost 15psi instantly) but then it would fall on its face, i'm guessing that hesitation i was having could of been a sensor limiting boost because it spooled so fast that the fuel system couldn't react fast enough? But I would of that something like that would of thrown a code

 

There is a special way you need to adjust it. You need to add a certain amount of pressure and adjust it.
0 pressure the flap needs to be all the way closed. A general rule is you don't have the tools to set properly is to set it so you have to pull the waste gate about half the hole to size to set it on the arm.

Try setting it up like that and see how it drives.

Also take it for a quick drive with the waste gate hose off and see how it boosts. That will hold it at full boost at all times. See how it reacts.

Also try after the adjustment and see what happens.

 

The way i had it before was i had the actuator arm tight enough to hold it closed, meaning if you were to turn it another half revolution, the wastegate flap would be a little loose. Thats how i've had it for almost the past year on both wastegates. When i make the arm even shorter, the problem gets worse. It feels like boost has been cut.

I have driven before with the wastegate hose off , it would just be like at 5psi with a bit of power.

right now the flap is open probably 2mm , boost builds a bit slower but feels much better, doesn't cutout or fade as much.

so your saying stock setting is the wastegate arm holding the flap fully closed?

 

Yes stock it holds is closed. When pressure is built and the wastegate is pressurized the waste gate opens to drop boost pressure.
Thats why if the hose is off you should run about 10-15 PSI boost.

 

hmmm, when i have it closed like that, i start to get problems. with just part throttle i can hit 10psi quickly. I'm confused.

with the hose off i could never run higher than like 5psi. i once ran the t3 wastegate with the hose off and i got 10psi out of it, but then when i plugged the hose back on, the boost would come on way too fast and over boost to like 18psi and still climbing with no real power behind it, but i would let go for fear of it damaging something.

oh and another thing, when i was running the stock airbox, boost would pick up alot slower than my custom CAI. Ex: if i were to have it set at like 8psi with the stock airbox it wouldn't go past it, but when i put on the CAI, it boosted much faster and went to like 11. So i'm thinking all these play a factor in the wastegate adjustment?

If i were to have the t3 wastegate on and the mbc on with it overboosting while using the CAI, if i were to put the stock airbox back in, it would spool slower and lower the max boost.

 

Yes that is very weird. If you would only hit 5 PSI with the hose off it was misadjusted from the start.
Below is the way you are supposed to do it from the factory.

Yes I think alot of things play in there. Like on my car I had the MBC hooked up and the chipped computer in there.This is on both cars.
I had it set to 12 PSI with the chipped computer. Put the stock back in with the MBC and it jumped right up to 15 PSI boost just from swapping the computer. Actually on my Yellow one it hit fuel cutoff as soon as I hit half throttle.

Also the Arm for the waste gate itself didn't walk up did it?

 

I don't know man, 12.5psi stock is high isn't it? I remember reading that the stock 850 turbos were set to 3-4psi on the actuator.

I think everything does play a factor. Like you said, once you added the chip, it changed everything. Before i had the chip like i said earlier i would boost 8psi then i added an exhaust and it spooled pretty fast at hit 12psi that it hit fuel cut, and that was with the bcs. I thought the bcs was fubored so i got a MBC and dialed it back to 9ish. Then i got the CAI and it boosted pretty fast again and upped it to like 12ish again, had to adjust both wastegate and mbc to bring it back to 9ish. Then i got the ST chip like a week later and it would boost higher than 17 instantly and hit fuel cut(same as it is now), without any adjustments to wastegate or mbc. I adjusted the mbc down, but it wasn't gradual, if i turned it 1 revolution down it wouldn't go past 8, if i turned 1 revolution up it would overboost again. I didn't mess with the wastegate though, so i took out the mbc and put the stock bcs back in, and it wouldn't go past 13psi. So i think having 1 setting for the wastegate won't work with all setups.

 

12PSI is ok for the bigger turbo's stock.
Both of my cars have the bigger turbo and I am affective to 14 or 15 LBS easy. I can run that all day long without problems.

On a later model GLT 12PSI is running at max on them you can run higher but the turbo isn't really affective at that level.

I think some of the problems now is the adjustment of the wastegate.

Because of your last post when you say you have to adjust the waste gate and MBC to bring it back down. You should not have had to adjust the wastegate. The MBC will control it from 0-20 PSI atleast. Unless there is something wrong with the MBC.

And all a MBC is is a ball and spring. Unless some trash somehow got in there and is somewhat blocking the sealing of the ball.

I wish you were closer so I could see the car for myself and connect some tools to it and see what exaclty it is doing and what is being lost when it happens.

 

well when the wastegate arm had more load on it, the mbc adjustments were too sensitive, i could never dial 0.5psi at a time, it was like by 5psi each time, when i weaken the wastegate tension, its easier to adjust the mbc.

I wish i was closer too, this car has put me through hell, but i have learned alot about this car,i've done alot of work on it.

 

Well thats a good way to learn.
I would try to get the waste gate back to close to factory and start over again.