Topic: Various codes, limp mode, exhaust sound and factory tune

[Arabas]

on Thursday morning, while going to get some gas, i got a "check gas cap" message, only to find out that the gas cap was indeed loose (already posted this, but i m refreshing the reader's memory, in case this is related with the following).

i was going on an excursion and testing my new big wheel tune.
wasn't pushing the car with WOT, trying to get this tune set up. on the way back and only a couple of miles away from home and with not more than 2,5K rpm (to warm it up) i got
1. P0296 (post catalyst fuel trim system low limit)
2. P0455 EVAP system leak detected

erased the codes with the code scanner of the Trifecta and went on.

on the highway, i pushed with 3rd gear and 4th gear. in 4th gear i felt the car hesitating for a moment and then power was back again. something was not going well. of course the exhaust sounded so weird, sorry to say this, it sounded like B class crapy exhaust...  
pushed it again in 4th gear high rpms, followed by limp mode  

stopped at a parking lot and checked the codes.
1.P0087 fuel rail pressure too low
2.P0101 MAF

decided to flash my ecm with the factory tune just to be on the safe side. i did so at the parking lot and having 35 miles to go till i get home.

pushed it hard: NO codes, no hesitation, no nothing
exhaust: sounds great!!!!! like it is supposed to be and not as loud as some minutes ago...

for those that don't remember, i have the big wheel upgrade and since i had surge, the solution is cam tuning and controlling the boost.
BUT, obviously there is a point in cam tuning, that if you get pass by it, the sound that comes out of the exhaust is COMPLETELY different, probably because the exhaust valves open too early at the rpm range. it is an annoying sound.
now, with factory tune, the Solo sounds great and much more silent!!

still, i don't know if the P0296 has something to do with a bad cat...

i have to say, factory tune is great, the car feels more agile, more responsive to your commands, more easy and drifting is fun again!!

anyways, any thoughts on my codes?

ps i am probably getting rid off my big wheel and replacing it with a stock one... i call the big wheel mod, MYTH busted!!

[DeepBlueGXP]

Sounds like the tune needs some work and is causing all your issues.  I always thought the big wheel mod was a bit expensive for only getting 15 more HP.  That's why I didn't go that route.

[spider]

Ditch the wheel. Seems to be a waste of time not to mention straining the engine with corrupt management.

[Arabas]

yeap, that's how i feel spider....

first to fix the height of the IC pipes and then to replace turbo...

[Gentleman Jack]

at least you tried it.  didn't quite get it right, but it's good experience for all of us.  Someone has a big wheel and has it figured out I think, but not the same set up as yours.

GJ

[gmtech16450yz]

Hey Arabas I'll take that big wheel turbo off your hands, maybe I can get it to work. I even have a good stock turbo sitting in a box in my shop, maybe we can work something out. Oh damn, you're half way around the world from me.

[Arabas]

gmtech16450yz, i know a guy here in Greece was interested in buying my big wheel.
if he is not interested when i get it off, and the turbo is in good condition-99% will be in great condition (i have strengthen it with 360 thrust bearings), i would be able to ship it to you as an exchange to the stock turbo you have.
with USPS, shipping a turbo from USA to Greece (and vice versa) is something like $45.

[LatinVenom]

I think we need to take a step back on this and not make a general statement about the big wheel.
Arabas big wheel is NOT from the States. This is not the big wheel from BTF, WERKS, or DDM.
I was the 1st one to have this product and can tell you is pretty good.
I agree the price is a bit high, but as far as how it performs once you have it tuned correctly is GREAT.
I just do not understand why Vince is having so much trouble dialing this thing right.

[Arabas]

I think we need to take a step back on this and not make a general statement about the big wheel.
Arabas big wheel is NOT from the States. This is not the big wheel from BTF, WERKS, or DDM.
I was the 1st one to have this product and can tell you is pretty good.
I agree the price is a bit high, but as far as how it performs once you have it tuned correctly is GREAT.
I just do not understand why Vince is having so much trouble dialing this thing right.

LV, i have read the thread on the other forum, and i know you were the first to get it (you also distributed the turbo to various tuners to play with it).
my mod (in harware parts) is the exact same as the one from the states (according to what i've read in that thread).
i also recall BTF having a difficult time tuning that...
my project was to compare it to stock turbo+tune.
in the one and only tune that i had no surge, power was lower than stock turbo+tune (no dyno, just a lot of races against a GT with tune and stock turbo).
maybe i shouldn't say lower power but not as good performance (spool up was worse in both 2nd and 3rd gear). it was only in 4th gear and high rpms that i felt the car more powerfull, but what should i do with the power in such high speed?

i initially thought that it would be stock turbo+ in terms of performance in all cases, but this is not the case (at least with me).
if you ever race against a kappa with a tune and bolt-ons or have a dyno against a stock turbo kappa, you will shed some light in this case.

btw, special thanx to you, dirty mike, Joe, Kelu, Kagem, Dave and Vince who have supported me and advised me throughout this project.

IF i don't call it Myth busted, i will certainly call it a NON- plug 'n' play mod.

[kennysabarese]

Nothing is ever plug n play. You have to tune, and it can take a long time. I have tons of codes on my car and I don't have any mods to my engine!

It just takes a lot of time to get the tune smooth when you have to go back and forth log tune log tune log tune. It's the kind of thing that in person the tuner would do in a few hours.

[LatinVenom]

Arabas,
All I can tell you is DirtyMike had the surge and DDM fixed it.
I have their latest tune on my car for the large wheel and I do not have any surge.
Now, I never WOT from 2000 RPM in 3rd gear.
The way I drive is 4000+ RPM on every shift or it stays on that gear.
Also the highest output at the wheels was only accomplish with the large wheel.
All other stock K04 could not get to the same label at that Dyno tuning day in Orlando.
Rick from DDM and another tuner working together that day did the tune. This was done in 2009.

[Arabas]

LV, i m pretty sure that yours and dirty mike's big wheel work fine, mine just didn't work...
i was also aiming at higher hp, but...

anyway...
today, running with stock tune i got a P2096...
any thoughts??
from what i've read it could be a bad cat..

[Kagem]

Arabas,
All I can tell you is DirtyMike had the surge and DDM fixed it.
I have their latest tune on my car for the large wheel and I do not have any surge.
Now, I never WOT from 2000 RPM in 3rd gear.
The way I drive is 4000+ RPM on every shift or it stays on that gear.
Also the highest output at the wheels was only accomplish with the large wheel.
All other stock K04 could not get to the same label at that Dyno tuning day in Orlando.
Rick from DDM and another tuner working together that day did the tune. This was done in 2009.

What was your whp with the big wheel? How many hp were gained? Thanks in advance....

[DeepBlueGXP]

Could be, but check for carbon deposits on the bottom of your turbo heat shield (indicates loose cat bolts) and check your top cat 02 sensor for proper connection and installation.

If the cat is bad, you can drop the exhaust and look up into it.  see if there are parts missing.  That may explain the metal flakes you saw.

[Arabas]

Could be, but check for carbon deposits on the bottom of your turbo heat shield (indicates loose cat bolts) and check your top cat 02 sensor for proper connection and installation.

If the cat is bad, you can drop the exhaust and look up into it.  see if there are parts missing.  That may explain the metal flakes you saw.

Joe, i had a new gasket from Solo about a month ago and i took it to the dealer to do the job. the srvice manager personally took care of it and he owns a GT. i trust him. will check the heat shield though...
Just called that service manager and discussed with him.
he said it's most probable one of the following things (in row of most possible to less possible)
1.bad EVAP (will be changing that on Monday - i think there is a new EVAP from Opel Insignia-Buick Regal, that is better quality
2. bad cat
3. bad O2 sensor.

will change the evap and if this doesn't fix it, i will drop the exhaust to check the cat.

is there a waranty in the Solo dp IF (i say IF) it is a cat gone bad? (bad kitty-lol)

[Kagem]

Then you smack that kitty so it goes good! Sorry to hear you had code with the stock tune, i'm sure the service manager will have it solved very soon, also really disappointed this mod didn't work for you, let's hope for something bigger-better in the near future....

[Jebsmith]

if your evap is not functioning properly you can see a loss of vacuum on a boost gauge.  Won't be 20, it will be between 20 and 15

[Arabas]

if your evap is not functioning properly you can see a loss of vacuum on a boost gauge.  Won't be 20, it will be between 20 and 15

really?
didn't know that.
will check

[Jebsmith]

Evap valve sits on the intake mani.  Take it off and try to blow throug it.  If you can, its bad for sure.  If you can't, it still might b bad, but not stuck open.  The un energized position of that valve is closed.  That valve caused me a lot of problems and worries.  Then I swapped it for 20 bucks... problems solved