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Old 29-05-2019, 06:13 AM
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Default Looking for any advice, mod issues (hopefully no severe damage).

G'day Everyone.

It has been a while since I have been online here; I believe I left a poor impression on many (which was justified...I had some personal issues going on and I was trying to find the answer at the bottom of the Bourbon bottle ). Believe it or not I never found the answers My apologies for any offense.

Enough of that and to the point:

I believe I mentioned previously but quickly I have an MY17 WRX (FA20DIT model) with the following:
- Turbo back Nvidia Q300 exhaust
- Sneeze valve...TurboSmart I believe
- Process West Top Mount Intercooler
- Process West Cold Air Intake
- Front and rear sway bars (or strut bars...I mix them up...the ones underneath your car)
- some tinkering with the steering column (I think?) to allow it 'to handle better'
- an EcuTEK tune

As may be obvious I am not really very knowledgeable about engines (I know the basics but nothing in great detail). So my apologies if this comes across 'noobish'. As such I didn't touch the mods; they were all done by Maximum Motorsports.

Car has stalled ever since the mod's were put on (around 3.000 km's; when I say stall i mean when pulling up to a set of lights it will just die). Have been through adjustments; but will keep this brief. It still stalls. Seems to burn rich...but that could have been (and may still be) fine; I just don't know that sort of stuff.

All this I believe I may have said before; however I wanted to bring anyone else up to speed.

So to the present...my neighbour across the road happens to be a decent guy and an auto-mechanic (lucky for me!) so I let him have at the 10,000 km service recently. He was able to plug in a 'ScanTool?' or at least something that can read the ECU for fault codes etc. and came back to me with some pretty awesome news...

I have no such thing as a high flow cat. It seems that I was mistaken in assuming that such a thing would be part of an aftermarket exhaust system. In addition he changed oil and said to me to have a whiff of it. It smelt like petrol. I'm pretty sure that's not right; my concern is to how wrong it is. As could possibly be expected due to the lack of a proper cat; the two O2 sensors in the exhaust are sending 'gibberish' information to the ECU. Apparently they are not sending error codes; simply conflicting and constantly changing information that is likely confusing the ECU.

Forgive me if what I say next is offensive - but I believe I paid a whole pile of money for an EcuTEK tune that was done poorly if at all. From researching further on the internet etc. I believe my boost is set far too high for stock internals (1,.54 BAR/22 PSI I think)? Especially given the widespread knowledge of the FA series con rod issues...

So...the first thing to do is fairly obvious: get it fixed. Recommendations for a shop would be appreciated. Race Torque are my intended destination as they sounded decent on the phone and I am NOR; however I am open to (and would appreciate!) suggestions.

Input into the TBE missing the catalytic converter, the O2 sensors acting as they are, the constant stalling, and the EcuTEK tune would also be appreciated. Obviously I have a case against the original mod guys; however I will not be using them for reasons that I will PM but not discuss on an open thread.

My main concern - given the documented weakness of the FA con rods - is that serious damage may have occurred inside the engine...that is a fair bit of paranoia I think though. I guess regardless of that it needs the correct (legal FFS) pieces attached and the sensors to all be adjusted and whatever else adjusted and then retuned no doubt to get it into working condition.

The efficacy of EcuTEK tunes is another question mark...everyone in the States buys a Cobb Access Port before they buy their wheels. I am aware they are available in Perth thanks to a member that contacted me back when I was last on here (cheers mate!) however I simply don't know enough about them (or their support service either) to sign on. I cannot help but feel that the $1,500 I dropped for an EcuTEK tune could likely have been better used. Further research shows that their 'expert tuner' was anything but.

Any thoughts on the above would be welcome guys not trying to start a fight over any particular installer nor intentionally offend anyone; my apologies if that has occurred unbeknownst to me.
Cheers.
Buff
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advice, damage, ecutek, issues, mod, modded, my17wrx, severe, stalling

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