I will try to make a long story short. Last summer I had a TEC 20g installed and tuned by ESX. They also put in 740cc, walbro pump, ecutek, Injen FMIC, Injen cai, catted ESX downpipe, Injen catback, stock inlet hose, stock bpv, stock uppipe, turbosmart e-boost ebc, boost set @17 ish psi. Since about that time I have stopped going to ESX because of the poor way they treated me and the bs job they did on my sti. The car really didn't give me any problems but I felt that it could be faster and the supporting mods I had were not exacty great. Through NASIOC I found out about Harmanmotive and enlisted thier help. They put in a perrin inlet hose, PDE uppipe and downpipe(catless), and a turbosmart 50/50 bov(the stock bpv was leaking like crazy). I got retuned with these parts and things ran great. The problem started after I came back to change some more parts. They took off my Injen FMIC and cai and installed my old spearco TMIC(off my wrx) with samco ic hoses and a k&n typhoon short ram intake. When they put it on the dyno to tune it, it started to boost creep to 25+psi. The way it was explained to me was that since the PDE downpipe was not a full bellmouth the wastegate arm? or whatever could not open up all the way because of the downpipe was in the way. So then Dan suggested a bellmouth downpipe and a wastegate port. I ordered a catless helix downpipe and it arrived on tuesday. I went yestarday to have the new downpipe installed and have the wastegate ported. The wastegate was ported very well and the new downpipe was installed but it would still creep. Now I'm stuck here not knowing what to do. Dan did everything he could do but it still boost creeps. What could the problem be? With my Injen FMIC I had a under boost issue then when the TMIC went on I had a over boost/ boost creep issues. Why would this happen after changing the intercooler? Its odd to me that for the past year I ran the 20g with no boost issues and now after a intercooler swap it would creep. What else can be done to stop from getting boost creep? I'm about to give up on this car :confused: Please help!

If you want to solve your issues you will need to get and ext w/g setup like the ur up pipe with tial gate, or something like that. No boost creep for sure once thats done.


Scoobs

Its odd to me that for the past year I ran the 20g with no boost issues and now after a intercooler swap it would creep. What else can be done to stop from getting boost creep? I'm about to give up on this car :confused: Please help!

Get a second opinion. That would raise a flag with me. Unless I missed it, why go backwards from a fmic to tmic?

Get a second opinion. That would raise a flag with me. Unless I missed it, why go backwards from a fmic to tmic?
I didn't like the Injen FMIC.......I really like the way the spearco TMIC performs plus it's a lot more sleeper.

Don't know what caused your turbo to creep, but going external will fix the problem...

Are you sure they didn't muck up the WG actuator arm when they installed the downpipe? Sounds like it's binding. Creep shouldn't be an issue with a 20G and ported WG. What's boost settle down to after the creep?

Frank

Are you sure they didn't muck up the WG actuator arm when they installed the downpipe? Sounds like it's binding. Creep shouldn't be an issue with a 20G and ported WG. What's boost settle down to after the creep?

Frank
The way the 20g boosts now is very odd....... the turbo spools up like normal but only makes 10-14 psi, then when it hits 5k rpm the boost jumps to 25+ psi and never stops. I find this very odd since it never had these boost issues before, I find it hard to understand that why it would work fine for a year then when the TMIC goes back on it starts to creep. As far as the wastegate goes I'm not sure if something happened to the actuator arm. :confused: I'm terribly confused with my car, I'm not sure what I should do now. Should I go with a EWG? Will that even solve my boost issue? Since EWG cost so much money should I not even bother with it and just buy a new turbo like a deadbolt sz 49? Anyone else having problems with TEC turbos? I feel like selling my car now :(

Wait so they let you leave with boost problems like that?

You don't need an ewg, thats like using a sledgehammer to build box. You've got other issues, obviously. You need to have another shop look it over, remember a 2nd opinion?

There's a couple shops in Socal I can think of.

i had boost troubles with my green and after discussing with dan the work required to figure things out i quickly went with an external setup. i know the eboost is good but i would discuss with him if the perrin ebcs is any better to help with it.

i had boost troubles with my green and after discussing with dan the work required to figure things out i quickly went with an external setup. i know the eboost is good but i would discuss with him if the perrin ebcs is any better to help with it.

I spent too much money on the e-boost to get rid of it plus I doubt the perrin ebcs would help. EWG is a option but at the price I would rather buy a new turbo which I think I may do soon since I can't get the TEC 20g to work. Maybe I'll have better luck with a deadbolt sz49.....before I buy a new turbo does anyone have any ideas or suggestion about what I can do with my TEC 20g? thanks!

Unfortunatley the problem here is mechanical guys.

The first test we performed was to detach the actuator arm from the wastegate flapper and run the car. This resulted in 5psi of boost until 5000RPM - then it shot to 25psi.

We decided that it might be the flapper door getting bound on the PDE DP flange, so we changed DP to a Helix BM. At the same time, I did a full port on the exhaust housing and wastegate to help avoid boost creep issues. Unfortunatley, the issue persisted.

As this is a mechanical problem, no boost controller is going to fix it. We've advised the customer to either change the turbo, have it send to a turbo rebuilder, or go EWG. As the customer refused and the car is safe to drive (our reflash mapping pulls nearly all the timing out above 20psi), we had to let him go.

I invite you to get a second opinion Shant - I've tried everything I can think of and made my recommendations. We've spent countless hours on this car at substancial discounts to help you out.

Please let me know if I can do anything else to help.

Best Reagrds,

Dan

The way the 20g boosts now is very odd....... the turbo spools up like normal but only makes 10-14 psi, then when it hits 5k rpm the boost jumps to 25+ psi and never stops. I find this very odd since it never had these boost issues before, I find it hard to understand that why it would work fine for a year then when the TMIC goes back on it starts to creep. As far as the wastegate goes I'm not sure if something happened to the actuator arm. :confused: I'm terribly confused with my car, I'm not sure what I should do now. Should I go with a EWG? Will that even solve my boost issue? Since EWG cost so much money should I not even bother with it and just buy a new turbo like a deadbolt sz 49? Anyone else having problems with TEC turbos? I feel like selling my car now :(
Yes, an EWG will solve your problem, but it sounds like you have something more going on than boost creep. I doubt it's the IC like you think it is. Did you swap back to the FMIC to see if the problem goes away (I know, that would be a pain in the ass)?

Start looking in this order...
Actuator Arm / Spring Setting
Stock Boost Solenoid
Bad Port Job
Tuning Issue

Get a second opinion to see if it's one or a combo of the above stuff.

I spent too much money on the e-boost to get rid of it plus I doubt the perrin ebcs would help. EWG is a option but at the price I would rather buy a new turbo which I think I may do soon since I can't get the TEC 20g to work. Maybe I'll have better luck with a deadbolt sz49.....before I buy a new turbo does anyone have any ideas or suggestion about what I can do with my TEC 20g? thanks!
If the issue is what Harman says, send it to Tec to fix the flapper and see if they will do it under a warranty (not sure how many times this turbo has changed hands or what their warranty policy is). If they won't do it, ask Jerry at Deadbolt to do it. That's what I would do if I didn't want to buy a whole new turbo.

A turbo expert like Tec or DB should be able to figure out the problem and give you a price to fix said problem. Worst case scenario, you pay for shipping and they tell you the turbo is unusable/unfixable. Then you had to buy a turbo anyway. Best case, you send it there and they fix the problem for a minor price and you don't have to buy a new, expensive turbo. Many scenarios inbetween - they find the problem and it's expensive to fix so you are torn between repairing your turbo and upgrading to something you want more for more dough...

Unfortunatley the problem here is mechanical guys.

Why did the problem surface now, or when you changed the up/dp, where before there wasn't a problem?

Why did the problem surface now, or when you changed the up/dp, where before there wasn't a problem?
Exactly.

If the issue is what Harman says, send it to Tec to fix the flapper and see if they will do it under a warranty (not sure how many times this turbo has changed hands or what their warranty policy is). If they won't do it, ask Jerry at Deadbolt to do it. That's what I would do if I didn't want to buy a whole new turbo.

A turbo expert like Tec or DB should be able to figure out the problem and give you a price to fix said problem. Worst case scenario, you pay for shipping and they tell you the turbo is unusable/unfixable. Then you had to buy a turbo anyway. Best case, you send it there and they fix the problem for a minor price and you don't have to buy a new, expensive turbo. Many scenarios inbetween - they find the problem and it's expensive to fix so you are torn between repairing your turbo and upgrading to something you want more for more dough...
I bought the turbo brand new from ESX over a year ago...... i doubt that i have some kind of warrany on it. The problem is I need the car to drive to work so I can't have the turbo pulled out and shipped someplace and wait days or weeks to get it back. I need something done now so I might fo EWG or just spring for a sz49 and pray that it solves my problems.

after reading dan's reply i'd go to turbonetics...as you know they make the turbos for esx. they're practically in your backyard = simi valley

maybe they'll replace the actuator for free which wouldn't be any down time for you.

forget a second opinion, if i take it some other place I be they will say the same thing about being a wastegate problem. plus i only want dan to work on my car.

that's why i made mention about turbonetics for you... :) http://www.turboneticsinc.com/

guoted from their site "After all, how many other turbocharger or heat exchanger manufacturers offer a full one-year “No Fault/No Hassle” warranty on their entire product line including product used in competition."

forget a second opinion, if i take it some other place I be they will say the same thing about being a wastegate problem. plus i only want dan to work on my car.

Good luck to ya.