Help with problem on new WRX!

[Dmochowski]

I have a 2012 WRX with a stage II off-the-shelf map from Cobb. Stock intake system with no other mods outside of the map notes. I went to the dragstrip the eighth mile here in town on Friday and made about six runs with no problems the car ran great. I also drove my car to work yesterday with no problems.

Today was pretty cool out this morning it was about 50°. I was having a nice drive into work when I got on the highway I remember dropping down into third or fourth gear to pass a couple cars and have some fun. I remember noticing the car was awfully rough feeling coming off the throttle. As I would give it gas after this point I could hear the sound of rushing air from outside the car. As I wondered what this was I got over next to the center barrier put my window down and hit the gas in fifth and fourth gear to put the load on the motor. As the turbo would spool up I could hear the sound of rushing air again almost as if I have an aftermarket intake system.

I got off the highway to go to work and could still hear the rushing air sound every time I would get on the gas to accelerate regardless of how slow. If I was making any positive boost I could hear the sound and my car was also backfiring quite a lot. I pulled over in a parking lot and pop the hood. I could not see anything obviously wrong with the car, opened the airbox did not see any restriction in the airbox. I was also paying attention to my access port. The air fuel ratio was good there was no pulling of timing or other problems. When I finally got to work I checked for codes and there were also no check engine lights or codes to be found.

Just to see I turn the car off let it sit for a minute and turned it back on it turned on no problem it idles just fine. At first I maybe thought it was just the cold dense air letting me hear the turbo more but this can't be because I did not hear it until about 10 miles into my trip to work today. And the sound is pretty loud there is no way the stock airbox would sound this way.

I hope this isn't the sign of a failing turbo at 5000 miles on the car! Oh and by the way the car is still making full boost and vacuum. Any ideas on what this might be? Should I get the car home after work and take the inlet pipe off and check for shaft play?

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[Dmochowski]

Beginning to think maybe a gasket or hose leak but would the car still make full boost? And not throw any codes? The fact that it idles fine and makes full boost and starts this sound at about 0 psi is weird.

[novacivic]

It's probably the coupler on the throttle body. Very common problem on the new cars. There are tons of threads on it just search a little.

[scapone4]

Im not sure if it is the TB hose, but i was having some strange sounds under vac so i changed the IC to TB hose using an AVO hose with two 2.75" t-clamps and the sounds are gone. I would do it just to be safe if i were anyone running stage 2. And also think of a new bpv. These two mods wi de decrease likelihood of leaks by a lot

[Dmochowski]

Thanks guys I was in panic mode for a few. I will check hoses and clamps when I get home. I could see how that could happen I you are on the highway and down shift into the power band and romp on it. Sudden boost blow something loose.

[kingme]

Any new noises?

When my tb-ic coupler was loose it made a distinctive sound like air was escaping from a pinched balloon opening. It would flutter and squeak and timing was noticeably pulled.

When the hose from my turbo to IC* was loose it sounded like I had a blown turbo because the turbo sound was amplified. Again, there was a decrease in performance in this case.

*Note: w/ FMS tmic, which has a rubber hose that attaches to the turbo, unlike the stock tmic which attaches directly.

[Mike 01Hawk]

Take off inter-cooler
Remove hose/coupler from inter-cooler to throttle body
Remove the 'rubber rings' that are on both ends of the hose
Throw rings away
Put everything back together
Bonus points if you use t-bolt clamps instead of the stock worm gear clamps.

[scapone4]

^^^this

[nate_fisher]

Its sounds like one of the notorius vac lines to me since you can still hit your boost target. First one to check is the line that comes from the top of your bpv and goes to the rear of your intake manifold (you will need to remove the intercooler to check it). Second is the vac line that comes off the front passenger side of the intake manifold next to your boost selonoid area it may look like its on but may be resting in front of the nipple just give them a tug.

[Dmochowski]

ok well after i got back in the car and drove home the car was having a hard time hitting full boost and when it did it felt like the turbo was having a hard time getting it there. So i just stayed around 0 psi driving home. Car also had less power i didnt realize it at first bc i wasnt really going WOT, but in boost it is noticeably slower. I got home and popped the tmic off and i loosened the clamp between the ic to tb pipe on the ic side and the whole thing came off at the tb, i didnt even loosen that one! lol So i am guessing thats where the leak was. I am gonna check those vac lines now that i got the ic off as well. Here is the pic of the hard pipe.

Do i cut the "rings" off ? they are attached to the actual pipe.

[Dmochowski]

ok just saw those are more like caps over the ends of the pipe that have guides to kee the clamps in the same place. remove the whole things or trim the flaps that have the ring in them?

[scapone4]

They come right off. Just slide them off, place them in the garbage. Buy T-Bolt clamps, and have fun aligning the whole thing with the IC. (SUCKED FOR ME). I bought the AVO hose and used 2.75" Tbolt clamps. No worries after that.

Edit: Whipe the oil out of everything. You can use hairspray to apply inside the hose as well.

[Mike 01Hawk]

No point in wiping the oil away, it'll just come back

As for those 'socks', I think it has to do with an engine safety feature. They are meant to blow @ like 18psi or something low like that so you don't over-boost your engine. Go figure.

As for T-Bolt clamps, they were a SOAB to get them lined up, but after a lot of fiddling here's how I have mine situated.

Good luck

[Dmochowski]

hmm maybe thats what happened i was using the stage 2 93 octane map at the track and maybe it started to blow then on the highway it finished the job. I usually run the 91 octance map that only hits like 16psi.

[bacalhau16]

Perhaps those socks are made for engine safety as an end all failsafe. Nonetheless, they are annoying and even fail on completely stock cars.

[Dmochowski]

ok so got it back on and i dont know if it is me not gettign it lined up right or what. but the intercooler bolts lined up with the holes and everything screwed in and the pipe looked like it was not able to seat all the way against the ic. I took it off and tried and tried to get it so seat and seems like its too short now. am i just not getting lined up right?

[Dmochowski]

that ring (which i have to use bc i will have to wait on the t bolt clamps in the mail) is pretty much an 1/8 of an inch from the end of the pipe so you can see there is a good bit of gap there.

the good news is that this was the problem i drove it up and down my road a min to see if the sound would go away and it did drove fast again with no whistling. Held the boost i just know it will pop off the end tank if it doesnt seat all the way.

[Mike 01Hawk]

Like I said, she's a bitch to get back on snug and tight. The hose is very much directional/positional, so make sure you have it on in the correct orientation.

And you don't have to have the ring. I ran w/o my rings but WITH worm clamps for a while, no issues, it didn't chew up my hose. T-bolts are just extra piece of mind.

[Dmochowski]

nice, i wont be able to tinker with it again until tomorrow maybe so if i get it lined up and clamped on i am leaving it until i get my tmic! then use t bolts then haha

[Dmochowski]

thanks for the help guys got it all sorted out and lined up tonight!

[Mike 01Hawk]

So it's back on 100% now? Good deal

[BigRob74]

that IC to TB hose is such a pain! i cranked the crap out of those worm clamps and so far so good at 19 psi

[Dmochowski]

yup back on 100%!! i will prob but my sockets and ratchet in the door for a couple weeks in case i blow it off again i can fix it where i am at haha. i never trust repairs until i have some miles under my belt.

[Mr645]

Same thing happened to my '12. For some reason the clamps were hardly more then finger tight from the factory. Anyway, took off the rubber ends and tightned the stock clamps and no problems at 18.5 psi

[ColeBerkenbile]

Just got around to checking mine, the boot on the throttle body was blown out. DAM was at .8 before and now its setting solid at 1