September 23, 201510 yr As I was driving my WRX this morning I started to notice that the car felt as if it was massively down on power and didn't really have that "pulling" power. It felt like a big old heavy car with a small engine. It crossed my mind that it may have been the turbo but the BoV was making the "swooshing" noise so i know it has boost. The pressure and heat coming from the exhaust seems fairly normal and the temperature gauge doesnt seem to be high so surely its not the head! I am baffled by what it could be. I am wondering if its me thinking the car is quicker than it is or if something is a miss here but its only done 72k and has just been serviced and came back all ok! What else should I look for???
September 23, 201510 yr Do you have a boost gauge? Could be an air leak on vac lines. Possible exhaust blow dropping some pressure. Bov may still vent with small boost depending on spring strength.
September 23, 201510 yr Author No I dont have a boost gauge as im not a great lover of 100's of gauges in a car :D ;) Its got an MOT on Saturday so i may get my father in law to check for air leaks. The thing is it felt fine Monday, i didnt really drive it yesterday as I worked from home and today it just feels like a different car!
September 23, 201510 yr Agree with the hundred gauges. Too many bright lights. I have a 4-1 60mm gauge. Analogue needle boost, oled oil pressure/temp and voltage. Mine dropped a bit of power recently. Checked the gauge next blast and noticed I was down to 0.9bar instead of 1.3bar. Suspect boost solenoid so I need to clean it and test but it hasn't done it since. With the hatch, is there not a Bluetooth dongle and app that shows live data on a phone/tablet? I have a classic so a bit dated in technology.
September 23, 201510 yr Author I haven't seen a Bluetooth dongle, only an AUX input. I will have a look at cleaning the solenoid and see if that helps. Its typical as I look to get one car back the other one starts to play up!
September 23, 201510 yr I don't mean as standard sorry. There is an aftermarket set up you can buy. Dongles are cheap. One of the local hawk owners uses it.
September 23, 201510 yr Compression test it for good measure! boost leak somewhere is probably most likely though. As for a gauge why not go a little jap with it? in the glove box! i have a hatch to and if it was me id make a little box for the guage and screw it in where the space for CD's is or have it mounted inside the speedo cluster they are deffo a worth while investment! James
September 23, 201510 yr Perfect for line of sight [emoji23] I can imagine its more for co driver purpose, id have a two gauge A-pillar pod all day long James
September 23, 201510 yr Author gotta love the !Removed! My idea of hell in one pic! I will get it tested before its MOT on saturday. thanks
September 23, 201510 yr Author Ok so things are really not great! As I started the car from cold and accelerated gently out of the office the car was making a whistling/squeeking noise which went away after it had got to temperature. I haven never noticed it before, next things i then noticed is the exhaust is a lot quieter and to top it off it just isn't accelerating as well as it did especially in the higher rev ranges. Something is really up with it and i fear it is the turbo :(
September 23, 201510 yr Any oily smoke? Possibly seized open actuator/wastegate letting most the boost pass? My turbo whistles since having the decat on. Did you notice any blows?
September 23, 201510 yr Prob a saft answer but maybe a boost leak ???? Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
September 23, 201510 yr Author No smoke at all, nothing to suggest it's a fubared turbo! What's the easiest way to test boost leak? With regards to the whistle it's the first time I have heard it
September 23, 201510 yr Author Ok I will give that a go. When I had a look earlier the belts sounds noisier tha. I expected but that's probably nothing
September 23, 201510 yr If you're anything like me, you're gonna be noticing all sorts of smells and noises that "weren't there before" [emoji6]
September 24, 201510 yr Author So not good news at all.... I have taken it to TGM who have just done a test drive and they agreed that the car isnt right especially at the higher rev range. They said it feels as if the turbo is being straggled which could be a number of issues: 1) Turbo on its last legs 2) The new exhaust fitted has failed 3) CAT has failed 4) Another leak elsewhere It really is typical that i get the car to a point and this happens. Im hoping its the exhaust as it means it wont cost me anything as its still under warranty!
September 24, 201510 yr Have a look at all your jubalee clips see of they are tight, also could get some soapy watwr and lightly mist the hoses if gets drawn in or starts bubbling then that's where the leak is
September 24, 201510 yr Sad times [emoji20] keep us up to date on the outcome. What this man said :( James
September 24, 201510 yr Have you got a 4wd dyno near you? If so you could book it in for a power run (about £ 50) as they'll have better diagnostic equipment for boosted cars and hopefully it's just a boost leak
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