Boost problem. Specialists in SE?

[jameswrx]

Hi guys, just bought my first rx7, 94.

On test drive the car felt sluggish when revving, I\'ve read about the second turbo kicking in and it feels like this isn\'t happening.  Sometimes you get a hit at about 3k rpm (1st turbo hitting full boost?) then it just revs slowly almost like there is no boost pressure or even a drop off in pressure after that.  Car also has a decat system (which I understand may need alternative mapping to support flow?), and fook me it\'s LOUD.  It has a std air box with a foam panel filter and one Blitz SS blow off valve (other is stock recirc).  No boost controller, told std ecu

Car has 1500 miles on a rebuilt engine by REWORX.  I told the guy there is no way he\'d sell it to any sensible person but being the idiot I am I\'d have it at a nice discount.  Faced with letting me have it or face his mrs with the proposition of more money to spend he gave in to me.  I\'m pretty confident it\'s something simple with the ancilleries (ie boost solenoid, actuator or related piping), which is why I bought the car.

Funny thing is I\'ve been reading through some boost problem posts on a couple of pages on here and most (if not all) say about the engine just having a rebuild.

I\'m going to stick a boost gauge on there to confirm exactly whats going on and record the boost readings, play them back and see exactly whats happening (aren\'t defi\'s cool).  I know from owning 10+ turbo\'d cars that there is a boost (or lack of) problem though.

Anyway I have some money in my \'budget\' to get the car running sweet so who\'s the closest person that knows these cars that could have a look?, I\'m in Kent btw.

Other than this the car seems pretty nice (which is why I bought it):rollin

[mattmaclennan]

Be worth speaking to Brian (Rotary Imports), he\'s in Croydon.

[deanflowers]

Pip at WGT just fixed mine for £120 only needed a solenoid,
i\'m now a happy man.

Strange how people sell these cars thinking that the problems are going to be expensive:D

[TonyBlair]

Abbey Motor Sport may be near you; //www.abbeymotorsport.co.uk

I\'ve never used them or heard anything about, so I couldn\'t recommend them or anything. Worth asking people on here to see if they\'ve had any experiences with them.

Cheers
Jon

[Jin Kazama]

So are you in Kentish Town near Camden, or Kent? Well everybody has there favourite tuners so I am going recommend RE Worx in Portsmouth. As they built your engine they will know it better than anyone else too.

[jameswrx]

Thanks lads, I\'m in Kent.

It seems to be overfueling quite a lot (not sure if it\'s related to the boosting prob), when you fire it up it stinks of unburnt fuel and is visible from the exhaust (deffinately fuel).  Also when it\'s warmed up and just idling it stinks from the exhaust, if you rev it it shows no unburnt fuel smoke but you can certainly smell it:D It bangs a lot and flames a bit too.

Put it away in the garage for weekend use now, it\'s the loudest friking thing I\'ve ever heard (especially at 7am:o ), I actually felt quite embarresed this morning.  Gonna borrow a mates car until I can find something \'morning friendly\' for the neighbours (unless you can get bungs for those twin Kakimoto exhausts??)

[Jin Kazama]

hi mate, I had a kakimoto exhaust and that was ridiculously loud, so i bought a racing beat backbox which is much quieter. I have been after a twin  kakimoto or apexi exhaust but there\'s not many kicking about, so if u fancy a swap...

[jameswrx]

Arse!, borrowing of car has fallen through, looks like a nice rotary alarm call for the neighbours again:o

hi mate, I had a kakimoto exhaust and that was ridiculously loud, so i bought a racing beat backbox which is much quieter. I have been after a twin kakimoto or apexi exhaust but there\'s not many kicking about, so if u fancy a swap...

sorry mate, it\'s too tasty to leave me

Anyone know if you can get bungs for kakimoto?.

[Jin Kazama]

any kind of \'bung\' is going to cause problems,  restricting flow is something you want to avoid. I think you\'re just going to have to put up with the racket...and various slippers being thrown at you!

[Mazdarotaryparts]

Hi James,

As you say you need a boost gauge before you go any further so you know how the car is boosting or not as the case may be.

Armed with your results come back on here, tell us and we just may be able to help and solve at zero cost to you because this is one of the main reasons for the Clubs existance.

A lot of the time it isn\'t serious stuff causeing boost problems it tends to be split or loose hoses that anyone can repair once spotted.

Hope this helps.

[jameswrx]

Hi mate, thanks.  Where would we be without the net?

I have my defi\'s to install and will be back with results.

I\'ve since been reading pages of info on here about similar probs and have a few vacum hoses to check..

[spagram]

Where abouts in kent are you? i live in gravesend & i use DS engineering for my RX, they\'re in Northfleet (near bluewater). They know pretty much everthing there is to know about these cars, give them a call on 01322 387372 im sure they\'ll be able to help.

[FDRZRich]

Hi James
I live in Maidstone, I have heard a few people use DS Engineering, not heard anything bad.  I personally use RE:Worx, and seeing as they rebuilt your engine, would recommend you at least ring Geff/Chris there and see what they suggest, they are normally more than helpful!! That is once you\'ve got a boost guage on and checked it.  

One thing, I wouldn\'t go boooosting it too much till its been checked, seems strange the RE:Worx would rebuild and let it go on standard ECU, with a de-cat and big ass back box. Could be asking for boost spike probs?

The running rich/fumes from exhaust/bangs/flames is quite normal, especially with a decat!!

[jameswrx]

Thanks Rich.

Thought I had an RE ecu on the car as it\'s got the switch and I noticed different performance (I thought after pressing it).  Turns out it\'s a std ecu and the switch is just that a switch (ie not connected to anything).

I\'m not completely insane though as I hooked my Defi boost gauge up and noticed one minute it\'s boosting up to circa 0.7 bar in 2nd gear then it\'s boosting at 0.2 bar! (hence me thinking the switch was doing something).

From what I can gather it seems that if you floor the car at 2000rpm the boost gauge will whizz round to about 0.7bar (in 2nd), if you keep the throttle pinned the boost backs right off to 0.2 bar after approx 4000 rpm.  If you are above approx 3000 rpm and then floor it the boost only hits the 0.2bar.  It seems like the only way it boosts properly initially is to be at low revs (below 3k rpm) when you floor it (presume this is just 1st turbos operational band?)

It seems that there is maybe no 2nd turbo operation at all, no matter how you drive it no more than 0.2 bar is being hit over 4500 rpm

:confused:

[FDRZRich]

It could be a collapsed intake pipe maybe? Have heard the the plastic intake pipes can collapse causing trouble boosting.  Does the boost die before you get to 4500rpm?  Are the symptoms worse when the car is hot?