Huge Headache With My BRZ
 

A little background on my car. So I've had my car since July 2012. I eventually ended up getting the AVO turbo kit installed when I had 8k miles on my car. Everything seemed fine for about 2k miles then my car experienced the rough idling and stalling issues that a bunch of other FRS/BRZ's had. I brought it to the dealer due to the service bulletin and they said they'd fix the issue if I took the turbo kit off, which I did end up doing. While they were fixing the service bulletin issue they said I had to replace my shortblock because the cylinder walls were burnt and they found metal sludge in my oil. The dealer ended up replacing my shortblock under "good will" warranty because they typically would not do it since I had my turbo kit on before. So after going through all this I broke my car in again and now I have about 13k miles on my car. I decided to pick up the full 3" AVO turboback and get that installed with my turbo kit. Everything seems good, but my shop tells me there's a small gasket leak which shouldn't cause that much issue. I drive my car to get another shop to get tuned, and during that drive my CEL came on. The shop that was tuning my car could not figure out what was causing it so I couldn't get it tuned. They also noticed there was smoke on startup, which I assumed was just oil burning off from the turbo kit just being installed recently. I bring it back to my shop that did the install and had them look everything over. The AVO aftermarket BOV was not holding boost so I had to get that replaced. I got a new gasket to fix the gasket leak and my shop tells me another exhaust leak is happening where the midpipe is. It seems like there were a lot of fitment issues for the exhaust, I'm not sure if I got one from a bad batch or not. AVO says they will replace the full system so I've been waiting on that for about a month now. My shop calls me back saying they will start charging a storage fee since my car has been there for over a month and no parts were coming in yet so they couldn't work on my car. They said I could either pick up my car or pay the storage fee. I asked if my car was driveable and they said yes, but there is a new CEL (P0019) that showed up. My shop tells me they have a general idea of what might be causing the smoking on startup, but they haven't really looked into it yet. So I pick up my car and take it back home, but it ends up dying while I was on the road. I was able to start it up and drive it the rest of the way home. Now my car is sitting in the garage waiting for my exhaust replacement.

Dealing with all the issues I've had, I must have not driven my car for 1/3 of it's lifetime. It's been pretty crappy without having a car to drive to work or get around in for such a long time. The P0019 code was what I had when my car was experiencing the rough idling/stalling issue so that problem might have potentially come back again. I really don't know what to do with my car anymore. I've put in a lot of money on labor fees with the installs and just want to get my car in working condition again, but my car has had so much issues and down time I'm thinking if I should just get rid of it.

Sorry for the big wall of text, I had to rant since I've had so many problems with my car. If anyone has any input/suggestions that would be great.

That CEL code P0019 I believe is for the VVT cam gear issues that are know on the FA20. I would advise not to drive it if that is the case. That could have been the problem that took out your last short block as well.

Sucks. tough luck

Fixed that for you.
You make it sound like there is something wrong with the car when clearly your problem is in installing aftermarket parts...

I am having an AVO kit installed this week by The Drift Office. I trust them completely to get the job done right. If you are in the NW - or even Canada - it might be worth a trip out to let Bob take a look at it.

You could always go back to stock and enjoy the car as is - which is pretty damn great.

Yeah I've heard a lot about Bob's work. Seems like everyone is a satisfied customer when they get it done through him. I'm in California so it's a bit of a drive to get up there haha. I was actually thinking about it at one point, but I'd have to get my car back to working condition before anything like that can happen.

Supposedly the dealer has fixed this issue the last time I got it since there was a service bulletin for it. Could it have been the turbo kit that caused this issue to happen again?

If this was something you were not expecting before you bought the turbokit, you did not do enough research.

This is what aftermarket modders live with. It should be expected, and if it isn't planned for (in budget, time, etc.), then there wasn't enough preparation done. I hope you get your issues fixed.

Welcome to the world of modified cars. Sucks to hear you're having these issues but really you need to expect them. Modifying anything brings up its own set of headaches. Some people get lucky while others don't.

You know - you could give him a call or an e-mail. He will know someone who is closer to you that might be able to help.

sorry to hear that. one of my previous car had custom turbo kit and I was constantly dealing trouble and headache - wasting my time and money and lot of stress. if I were you, I would trade it in for something else.

Stories like this make me wonder why people don't just buy a car from the factory that has the power they want. When you bolt on a turbo at 8000 miles (km?), blow the engine, and then bolt on another one right away. Opps. Still not working. Sorry Dude, no sympathy here.


I should add that I've done a ton of stupid car stuff, and not exactly learned from it very well either. Still....

Threads like these make me smile that I am N\A and reinforce me staying N\A.

Sorry OP I'd be frustrated too. If you have to have a turbo, get a WRX or something with a factory turbo. You will be a nervous wreck installing a bolt-on turbo kit in the future after dealing with that.

Good choice of installer/tuner!

OP- I think your AVO initial install was done incorrectly. You are fortunate and lucky your dealer and AVO are standing behind you. I would search for another installer who can also tune the car.