Map sensor or bricked ECU?

[Michaelt]

Hey everyone,

Recently I’ve had a few major problems pop up on my Turbocharged 2013 BRZ. To give a little background details, I turboed the car 8k miles ago(currently at 121k) and everything was going fine for awhile, then one day as i downloaded my final revision the car had an incredibly rough idle and died. Turned it back on, idled okay for a bit then died again. Come to learn as long as I was in throttle the car would react somewhat normal. Thinking it was just the file, I downaloaded the previous file and the issue still persisted. I went back to my tuner with the concern and we came to the conclusion that my MAP sensor(OMNI 4bar) had gone bad. I had checked all vacuum lines, under the manifold and around, intake piping, nothing was unsealed. Easy enough fix I’ll replace it with a 3bar since I’m not running an insane amount of boost and the tuner will revise the tune files for a 3bar instead of a 4bar.(He recommended the switch since 4bars tend to fail) 3bar comes in and we switch the files over. Drives fine for awhile until it’s under operating temp for an extended amount of time, then it gives me the issue, but with the 3bar, the issue still occurred and it would completely cut throttle entirely. In order to get throttle back I’d have to turn the car off and wait, turn it back and then pray it would happen 10 minutes later.

Tuner and I have been stumped on the issue. He brought up the idea to me the ECU might be failing on the sensors behalf, but before I replace it I’ve come here to get some insight. I reinstalled the 4bar sensor and I can at least drive it some what. I’ve noticed the car will be totally fine before operating temp, maybe 10 minutes after getting to that point the issues start. What I’ve been able to find out is the MAP sensor will read 15.5 psi constantly at idle and on throttle. It will fix itself sometimes and others it will try to revert itself to the proper psi during throttle and will pull timing which is not a pretty situation.

I’m trying to find the real issue before the car pulls too much timing and offs itself. Any information on the issue would be appreciated and if any additional information needs to be provided I’ll be happy to offer. Just for more insight this is the modifications I have done to the car.


•Ecutek
•SBD 500x turbo kit
•DW 700 injectors
•DW 300 fuel pump
•Delicious Tuning flex fuel kit
•Additional modifications not related to the issue.

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by Michaelt

Hey everyone,

Recently I’ve had a few major problems pop up on my Turbocharged 2013 BRZ. To give a little background details, I turboed the car 8k miles ago(currently at 121k) and everything was going fine for awhile, then one day as i downloaded my final revision the car had an incredibly rough idle and died. Turned it back on, idled okay for a bit then died again. Come to learn as long as I was in throttle the car would react somewhat normal. Thinking it was just the file, I downaloaded the previous file and the issue still persisted. I went back to my tuner with the concern and we came to the conclusion that my MAP sensor(OMNI 4bar) had gone bad. I had checked all vacuum lines, under the manifold and around, intake piping, nothing was unsealed. Easy enough fix I’ll replace it with a 3bar since I’m not running an insane amount of boost and the tuner will revise the tune files for a 3bar instead of a 4bar.(He recommended the switch since 4bars tend to fail) 3bar comes in and we switch the files over. Drives fine for awhile until it’s under operating temp for an extended amount of time, then it gives me the issue, but with the 3bar, the issue still occurred and it would completely cut throttle entirely. In order to get throttle back I’d have to turn the car off and wait, turn it back and then pray it would happen 10 minutes later.

Tuner and I have been stumped on the issue. He brought up the idea to me the ECU might be failing on the sensors behalf, but before I replace it I’ve come here to get some insight. I reinstalled the 4bar sensor and I can at least drive it some what. I’ve noticed the car will be totally fine before operating temp, maybe 10 minutes after getting to that point the issues start. What I’ve been able to find out is the MAP sensor will read 15.5 psi constantly at idle and on throttle. It will fix itself sometimes and others it will try to revert itself to the proper psi during throttle and will pull timing which is not a pretty situation.

I’m trying to find the real issue before the car pulls too much timing and offs itself. Any information on the issue would be appreciated and if any additional information needs to be provided I’ll be happy to offer. Just for more insight this is the modifications I have done to the car.


•Ecutek
•SBD 500x turbo kit
•DW 700 injectors
•DW 300 fuel pump
•Delicious Tuning flex fuel kit
•Additional modifications not related to the issue.

Eliminate the suspect component as a possible problem. MAP sensors can be pulled out and bench tested. A quick Google search will net you several different links to perform this. Click on the image results for diagrams to show you as well.

In your case, you are probably looking for an erratic sensor signal under certain conditions, such as heat changes. Oftentimes, sensors don't simply fail as always reading maximum high pressure, or always reading maximum low pressure. They can fail erratically reading accurately one second, then reading way out of calibration the next.

If you haven't already, contact Omni or the dealer where you purchased it so they can provide you the specifications for your sensor. It will tell you what output voltages match to the pressure/vacuum input for testing purposes.