Tuner says wastegate spring is too tight..help please!

[FRS_FIEND]

I know there’s a JDL specific thread however I’m hoping to reach out to anyone that could help me troubleshoot where my problem might be.



Here’s everything performance oriented installed for reference:
JDL v2 turbo kit w/ gtx2860r
Turbosmart wastegate w/ a 7psi spring (here is my confusion)
Dw 700cc injectors
Walbro 485 fuel pump
Delicious tuning flex fuel kit
Delicious tuning 3port boost solenoid
Omni 3 bar map sensor
Dyno Tuned with ecutek

Alright guys so I’ve had my car tuned a little over a month now, my tuner told me my wastegate spring is too tight and that I need to loosen it. I know wastegate springs are set values so I’m confused as to what he means. In the JDL thread some mentioned adjusting my bov, which I did but when reading on turbosmarts website this is more so to have your piston closed at idle properly and open properly. This did help solve the rpms dropping below idle which was something that was irritating me so glad that was solved. so if my spring is rated as 7psi shouldn’t my setup be able to have a minimum of 7psi- to about 14psi of range especially since I’m using the 3 port boost solenoid. When I go into the ecutek connect app my atmospheric pressure (from what I understand is my boost pressure) is stating 13psi. I do not want this much boost I was only wanting 8-10psi which is what my tuner tried to achieve but clearly something isn’t allowing him too do so. Does anyone have some ideas for me to start troubleshooting with? All thoughts welcomed I really want to get this figured out so I can actually drive my frs and have some fun with and not just having it sit in the garage everyday. If you need any more info just ask me!

[DarkPira7e]

We tried to help before, you have to find another tuner. This person is obviously just dumb, or doesn't want to tune your car. The wastegate spring cannot be too tight. Do they understand how wastegate duty cycle works?

It'd be neat if they could give you the map file so we can look at it and see what looks wrong.

[FRS_FIEND]

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

We tried to help before, you have to find another tuner. This person is obviously just dumb, or doesn't want to tune your car. The wastegate spring cannot be too tight. Do they understand how wastegate duty cycle works?

It'd be neat if they could give you the map file so we can look at it and see what looks wrong.

Yeah I mentioned it in my post that I was helped in the JDL thread. Yes I know it can’t be too tight I just want to find what they possibly mean, just looking for solutions man. Yeah I don’t know it has to be something because this is one of the most reputable shops out there.

[x808drifter]

Originally Posted by FRS_FIEND

Yeah I mentioned it in my post that I was helped in the JDL thread. Yes I know it can’t be too tight I just want to find what they possibly mean, just looking for solutions man. Yeah I don’t know it has to be something because this is one of the most reputable shops out there.

Try asking them...

[DarkPira7e]

I wonder if they mean the pressure FROM the spring is too tight? Like "you need to use a weaker spring"

[FRS_FIEND]

Originally Posted by x808drifter

Try asking them...

Maybe there’s a reason I’m not. Try rephrasing your comment next time so that you don’t come off as an asshole. I wouldn’t be here asking other people if I haven’t already tried the most obvious route. I will say I remember why the forums aren’t much help either because of comments like these. I am dumb for thinking I’d receive a better result from some people in this community.

[x808drifter]

Originally Posted by FRS_FIEND

Maybe there’s a reason I’m not. Try rephrasing your comment next time so that you don’t come off as an asshole. I wouldn’t be here asking other people if I haven’t already tried the most obvious route. I will say I remember why the forums aren’t much help either because of comments like these. I am dumb for thinking I’d receive a better result from some people in this community.

Did you not say

Originally Posted by FRS_FIEND

All thoughts welcomed...

Trust me, I do not care if I come off as an a-hole.

You said you were confused by what he meant by loosening the wastegate spring.
Didn't say anything about you asking him to clarify what he meant and what answer he gave you.

So I assume you didn't bother asking what they meant and went straight for a 2nd opinion.

This is how troubleshooting works.
Start small and easy and work your way up.

If loosen the wastegate spring was the clarification and the tuner couldn't get more in depth about it, YES 100% what DarkPira7e said.


G.I.G.O.

[Tonrogs]

Just noticed you are looking at atmospheric pressure.
Talk with your tuner. They can show you which value you should be looking at.

[Grady]

He is probably talking about preload on the spring? Yes you can reduce that by shortening your waste-gate rod. The ECU reports absolute pressure you have to subtract your pressure of the day to get boost. Standard day at sea level is 14psi. Your number will vary due to altitude, temp and barometric pressure.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

We tried to help before, you have to find another tuner. This person is obviously just dumb, or doesn't want to tune your car. The wastegate spring cannot be too tight. Do they understand how wastegate duty cycle works?

It'd be neat if they could give you the map file so we can look at it and see what looks wrong.

There is such a thing as a wastegate that has a spring design or tightness factor where it opens only once the pressure is reached, and there are other springs where the wastegate may crack open at a lower psi becore fully opening at the set psi. Ex: 10 psi spring opens at 10 psi; 10 psi spring cracks at 8 psi and fully opens at 10 psi; 10 psi spring cracks more progressively from 6 psi up to 10 psi.

In the above scenarios, the tight spring that holds its position until the last possible minute can be susceptible to boost spike. I don’t know if this is what the OP is experiencing, but it might be.

Over-boosting is either a boost creep issue, which is unlikely because this is an off-the-shelf kit. The other possibility is not having the vacuum lines hooked up correctly to the EBC. The other possibility is having a boost leak on the vacuum line. The other issue is setting up the EBC to force the wastegate closed until the last possible second, which is like having a stiff spring.

[tomm.brz]

i haven t understood why OP is looking at the value if atmosferic pressure to see the boost..
Atmosferic pression is atmosferic pression and nothing else
Did the tuner say to you he relocated somehow the value of atmosferi presure to show the Manifold Relative Pressure?


Still no logs in this thread.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by tomm.brz

i haven t understood why OP is looking at the value if atmosferic pressure to see the boost..
Atmosferic pression is atmosferic pression and nothing else
Did the tuner say to you he relocated somehow the value of atmosferi presure to show the Manifold Relative Pressure?


Still no logs in this thread.

Don't think he is coming back!

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by tomm.brz

i haven t understood why OP is looking at the value if atmosferic pressure to see the boost..
Atmosferic pression is atmosferic pression and nothing else
Did the tuner say to you he relocated somehow the value of atmosferi presure to show the Manifold Relative Pressure?


Still no logs in this thread.

He might be confused or stating things wrong. Hopefully he isn’t confusing atmospheric pressure with absolute pressure.

Atmospheric pressure should be 1 bar or 14.7 psi, or it should be less if he lives at altitude, so Reno/Tahoe might be 12.5-13 psi. A turbocharged car will still hit wastegate pressure under load, but it will just take longer at altitude, so his absolute pressure should be the same anywhere. With that said, the delta will be higher, meaning, it will take 1-1.5 more psi of turbo pressure to get to wastegate pressure because there is 1-1.5 less psi of atmospheric pressure. This would lead to more heat and less efficiency.

Hopefully he isn’t confusing atmospheric pressure and absolute pressure. Absolute pressure should be atmospheric pressure + boost pressure, so hopefully he doesn’t look at that larger number and freak out even more, thinking it is solely his boost pressure.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Don't think he is coming back!

I PM’d him offering help, so he might.