Basic turbo question
 

I found out why I'm running so rich... my ECU has the big REDOM sticker on it.

And of course the soot all over my pipe. Anyway, with it running so rich, I assume (with my narrowband, in all its glory) that its safe to boost a little higher (2-3 psi).

So the question is, does adding a boost controller to an otherwise stock TII allow me to turn up the boost from what I'm running without one? I'm currently at about 8 PSI max, with a full exhaust (2.75 in piping, no cat). Basic cone intake, perfect timing, perfect idle.

I thought I'd be going higher than stock boost with the whole exhaust, but it sits just higher than the stock level. I didnt know if this is being regulated by the wastegate or what...

I'm still learning the whole turbo side of the house.

Having a boost controller will allow higher boost than stock levels yes.

Does the boost controller just regulate the vacuum or pressure to the wastegate? Thats pretty simple, if so...

lol... some quick wikipedia'ing answered that for me. So it will keep the wastegate actuator from opening the gate. Got it. Common sense tells me to install it with the valve fully open, then close from there slowly as I figure out how many turns equals 1 psi.

I think after about 12 psi that the stock HT-182S starts to just pump heat, not flow more. Sure it'll have higher pressure, but that won't mean more air flow. Be cautious with installing manual boost controllers, the less expensive ones can be pretty finicky and random. Also, what year is your TII? You may need to look into a fuel cut defencer if you're planning on turning up the boost.


Side note... why are you selling your FC? Planning on getting a bimmer to fit in with the other officers?

I *REALLY* want to go up to 10... thats all. Regarding the FCD, I think I'm ok since I have the redom ECU, but I haven't found any details on whether or not the fuel cut is defeated with that flash/reprogram/whatever you want to call it.

I'm selling my FC for more than 95% would pay for it... so I suppose I'm not really TRYING, but I'm hoping to have a baby on the way soon, I have an 83 GSL, an 2011 Camry, and a 2007 RAV4, so its just one more bit of fun to keep up with.

I have 2 (little) kids, an Audi A6 2.7t, Mazda CX7, and an 88 turbo convertible. The car does take a backseat to spending time with the family, but there's still some time left for the car at the end of the day :)


You may be right about the FCD, I just don't know enough about the REDOM ecu. A little searching says it's from RE-Amemiya, but you should cross the numbers to see what the ECU is tuned for, i.e. how many psi you can safely run without fear of detonation. I think it's more than likely another ROM ecu, so I'd be doing some research about that computer before fiddling with the boost at all.

I know what you mean, this car sees the road maybe 3 days a month. Maybe I can say i bought this car to learn about turbos? I've had 5 fcs but all were NAs, through hs and college.

I'd be tossin that Redom and going for an Rtek and bigger injectors and a BNR turbo if you want to run 10 safely.

ehhh... i cant remember if rtek will do the nXXX (whatever a jdm s5 ecu is) gotta go look it up.

Rtek's have issues running JDM N374 ECU's. It's a hit and miss type of thing. Some struggle firing the secondary injectors, some struggle with the ignition system, etc. I tried an Rtek 1.7 in my N374 and it made the emission system go all haywire.

The various JDM chipped ECUs can just be regarded as glorified FCDs. Whatever other changes *might* have been made to fuel and timing, you won't be able to find out. It's an extremely risky proposition to guess that such-and-such chipped ECU is safe to X psi.

Don't run 10+ psi on a stock turbo with a stock fuel system. At the minimum you must upgrade the fuel pump. Upgrading the ECU and injectors, as well as porting the wastegate are also going to be highly recommended. A narrowband gauge won't tell you a thing. You're supposed to see it go into the "rich" range under boost, but the best you can do is estimate within 1-2 AFR points. That much variation is the difference between a running engine and a blown engine.

Honestly, I dont even know if the FCD fuction was included in the flash... I just cant find the information on what this does to the ECU online. It never even crossed my mind to see if RE put a specification type sticker on the ECU like so many others have on theirs. The REDOM sticker didn't mean a thing to me until I saw it in a thread here a week ago, and I've known it was on there for the last year!

I think I'll go rip out the carpet and see if I have a spec sticker on mine too.

I'm not only rich under boost, I'm rich (yes, on my narrowband) under all conditions except for decel. Again, I've yet to find a web page that says "REDOM does XXXXXXXX to your ECU."

If I have N374 everything, I'm guessingI need to swap over to N370 everything to get an RTEK to work properly... that kinda blows.

So here's a starting point. The sticker says "TYPE B" and looks like it also says "MAX BOOST --- .9" so I take that as 13 psi.... as far as the ECU is concerned. Wonder what else it does...

Is there any other markings in the ecu? I have the redom ecu to but my type sticker is worn off and id rather just keep it till I get my haltech but I might have to sell it and get a rteck for now.

Yeah, there are other markings... in the jibberish (I mean Japanese) and a model number I believe. If you think it will help you, I can go and get the numbers, but it clearly says "type b" on the top.

anyway you could pm me a picture? there's been a lot of funky stuff done to my rx and do sticker that should say the type is missing, just trying to sort this out

So I got my wideband in... and I'm running a good 14.5 at idle, about 750-800 rpm. Under anything but idle and decel, I'm usually getting about a 10.5-11.5 AFR, and this is with the REDOM (type B) ECU. I think its probably safe to go up to 10 psi...

What says the '7 club crowd?

10.5-11 AFR's are about what the stock ecu is programmed for. Either you're running larger injectors than it was made for or the fuel map wasn't touched. It sounds safe and just acts like an FCD as RotaryRocket88 pointed out. You didn't mention if you did the pump or not, do it.
I doubt many people have any experience with that particular ecu, so I don't see how you're going to get a definitive 'yes' from anyone. I can absolutely tell you that it 'seems like it will work'.

stock ECU runs ~12.5:1 up to about, well until it blows up. i'm not sure where you guys are getting your figures from... this is good to about 10psi where with the stock fuel system it becomes unsafe and detonates or the fuel system caps out and it detonates.

I yield to Karack's knowledge haha. On walbro and rtek 1.5 and 1.7, I've hit 11's with the wideband in the downpipe. On my one and only dyno run, it was reading 11.5~12.5's out the tailpipe with a legit cat. :dunno: My only idea is that my ecu hadn't tripped the 20k mile switch and was running rich. /threadjack

The ECU matters little if the injectors are topping out and the fuel pump is unable to provide enough flow. Toss in a walbro, and you'll get increased fuel pressure if you are using the stock FPR. You'll be cramming more fuel through the injectors at the same D/C, but the ECU will still be running them at full-tilt before the secondary transition and near redline. With no corrections at all, a stock ECU will run the injectors up to max D/C (~80%) if the AFM tells it there's a ton of air coming in. For this issue, a reprogrammed ECU can't do much other than increase the max D/C cap a little bit.

Thanks for the input...all of you. My only logic was - if I'm running 10.5-11 AFR @ 7psi, 10psi may lean it out a little more. I certainly agree that I need an upgraded fuel system, or at least to break into my fuel tank/injectors and see what I already have (I've yet to do that in almost 2 years). I was PLANNING on doing that at the same time as my Haltech setup, and upgrading at the same time, so I wouldn't have to pay some yoohoo to tune it all over again.

Just seeing if I could safely play around with a ball/spring type boost controller without screwing anything up, I guess.