I have a completely stock car with 45k miles and from a stoplight or under non-WOT acceleration I get the normal 10-8-10 boost pattern; however, if I am crusing along and nail the accelerator, boost goes to 12 solidly on the first turbo, before transitioning to the normal 10 on the second. On a relatively cold day (well, cold for California), I have seen 12.5 on the primary.

The rush of power is nice, but I'd like to keep my engine for a while.

I did a search and this behaviour seems to be relatively common - some would even claim normal - but this is too close to borderline for me. I intend to get a Profec B to fix this problem but I am wondering if that would be a band aid covering up some underlying problem. I have read through the various diagnostic web pages but have not seen anything that would explain this behaviour.

 

Your car is running nicely, and is not in danger. Leave it alone

 

I'd like to leave it alone because I have a pile of money that I need to spend on some maintenance and repair issues in the next month or so, but isn't 12.5 psi on the hairy ragged edge? Some people throw a fit if their boost is above 11 psi on a stock ECU.

 

Ive seen people push 13lbs on the stock turbos and ECU. The stock ECU runs the car TOTALLY rich when the car goes under boost. When I dynoed my car, the A/F was off the charts on how rich it was running. Alot of people say 12-13lbs is safe for the stock ECU, but once it starts to creep even higher, then I would start getting worried. Also it is normal for the car to boost higher than normal in cold weather.

 

If u have a stock ECU i dunno whats up. does it studder when it hits 12.5? it should go into fuel cut with the stock ecu hmmm

 

Car feels amazing and pulls like a locomotive - no stuttering. (I'm glad I didn't get this car when I was younger - if I did, I'd be dead.)

Fuel cutoff goes to 13.3@4500 (which is pretty much where I see 12.5).

rpm max boost
1000 11.8
1500 11.8
2000 11.8
2500 11.8
3000 12.2
3500 12.4
4000 12.8
4500 13.3
5000 12.2
5500 11.3
6000 11.1
6500 10.7
7000 10.7

 

12.5 is a little unusual for a stock car. With all of the restrictions of a stock car, you just can't run that much air thru the system, even at 12.5 psi. Don't worry about it.