hks ssqv doesn't activate at low throttle (anymore)

[GSTampa]

I have a 1999 eclipse gst this is the second eclipse I've owned. I do most of all the maintenance done to my car and consider myself to be very knowledgeable. The problem I'm having now has me completely baffled. I got a bad timing job done about a month ago and am going through a legal nightmare with the guy that did it. Timing is set correctly now and car runs great lucky I didn't bend a valve thank god. Had everything expected everything checked out.

My gst has a recirculated hks ssqv black edition sounded very nice and loud before the bad timing job. Before it would activate at very low throttle (2000rpm) and still sound great. Now I literally have to be boosting a couple psi and at high throttle to hear it. Also the noise sounds completely different almost sound like its restricted somehow. I inspected very thoroughly nothing disconnected no leaks or anything. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

Specs:
Factory t25 set at 11 psi
Ets fmic
Hks ssqv recirculated
Greddy e01 boost control
Walbro 255
Dual 550 injectors
Full greddy exhaust 3" downpipe no cat

Also feels like its lacking some power. Turbo spools great just seems to be missing some hp

 

[TSI_93]

Have you checked for boost leaks? Boost leaks can cause BOVs to not crack properly. Especially the adjustable types when they are adjusted to a harder setting.

 

[ShadowTalon]

Maybe the spring was messed with? When I had a new engine dropped into my old Gs-t the mechanic completely screwed up the BOV connections on my Hks and it barely sounded as well. It was connected some random place and not on intake manifold like normal. Some other vacuum hoses were off too.

He may have disconnected everything to jack up the motor to do the timing job. Check connections and vacuum hoses.

 

[GSTampa]

Haven't checked for boost leaks yet taking her in in about a week to get everything tuned nice and run boost tests.

Upon further inspection I found a disconnected hose that looks like it should connect to the intake. I don't know what it is I will try to put a pic up. Everything else under the hood looks great

hose appears to have been disconnected from intake as seen in picture. hose goes from intake far back to the fire wall area it appears. could this be my problem?

 

[supersilverspeed]

pressure test the system before going any further. you can make a pressure tester with a pvc cap, valve stem, clamps and a couple to slide the pcv cap into one end of the intercooler piping. very simple. i had the same issue , pressure testing the system helped bc i did find a boost leak but i ended up having a nut fall into the bov and was causing the bov diaphram to not open fully. i was not recirculated at the time. i am now!!! keep us posted

 

[Paintballaa5]

hose appears to have been disconnected from intake as seen in picture. hose goes from intake far back to the fire wall area it appears. could this be my problem?

That would be the hose that goes to your charcoal canister/emmisions equipment. It being left unplugged and uncapped would be contributing to the problem. ie: A boost leak

 

[GSTampa]

attached the hose last night and drove to work today. made no difference. will be taking her to the shop this week for boost, leak, pressure testing. will keep everyone informed as to what the results are. thanks for the help

 

[Breezio69]

In that picture I can't tell, but with it being in the same area ill just ask. Whats the tee going to? The bov should have its own dedicated line directly from the intake manifold. If there's a tee that was recently installed onto the same line then you could be having problems by having multiple things hooked up. Should be like this

If you look at the intake manifold in the middle of my brace the line goes from there directly to bov, no tee's

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Other reason I ask is that tee and all hose around it look brand new... maybe its hooked to the boost controller? That would vent vacuum pressure used to open the bov into the boost controller, hence not enough pressure to open it.

If that's the case, run a dedicated line to the bov.

Afte that you cut the boost line between the wastegate and intercooler piping, whether its a j pipe or on the piping, then install the boost controller there instead.

You can see in my pic as well, the line I'm talking about for boost controller... you can also see my boost controller not hooked up hooked to the lower left of engine, when I installed it after this pic I just cut that line in half, one in the bottom one in the side. That simple. If your stuff isn't hooked up like that then that's your problem most likely

 

[GSTampa]

Update

Checked all bov components, hoses, connections this is what i came up with:

blue recirc hose goes from bov to intake

2 small hoses attached to intake: one being the emissions line the other connects to the valve cover

Tee: left side connects to bov, right side connects to the throttle body by map sensor, bottom part of tee connects to boost control solenoid

the bov is connected to the pipe that runs from intercooler to throttle body

hope that helps. taking her to the shop tomorrow any advice would be appreciated

 

[Breezio69]

Ok, so did you read what I posted up above? The bov gets its own line... no tees. You can get away with the tees on the other things, but it sounds like you are saying 3 things are on the actual vacuum line that the bov is hooked to. Undo the bov off this line and run another one directly to it and try it out.

If you don't reroute these vac lines correctly you'll take it into the shop tomorrow and it will come back with the same issues.

Is the boost controller a new addition? Is that some of the most recent work? Because that does not, repeat, does not go in line with the bov.

The boost control solenoid should be on a boost source directly after the turbo, like the j pipe or compressor housing itself, then from the solenoid to the wastegate. That should be all for that, then the bov gets a line from the manifold to the bov, that's all for that.

That was all in post 8

 

[ShadowTalon]

Did the car come with those mods or did you take it to a shop to get installed? In post #9 3rd pic looks like there is a loose hose on the right side of the picture. Is it still like that? Any hoses coming off of the intake that are not connected to anything NEED to be capped.

I'd look into redoing some of those connections. The BOV should be the only thing on that "T" you have there. The boost controller can be connected on other sources as has been mentioned already. The controller should have been connected using lines that were already there from the original BCS and compressor housing. Also, not that it makes a difference, I'm curious as to why the BOV is welded down under the intake. Seems like extra work to have to run that long flex pipe to recirculate it.

 

[GSTampa]

I've read everyone's post. Bov and boost control were already on car when I got it. Guy who did the bad timing job said my wasregate actuator popped off when he test drove. Said he put back on.

Turbo spools fine car runs great just the bov is messed up

A line goes from the wastegate actuator to the bottom of the black box.
The bottom part of the tee connects to the side of the black box

Line on bottom of bov connects to left side of tee. Right side of tee goes to intake manifold

I'm trying to figure out the best way to route the hoses

 

[Breezio69]

Go to autozone or equivalent and get like 6-7 feet of line and just redo it yourself. One line to the bov from the manifold. One line goes from boost source to wastegate, make it like 8" longer than you normally would, cut it in half maybe leaving more line on the wastegate side and install the boost control solenoid there, install it correctly. Then see what you have left to hook up and you should be able to get the 1-2 extra line connected that you need to with the tees and a different vacuum source, leave the bov and wastegate line alone.

My car has a vacuum delete and a small wire tuck, so most of these extra lines you have here and there are gone in my car....so I can't help you with everything else you need hooked up

 

[GSTampa]

I'm going to do some research and try this out. Sounds more logical. I actually work for Napa so I'll pick up some line tomorrow? What kind of hose would be best? Anything else I need to know I appreciate the input

 

[Breezio69]

The line I used for my stuff was just the standard 3/16 stuff off the reel (I'm pretty sure 3/16 anyways)

I've used the fiber reinforced hoses on different cars and it splits prematurely at the barbs so I stopped paying extra for that stuff