MaVz

I did a search and wasn't quite satisfied with what I found.

I was driving on the highway, at a nice and easy 55mph, no biggie. I went to pass someone, so I dropped gear, hit the throttle, when the car "coughed" once, and the CEL came on. Other than the "cough", the car ran fine. I made it back to my house with no problems other than the fact that the CEL is on. I shut it off, gave it a few minutes and when I went to restart it, it wasn't there. I drove to the autozone, had them pull the code (i figured the code was still in the memory) and i got a p0244 (wastegate solenoid). The CEL is still off.

Is what i described something to brush off... say a minor glitch that can happen from time to time, or is this an omen of problems to come.

2002 WRX mt, 36K, 93 octane. My only engine mods are a GFB hybrid BOV and the silencer removal, both of which I have had for a long time with no problems.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

mmboost

iTrader: (2)

BCS could be sticking. The cough could've been a fuel cut-off from overboost or knock, because of the sticking (closed) BCS.

MaVz

cool. that seems about right. It def could have boost spiked and cut fuel.

I wasn't able to find any good input on the BCS. Is there anything specific i should be looking for as far as it sticking.

My hesitation is that I learned the hard way how sensitive this car is to mistakes and I really don't know it too well yet. Any advice on how to check the BCS would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

mmboost

iTrader: (2)

Swap the BCS with a friends or new one. Its really simple. Just to be safe, mark the boost hoses (like with colored tape or a marker, etc) to make sure the right ones are fitted onto the right nozzles... it'll save you from other headaches.

btw, overboosting or knocking by themselves won't cause CEL codes. Its fortunate that the ECU detected something that sounds related.

jason

MaVz

i actually just found a tear in the small black tube leaving the BCS. it's a sizable gash. I'm going to start by replacing that tube and see what's up. I'll post updates here.

Thanks again for all of your help and patience.

mmboost

iTrader: (2)

From the BCS, where does the tube go to? If it goes to the wastegate, overboosting is likely to happen.

MaVz

yea, it's the tube on the bottom side of the BCS going to the wastegate. Replacing it fixed the problem.

the issue i'm having now is that i'm now seeing significantly less boost. Granted, if i was overboosting, fixing the problem would yield less boost, but at overboost the gauge showed slightly over 15 lbs before the fuel cutoff kicked in. Now I get a reading of 6 at best. I'm willing ot the believe the gauge is not accurate, but if 6 lbs represents the stock 13.5 lbs i get, then that means when i was overboosting I was getting readings representing boost somewher in the mid to upper 20lb range which is not possible on a stock WRX. It goes without say that the car is feeling very sluggish now and the torquiness i've ocme to expect form a WRX is missing.

I'm not expecting anyone to have an answer to this. I just thought I'd post it up hoping someone shares this experience with me and can maybe shed some light.

THanks again for your help!

MaVz

UPDATE***** dealer tells me that my up pipe is clogged and it's causing me to boost so little.

Has anyone heard of this!?!?.. a search didn't yield much. I don't really care cause it's under warranty. I directed them to the wastegate, and the wastegate solenoid but they didn't seem to care much.

Any feedback is of course apppreciated!

Egan

iTrader: (14)

It's also possible your boost solenoid failed on you. I had that happen on my WRX.

It would be odd that your car overboosted without a problem, but then suddenly developed an uppipe clog.

MaVz

i agree... seems like the problem is there, but I'm not about to argue with the guy just yet. I'm getting a new up pipe for free afterall. Dealer acknowledged I wasn't boosting properly and promised the car would be back to normal when it got in my hands... I'll post updates here. Thanks!!