my car has been running really rich and has had some low vacuum pressure in the manifold. i had a place check it out and they said they checked EVERY mechanical thing that it could be and it still runs bad. they mentioned that it needed a new computer. does that sound right to you guys?

and what are the reasons that computers go bad on cars? i have 135000 miles

id check it over ur self if u know nething about cars it sounds alot lik a vaccum leak and lik ur not gettin anough air to motor. have u put ne mods in? and for the ecu goin it could be several things bad grond could of shorted it out or if u wealded sumthing to the car without dissconnectin the battery that could of did it also could be many things.

oh ive checked as much stuff as i can. and yeah my mods are:

evo 3 16g turbo
3inch catback
high flow cat
sbr exhaust manifold
38mm tial wastegate 1.0 bar spring
sbr manual boost controller
greddy type rs bov recirculated
underdrive pulley
apr head studs
cometic mls head gasket
vibrant performance cone air filter
boost guage
turbo timer


now i started to have this problem about a week after i put in my sbr manifold, 38mm wastegate, and boost controller. do you guys think that putting those things in have anything to do with my problem??? i couldn't see how those pieces can make my car run like that but i guess anythings possible?!

u sure ur runnin rich? sounds like ur runnin lean more air then fuel. i would think about better injectors fuel pump and maybe a fmic and yea addin thing like that can do that ur changin the fuel to air ratio

um.. do you have aything to tune it? your throwing all those partys on there and fucik up ur afr significantly... you need an AFC or something to tune it with.

yes im sure im running rich. i was getting about 10 miles to the gallon if not worse. not to mention my spark plugs were pitch black. white means lean correct?! and no i dont have an afc. im only running 14 psi and i didn't think i needed one for such low boost.

but i've been looking for a cheaper, used apexi afc on ebay. are the apexi safc originals any good?

Yes.

and if i were to get some sort of tuning device such as the safc 1, 2, or neo i would also need i type of air/fuel guage correct?

14psi on a 16g is different that 14 psi on a 14b. and with all those mods your af will change and you said low vacuum check the connction on that boost controller.

oh i've checked everything i could. now just for kicks, what would happen if i threw on a tuning device like the apexi and tried to tune. would i get accurate results?

Your car would not suck major monkey balls... ;)

No seriously, once you tune your car you are going to see a 100% change for the better.

HA which is pretty much how its running right now lol like ****

I would also invest in a wideband kit and some logger software. With this stuff you basically make your car run great and reliably.

get the vacuum leak fixed first. your ECU is in panic mod because it isn't seeing the proper vacuum readings and air is getting in there unmetered by the MAF

You're running 14 psi on a big turbo tho. even though your stock fuel system can handle up to 16 psi, you will still run lean @ 14psi on a larger turbo. If you have the bigger turbo you might as well get a tuning device.

Probably the best rout for you is to get a wideband 02 and a guage. Then you will really see if you are running rich/lean or not.

okay im gettin real sick of all this garbage lol. im still having alot of troubles. i was told my timing belt jumped by one of the shops i go to. but can that make a car run rich and have low vacuum? to be a little bit out of time?

If you didn't notice a difference in performance, then you probably don't have a jumped timing belt.

As for the leak, check your wategate and bov and all the vacuum lines to them. also check to make sure your MBC, bov, and wastegate is connected the right way.

Oh, and did you do the install or did you have a shop do it? I'm just going to throw this out here, but is the Boost contoller hooked up INSTEAD of your factory boost sensor? or is it inline with it?

It should be hooked up instead of it, so that vacumm line should come from it's source, to the boost contoller, to your wastegate.

Oh, and one more thing... if you have a boost gage, and you tapped into the line vacuum line that goes to your fuel pressure regulator, that could be your problem right there.

yes, bad timing will cause low vacuum and horrible performance. have that taken care of immediately!



you read my mind :beer:

all the vacuum lines and mainly every mechanical thing has been checked by a shop and the only thing they were able to come up with is bad plugs and wires and the exhaust cam is out of time due to a jumped tooth from the timing belt. so i bought a kevlon belt by greddy and i am going to put that in and see how it runs

you will notice a HUGE improvement. 1 tooth makes a big difference :thumbsup: