RomRaider

My car is a 2003 usdm wrx, ecu internal id A4TC101L
I'm attempting to run testes stage 2 map, my mods fit his required specs aside from my car being an 03.
Tsudo 3" bellmouth catless downpipe
Invidia catless upipe
Drop in air filter (Snorkus silencer removed but sealed up to just be a U from the scoop to the stock air box)
Stock bcs restrictor pill in t by turbo.
I did just install an act steetlite flywheel and HD clutch kit.
Other than that its got 154k miles and been stock all its life unitil a few weeks ago.

When I first tried the testes map, I was very reluctant, being a base map and since I had to move the modified tables over to my 03 rom anyway, I was a bit scared and lowered timing and fattened the fuel map up quite a bit before I even tested it, which Im glad I did. My first issues were with the boost lines going to and from the solenoid, and I ended up having to replace all the lines as I was attemting to tune on the car with a split in the vacuum line and reversed hoses on the solenoid, which at first netted me some 22psi peak boost numbers and later with the reversed lines a bit of oscilation after peak boost. I figured this out with Bludgods suggestions and finally got the boost control under reigns, and set myself up for a slightly lowered mid 17 psi peak.

Having done that, I continued to adjust the map that I created from the testes base, and just was not very happy with the results. The car was running fine, I just felt like it was a bit jerky (dispite a bunch of smoothing to the timing map) and although it was faster being stage 2, it just didnt feel like I thought it should. (This is my 4th turbo subaru of this generation)

So a few days ago, I decided to do the one thing I had not done since flashing the car to stage 2, I went back and basically just copied Testes map over to mine as he intended minus his wastegate duty and target boost maps. I kept my target under 18 and I was only needing 56% max duty cycle to get that, so I left it as I had it. Not sure if that could be my issue or not...getting to that soon!

So upon flashing the testes map to my car, I took it for a drive, and was immediately excited, the car pulled great, felt like I remembered a stage 2 car should, I had no knock correction, iam stayed at 16 and I was tickled to death.

I parked the car that night, went to bed happy.

I let the car sit for a day as I have a truck thats been neglected and needed to drive it some. After work later that night, I took the car for a ride to do a little more logging just to double check what I was feeling the night before and enjoy the car a bit.

Did a first and second gear pull and it was same as before, nice and strong, then did a 3rd gear pull and immediately felt the timing pull and sure enough IAM was down. I had an area or two with some knock correction, so I made a few adjustments and it seemed to get better, but no matter what I did, it would eventually pull timing, seemingly in different places each time. I tried altering the fuel a bit to richen it up on its transition but that and some timing adjustments that Ive tried as I'd get various knock corrections, not much seems to help. Im about 8 years out of the loop with tuning, and I wasnt a pro by any means, but have some experience.

Below is my version of what used to be testes map set up for upper 17 psi and adjusted for what I thought would work on my car. First log was a partial 3rd gear pull that felt great, the one immediately after pulled timing, but didnt show anything except the KCA value drop, the last log shows fkc and I just took it home. Im a bit frustrated but I'm hoping I have something off in my rom file that I didnt port over the same, or maybe as I briefly mentioned way up there that because my boost map is not the same as his, did I need to adjust the boost dynamics some? Or would that even effect the car like I'm seeing? Is there such a thing as a faulty knock sensor? Did a not adjust something right with the 02 to 03 ecu differences? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

Trey

are you sure there isnt something rattling in the engine bay? I've seen random knock events from loose pipes and noisy clutches in the past - also are you sure your AFR is decent? I dont see wideband readings in the logs maybe you have one but you're not logging it?

Sorry for the late reply! Bludgod you were closer to me when it came to this, on multiple levels lol. It turns out I was having a back pressure head gasket failure creeping up on it the entire time. If you recall me saying I was over boosting and found cracked boost control solenoid lines, that was my end result. Cylinder pressure into the cooling system. So, I pulled the engine and did head gaskets. THe motors all back in now. So I found a few things, as it turns out, what I purchased as an oe wrx had had a jdm non avcs 205 put in somewhere along the line, imagine that So all that boost during the over boosting and the wrong stage 2 map, I guess I'm lucky I did not fully destroy the motor. I also found myself a 10mm 1/4 drive short socket in the spark plug recess! SO lol add that false knock creating doodad to my already hurting motor and I was doomed. What a mess.

So all that said, I need to find a stage 2 map catered to the higher compression jdm long block. The engine was reassembled as oe with arp head studs and I added a Perrin turbo inlet, all else is the same stage 2 catless just with newer seals gaskets and timing components. Any idea if anyone has a base file for the non avcs jdm 205 here?

Thanks a bunch!

Trey

you can just run the same map, pull 4 degrees out across the entire base timing table and then make a log see how the knock trims look. ideally have a listen with det cans and see how it sounds. if its all good then throw some timing back in.

Ok cool, I’ll give that a shot this evening and see how it goes.

Thanks sir!

Trey

And to answer your question from above, I do not have a wideband yet for the car. In my older cars I always used an Innovate LC controller and an mtx guage, but back then RomRaider worked best with that and may have only supported one other brand. My question is, is there a budget minded wideband that communicates well with the software. Looks like there are a bunch of options to use now.

Thanks

Trey

im a big fan of the zeitronix kit - the zt2 or zt3 options are a good price point with a stable serial output that works well out of the box.

Thanks, I will check those out.

Trey

So the zt-2 shows up on my romraider plugins list, but not the zt-3, am I missing a definition or will the zt-3 just connect through the zt-2 plugin? Looks like I can get a basic zt-3 kit for right over $200. And these early gd cars were not can bus so I’m guessing no sense in worrying about that? And my tactrix cable is the older non can bus version anyway if that mattered. Thanks so much for the info!

Trey

zt2 uses the same plugin as the zt3 yeah and no need for canbus unless you want to try and do something super fancy later with a can based datalogger

Ha, yeah not looking for anything fancy at this point, just want to enjoy the car safely

So I ordered the zt-3 kit, their serial to usb adapter and a single guage pod. Hoping it’ll be here by Friday!

Trey

So I've got the ZT3 hooked up and running through RR. Its running pretty good, as far as normal driving I have zero complaints. But anytime I go to do a wide open pull, I'm still getting a tiny bit of hestitation, and some flkc. The iam has stayed at 16, but the knock correction stuff is driving me crazy. I went to a step colder plug gapped to .025 the other day. I was thinking maybe the stock heat range and gap was maybe getting some blow out once boost kicked in. The car did noticeably get better with the plugs, but I'm still getting the flkc. I did a few logs this morning on the way to work, and I noticed in the third random looking log, that I was actually able to cause the flkc with some throttle inputs, some large, some smaller, sometimes when I lifted. Maybe a tip in issue? or a fuel transition issue? My boost still oscillates a bit at 100% throttle, could there be an issue with any of that? I have another oe boost control solenoid and w/g actuator I was going to try for steadying the boost levels. Any help would be great! At this point, I just want to drive the car normally and not have to worry about it.

(AF learning and corrections look fine)

Heres an updated list of the cars mods/parts (still stage 2)
JDM non avcs ej205
OE head gaskets w/ARP stud kit
all new timing components, oil pump, w/p...
NGK bkr7eix plugs at .025
Grimmspeed lw crank pulley
ACT heavy duty clutch kit with street light flywheel
Invidia catless upipe
Tsuedo bell mouth catless down pipe
Invidia q300 cat back
stock airbox with drop in filter
Grimmspeed after maf hose
Perrin turbo inlet

And this is what the map looks like now. I added fuel in higher loads just incase with the higher compression and flkc stuff.

You mentioned you had the engine out, Is your knock sensor genuine? Is it clocked correctly? and is it torqued to factory spec or just snug? All these things matter for the ecu to use it correctly and if this wasnt done to factory spec you can be chasing your tail with phantom knock.

It would be very wise to build or purchase mechanical or electronic det cans to verify if the knock is real or not as you cannot fool a human, on these engines its fairly easy to hear.

When I get a minute Ill touch up your timing map and re upload your map.

What kind of fuel are you filling this thing with?

try this out