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I don't mean to beat a dead horse with this issue, but it really is driving me insane. I feel like I'm driving a souped-up Escort!!!!!
Okay, here's the info:
I have a BSR Stage 3 ECU, JT 3" exhaust, K&N air filter, Hyperboost BPV. I've had all of these parts in the car for over a year now. Normal boost is 16 psi, and does go up to 20/21 psi in cool weather.
3 weeks ago, was enjoying beautiful boost when the CEL came on. It displayed codes P0130 & P0133. This translates to a malfunction in the Bank 1/Sensor 1 circuit. I bought a new Bosch O2 sensor, and installed it that weekend. Keep in mind, my boost was still nice and strong even with the CEL on. At the same time of sensor replacement, I decided to replace my fuel filter with a Bosch filter I had purchased back in Feb. since I had 69K miles on the car. I was able to do the sensor replacement, but the filter caused a lot of trouble and had the car towed to an indie Saab shop (couldn't drive it since it was leaking fuel from the inlet banjo fitting where I had crushed the filter opening).
I picked up the car from the shop and drove it 5 miles to home. Didn't get a chance to notice the loss of boost. On my drive to work the next day, that was when I noticed BOOSTING ONLY INTO MID-YELLOW. On my auxilliary boost gauge, this is 5 psi.
From this point forward, I have done the following things:
Questioned the indie as to what he had done to the car. Said he only changed the filter, and actually fit me in on the side because he was extremely busy.
Contacted Engstrom.net to find out how to confirm if my BSR re-mapped ECU motherboard/chip was legit. He told me what to look for, and although I could not find what he stated, I don't think the ECU was swapped by the indie since it would have been way too much work, and the serial #'s on the box match what I know to be mine (though the insides could have been swapped, but I doubt that, too).
Plugs are new NGK's within less than 1K miles, gapped to where my engine likes them.
Now, I do get full-boost ever so infrequently. It happens once, *maybe* twice a day (between my drives to work, during lunch, and back home). Once it hits 16 psi (if it does), then it jumps back to base-boost and never again leaves that spot.
I cleaned my BPC, I did an adaptation run after resetting my ECU, and I also purchased a known-good BPC (used, 48K miles) to swap in for test purposes. Still no change in performance--only base-boost and once in a blue moon full boost for a few seconds.
I removed the "W" hose from the BPC and was able to achieve way beyond full boost (scary, actually). From this I could tell that the turbo was fine, the wastegate actuator is working (I also checked that as well), and that my cat is not clogged since if it was, the turbo would not have been able to spool up as much due to increased backpressure.
Then, less than 2 weeks after replacing the sensor and filter, the CEL came back on with P0130/P0133. Because of this, I attributed my problems to a faulty new sensor and had the company send a replacement.
I installed this new replacement sensor a week ago and had the codes erased with a Tech tool. I still have only base-boost, and a touch of 10 - 15 psi once or twice a day for only a few seconds. CEL has not come on again, but I am waiting for that to happen anytime now.
I checked the vacuum lines that lead from the intake manifold to the BPV and the oem boost gauge. No leaks. I assumed if I had a leak, I would hear whistling while the engine was running, correct? If not, what's the best way to check for vacuum leaks, esp. for any of the other hoses? I do hear some whistling coming from where the banjo fitting is on the fuel rail. Is this a normal sound (I assumed it was the sound of the fuel rushing through it)?
Can something else cause these codes to appear besides a "faulty" O2 sensor?
BTW: the new fuel filter is a Bosch that has insides that rattle. I asked about this filter a few months ago (before having it installed), and people here said it was okay, that it was probably an older-style Bosch since there is one model in particular that does this.
Could low fuel pressure cause the problems I am having? Could the fuel filter be the problem? I have another one on hand (cheapo, no-name one that was meant for my '96 900S that I never installed before I sold it), and wonder if I should try it out.
Joe
'98 70K
posted by 12.111.48...
, Fri, 5 Sep 2003 11:01:11, Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:54:50, Thu, 4 Sep 2003 08:37:56, Fri, 5 Sep 2003 10:48:44, Thu, 4 Sep 2003 11:43:39
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