So I just got my ECU chipped, and took my car out on the highway.
It's supposed to be pushing 20psi now out of my K04...and it was, through 3rd gear. When I shifted into 4th, it went up to 25, then 31/32, and my CEL blinked about 4/5 times, I felt the car misfire, and instantly let off the gas.

The CEL stayed on, and I had it pulled this morning. I had a 2nd cylinder misfire, but it's running fine now. I had the code cleared, and have no CEL now.

I'm running about 10-12 psi currently.

I called speedtuningusa (who I got the chip from), and the guy has been really helpful. He said I should drive it about 200 miles and I should be boosting 20psi, and if not, he'll re-flash my ECU.

Has anyone had a similar experience, or know what might have happened to cause the crazy jump in boost? Pinched vacuum line, etc?

 

are you running a colder plug gapped to .28?


alot like the 6 plugs, i run copper

 

I just bought new plugs - putting them in tomorrow. What should I gap them? Also, buying a new coil for my #2 cylinder, the one that misfired...twice.

 

What tune are you running because it sounds like you have a boost control issue. You really dont want to push beyond 25psi and even then it should be tuned for race fuel. The ecu is just pulling way too much timing when running that boost on pump gas. This can push your adv timing well into the retard side, basically causing the car to misfire because the spark is so late and the fuel is not burning to produce power.

 

This is a small sensor located in the intake manifold just after the throttle body. It is responsible for monitoring the intake temperature. It can get coated with oil, and can affect gas mileage, and a loss of power. It is common to remove it and clean it with alcohol, or electronics cleaner. View IBM 000-201 Exam with IBM certifications. If Fuel Trims are Negative more than 5% in the load range there is a very good chance that there is a leak after the turbo. Visual inspection of clamps, hoses for a loose connection is the best way to look for leaks. A common place for leaks is at the entrance to the pancake pipe located in the passenger side fender. Also the small line on the DV can rip.

 

OK, so I picked up my mechanic for a test drive, so he could see what's happening - and on the way back to his house, I noticed a lot of smoke now coming from the tailpipe.

We did a compression check and all cylinders are good.

Now we're not sure where to go next. He thinks the turbo has oil leaking into it maybe from boosting so high.

 

Turbo making any noise?

Way to check if it is the turbo, pull the turbo off and see if there is oil after the turbo and also check to see if there is any oil in the manifold.


30psi is way too high for the K04.

 

Yeah - called the guy at speedtuning and he said it should boost at 20psi and be fine.

Checked the tube from the intercooler to the intake, and it has oil in it.

Turbo isn't making any noise that I know of (hard to hear over the exhaust), but also didn't rev it up or boost since it's blowing so much smoke....I don't want to cause any more damage.

 

It is normal to have some oil in the intake tubes. If you pull the tube off at the bottom of the intercooler, there's usually enough it will run out quite a bit. It comes from the crankcase breather system and collects in the low spots of the intake system. You should check to be sure the pressure regulating valve(s) is functioning and not allowing boost pressure to enter the crankcase. If it is malfuntctioning, it can cause smoke to come from the exhaust from oil being pushed into the intake system under boost.

Stock plug gap specs are 0.7-0.9 mm. With more than stock boost the rule of thumb is to close the gap up slightly so the spark doesn't get "blown out" by all the boost pressure.

 

My plugs are gapped at .045 inches or 1.1mm, which is what the old ones were at when I pulled them out. That's almost double what you're saying they should be, correct?