Trozzle

yeah exactly. The ViPEC doesn't have a hand controller (although I could sit a laptop in the passenger seat, F&F style)...I don't care too much if my tacho doesn't wanna work, as long as it doesn't affect anything else

Spotted a purple/gold chameleon R34 GTR on Anketell near the pool yesterday. I was walking, tried giving a wave but I think he missed me lol. SUCH A HOT CAR.

Yeah I figured it'd be an issue with the tacho itself. I think I tried bashing the dash once but it didn't do anything, also WAAAAYYY back when my car was stock the tacho just stayed on 0 once or twice.... Ah well, as long as everything that matters is working fine, then I'll just leave it. Cheers

Hey hombres. Occasionally my tacho does this annoying thing where it will flick to a 6 o'clock position and sorta stay there. Video below should give you an idea on what it's doing when I turn the key. Only thing video doesn't show is that when driving with the tacho like this, if engine rpm goes about roughly 4000rpm the tacho begins to climb backwards up to 7000rpm, at which point it will stay there even when I hit the limiter until I allow revs to drop again, at which point it will drop back down to 6 o'clock. The first few times this happened it sorta woke up and fixed itself when I hit ~4000rpm... Engine runs fine when this is happening, so it's either a problem with the ECU aux out, or a problem with the tacho motor. If my tacho is dying, I don't really care.

Not to say your mechanic is bad or anything, but I'd very much recommend getting the next test carried out at a different workshop just to rule out the chance that he might be doing something wrong.

is the ticking sound while the engine is running or not? If not, sounds like a solenoid flicking on and off, hence you've found the source of your battery drain. If it is, then yeah your battery is dead lol

you can blip the throttle by pulling the cable with your hand lol....last time I took the filler cap off and did it, the cams flicked oil all over my face bahahaha

Ever had the head gasket replaced?

Fair enough fair enough. Mine's looking a little darker now than I'd expect for 4000km. I'll give it a change and a second chance to see how it looks this time round (got 2 5L bottles CHEEAAAP) so it's not too much of a worry dropping it again if it does the same thing. For now I'll give it the benefit of the doubt haha. Otherwise, the level hasn't dropped and I haven't smelt anything... EDIT: I will add that I can hear very slight lifter noise where there hasn't been any before...

If it behaved the same with the wastegate held shut and vacuum lines off the actuator, then I have NO idea hahaha... Mine boosted first time fine, then each time after that until the turbo was allowed to "cool down" it wouldn't boost correctly (like yours) because wastegate didn't close all the way after the first boost. Yours just sounds....weird. If you're sure the wastegate was held shut and would definitely not allow any exhaust through, yet it STILL behaved the same....I don't know. That would have to be a leak, but if you're also sure there's no leak....f**k this. lol.

unless I've been giving it a gutfull, the whole inside of my 4" muffler tip will be covered in water droplets most of the time.

The black smoke pissing out the exhaust should indicate the leak, but yeah need to test it like you did. I agree though, still needs to do the "unlimited" boost test

Which is exactly why I'm baffled further Stao...the factory housing should be fine since you don't touch it, unless it's been damaged in the mail again lol. Though Kris would know if it were opened by customs or not...really strange, though definitely either wastegate or leak related. Possible that the actuator has completely shit itself, though very unlikely.

How did I fix my problem? Well yeah the assembly where the wastegate goes through the housing (going from outside turbo to inside) had become loose from the damage, so Stao just rebuilt that part. Simple fix, but yes turbo needed to be removed. Once removed, I took off the actual wastegate adapter plate and sent that back for repair. Just making sure everyone realises, what was wrong with my turbo was NOT STAO'S FAULT. It wasn't faulty, it was damaged. Stao was not liable for the damage, as it was done during postage and no doubt after my package had been opened, inspected and repacked.

Here's the dyno plot overlaying my first tune with damaged wastegate (again, fark you Aust Post - NOT Stao) with the tune once wastegate issue was sorted. GREEN LINES are older, RED LINES are newer. This is boost vs power.

Start engine, open bonnet, place your head right down near the oil filler cap, Using your hand, open the throttle very gently and increase the revs. As they pass 1500rpm, you should hear an audible *click* from the VCT solenoid. You should be able to hold the revs at the right point where you're just activating the solenoid, so you can make it click repeatedly. Hear that click? VCT is working. don't hear it? Doesn't necessarily mean it ISN'T working - mine might just be noisy or it's just the fact I have a VERY good ear for out of place noises from my engine.

I can't work out how VCT will cause a boost graph to look like that. RB26 does not run VCT. RB20 does not run VCT. Nistune on an RB20 board will not have VCT unless you're running a controller. Having seen comparisons of people running VCT on and off back to back, even their power curve isn't that lazy - their boost curve barely looks different to what it should be. Please tell me you still removed the actuator rod and opened/closed wastegate by hand? I'm not even kidding, DO IT. The words I got from my tuner were almost exactly "It's very laggy when it's warm, but when it's cold it boosts like a f**king monster". This was because when cold, the wastegate parts weren't binding up and jamming. Once it was boosted for the first time (read: COLD), the actuator would open the wastegate. As the actuator pulled the wastegate closed again, it would jam just before closing. Because of this, the next time it boosted (which is when they considered it WARM) it would take FOREVER to come on boost. If they turned the engine off and let the exhaust/turbo cool down, as the metal shrunk that tiny bit again it would free up and close (since the actuator was still pulling against it), hence the next time they ran it the turbo would boost correctly again. What pressure actuator are you using? I later experienced issues with my 14psi actuator causing a similar problem though not as bad....I put this down to repeated heating and cooling of the actuator itself while being held in a partially open position... Yes, what he said. Also, please confirm your ECU. If you're still running AFM, doing the test of removing the boost source and/or holding the gate shut could be bad if not done on a dyno. It was safe for me to do as I'm running a MAP sensor and the engine would cut out if boost reached a certain level - which it certainly did very quickly. With no vacuum source for the actuator, you will still boost very hard if it's working correctly - regardless of it's pressure rating. It will take a LOT of exhaust pressure against the wastegate to overcome the actuator on it's own. If this fixes the issue (read: if it boost correctly) it doesn't necessarily confirm the cause of the problem, only that the turbo CAN boost correctly. It could still be the wastegate being a prick, or the actuator could be very soft/faulty and opening very easily Bottom line, having had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM AS THIS, I can say first hand that it will be the wastegate not closing or a boost leak. If you're sure you don't have any leaks before your manifold, then it's the wastegate. End of story.

"Senna Movie" just sounds like bad grammar and therefore subliminally pisses me off.

Disagree, for the reason Gareth states. HIIT (sprint ass off 30 sec, rest 2 min, repeat) is perfect for this. It isn't a sustained "minor increase" in muscle use like moderate jogging on the treadmill is, it's a flat-out work those legs like a motherf**ker for short period of time, then rest to catch your breath and allow heart rate to drop back down a touch, then do it again. If you're sprinting hard enough, your legs with hurt like a bitch after a few "reps". Do it long enough, your legs will be killing you. It's the same as doing heavy lifts in a way, you really should be using 100% of those leg muscles when you're sprinting your heart out. This is why I was so damned ripped when I used to play football (soccer, fags). I never did weights back then as I wasn't really old enough to consider it, so any muscle other than those required to run was pretty average. I ate whatever the hell I wanted, whenever I wanted, and as much as I wanted. I never had an ounce of fat on me (exaggerated, lol). My typical games, since we weren't exactly PROFESSIONALS, hardly consisted of strategic passing the ball backwards, forwards, again and again. It was "kick to Johnny, run like a f**ken rabbit....oh shit the other team has the ball now and they're better than us. RUUUUUNNNNNN back towards where the ball is now." It was basically HIIT for two 45 minute halves a week, plus training. You should consider upping the reps to 8, and dropping the sets to 3. The biggest gains (read: damage) will be in the last few reps you THINK you can't do but you force yourself anyway. If I can do 10 reps in my 3rd set, it's because I didn't do enough the first two sets. As many as you can first set (if above say 10 in your case, consider higher weight), as many as you can second set, then as many as you can in the last set but go for ONE MORE (that you KNOW you won't be able to do) and hold the weight as long as you can at the point that your muscles stop. When you can't take it anymore, lower them gently. DO NOT DROP THEM. Other than the fact that you're not supposed to, you look like a f**ken wank if you do, and you're showing yourself some beneficial discipline by taking control of your muscles and brain screaming at you to stop it. www.a1supplements.com.au are also good. They've been mentioned in this thread before. Prices are competitive, often have specials, and always have a discount coupon listed somewhere on the front page. Buy something from them, and get occasional emails with more specials.

Yep, looks to be the exact same thing I had. Check that the wastegate is actually closed. Have a look at the arm, it should be at right-angles to the dump pipe. If not, then give it a gentle tap with something to try to close it further. If it doesn't wanna close properly, remove dump pipe and feel the flapper to make sure it's sealed. If so, remove actuator rod and play around with it like I said before. It really looks like the wastegate isn't closed correctly, exactly how mine looked. Made correct peak power for the boost level, just too FOREVER to get there.

Didn't you start a thread asking this question not that long ago...? From what I understand longer duration = later powerband but higher peak, higher lift = more power at given RPM? I dunno, but really I'm sure there's plenty of info on it if you search.

That was a f**king awesome movie.

I had the same problem with my turbo when I first got it tuned, it was because it was damaged in postage (no doubt after customs/mail security ppl opened it as a random check) therefore the wastegate was jamming open slightly. Disconnect actuator rod and open/close the wastegate by hand. Do this for a good 5 minutes to make sure it doesn't get stiff depending on how fast you open it or where you put pressure. Make sure it moves smoothly and freely. It's possible damage from postage or installation like mine was.

exactly what I'm doing now

my reps will be 12/10/8 ideally, though things like dumbell press I'll be aiming for 11/9/9