Member Profile - AJ RS. (tbSTI 08 GT wagon 230awkw)

[AJ RS]

Problem is I plan on doing forged pistons later in a few years. Not now. So on the opposite side of saving a dollar now, I've already bought the 440xt, saving me buying a larger turbo later when and if I do the forged pistons when I'm looking to go beyond 200kw.
You see the car is currently my wife's daily drive (I'm still in the jeep) and really just a baby chariot for the next 2 -3 years anyway. Once my drivers licence history is cleaned up over time I will drive it more often and then start pushing its limits. I had a bad run last year with 2 major traffic hits. One more and its bye bye licence for 5 years. Speed related. Hence the sale of my 2012 STI..

There is a lot of talk on the internet about these stock pistons being garbage and I agree to a point. But people with their opinion of them not lasting a week are mislead and it seems to be the talk..
Sure if I want to run 25psi It will reduce the life of it or bust a ringland but I'm only looking for 20psi on occasion and around 16-17 as a daily. Safe levels for this type of engine.
I never planed on going crazy with this car however being stung and buying this thing to learn of its head gasket issues later on, it was going in for some major work. As a precautionary measure now I have replaced the bottom end at this stage so that its basically a new engine, reliable and a fresh start for me to look after as I have all my cars. Not continually think about whats going to happen next. So all in all I probably don't need this turbo at this stage but my (limited) research into this set up on a mild tune will net me over 200kw at the wheels safely and more efficiently than pushing the VF46 to its max. In turn running hot and causing detonation.. My wife drives around all day oblivious to what she's driving and putts around in Intelegent mode so lag will not be a problem for her. The 2.5l is still fine under 3000rpm for her in that manner.

I am very familiar with Subarus and well aware of the capabilities etc. A brand new, run in by me, stock EJ257 will be fine for my needs for now. And when and if it does a piston down the road I won't need to touch much else at that point.

Call me mad, but there's method to my madness..

[AJ RS]

The build is almost completed down the road at Autocraft. He's fantastic and level headed when it comes to Subarus. Every decision I make I run by Marshy who understands my objectives and points me in the right direction.
The tune on the other hand will more than likely happen somewhere else as MSR clearly told me "no forgies now with that huge turbo, no tune". And well within his rights to do so. Just disappointing as I know his work is good. Just needs a holiday i think lol..
Looking for a tune further south now, most likely Paul (Pulse) as they are happy to help me out with a conservative tune. And thats all I'm asking for.. And its not a huge turbo in my opinion at 44lb/min.

[KiDo_Tuning]

The build is almost completed down the road at Autocraft. He's fantastic and level headed when it comes to Subarus. Every decision I make I run by Marshy who understands my objectives and points me in the right direction.
The tune on the other hand will more than likely happen somewhere else as MSR clearly told me "no forgies now with that huge turbo, no tune". And well within his rights to do so. Just disappointing as I know his work is good. Just needs a holiday i think lol..
Looking for a tune further south now, most likely Paul (Pulse) as they are happy to help me out with a conservative tune. And thats all I'm asking for.. And its not a huge turbo in my opinion at 44lb/min.

Only needs 16psi peak at high rpm on that turbo to make your power goals, 18psi at 3000rpm is more than enough in S#.

[ferret89]

The build is almost completed down the road at Autocraft. He's fantastic and level headed when it comes to Subarus. Every decision I make I run by Marshy who understands my objectives and points me in the right direction.
The tune on the other hand will more than likely happen somewhere else as MSR clearly told me "no forgies now with that huge turbo, no tune". And well within his rights to do so. Just disappointing as I know his work is good. Just needs a holiday i think lol..
Looking for a tune further south now, most likely Paul (Pulse) as they are happy to help me out with a conservative tune. And thats all I'm asking for.. And its not a huge turbo in my opinion at 44lb/min.

Fair enough mate, I see what you are saying. Interested to see what you end up with conservatively tuned, post up the graph when it's all done

[AJ RS]

I'll be sure to

[AJ RS]

Quick update.

I have now got the car back and am breaking this new engine in with a mineral oil for around 600ks. Then we will run a semi syn oil for about another 600 odd Ks before running the proper full synthetic oil and booking in for the tune.
I'm currently getting smoke from oil residue burning in the heat shield of the exhaust manifold but that's fine. Just gave it a quick de grease and hose off and now going for a bit of a drive to burn it all off.
The car feels surprisingly smooth and the new clutch feel is exactly the same. Staying away from boost at this stage and only working it to a max of about 4000rpm on this oil. The new turbo seems to be whistling at me telling me to put my foot down harder! but not for a little bit longer. The AVO dump and silicone intake are helping it breathe and you can feel it.. When it's whistling at me It's not on boost as I'm watching my boost gauge but it's just reminding me it's ready
I did have a little boost before (then it's really starting to whistle!) and it began to pull very hard so I backed off immediately. Caught the gauge just peak at 16psi and I was only at half throttle at around 45000rpm so I'm excited to see how it's performs later after its finished. I don't want to load this engine hard until the next oil is in and I've run it through a few heat cycles.

All in all its feeling good and now just a waiting game until it's fully run in and tuned. Hoping to book in with pulse in around 3 weeks.. The seemed very helpful over the phone. Anyone on here use them?

[AJ RS]

One more thing.

We decided to get rid of the air pump and blank everything off while the engine was being built. Only thing is now I need to clear the fault codes as I'm showing an engine light and no cruise control limp mode etc. All can be done at the tune and it s a good visual reminder on the dash to take it easy until its tuned to a safe level.

[THE SpecB]

One more thing.

We decided to get rid of the air pump and blank everything off while the engine was being built. Only thing is now I need to clear the fault codes as I'm showing an engine light and no cruise control limp mode etc. All can be done at the tune and it s a good visual reminder on the dash to take it easy until its tuned to a safe level.

Why is it a good idea ?

[AJ RS]

They can be costly to repair when and if they break or malfunction. And its a much easier process to remove while the engine is out.
No real performance gain at all apart from a few kilo's of junk and a bit more room in the engine bay.

[KiDo_Tuning]

Ensure you kept the ambient air pressure sensor in the 2nd valve connected(has wiring loom with extra wires) to ensure it has acucurate boost control. Ambient air pressure sensor delete means a boost target of 20psi shows up as 13.3psi

[THE SpecB]

Ensure you kept the ambient air pressure sensor in the 2nd valve connected(has wiring loom with extra wires) to ensure it has acucurate boost control. Ambient air pressure sensor delete means a boost target of 20psi shows up as 13.3psi

Air pump is there for a reason and should not be removed .. Why the hell for ?

[andy_mac]

Because they're prone to failure, super expensive to replace, are a waste of space, and are a pig to remove when the engines in the car. They serve the same purpose as cats in uppipes. Do people ever really question removing them? These cars still have miles better emission outputs than most other subaru's. Only downside is a few codes needing to be disabled, and hence won't show up in future issues. From reading up on it a while back they aren't particularily catastrophic codes to miss.

[THE SpecB]

Because they're prone to failure, super expensive to replace, are a waste of space, and are a pig to remove when the engines in the car. They serve the same purpose as cats in uppipes. Do people ever really question removing them? These cars still have miles better emission outputs than most other subaru's. Only downside is a few codes needing to be disabled, and hence won't show up in future issues. From reading up on it a while back they aren't particularily catastrophic codes to miss.

My point exactly. You are disabling a ladder of codes.

[andy_mac]

Getting a bit off topic in this guys thread tbh
Thats the list of codes that need disabling based on one of the lgt.com vendors doing a how-to
* P0410 * P0411 * P0413 * P0414 * P0415 * P0416 * P0417 * P0418 * P0419 * P2431 * P2432 * P2433 * P2441 * P2444

And there's your code explanation list
http://www.bedug.com/pics/Subaru/obdcodes.txt
Previously some people had issues with some pressure code being removed, may have been an atmo pressure code since some removed absolutly everything without keeping the atmo pressure sensor which caused issues, whole process is way more refined now. All codes are air pump specific, so where's the possible downside to this?

[AJ RS]

Ensure you kept the ambient air pressure sensor in the 2nd valve connected(has wiring loom with extra wires) to ensure it has acucurate boost control. Ambient air pressure sensor delete means a boost target of 20psi shows up as 13.3psi

Thanks I'll check. My mechanic has done quite a few of these so I assume he has left that one there. I will double check though.
And clearing the codes is fine. I very tempted to get a tactrix cable and attempt to clear them myself. I've been spending a bit of time reading on romraider. But I know the risks so I'm very hesitant. The engine light serves as a reminder at the moment to remain calm and not get on it too hard until after the tune. To which the fault codes will be checked off.
Oh and by the way, removing the air pump may not be everyone's cup of tea but I took opportunity now as it's easier and has created plenty of space to mount a catch can. We also ran the beathers now ready for the can when I find the right one.
The direction I take with this car is influenced by years of Subaru ownership, friends and forum advice. If something I decide to do does not agree with your way of thinking that's fine, I'm not building it for you