moral of the story is. If you go cheap on parts then you get what you pay for. You brought a car to a tuner with parts not operating like they should and expect everything to go smoothly. Next time, don't buy used parts which control VERY important aspects of your turbo.

 

Well there you go. He said look for a new tuner.

 

I bought from eBay a 2 week old turbosmart manual boost controller. (same brand as my wastegate). Guy selling it said he decided to go with an electronic setup. Parts can always be defective, even new or can break during the tuning process. My engine didn't blow which I'm thankful for, and I know the boost controller didn't work which did cause the overboost. If you feel having the boost cut at 42psi and not logging the boost on our first pull is normal(reason we don't know how high the boost went too), then yes I'll look for that new tuner.

 

If your car is fine, which is seems like it is, you need to pay for the tune and his time. You installed the boost controller and had told him it was turned all the way down. It seems like the tuner was going on the assumtion only minor changes where done to your set up based on the information you provided and stuff you installed. Drive your car a bit, if its running as it did then you need to pay him, he could put a lein against your car as well for non-payment. Although going wide open on the first pull seems way odd to me, this seems like a minor issue that can be worked out with little issue.

 

x2...Certified AEM tuner or not this should not have been done. If the tuner saw the cheap parts he should have been weary from the get go about boost levels. Either way cheap parts

 

I thought turbosmart was a good brand. Which part would you recommend for a good manual boost controller?

 

My two cents...

If the motor is not showing signs of hurt and you are not willing to check on it, its not on the tuner. You can point the finger at either party for not knowing what the actual boost was on the first pull but at the end of the day, you brought the car in with the parts either broken or improperly installed. With that said, you should pay the tuner appropriately for his time. Learn more about what you're getting into before blindly giving your keys over to someone, no matter how "professional" or "expert" they may be. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

No such action will be taken. I was charging him less than half price of a tune because it was supposed to be a fairly simple procedure and because i like to help out returning customers. He didn't decide not to pay me. I told him to keep his money. I just wanted to leave as quickly as possible before i did something irrational. I have learned my lesson and now see why most of the tuners down here do not give people any breaks.

The car made 37x whp on that "no boost cut" pull and was having trouble revving out because of how much timing i had pulled and how rich it was. The chances of it blowing up were just about none. I only suggested the check up for peace of mind. I do check ups like this before and after dyno sessions and every so often to catch any problems early on with my personal cars. I have yet to blow up a car i have tuned and that includes 4cyl engines that make triple what yours makes.

Rick, you come on here and act like such a stickler for details yet you drive your car around on stock ap1 retainers, stock ap1 banjo bolts, oil leaks, a passenger side motor mount that's not bolted down, buy a used boost controller that costs $50 brand new, all on a stock engine with 139k miles yet you want to make such a big deal about something that you wouldn't have even known about unless i told you and had no adverse effects on your engine. The problem here is that you are clearly extremely stingy and the way you came at me was putting blame on me to get something for nothing when it could have all been avoided by you just asking to use our tools.

 

Regarding my decision on my engine, I checked with others regarding keeping the stock ap1 retainer and banjo bolts which so far have been fine. One of my local members pushed 600 plus horsepower on those same parts, so me at 350-400 shouldnt be an issue. The oil leak I mentioned to you when I changed out the spark plugs for the re-tune as you suggested. I have a valve cover gasket kit and will replace it once I get my valve cover powdercoated. The motor mount was fixed 2 months ago. I had the original stock clutch until I decided to go boost 4-5k miles ago. I never have had one issue with my car so please dont question on how I take care of it. Regarding the boost controller, I guess i was mis-informed about turbosmart being a good brand.

I like to get all the facts straight before I begin to speak. I had all intentions of paying you and even went to your shop after the tune to see you since you left. I then called you to explain what I was trying to do since you dont seem to think it was a mistake on your part not having a boost cut or even logging to see what boost levels you had. I expect any safety measures avaliable to be checked before you push my car since if something messes up, im stuck with the bill. Thats why I paid you to do it. I have no idea that when you change the map sensor, it bring the boost cut back to the stock 42psi setting.

In the end, what happened, happened. All I'm concerned now is with the engine health. Going to buy today a compression test to ensure at least the compression is ok.

Thanks for your help either way. I know you are a great tuner and we just had some mis-understanding.

 

Wait so the stock boost cut on AEM EMS is 42psi? That's not a problem within itself, but damn that's a helleva default setting lol