Topic: V7 sti are mode and cel

[Thatbeauty]

I have an 01 sti, the car has the following mods Cobb cold air intake, beatrush lightweight pulleys and ac/powersteering delete all done by the previous owner. I recently noticed a misfire on full boost so I decided to do spark plugs (brk7es gapped to .7mm). Before I did the plugs the car would pull hard at 1.5 bar till redline. Since I did the plugs the car is way faster and more responsive off boost and on low boost (up to .5 bar) but when I try to do a WOT pull the car only boosts to .5 bar (safe mode). The one time it did go past safe mode it gave me a cel for all of .5 of a second and went away. Does anyone have any ideas as to what's at fault here?

[FresH599]

The Cam sensor on my 2001 caused the car to act up at random and the cel would flicker at wot.
It’s the front sensor which is the same on any 2L ej
If your getting a cel try getting the code it will help narrow it down.

[Thatbeauty]

The Cam sensor on my 2001 caused the car to act up at random and the cel would flicker at wot.
It’s the front sensor which is the same on any 2L ej
If your getting a cel try getting the code it will help narrow it down.

I should be mentioned. There's no standing code or cel. I scanned it at my shop

[Thatbeauty]

Update, just took it for a quick drive and it hits full boost and pulls hard but I'm still getting a cel while WOT in 4th

[WAGOWN]

Is it kinda flickeringand intermittent?

Cam sensor very likely

[Dr Beans]

Coil packs looked fine when you took them off? It could be the cam sensor like others are saying, but usually when you complete a repair and the problem gets better you tend to stick with that line of reasoning.

Have you looked at all the grounds?

Are you running 94? When the car allowed you to finally go WOT was it colder out? What changed?

[Thatbeauty]

Coil packs looked fine when you took them off? It could be the cam sensor like others are saying, but usually when you complete a repair and the problem gets better you tend to stick with that line of reasoning.

Have you looked at all the grounds?

Are you running 94? When the car allowed you to finally go WOT was it colder out? What changed?

Shell 91. No change to anything.

[Vancouver98STi]

The Cam sensor on my 2001 caused the car to act up at random and the cel would flicker at wot.
It’s the front sensor which is the same on any 2L ej

What about the crankshaft position sensor?

I just finished destroying my crank sensor (while trying to track down an intermittent miss). That sucker was really stuck in there.

[BERZIN]

1)
These cars will put themselves into that 0.5 bar safe mode when it experiences knock. If you have a way of logging knock maybe check that out. Also get a new tank of gas in there. I had an issue where the car would safe mode itself when I would hold high boost for a long time (4th gear pull WOT for example) and it was due to the gas being bad.
If your car isn't tuned for 91 try running some 94 octane from petro can maybe.

2)
Check your coil packs! Visually inspect them for cracking on the resin and on the rubber. Make sure they aren't dirty at the connection between the coil and plug. Also check for frayed wires. Also check the primary and secondary resistances of the coils. If you're really serious you could pull your fuse for the fuel pump, fuel injectors and pull out your coil packs with the spark plugs in them. Get someone to turn the key to turn the starter motor over and watch the spark on all of them next to each other to watch for the firing pattern. Keep turning it over and watch to see if one plug doesn't spark intermittently or something. Also be careful to make sure they don't touch anything when sparking. 

3) MAF. Stupid mafs on these cars can freak out when under high boost because I guess its an air meter that doesn't like air. Check for frayed wires, clean the probe with sensor clean (No touchyyy) and try unplugging it while running to see if it changes how the car is running.
 

4) If you are running a stock boost control setup, try running maf sensor cleaner through your boost control solenoid. It sounds like your car might be overboosting. Also check to make sure your wastegate is opening properly.


Also 22 lbs of boost is huge for a car that seems relatively stock! What are you doing for boost control and engine management? (Cause i'm jealous and wanna know how) These things stock boost at around 16-17psi

[Thatbeauty]

1)
These cars will put themselves into that 0.5 bar safe mode when it experiences knock. If you have a way of logging knock maybe check that out. Also get a new tank of gas in there. I had an issue where the car would safe mode itself when I would hold high boost for a long time (4th gear pull WOT for example) and it was due to the gas being bad.
If your car isn't tuned for 91 try running some 94 octane from petro can maybe.

2)
Check your coil packs! Visually inspect them for cracking on the resin and on the rubber. Make sure they aren't dirty at the connection between the coil and plug. Also check for frayed wires. Also check the primary and secondary resistances of the coils. If you're really serious you could pull your fuse for the fuel pump, fuel injectors and pull out your coil packs with the spark plugs in them. Get someone to turn the key to turn the starter motor over and watch the spark on all of them next to each other to watch for the firing pattern. Keep turning it over and watch to see if one plug doesn't spark intermittently or something. Also be careful to make sure they don't touch anything when sparking. 

3) MAF. Stupid mafs on these cars can freak out when under high boost because I guess its an air meter that doesn't like air. Check for frayed wires, clean the probe with sensor clean (No touchyyy) and try unplugging it while running to see if it changes how the car is running.
 

4) If you are running a stock boost control setup, try running maf sensor cleaner through your boost control solenoid. It sounds like your car might be overboosting. Also check to make sure your wastegate is opening properly.


Also 22 lbs of boost is huge for a car that seems relatively stock! What are you doing for boost control and engine management? (Cause i'm jealous and wanna know how) These things stock boost at around 16-17psi

That's oem boost pressure for v7 stis.  I beat the itshay outta her last night trying to make the code stick. It stick with a cams sensor. Just waiting on one. I'll be back with the outcome.

[Thatbeauty]

Still have the same issue but no code. If I reset the ecu I ca get one pull with full boost before it goes back to safe mode. Any other ideas?

[Dr Beans]

I'll chime in again.

My V7 was pinging due to a tune in Japan. I noticed it on the 3rd pull driving around in 2nd gear. The car drops boost to 0.5 BAR and retards timing to save itself when the knock sensor picks up pinging. Other then that, it drove around perfectly fine (I was also on 94).

It's hard to hear, but if you pull the car with the windows open, does it sound like you are dropping marbles into the cylinder or the road?

Stock boost map is max 17 PSI. They will boost to 18-19 PSI with the waste-gate pegged shut and boost creep. Does it still have the stock boost solenoid?

I'm almost willing to bet this is due to overboosting that's causing the car to ping. As other's have said, changing the MAF and fuel pump is great as the stock ones seems to fail overtime. But first you need to figure out why your car is boosting to 1.5 bar.

[Jarrod]

Can confirm boost levels, also boosting to ~17psi on my stock bugeye STI.