i have a stage 0, auto, running very rich. I have stalling and stuttering off boost while in motion on the highway. The car is jerking and feels like it is missing. Thought it might be the plugs, so we changed them out, but it is still doing it. What could this be? Bad gas? Bad primary 02 sensor? The back of my exhaust is black and the spark plugs i pulled out were extremely black. What is the proper gap for the plugs? Any help is appreciated.

 

Are you throwing CEL's? If so do you have an OBDII scantool? If you dont have tool hit up a local autozone and let them scan it for you for free. That's one of the fastest ways to start addressing issues.

Be more descriptive too if you want and we can all try to help you figure it out. Does it stutter when you get on it? Idle? let us know man.

Good luck

 

need more info.

 

watching..

 

no cel at the moment, b/c i reset the battery and it hasn't thrown a new one yet, it was "running rich". The stuttering happens off boost in vacuum with slight load before the onset at boost. I have been going 70 miles per hour and 30 miles per hour and i felt it at both times. The car will buck about 5 times and if i let off the gas, it will stop. As soon as it throws a cel again, i will have it checked again. It seems relatively fine at idle. It was idling a little choppy with factory plugs, however after i changed the plugs it idles smooth, but the same problems exist with the bucking. I noticed alot of black sh#$ on the end of the exhaust. In case i need to mention, my gasket had burnt up at the wastegate and i ordered the copper gaskets and put them on friday. I filled up with 93 octane on Tuesday as usual and started to notice the bucking on thursday after driving 60 miles after the fillup. The gasket had been leaking the full weak at the wastegate until i was able to put the copper gasket on friday. Thought in the beginning most of the problems were b/c of the wastegate leak, and open exhaust, but still having the same issues after the gasket was put on.

 

are you able to build full boost?

 

yes...i have checked for leaks, everything is run correctly, it has been working just fine until now. Could the wastegate leak which fouled out the plugs have caused the 02 sensor to go bad?

 

Question! Who did you buy this kit from?

 

i bought the kit from ZPI, i don't think it is their fault by no means, i think it is b/c the car is running so rich that it may have fouled out my plugs and in turn messed with my 02 sensor as well. We did pull the 02 sensor off and it was extremely black as well, we cleaned that off and put it back on and so far today, no bogging. I was getting ready to order a new 02 sensor, but i think i might hold off for a bit to see if the surging returns. If i do need a new 02 sensor anyone know where i can get a new one for a good price?

 

go get fuel management and a tune - you're bogging out because you're running too rich.

 

if i get the greddy emanage do you think that will fix things? or what else do i need to do?

 

Do you have a boost gauge? Is it jumping from like 3-5 or 1-5 and just back and forth, almost like the tach if you rev'd and let out over and over? The car kinda jerks when this happens? If so I have/had the same problem. I only get it once in a while and all but one time that it happened I had the A/C on. It seemed when I turned the A/C off it was fine but then it happened once with it off. I thing it's a tuning issue with me cuz I still run the base greddy tune (btw, I have a greddy kit). I can't say for sure what your problem is or even mine but most people I've talked to seem to say it's a tuning issue.

When I get my midpipe on and get down to the place to tune it I'll be able to tell you but that might be a few weeks.

 

i do have a boost gauge and it was reading -10 when it was doing it, i was driving normal and not in boost each time it has happened. But if the problem is simply i am running too rich, would just buying an emanage fix it or do i need to do other things as well? Since this is my daily driver, i plan to stay at 6psi for a while...

 

WARNING: I'm still new to all this and must insist you don't take what I say as professional advice.
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It could be because of running rich cuz I was in boost and was running rich when it happened. My A/F was reading 10.0 which is the richest the AEM wideband reads so I could have been even richer than that (I would guess). So if running rich is the problem then an emanage would help. Have you tried to contact ZPI about it? Maybe try their forums on their site if it's not a dying emergency.

 

its reading -10 for vaccum at idle?

 

No he said when he was on the highway.

 

yes highway at -10 when it was bucking, not boosting and going a steady speed

 

If it happens off boost while going on the highway and at vaccum, then it sounds more like it's ignition related. If plugs are black and 02 sensor is black then it points to a problem with air and or fuel. Maybe the 02 sensor got damaged when you installed it on the down-pipe.

Try to run the car in open-loop 3 (disconnect the 02 sensor plug) reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery and let the car idle for a litte bit. Then take it to the highway (off boost) and see if the issue is still there. Don't beat on the car, see if you can recreate the problem. Note the car will give you a cel as soon as it does not detect the 02 sensor.

If it's an air leak the car is going to idle rough or want to shut down. If the car seems to run better with the 02 sensor unplugged, then that's probably your problem.

I've run my car off the scale rich and still have not been able to get my spark plugs "extremely black". Car should not be running this rich, also in vaccum the turbo has zero effect on the car.

Hope this helps.

 

It does sound to me like you're running into the problem because you're running too rich and fouling the plugs. With fuel management and a tune, that would help prevent that.

 

I only had a wide-band 02 when I installed my Stage 0 and A/F was ok. Lot's of Stage 0 run with just the ECU and they reported no issues. On the A/T injectors run out of steam near red-line, but on 5-speed I hear it's okay because of the gear ratios are different and the engine does not have to work as hard.

Emanage is not going to be able to fix anything occuring in vaccum. The car is in closed-loop during vaccum and part-throttle boost so the ECU controls the A/F.

Maybe the MAF is damaged and the car is running in safe mode.