Your best approach is to find out if you actually have those problems. Durametric is $250 very well spent. No affiliation.

Jon

 

As much as we would all like to say we have a handle on your problem, for the safety of your engine its best to have it looked at. As I have mentioned minimum do a Durametric on the car. You will know either way then.
The car might feel like its running well but you dont know the harm you might be doing.
Avoid anymore WOT until you know what the full extent of your modifications are and have a Durametric read out.

Just my personal opinion.
Keep telling us whats going on,
Cheers
Frank

 

I have a solid 1bar tune from UMW. I sometimes see a spike to 1.1 but it doesn't hold. 1.3 is pretty high. You might want to do some more research from the previous owner as to what you have.

I'm out in the Frederick area. I don't drive my car much on the street. Come over to Summit Point July 17 & 18 and we can meet up. FAST FWD will be there too.

 

Alternate: Fill er up with 104 until you get a handle on things

 

The concern is that if your car is running lean, you can cause serious damage to your motor. Detonation and preignition cause major problems. And at those boost levels, that is a serious concern. Most pump gas tunes are at the .9-1.0 range for safety. Just my 2 cents.

 

K16s run out of steam at 1 bar, you're just overworking your turbos without any additional gain.. You're not getting an ounce of more power above 1 bar with K16s. Are those the turbos on your car?

 

I believe that the turbos are stock k16s. I had the car at a local tuning shop yesterday for unrelated maintenance and they felt that the 1.3 was not an issue. They have seen the 996tt with even higher boost with no problems.

How can I tell if I am running lean and what kind of damage does that cause? I don't mind buying a durametric but I wouldn't know what to do with the data that I collect. I really don't have the funding just now for a custom tune, especially given that the car is already tuned. I'm avoiding full throttle as a precaution until I have some time to work things out.

 

Your caught in a Fly trap and need a plan to get out.
If I were you IMO, I would find a good well known Tuning shop near you or in your local area (6 speed members might help there) with a Rolling Road and have a full check.
They will tell you whats going on with your car. I'm not saying buy another flash, just get a full power check.
No guess work, you will know how much your car has been tuned and you will know if it is safe.
"You Must Do This For Peace Of Mind". It will be well worth the cost in the end.
(Standard k16 should not be putting out 1.3 bar especially at the red line.)

Sorry for all the Neg Vibes, but I do truly hope you post back with good news.
Frank

 

I'm kind of in your position with a new to me car and overboost issues. I took mine to a dyno to check and that I was running lean. I was so lean that the ecu was pulling timing to try to protect the motor. Lean leads to detonation or preignition in the cylinder. Higher octane fuels resist preignition and improve your air fuel ratios which is why others have recommended race fuel till you get it sorted.

What can go wrong happened to me with an old 944 turbo race car of mine. Overboosted inadvertently, detonated, collapsed a piston which grabbed the piston rings and scored the block so badly I lost all compression in that cylinder. Then metal all thru the oiling system and blah blah blah. Think expensive.

The durametric is an easy to use program that can tell you what is happening. Search the board and it'll tell you how to use the thing if you're interested. It'll record a lamda value that can be translated to a/f ratios.

I'm not trying to be doom and gloom here, but you do need to sort this out. As others have said, 1.3 bar is beyond what is needed or wanted for stock turbos and is potentially very bad for your motor. You could be ok, but you don't have all the info yet to be able to be sure. If your local tuner was a Porsche guy that's one thing. If he's not, the TT is a different animal from what he may be used to.

Others smarter than I will probably do a better job describing the situation, but that's how I see it.

Good luck sorting. Just think how much you'll learn about your car!

 

What he (sunnyside) said! A dyno run is only a couple hundred bucks and the durametric is ~$250

 

Dude, trust me, ask anyone on this forum. K16s are not made to boost to 1.3 bar. You are overspinning the turbine. After 1 bar you are just working your turbo for no reason. It does not produce any more power. 1 bar is the limit for a K16, the local tuning shop is misinformed.

 

hi,
I wasnt sure how much a RR tune would be over there, it would be about £100 just for a check here I suppose.
A Durametric is a great tool and I would suggest you get one . I bought the pro which was £750 about $1100 over there. BUT on this occasion you dont want to be Pi$$ing about with a Durametric if you dont know how it works. Time for that is when the car is ok and you do some learning runs with it and learn how it all works. For now you must find somebody who will do a RR run and tell you the full story.
Do get a Durametric but do get a pro to Run your Car. The sooner the better.

Frank

 

Get in touch with TPC in Jessup Md. 410-799-7223. They specialize in all things TURBO. They can put you on their dyno and read your stats on their computer.

 

Just to answer your question about symptoms of lean operation - there are no obvious signs that can be detected without diagnostic equipment (except when the engine actually explodes or stops working) so there is nothing to "look" for while driving.

 

If this "tuner" is just doing oil changes for you, that's fine. If he is in any way involved with your engine tuning, you need to find somebody else. This guy doesn't know 996 turbos. That's not to say he isn't good on other cars, but I wouldn't trust him with an engine that costs more than some BMWs (as in an entire car off of the showroom floor) to replace.