Hi all

Came out to the car this morning got in flicked the ignition on and waited for the ecutek monitor to power up before starting as I wanted to see what temp the coolant was from stone cold, at the same time I notice the AM ( Advance Mulitiplier ) sitting at 16 like it normally does.

I went to start the car, it fired up but cut out again ( had done this previously when freezing outside, has not been a constant issue) so I cranked it again and it took between 5-10 secs to fire in to life, and when it did start the AM was sitting at 8

I checked all the rest of the max values and settings but all was as normal and when running everything was as it normally is on the display?

Could the 2 be related? This is the first time the car has not started first time off the key for a while, an when it done it last I did no have the ecutek monitor on board so can't see if it had reset previously.

I have started it again around 30 mins ago and it fired up first time as usual but then flashed up the management light, so I have checked the codes and it came up with p0365 which I'm led to beleive is the camshaft position sensor so I have gone under the bonnet to make sure the connections are ok, and gave it a general once over on all the breathers an I came across a breather hose comin from the bottom of the 3port and leading to nowhere.

Now I have been over all the breathers and can't find any unused nipples, nor can I find any "T" pieces where it may have come from, so I'm baffled I have added some pics for reference, from the 3 port the pipes run:- top of 3 port goes to the turbo housing, side of the 3 port runs to the actuator and the bottom pipe is not connected, maybe this is correct? I'm a little unsure so any advise is welcome :

General shot of the area in question


Shot of little black box behind 3 port, it had 3 wires coming from it through the bulkhead in to the cab somewhere, ignore what looks like a nipple as its part if the fixing bracket, from that box comes the vaccume with the restrictor pill in place and runs to just under the throttle cable on the front of inlet.


This pic is of the pipe going to the actuator, it runs from the side of the 3 port


Pic of pipe from turbo housing to the top of the 3 port



And lastly a pic of the pipe going nowhere, just vta it seems and that pipe is coming from the bottom of the 3 port


Sorry for the long post, just thought it easier to post once than multiple threads. Any ideas or comments on any of the above would be greatfully received, as I was told the nps sensor could play up and cause numerous issues so before just going out and buying parts I would like to know what the general concensus is amongst the knowledgable gurus between you.

Cheers all :

Craig

P.S sorry for any spelling errors and bad pics I have done this post straight off my mobile

 

Can only comment on the 3 port. Yes its correct to have one open port.

 

Cheers bud, that's one question answered then

 

isnt the third port vta?
it is on my car anyway

 

Yep mine to

 

You appear to have a port not being used on your red turbo intake, near where the original part would bolt to the inlet manifold?

 

I assume its correct then guys, never played about with one as it was on the car fitted already when I bought it, just took me by surprise when I found a pipe leading nowhere that's all, and with the other little bits I was not sure if it was helping matters, but it looks to be correct so thanks guys that's one piece of info locked away for future reference

Cheers

 

Ian the intake pipe has always been that way since purchase, I assume there was a pipe done away with when the fmic and other bits went on, or could it be just a spare

 

Hi

yes your 3 port is how it is supposed to be there should be a pipe leading to atmosphere - ..

However your iam being pulled to 8 means the ecu is pulling timing by half, there must be a reason for this - Poss seeing some knock as it is trying to start.

As you have a fault code relating to the cam sensor your next step would be to do a pin check to make sure this is working correctly. (this not giving a correct reading back to the ecu could also cause the ecu to pull timing as it has no referance to where the cam actually is.. Prob the best thing is to get it to a garage asap.

Hope this helps

Jamie

 

Ecu went into limp mode due to the cam error I expect the BCS is not related to this.

that open port on the intake pipe should be blocked/sealed as its letting in un metered air bypassing the maf.

cheers

bob

 

@ Jamie - thanks for the reply bud, I was assuming it was something to do with the cam sensor, but had heard somebody say (well read actually ) that they had a similar issue to mine and it was the nps sensor, which is why I asked the question I don't mind purchasing anything the car needs, but I'm not in to buying this and that off the cuff to diagnose the problem, I myself think its cam sensor related and after Bob's comments also I am going to purchase one now to replace it with, I'm still in work and have cleared the codes so will see what it throws up on the way home later. Also when you say pin check is that directly off the sensor or the ecu? Can I test it with my multimeter to get a reading or am I just pissing in the wind?

@Bob - again thank you for the reply, the inlet pipe is blocked off I just assumed it has a spare outlet on it for what ever reason.

When I first started the car this morning the cel did not come on, it just fired and cut out then cranked for a good 5-10 secs to start with no light when the AM went back to 8, then when I started it later in the afternoon whilst taking the pics it started first time but threw on the light, so it did confuse me a bit can it suffer intermittent problems without throwing the cel, I'm assuming it can.

I have now near enough sourced all my bits so should hopefully be booking in end of next month when I get paid again expensive hobbies these cars are I'm still pondering over the meth tho

 

Hi

Yes you can check your sensor with a multimeter. Remove the plug and test for resitance throught the sensor for a start - obv red to live and black to earth, If you have infinite resistance or prob a 1 on your multimeter then the sensor has an open circuit in this case change it. if your multimeter shows 0 then you have a shorted coil inside the sensor in this case change it. If you get a reading hovering between the 2 then it is most prob ok but would need to check it is not to far away from what it should be ( i would need to check on my laptop to get this info for you).

if this test shows good then there is a good chance there is another prob i.e wiring fault or pick up fault on the cam itself.

 

Also when ecu see's cam sensor fault it may cause a little poor starting as it has no refereance to where the cams are and if i remember corectly it then reverts back to a crank sensor for full running after checking lots of other perameters and a re learning of timing - very much like like what the ecu does when you re flash drive by wire motors for throttle position learning.

 

Thank you for that Jamie, very much appreciated

Any info you can share with me would be great, I shall be dropping the sensor out after work tomorrow to check it and shall be ordering a new one from there, fingers crossed it is just the can sensor but according to my paperwork it had a new one just over a year ago? Are they that much of a common problem or should I be thinking along some other line of thought as to why they are failing after what seems to me a short period of time

 

no probs -

was it a subaru part or aftermarket - if subaru then i would not expect it to fail so quickly - aftermarket you get what you pay for !!!! - also iirc depending on model you may have up to 3 cam sensors you fault code relatyed to sensor bank b wich again iirc is the one on pass side at the rear of the engine, Maybe someone could confirm that for you as i am away from my laptop for next couple of days.

P.S

Also if your taking the sensor out first and easiest check you can do is to make sure it is still magnetic, if it is not then it is deff gone (no need to get multimeter out)

 

I believe it was a genuine item from import car parts, but if that is correct and I have up to 3 sensors on there then perhaps it was another that had failed previously, I will have to have a closer look at the paperwork to see what it says on there, are all 3 sensors the same do you know as in part numbers? Fingers crossed that is the case if I have more than one of them on the car and its not the same one that has failed again

I shall drop the sensor(s) out over the next day or 2 and give them a test with the multimeter to see what they show up and shall report back.

If anybody else can also confirm if the car has more than one cam sensor it would be appreciated, car is a 53/2004 jdm blob Sti

Cheers for all the help so far guys, its appreciated

 

i put a new cam sensor it just before i sold it on to fud.. i dont know how long they should last. The new one must have been in just over a year....i would expect them to last longer than that, but ive no idea.

hope its a cheap fix...

 

Hi James

Yes I have gone through paperwork and found the receipt for it. When you had a problem with it what symptoms was you having? Did it take a while to start some times?

I've only used it for one day this week, no management light has come on and its started first go every time that day, I did notice that the AM fell to 8 again tho so I checked for codes and its flashed back up with P0365 again after i reset it last time so I'm confident its the sensor now. I am off work tomorrow so shall check it with the meter anyway, just been so busy the last few days but will find the time tomorrow and i shall also order a sensor, any suggestions on cheapest place to source a genuine one? I'm assuming import car parts will be amoungst them tho

 

Tbh it never started comfortably when I had it. It always started first time, but you felt it didn't want too..

I changed the cam sensor and another sensor ( can't remember) due to it hesitating on boost. Turns out that was just the map that was on it...

I think import car parts is prob the cheapest place for them....

 

Well its been fine to start since I've had it, i get what you mean tho it sorts of starts and is a little hesitant before it picks up to fast idle, my other one was the same tbh so its never really bothered me to be fair.

On another note I had a £800+ repair bill estimate for my mrs Audi A4 cab, its decided the head gaskets have had enough and people think imprezas are expensive to repair, try owning a german 3.0 v6 tank! and that's just parts, really looking forward to the final bill..............honest

So all in all its been a fab week, and no doubt its gonna get worse some how