Month: February 2006

2 big parcels arrived from Elkparts containing front and rear disks and pads. Fitting is still booked for Thursday, but here are some pics before they go on the car.

In preparation for the trackday in May I have been looking at replacing my brakes which have been well-cooked in the past. Changing for bigger disks/calipers is expensive and won’t fit behind standard wheels. Since I want to keep the car looking standard this isn’t an option. Following discussion with Elkparts and reading posts on … Read more

I fitted my new Forge recirculating dump valve today. I advise fitting when the engine is warm. When cold I couldn’t remove the old valve – the jubilee clips are unnecessary, it really isn;t going anyywhere. When warm after a drive the valve came out with the use of a fair bit of force. Fitting … Read more

Received a package from Elkparts today. Immediately fitted the replacement APC valve and took the car for a drive on some interesting Worcestershire roads. The car now performs properly with lots of controlled boost 🙂 I also have a Forge recirculating dump valve to fit and a DIN mount for 3 gauges. I have a … Read more

Having done a little research I think I now understand the working of the wastegate and APC. Wastegates allow exhaust gas to bypass the turbo. Without a wastegate opening a positive feedback loop is formed which should be able to destroy an engine. Wastegates are opened by an actuator. This is connected by some vacuum … Read more

Recieved an e-mail from Elkparts (those guys were still working at 6:45pm on a Fri night). There are a couple of tests for a working APC valve. 1) The resistance from the centre pin to the ones either side should be 2-3 Ohms. I checked this and it was 2.5 on each side. Same for … Read more

Another chat with John at WMSS leads me to believe that the replacement APC solenoid may be faulty and causing the problems. As the wastegate functions for the base boost setting, the APC solenoid seems the most likely solution – I can’t think of anything else, but I don’t know all the intricacies of the … Read more

Having left the battery disconnected for 2 days to reset the ECU I had Friday afternoon off to fix the boost issues. So I reconnected the battery and went out for a drive – car still only boosted to the start of the end of the broken yellow/red section. To check that the car could … Read more