Boost Gauge reading too high ESS Tuning G2

[stangineer_s550]

Hey everyone, I'm hoping someone can assist me with a problem I'm having with my ESS Tuning G2 car. To make a long story short, I forgot to perform a crank relearn after a clutch replacement, which led to the car throwing a few permanent codes and cutting power. I used HP Tuners to do the crank relearn, and now the car seems to be running fine, except for the persistent check engine light due to the permanent codes (which I can wait to clear by itself).

However, during some data logging pulls, I noticed that the boost gauge was reading 20 psi at a little over 6000 rpm. I'm currently running the 120 mm pulley, and previously, the gauge used to read close to 10 psi at 7500 rpm. I understand that the OEM gauge shows calculated boost pressure, but it wasn't reading that high before. Is the gauge possibly broken? I also added the boost pressure channel to the VCM scanner, and it also shows a high reading (see pic here).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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[Whitedevil95]

I would say 2 things

1. Get a real gauge on there and actually verify the reading.

2. Possible you melted the cheap cats and now have a blockage in your exhaust.

 

[stangineer_s550]

I would say 2 things

1. Get a real gauge on there and actually verify the reading.

2. Possible you melted the cheap cats and now have a blockage in your exhaust.

I have ordered a real gauge (should be here Monday). I'm currently running high flow cats with the stainless works headers and full 3" MBRP exhaust. Do you think those are shot?

 

[Whitedevil95]

I have ordered a real gauge (should be here Monday). I'm currently running high flow cats with the stainless works headers and full 3" MBRP exhaust. Do you think those are shot?

Ive seen many examples of aftermarket cats being inferior to oem and failing in boosted applications. I would take a look at those and rule that out before making any more pulls. If that boost number is even close to accurate the only mechanical explanation would be something like that blocking exhaust flow thus artificially raising boost number, because as we know boost is a measure of restriction.

 

[stangineer_s550]

Ive seen many examples of aftermarket cats being inferior to oem and failing in boosted applications. I would take a look at those and rule that out before making any more pulls. If that boost number is even close to accurate the only mechanical explanation would be something like that blocking exhaust flow thus artificially raising boost number, because as we know boost is a measure of restriction.

Makes lots of sense. Thanks for the advice. I will check those cats tomorrow.

 

[stangineer_s550]

Update: I've checked both cats and both are fine. I went ahead and flashed the ecu with the previous tune, and for some reason, that fixed the problem. Now, the boost gauge shows the correct psi (9.5ish) @ 7500 rpm.

 

[engineermike]

I hate that I just saw this now, but the boost is calculated based on airflow. With a centrif, if the cats are plugged boost will rise but airflow will fall. You’ll get an erroneously low boost reading from a scanner.

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