Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Hey guys, looking for some help from anyone with experience with a rotrex setup. I have a simple k20a2 with minor bolt ons and a c38-81 running 138mm stock crank pulley and 90mm blower pulley. I'm tuning as we speak and everything was going great up until 5500rpm. By that point I was reaching 8.7psi and all was peachy. The next map I start losing boost as the rpm rose, it would drop to 5.6psi by 6500, then levels back up to 7psi until 8000rpm. I have the TTS billet bracket with additional idler pulley to give the blower 270 degrees of belt wrap. I am running the stock tensioner. I have a Tial Q BOV and a Tial MVR with a 4 port MAC solenoid controlling boost. At this point in tuning the BCS is deactivated, and the wastegate is welded on backwards to a typical turbo setup meaning the compressed air is blowing keeping the valve shut (meaning the boost can't be creeping out the wastegate unless its told to). Also the fact that I can build almost 9psi then all of a sudden it drops makes me think its not a leaking charge pipe. Has anyone here experienced belt slip? That's the only thing I can imagine is happening but its strange since the OEM tensioner is reading normal and the belts taught and is fine until 5500rpm. I know that was a bit of a rant but I like details when I'm trying to help someone so guess its a habit. Seen alot of builds on this site for a long time and love them all. Cheers guys and thanks in advance for any help. :cheers:
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
That's a good call. Guess Ill pressure test the whole system first before trying to diagnose everything at once haha. I have one coupler I can bet if it's leaking, it's leaking from that. Cheers!
Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
I know jaydee had abswered you back on k20a but do you have a grouo of photos we could see of the setup? Close up of the belt as well. You can try simply things like belt dressing to see if that takes car of slip if thats your issue. Perhaps that belt tensioner mod jaydee did may help as well being factory tension was ok to moderate but a little extra was needed.
s4 IG-petefromthestreets
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Hey sorry for the delay. Ill grab a couple photos in the morning, but I'm ruling out belt slip as of now, since I was so excited/nervous during street pulls for the Etune, my ears were missing the super loud sound of boost leaking lol. I'm 99% positive now my BOV is leaking due to the distance it is from the throttle body so I'm going to get it moved and hopefully that fixes my problem. I went to do a leak down tonight but was parked on the street and didn't have a jack or anything and couldn't get the air chuck to get on the valve great so said fuck it, I'm confident in how I out on the rubber connectors on the charge piping. Thanks for the reply guys
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
I'm pretty bad at explaining this, but since I'm running a -2psi spring in the tial q, my guess would be when the high cams roll on, the motor is essentially taking a deeper breathe and lowering the pressure at the manifold, so now the blower/charge piping where the BOV is, is at 10psi but the high cams may drop the pressure at the manifold to 8psi and the pressure in the charge pipes being just greater enough to crack open the valve. This is all I can think of for now but it makes sense in my head. It always happens at my vtec point and never before that even though I get up to 9psi then it cracks, then all of a sudden at 7000 you can hear the leak just stop entirely and the boost shoots back up then leaks again, so it seems like the BOV or wastegate opening, but can't be the wastegate since I have it mounted backward so the pressure is holding the valve shut and the boost solenoid isn't activated at this point in tuning. I'm going to post a pic of the bay to show what I mean for my placement. Also mind the piping lol long story, but it stays until my next upgrade.
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Interesting, glad to see you got it resolved. In my case I have a blow off valve and it is holding shut because I can get up to 9psi. But I hope mine has to do with just the placement
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
I thought the same at first but it functions perfect until a certain point so it's super strange. I'm going to get a go pro, slap it under my hood and go for a spin and see if that is what's happening. If not, not sure what else is causing this behaviour
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Hey guys, my IAT sensor just decided to give out, went to look for a replacement and seen se discussion on 8th gens about using an obd1 IAT since it bolts into a flange. Just curious what a lot of the Rsx guys are doing about their IAT. I guess I never thought about a leak occurring from there and was wondering if I should do the same
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Thanks. It looks like a sturdier setup than oem. I'm going to try a suggestion from Adam rsx first, if it doesn't work I'll try the the obd1. Input is always appreciated!
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
I see that makes sense! My car is running so terribly Rich bc of this shot IAT it actually sounds like an STI lol. If only I could upload a video straight from my phone
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
No, I tried pressure testing the system with an air pig but can't seem to get a budge on my boost gauge so not sure if I have to borrow an air compressor now, guess it doesn't flow enough to fill the charge pipes. Hopefully I can try some things this weekend
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Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Ended up finally fixing my IAT sensor which had to do with wiring and not the sensor itself. Didn't help my problem, ended up finding out if was an injector not firing. Fixed that and the car is sounding like a Honda again thank god. Shortening my charge piping tommorow and seeing if we can get over 9psi on the high cams. Crossing my fingers. Makes way more sense why the car sounds like this if its running on 3 cylinders. Hopefully that can help anyone who encounters the dreadful subbie sound
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Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Quote:
Originally Posted by
04carboncivic
Ended up finally fixing my IAT sensor which had to do with wiring and not the sensor itself. Didn't help my problem, ended up finding out if was an injector not firing. Fixed that and the car is sounding like a Honda again thank god. Shortening my charge piping tommorow and seeing if we can get over 9psi on the high cams. Crossing my fingers. Makes way more sense why the car sounds like this if its running on 3 cylinders. Hopefully that can help anyone who encounters the dreadful subbie sound
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Glad to see you got that fixed. I didn't think the IAT would cause a misfire sound. I would pull the fmic and check it for leaks and the same for the rest of the charge piping as well.
If your having trouble with your couplers a little trick is to spray a bit of hairspray on the inside of the couplet and then reinstall. It Will not pop back off or if it does then you sir have just made a great deal of power. (Or your engine mounts are not sturdy enough showing to much movement)
s4 IG-petefromthestreets
Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
[MENTION=824]SAX JONZ[/MENTION] Please post an informational article on your problem. Please note your initial symptoms, successful methods of problem solving, the solution, and the result. That way, others can search for the issue, find your thread, and BAM fixed. It also allows other people's .02 on the matter, allowing for greater knowledge on the topic for us all. Thanks, and I'm glad it's all figured out!
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Has anyone here had the bearings inside a rotrex go bad? I have this horrible sound coming from it now. It still produces boost to what seems like normal, I checked the fluid level and it is the same as when I installed it 2 months ago. I bought this c38-81 used so not sure of its prior maintenance but it sounded and worked just fine for the last two months. I don't even know if these can be sent out to be serviced. Ahh this build is quickly becoming a disaster.
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Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Quote:
Originally Posted by
04carboncivic
Has anyone here had the bearings inside a rotrex go bad? I have this horrible sound coming from it now. It still produces boost to what seems like normal, I checked the fluid level and it is the same as when I installed it 2 months ago. I bought this c38-81 used so not sure of its prior maintenance but it sounded and worked just fine for the last two months. I don't even know if these can be sent out to be serviced. Ahh this build is quickly becoming a disaster.
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[MENTION=56]Adm_rsx[/MENTION]
Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Quote:
Originally Posted by
04carboncivic
Has anyone here had the bearings inside a rotrex go bad? I have this horrible sound coming from it now. It still produces boost to what seems like normal, I checked the fluid level and it is the same as when I installed it 2 months ago. I bought this c38-81 used so not sure of its prior maintenance but it sounded and worked just fine for the last two months. I don't even know if these can be sent out to be serviced. Ahh this build is quickly becoming a disaster.
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I have not heard of or ever had my bearings go bad before but you can get in touch with TTS Performance and talk to Richard about getting yours looked at If you want.
I would check to make sure the bolts are all tight. Being that they are only tightened to 11-15ft.lbs it's possible they could have come loose.
s4 IG-petefromthestreets
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Thanks for the suggestions. I had the car running and used a flat head as a stethoscope and it hurt my ear when I held it to the power head. The blower doesn't have much if any vibration feeling from loose bolts, even when revved, feels more like a rough movement from within the unit. Sigh, if its cooked I think I may go turbo than purchase a new unit at full price
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Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Quote:
Originally Posted by
04carboncivic
Thanks for the suggestions. I had the car running and used a flat head as a stethoscope and it hurt my ear when I held it to the power head. The blower doesn't have much if any vibration feeling from loose bolts, even when revved, feels more like a rough movement from within the unit. Sigh, if its cooked I think I may go turbo than purchase a new unit at full price
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I feel your pain man. I'd get in contact with the guy I suggested. I hooked me up several times. Real good guy and great customer service
s4 IG-petefromthestreets
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
Richard is awesome, I used him for their bracket and rad/intercooler combo. But like I said the blower is used so It won't be warrantied. I read on a bimmer forum from 2010 of these guys using an individual who rebuilt their blowers with success, and could upgrade the centre shaft which these days seems to be a common breaking point for 500. But again I am losing faith in these setups as they seem rather vulnerable.
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Help with Rotrex lack of boost
I fixed my misfire problem incase that wasn't clearly posted. I had the power and ground pulse width signal reversed on cyclinder three. When I corrected that, bam cylinder one injector started firing again (and cylinder 3 worked all this time even being reversed). I'm not sure how this all makes sense. The car ran perfect on all 4 cylinders for 2 months and all of a sudden injector 1 decided to stop working. Either way I'm glad it's running again. Now on to my new problem. The gnarly sounding grind/knock sound coming from my power head. Does anyone here with a rotrex unit know what it should feel like when you spin the pulley clockwise? It turns but it's not 'easy' to turn nor does it spin freely. This is my first unit and it was used so I'm not sure if that's normal or a bearing(s) are wearing out. It still produces boost the same as before the sound and there isn't any play in the pulley side. I haven't had a chance to take the intake pipe off and see if there is play/damage to the impeller wheel yet but my ear tells me it's much more audible from the pulley side. I REALLY hope I don't have to send this unit in for a rebuild as it will be snowing here in Canada before I get it back and will go into hibernation until next spring.
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Re: Help with Rotrex lack of boost
This sounds like you will have to pull the sc off. All the bearings ect is on the pulley side so it sounds like that is your problem. Have you checked the sc fluid level? When is running can you see its circulating fluid through it? Did you replace the magnetic oil filter before installing the blower onto your car? TTS was really adamant about me replacing the filter before installing the new blower in my car.
s4 IG-petefromthestreets
Help with Rotrex lack of boost
The supercharger oil level is between the min and max mark after running for a few minutes so I know none has leaked out so far. I did not put a new filter on since the used kit came with two, and the guy told me the new one was only a few months old so I assumed it to be useable. I can't actually see much going on in the canister as far as I can remember but I honestly wasn't paying attention, I was more concerned with checking the oil level at the time. Is it painfully obvious you can see fluid movement or is it a slow trickle? Sorry if that's a newb question haha just not sure how fast that oil circulates
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