stock RB25DET S1 (turbo, injectors, ecu, throttle body, new oem thermostat, new oem S14 radiator with clutch fan)
FMIC
freddy intake
Tomei fpr set to 36psi at ~675 rpm idle on vacuum
Syko mount kit (r33 crossmember, including elbow)
3" cat-less exhaust
Tial QR recirc vavle on hotpipe recirculated
Stock intake tube with cone filter
Fidanza flywheel
SPEC clutch
aluminum drive shaft
AEM wideband
Here is a s*** cellphone picture:
Ok so my first issue is in all gears besides 1st the car will boost creep at full throttle once its hit 7psi. Boost will gradually rise to about 11-12 psi (at the location I'm reading from) before I hit a fuel cut (which I believe is my MAFS maxing out). I have my boost gauge connected to one of the ports on the back of the freddy intake manifold, and my car idles at about 19 mmHG so I don't think I have a vacuum/boost leak though short of a smoke test I have double checked everything. The waste gate actuator is activated from a line directly off the turbo outlet elbow, 1/4" ID tubing ~4" long. I live in Washington, and have read that boost creep problems can be worse when it is cold out, and it has been cold lately ,like 55F and below. Is this a normal problem for someone with my mods and air temp? How do I fix this? I've read that I could port the waste gate in the turbo a little bit, but I wanted to find out if there was something I may be missing before I pull the turbo and start grinding away. Car runs great otherwise, I just really want to be able to do full throttle ~7k rpm shifts in 2nd and 3rd gear.
I've also thought about using a boost controller to set the boost at like 9psi, though I'm not sure how the ecu would like that, or if will just creep even higher. I'm having trouble reasoning that one out in my head. (note the hallman MBC ready to roll in the picture).
My next question is something I'm slightly more concerned about. After the engine is very warm (~30min drive, mixed highway and spirited twisty roads), I'll turn off the engine and after about a minute of sitting I can hear a bubbling noise coming from the back of the head on the passenger side, like the water is boiling inside the block. Is this normal? I run about a 50/50 mix with a bottle of water wetter, I'm not losing water as the overflow always ends up at the same level once the car is completely cool. I don't have white smoke or sweet smells, no oil in the coolant, and no water in the oil from what I can tell. Once the bubbling noise starts I can squeeze the upper radiator hose and influence the bubbling noise. I have a STRI xline V2 water temp gauge in the upper radiator hose. According to the STRI gauge the water temp is very stable 95% of the time at 190-194F and may get warmer to near 200F if I'm in boost for a extended period of time but will fall back to 190-194F when I return to normal driving. I bought a consult to usb cable on ebay, hooked it up to my laptop and installed ecutalk. According to ecutalk and the ECU oem temp sensor it never reads higher than 183F even when the STRI reads 10-15F higher (there is a point at lower temp where they match). I'm not sure which I can trust. I am afraid I have a bad head gasket but I don't have any other symptoms.
Lastly, does the ecu pull timing after I hit a fuel cut? I suppose I could figure this out by doing some logging and graphing with ecutalk and excel but I have yet to do so.
Thanks for reading and any responses.