Hello,

After some advice about my mr2 turbo 1994.

It is currently at rouge motorsport getting mapped. It’s had the link standalone ECU installed and the guys there just rang me to say it’s not making the power the expected. They are having to retard the timing because of knocking and it’s only making 250 at the wheels when they normally make 300 at the wheels with the same mods as mine.

He is going to check the air filter as that’s been on there since I bought the car (5 years ago) and who knows how long it was on there before that. If that looks ok, he will take my charge cooler off and check the engine compression.

See relevant mods below

St205 charge cooler (installed by rouge)
3 inch decat down pipe and full exhaust (installed custom by rouge)

He has stated it’s knocking at only 250 hp ah the hubs at 14psi when he would expect around 40-50 more than that…

I’m just wondering what other things could lead to this lack of power? He has said the car is not miss firing and is running well and it’s on momentum 99 petrol. So new spark plugs don’t seem like they are required as no miss fire.

What else could cause this lack of power?

Another note which may be unrelated - previously on the stock ECU, Surrey rolling road told me there was a lean spot on the AFR curve, just as it came on boost. I always thought the car was a bit down on power, especially in the mid range rpm, it only made 280 at the fly with these mods on the stock ecu.

Any info anyone has on this is appreciated.

I’m waiting to hear back from the tuner so I can update the thread when I hear.

For further reading, this was my thread on the lack of power on the stock ECU

https://mr2oc.co.uk/forum/topic/stock-e ... 68731.html

I was under the impression a standalone ecu and new map would have sorted it, but seems something else is going on…

1. Service the thing properly. Why would you not change the air filter in 5+ years? Likewise spark plugs, they need to be in good condition, properly gapped and the right temperature rating. If those haven’t been done I’ll bet the fuel filter hasn’t either as it’s often neglected. There’s no point in tuning an engine that hasn’t been serviced.
2. Check base timing is correct (can lead to knocking)
3. Replace knock sensor. Not a hard job and back when I was on here a lot there were loads of posts about how swapping out the KS resolved running issues
4. Check for air leaks particularly around the boost pressure sensor. Check that the ECU coolant temp sensor and boost pressure sensor are reading correctly
5. Check O2 sensor is working correctly

My money is on an issue with the boost pressure sensor given the issues with AFR on the thread you linked. I’m really surprised it wasn’t mentioned. Number 1 reason the ECU would be late switching from O2 sensor when on boost would be that it doesn’t know it’s on boost..

Thankyou very much for that reply mate,

It’s extremely helpful.

They are going to investigate these things next week and I will let you know the outcome.

Thanks

Rogue not rouge

Any news on this?