digitaloutsider Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 Sorry for the crosspost from the TGP forums, but I need help fast. Sorry for the short story, I'm typing this up in a hurry before I sign into work. Last night, me and a buddy of mine were out cruising around in the TGP. We got stopped at a red light and and when it turned green, I hammered the gas. The car took off like a bat out of hell, but maybe halfway through the intersection, the car fell on its face like the wastegate just suddenly opened or something. There was a loud air rushing noise when the turbo spooled. We drove it to our destination thinking I popped a boot off one of the charge pipes, but the boots were intact and connected as they should be. All the vacuum lines look intact (aside from the ones under the plenum, I can't check those, but I'd imagine they're fine). We were stumped, so we drove home and figured we'd futz with it the next morning. On the way home, I got stuck at another light so I hammered the gas again just to see what would happen. The car shuddered slightly and then took off and hauled ass like normal. What the hell? Got on the highway and the car never pulled so good. On the way back home, the car started the same strange air rushing noise and no power. Same thing on the way to work today. Also, is it normal for the Jeff M chip to intermittanty turn the cooling fans on when the key is off? I know my DHP in my Regal did this, but I don't know if Jeff did. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for when they turn on, they just sometimes do after key off. Sometimes they'll run for 5 seconds, sometimes they'll run for a minute or two. The cafr was previously throwing a code for the knock sensor which I'm going to fix tonight, but I don't feel that it's the source of my problems. What the fuck is wrong with this car?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 Start with the knock sensor. If it is operating sporatically, it may causing car to pull timing / open the wastegate, trying to keep what it sees as knock down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 Start with the knock sensor. If it is operating sporatically, it may causing car to pull timing / open the wastegate, trying to keep what it sees as knock down. x2... the knock sensor kills power. Replace it/check the wiring. On my '90 Euro it was simply a broken harness/plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeZ34 Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 Fans running when the key is off.. as in keys completely out of the ignition? It shouldn't run at all with the keys off, and it never did that when I owned it. I'd check the relays for the cooling fans, make sure they aren't shorting out. Or just replace them since they are cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltboy1 Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 my fan will sometimes run for a min or 2 after the cars off with keys out, that's normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted2bass Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 My TGP will sometimes run the fans after i shut the car off. I noticed that it seems to happen after its been drivin harder. So i think it does it cuz the turbo is still hot. For example theres a steep hill on my road, if i come home that way the fans will always stay on for like 30 sec to a minute after the car is shut off. However if i leave the car idle after i pull into my driveway for like 30-45 sec the fan will turn on for like 5-10 sec after the car is shut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 entirely normal.. depending on what ECM you have, its adjustable. it will run until the coolant temp is under a limit or a timer gets passed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaloutsider Posted May 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 Replaced the knock sensor. Drove the car again and the problems were immediately there. Drove it back to the garage and opened the hood to look for any possible leaks. Again, there were none. I made a comment to Chris that the ECM/Chip could be bad so I smacked the shit out of the ECM with a screwdriver because I was pissed. Drove the car home and it ran much better. There was a slight stumble but it felt more like a bunk tank of gas. I was low on fuel anyway, so I put 13 gallons of fresh 93 in from BP. Car drove a little better on the way home. It's boosting now but it doesn't feel near to it's full potential. Fans at key off still happens at random. No real rhyme or reason. I'm going over to swap the ECM with TGP 1.0 and we'll see where that gets us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaloutsider Posted May 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 Swapped the ECM, no go. Swapped the boost control solenoid, no go. Got rid of the shitty-ass upper charge pipe to TB coupler and everything is peachy! I don't know how we missed this the first go round. I also changed the oil today and upon inspecting the underbody of the car I found that I had no right side subframe bushing retainer . It just wasn't there. At all. Put one from Chris' old subframe on and we're rockin'! Maybe THAT'S why I had no torque and the car handled for ass. I can't believe that passed three separate state inspections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 I also changed the oil today and upon inspecting the underbody of the car I found that I had no right side subframe bushing retainer . It just wasn't there. At all. Put one from Chris' old subframe on and we're rockin'! Maybe THAT'S why I had no torque and the car handled for ass. I can't believe that passed three separate state inspections. Ouch! Sounds familiar!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 nice! I just got done stressin the hell out for weeks as to why the rad fan won't shut off. swapped out ecms and chips. just had success with changing out the shitty 160 thermostat I paid way too much for from autozone.com. It was like $30 or something. what a ripoff. put back in the one I got from Jeff M like 6-7 years ago and the fan shut off after a minute or two. these cars piss you off sometimes because its always one stupid little thing that completely throws you off for awhile and the car runs like complete ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLaren1 Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 hi, i TOO have a TGP that runs like "ass" exactly as u described before my tranny went out and drove me nutz lookin for the problem. one drive the tires r melting off and the next im my embarassing grandmother sputtering:) but now gonna address the tranny and want to get it runnin tip top again. can u explain exactly what u replaced to get the torque and turbo pull back to normal? im assuming not worth my time to mess with the "knock sensor"? im still learnin this whole "turbo thing"! i dont know what a tb coupler is. all i know to do is look for air leaks and all seems fine so any details would be great! my fan runs at different intervals depending on temperature. if i drive the hell out of it it runs upwards of 5 minutes. otherwise a minute or two if anyone cares for comparison:)..............scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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