Fitted Rica, low boost.

[BruceT]

Some may know I won a "Faulty" RICA'd ECU off eBay.

Upon fitting all seems well, so far apart from the fact of.

I can only get 8-10psi of boost maxium on the boost gauge (Not the dash one, but T'd off it)

Before this the car would run 6-8 Psi fairly well.

So it would seem i'm running on average 2psi more boost over standard.

Sure, it "Feels" quicker but I don't think its anywhere near how it should be.

Now, i've done most things to sort this on the original ECU but I wont mention these, ill let you suggest things incase ive missed something.

What I will say is, my car is a 1996 850 T-5 Estate, 135400miles, Manual with stock injectors/turbo.

Has a De-cat (Track use only) 2.5"cat-back with a very small backbox, rest is straight through.

Re-circ blanked. (ie, no way to dump or re-circ boost) to eliminate leaking re-circ or dump valve.

Running on V-Power or BP Ultimate.

No DTC's stored.


Stock ECU
It WILL hit 14-15PSI of boost with an MBC but im told when it was on the dyno it made 195hp with 12psi of boost that it was pulling the timing. Fueling was fine.

Let me have your suggestions and ill let you know whether ive done it or not... lol

[BruceT]

bump

[cameron]

Not sure on the numbers but before i had my Rica ( hlm 304 ) done the gauge would go just over half way into the white section, since getting it done it goes off the end by 2-3mm.

Hope this helps, i havent got an aftermarket psi gauge so im unsure about numbers.

[BruceT]

Mine doesnt go off the end of the stock gauge... infact its probably only 3/4 into it at best.

isnt the rica suppose to produce 14-16psi?

Assuming it us... im short of 4-6psi of boost

[cornclose]

Sounds like the ECU is faulty... I know this may be unhelpful or sound obvious, but what was the issue with the ECU to make be sold as 'faulty' ?

[Alan M]

Does the ECU show signs of being opened Bruce. If not it may be a standard item. Have you tried a different actuator on the turbo to rule out a faulty item?

[BruceT]

Actuator has been adjusted and is ok.

The fault was it made his car hit fuel cut when planting his foot in 4-5th gear at low speed. But he was running a bleed valve

[BruceT]

Or could it be the fact this "RICA" ECU is infact a stock T-5R ECU with overboost hence I see just over 10psi (10.5psi for overboost) and then back down to the usual 8psi I was seeing on my original ECU?

Here are some pictures of the ECU, check the tabs, surley these have to be bent or broken off to gain acess to the PCB to solder...?

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/Hypoxiaicon/RICA%20ECU%20HMM/008.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/Hypoxiaicon/RICA%20ECU%20HMM/009.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/Hypoxiaicon/RICA%20ECU%20HMM/010.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/Hypoxiaicon/RICA%20ECU%20HMM/011.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/Hypoxiaicon/RICA%20ECU%20HMM/012.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/Hypoxiaicon/RICA%20ECU%20HMM/013.jpg

[p fandango]

yeh the ECU has to be opened for it to be RICA'd, believe a internal chip is removed & replaced with a writtable version. Later ones are done thru the OBD socket but almost certain you can't do that on a 850

[BruceT]

Yeh I think on Motronic 4.4 (Ie, earlier, C/S/V 70) are flash writable, possibly?

I know P2 V70, S70 etc are all flash writable.

Just wanted to check the only way for it to be RICA's was for the case to be removed.

Even if it had, those tabs in are perfect condtion so its never been opened.

Ive left the guy feedback, too as I thought it was my car lol.

What do you think I should do?

Keep the "RICA" ecu and send MY stock to be mapped so can keep my car on the road... or pursue eBay/Seller for the £62...?

[p fandango]

it is still a better map than your normal T-5 one because of the overboost, which for £62 aint bad (just not as good as a RICA).

it really depends what you intend to do, if your still going to go for a RICA/HLM map then i'd of thought you'd get more money by selling the T-5R make & make do with your standard map till you can get it done

[BruceT]

Seller just contacted me regarding my question I sent 3 days ago. I just told him thats its not mapped. Will await his response.

I think ill keep running the T-5R ECU for the time been and send my stock T-5 ECU to be mapped. Get it back and sell on the T-5R ECU.

This depends on what the seller thinks to my message.

[sen]

Good luck bruce!!!!

[BruceT]

Been smoke tested by Volvo and it has no leaks, they confirmed "you cant alter a 850 ECU without opening the box first and transplanting a new chip"

So there we have it... lol

[claymore]

I'm so glad you outbid me.......lol, but what a compleate and utter ba**ard, that seller is.

[BruceT]

From myself:


I have been to my local Volvo Dealership for them to do a smoke test to check for leaks in the turbo pipes, they confirmed I do not have any leaks. I asked their advice re the remapped ECU, they checked it and said its a Standard T-5R ECU and is not mapped, nor has ever been mapped. They continued to explain the the reason Im getting 10psi boost is because the T-5R has an "overboost" for 25-30 seconds to allow 10psi before going back to the normal 9psi.

This is what is happening on my car.

Can you confirm to the best of your knowledge that what you sold me was a RICA'd ECU, ie any proof as Volvo are telling me its a Standard ECU, never been opened running the factory Map.

His reply



defin sure it was a remapped ecu, only sold due to fault with overboost, this ecu has more power than my purchased original rica ecu, cause have since had a rolling road tune and power run and have found that ive lost about 15bhp, could onlybe the ecu cause thats the only change have done since last run.....

[Tomcat]

Simplest way to tell is to whizz the cover off it, if the stock chips is in there then bobs yer uncle....

[Dangerous Dave]

But if it was Rica'd, wouldn't the boost limit cut have been removed as part of the new software? If so then this guy hitting the boost cut should be the clincher, as he wouldn't have if it was Rica'd.

Is it that standard Volvo ecu's have the boost cut at around 1 bar (14.7psi)

[Neilc]

I would whip it off for a photo of the chip to shove in his face :)