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View Full Version : BrenTuning on my 2002 WRX and 2004 Forester XT


rmtaylor
02-02-2010, 10:45 PM
Back in May 2009, I had purchased a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon 5MT from a Mazda dealer (Autex) in Keene, NH. Being a NH sale, there was no warranty. I figured I could take care of any little rattle or anything that bugged me when I got it home. Well, little to my surprise, within 1 mile of leaving the lot I got a CEL :eek: I should have just turned around and taken my check back.

Beside having to replace the clutch, a downpipe, and a bunch of exhaust gaskets, the biggest headache was the CEL P0171 that I got from the dealer. The code is for an air leak; big help. I was also getting crap for boost; a combo of boost creep and boost crash. Had no idea what was going on.

In comes Bren Tuning. I posted my woes on Nasioc and he offered his services to help me get my WRX back up to speed. The Subaru specialist in Fitchburg couldn't figure out what was causing the CEL or the boost issues. Bren hooked up his software, read what was going on in the ECU and noticed my airflow #s were completely out of whack, even at idle. So he popped my hood, popped the hood in his Forester XT, and we switched MAF sensors. Instant cure to the CEL. Passed inspection and couldn't be happier.

Lastly was my crap boost issue. Looking at my boost lines, he noticed something was awry with what I had there. He grabbed his Forge MBC from his Forester, put it in place of my stock BCS, and took it for a spin. The boost then hit 15psi and stayed there. Nice smooth boost from start to finish. After a horrible long month of trying to get this going, Bren got me back up to speed in a week and gave me a tune that gave me a great daily driver at 23mpg.

I trusted Bren so much I just bought that Forester XT that he's custom tuned for me and my wife's use. It's an ecofriendly tune with a 3" catless downpipe that still can get front wheel spin on the automatic transmission.

So big thumbs up for Bren at BrenTuning. He seems to have that gift to be able to get his head into the ECU and get things running properly, and quickly.

Ryan

mdungelman
02-02-2010, 10:55 PM
Another great review!

squeethebee
02-02-2010, 10:57 PM
Awesome review man, good to know we have such knowledgeable and helpful people in out community!

ed

Berge56
02-03-2010, 10:41 AM
Great job Bren!

Bu11dogg2
02-03-2010, 10:46 AM
Another great review!
+1

BG @ BrenTuning
02-03-2010, 11:39 AM
Here's the synopsis on the 2002 WRX for those troubleshooting P0171.

Ryan's problem before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/brenwrx/02wrxp0171.jpg

Notice the A,B,C learnings are nearly maxed out, hence it throwing the code, he did a ton of work to get around this to no avail.

Since his fuel delivery was all messed up. AFR was all over the place introducing knock into the car almost everywhere past 1g rev while logging. Even after a reset his IAM would drop to 7-8. One could almost assume a bad motor by the way the car ran and the logs behavior.

Cleaning the MAF helped a bit but by looking at it it wasn't looking great even when cleaned. It needed replacement. I've seen this on 3-4 car I've been tuning/remote tuning lately - some as new as 2007. Keep in mind the cars I've seen with this problem NEVER THROW A MAF CEL.

Ryan's problem after:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/brenwrx/ryanfixed.jpg

Notice the IAM is at the highest value 16 and there is no fine learning present after a few hundred miles of driving. The A,B,C,D ranges for a stock car are all within perfect range.

Any questions let me know.

subarude
02-03-2010, 12:18 PM
Back in May 2009, I had purchased a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon 5MT from a Mazda dealer (Autex) in Keene, NH. Being a NH sale, there was no warranty. I figured I could take care of any little rattle or anything that bugged me when I got it home. Well, little to my surprise, within 1 mile of leaving the lot I got a CEL :eek: I should have just turned around and taken my check back.

Beside having to replace the clutch, a downpipe, and a bunch of exhaust gaskets, the biggest headache was the CEL P0171 that I got from the dealer. The code is for an air leak; big help. I was also getting crap for boost; a combo of boost creep and boost crash. Had no idea what was going on.

In comes Bren Tuning. I posted my woes on Nasioc and he offered his services to help me get my WRX back up to speed. The Subaru specialist in Fitchburg couldn't figure out what was causing the CEL or the boost issues. Bren hooked up his software, read what was going on in the ECU and noticed my airflow #s were completely out of whack, even at idle. So he popped my hood, popped the hood in his Forester XT, and we switched MAF sensors. Instant cure to the CEL. Passed inspection and couldn't be happier.

Lastly was my crap boost issue. Looking at my boost lines, he noticed something was awry with what I had there. He grabbed his Forge MBC from his Forester, put it in place of my stock BCS, and took it for a spin. The boost then hit 15psi and stayed there. Nice smooth boost from start to finish. After a horrible long month of trying to get this going, Bren got me back up to speed in a week and gave me a tune that gave me a great daily driver at 23mpg.

I trusted Bren so much I just bought that Forester XT that he's custom tuned for me and my wife's use. It's an ecofriendly tune with a 3" catless downpipe that still can get front wheel spin on the automatic transmission.

So big thumbs up for Bren at BrenTuning. He seems to have that gift to be able to get his head into the ECU and get things running properly, and quickly.

Ryan
glad to see you finally got the xt

rmtaylor
02-04-2010, 07:27 PM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/brenwrx/ryanfixed.jpg

I call this the "money shot" :lol: