Project STI – Greddy Boost Controller Install
With the new engine up and running I had a bit of a scare one night as the turbo over-boosted. Afraid of hurting my new engine, I decided that the old bleeder valve had to go.
For those of you unfamiliar with bleed type, or manual, boost controllers, they are good for a small boost increase but are prone to over boosting when turning up the wick a fair bit from standard and in cold weather.
After consulting a few people in the know I decided on the Greddy Profec B electronic boost controller, and here’s how to install one in true Shift Up style:
1) Take all the parts out of the box. Place them in a neat fashion on the garage floor and take a photo.
2) Check that Rally Pig approves.
3) Remove dash, lose one screw in the process.
4) Find a spot to mount the control unit. It’s impossible to read the display if you can’t see it straight on so I opted for the space under the head unit using the supplied double sided tape.
5) Now find a power source. Being a car nerd who’s had too many Imprezas and knows exactly which wire you can get power from makes this step easy. Failing that, I’m sure a wiring diagram for your vehicle type will help; see interwebs.
6) Once a power source has been found, connect the red wire to it and the black wire goes to a good earth – make sure you solder the wires and use shrink wrap stuff or I’ll be very upset with you.
7) I drilled a hole in the back of the dash piece where the unit will sit so I can get the power wires and the vacuum hose through to the back – smart huh.
8) Run the wires and vacuum line through the rubber grommet in the fire wall and into the engine bay. On a GC8 WRX this is located above the clutch pedal and comes through just under the clutch master cylinder.
9) Mount the boost control solenoid in the engine bay. I chose to bolt it to an existing bracket which holds the factory boost controller.
10) Plug in the wiring harness from the in-cabin controller and connect all the vacuum hoses. Keep them as short as possible. Check the manual for specifics as what goes where varies a bit from car to car.
11) Once you’ve double-checked that everything is where it should be, you’ve earned yourself a five minute break.
Smoke if you got ’em…or down a Red Bull.
12) Time to turn the key and set it up. The supplied instructions are good enough to get you through the setup process. A couple of hints I’ve picked up though are: try and test in all gears – luckily we have a ‘private’ road handy for just such occasions; when accelerating keep a sharp eye on your boost gauge (or get a friend to help) and accelerate gradually, if you just floor it you might not have enough time to back off if you get too much boost and possible detonation; adjust “set gain” to 4psi below the desired boost; adjust “gain” to ensure boost is holding all the way through the revs; adjust “set” by 2 per cent increments until desired boost is reached.
13) Give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy consistent boost levels! And try and find that lost dash screw.
Keep it rubber side down,
Benji
Shift Up 