Installed A Boost Gauge, Help Figuring It Out Please?

[Burn-E]

It's pretty simple, if you were Lucky what would you want? You are one of several who have been very vocal about your issues so if he resolves your issues and more importantly if you discover some of the issues you pointed in his direction were actually your fault then be equally vocal in owning it. Ensure there's a balanced presentation in the ARD thread where warranted and in your review. Because that thread is now part of the record of his business so you need to provide the full picture. There's a furor around his business practices that you contributed to - and I want to make sure resolutions don't get buried in the "sports section" weeks later after the headline broadcast that he's an incompetent tuner who doesn't care about his customers.

If the tune is at fault, skewer him. But if it's not, own up to it.

Just think about it.

I'm only interested in seeing the truth about Lucky's efforts: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXoNE14U_zM

No hard feelings here Matt - I'd buy you a beer if we were sitting across the table.

[mattsk8]

It's pretty simple, if you were Lucky what would you want? You are one of several who have been very vocal about your issues so if he resolves your issues and more importantly if you discover some of the issues you pointed in his direction were actually your fault then be equally vocal in owning it.

And I will. But just to be clear (in both ARD's and my defense), I never made the statement that my tune was the reason for why my car was doing what it was doing. My frustrations were in the fact that the tune was definitely a possibility at that point, and I had the message stating my ECU could be fried. W/ that message, of course I leaned toward the tune being at fault but needed more clarity from them about what that statement meant.

It's pretty simple, if you were Lucky what would you want? You are one of several who have been very vocal about your issues

There were also people that were vocal about ARD that really had no place in the matter, and at that point I saw that it was turning into a witch hunt. Some people were making claims that were leaning towards saying Lucky didn't really know what he was doing, to which I responded (in Lucky's defense) that ARD is the only place offering a manual tune so they must know something about what they're doing.

There's a furor around his business practices that you contributed to - and I want to make sure resolutions don't get buried in the "sports section" weeks later after the headline broadcast that he's an incompetent tuner who doesn't care about his customers.

If the tune is at fault, skewer him. But if it's not, own up to it.

Just think about it.

In the end, you'll see that I will. There will be no ambivalence once I figure this out. I will be the last one to post in those threads (for the most part) because I know what I said and I know it will eventually need to cleared up (but I can't make those statements yet because while I'm well on my way to clearing it, it still isn't clear). I know very well how these things have an effect on someone's business and the last thing I need to do is make exaggerated or unwarranted claims (he who lives by the sword dies by the sword). But in that honesty, I'll also be honest when the time comes to clear the air.

This is whole reason I've stayed out of the official review thread. I still don't know, but I'm hoping very soon I will have all the info I need to make a legitimate review.

No hard feelings here Matt - I'd buy you a beer if we were sitting across the table.

And ditto. But the real question is... Would you drink the beer if I bought it for you??

[Dick Dastardly]

I agree with Alain. I had some issues with ARD.. But I'm not out to see him fail.

There was an ass load of work done to this car, by someone who wasn't familiar with volvos or turbocharging and when it was put back together it must have been the tuner, not the "shade tree mechanic" who put this cob job together. I would bet just about anything am over boost code would be caused by the wrong vac lines going to the waste gate actuator etc.. No question.

You can't reasonably expect lucky to sit down on the phone and walk step by step through the whole manual swap process and every wiring trace and vac line trace to make sure your work is ok. He has to go on the assumption that it's a running car. Unfortunately for you you swapped an ME7 car so you couldn't slap another ecu in and see that your car still ran like shit. Which it would have. For sure.

This is where the point of due diligence comes in, I'd bill $75 an hour to trouble shoot all this monkey business too.

Now what's he supposed to do? It will be assumed at this point there will be other mistakes in the swap too.. Is he to keep doing this for free?

I'm not anti ARD, I'm not anti Robert, and I'm not anti Matt.. But owning up to the situation is important..

Sucks being in a small business during times like this.. "The customer is always right" is a lot of the time bullshit, but if you start an argument, they won't be a customer. I have customers that aren't right and they get charged for fucking up..

[mattsk8]

Now what's he supposed to do? It will be assumed at this point there will be other mistakes in the swap too.. Is he to keep doing this for free?

Exactly. But in my defense, the first tune I got was definitely bad. So based on this^^^ logic, I definitely leaned toward thinking it was the tune. I didn't expect Lucky to fix my car in Michigan from Oregon; what I expected (and wasn't getting) was some reasonable help working through this mess because both he and I knew the tune could very well have been the culprit at that point.

But this is all neither here nor there. I might floor my car and still get an overboost CEL. I realize you have doubts but its still a possibility. And to make the statement that because I had 2 vacuum lines accidentally switched the rest of my swap might be bad?? What more is there to this? The transmission shifts great, the car's drivetrain is doing everything it should, and short of those vacuum lines everything else is working. You've never made a simple mistake like this before??

ARD's re-tune fixed the original issue I had; i.e., their tune was at fault. Don't try to make this more than it is.

[Burn-E]

And ditto. But the real question is... Would you drink the beer if I bought it for you??

If it was ROOTbeer absolutely.

[Dick Dastardly]

Wrong vac lines to waste gate actuator causes over boost and vac issues. Period.

You know this now.

Everyone makes little mistakes from time to time. As you've discovered what seems little isn't always that little.

Not everyone types 1000s of words about a particular tuner being the problem when there wasn't even the one gauge you absolutely need before you say one thing about how a turbocharged car is running. Honestly if I was lucky I would have been very Leary of this car from the start.

I don't understand how it got this far between the 2 of you with out there being a boost gauge installed. Seriously.

[The Big Tuna]

Well stated Alain

[mattsk8]

If it was ROOTbeer absolutely.

And caffeine free rootbeer at that. Man you're picky .

I know none of you know me, but once I get to the bottom of the issues I will clear this up. But I can't make statements when all the facts aren't present. I thought I did a good job of clearing it up to a point in that post I linked here in post# 42. But that wasn't the end of it and it was never my intention to make that end of it.

Mike, I agree. But part of the reason I couldn't get to the point of him knowing I didn't have a boost gauge was a huge part of what set me off in the beginning, and that's the fact that I couldn't get much communication.

Anyhow, I just had a LONG talk w/ ARD. Both they and I have communicated our differences in this situation. Believe me, I will post back and not leave them (or you guys) hanging. But I can't yet because I don't know for sure how my car is doing; its still an icy disaster out there and I haven't started since my drive to work this morning. It was never my intention to ruin someone's reputation. Yes- there's a post or 2 where I got a little hostile, but I think in the same situation (if everyone had all the facts) a lot of you might have been as well.

[Commander Riker]

[jschaefer7406]

Mike and Alain have a few good points

However, I think Matt does too. He made it very clear in most of his replies that he wasn't ready to evaluate the tune itself. Most of his issues seem to lie in a few other areas:

First and foremost, he was forced (by Michele) to buy a tune that he didn't particularly want. Because of this, I can partially understand why he didn't have new vacuum lines and a boost gauge, as his wasn't planning to tune the car at this time. I personally would have done those things while waiting for the tune to arrive, but can also understand why they weren't already done.

Second, the original tune was still auto software. Being the manual software was what he was after to begin with, I can see how upsetting this would be. I know mistakes happen, but the trouble of having to pull the ECM again and wait for the turnaround would be frustrating .

Third, he was told by Lucky that the ECM may or may not be bad. To my knowledge, he (Lucky) never elaborated on this. Wouldn't you be upset and worried if someone told you that your car may or may not leave you somewhere, but never gave any details on what exactly your odds are?

Last are the communication issues. As I've said in the other "ARD" threads, to have paid $770 and then be told (by Michele) that "you're not our only customer"?!? Come on guys, in his shoes you'd be furious as well. I agree that Lucky may not have taken him seriously had he known the car lacked a stage 0 (or even a boost gauge). But he had no way of knowing that when the ball was dropped ...

Again, I'm not trying to bash Lucky or his reputation. Seems like he's on the road to working things out with people. But given the above, I don't feel Matt is being unreasonable either .

Joe

[S8ET6]

I'm still curious exactly what you're looking for here? Should I say, "I'm sorry for the things I said about ARD" because I found out my vacuum lines were switched?? My issues were never w/ the performance aspect of my tune, and I admitted that I couldn't get to that point because something's wrong w/ my car (whether tune or mechanical). After going through what went I through w/ the transmission tune and ARD originally, then getting the message that my ECU may have been fried during the write process, how would you have responded Burn-E?? I started wondering what I got myself into at that point. But at this point now, aside from needing to go though this crap w/ you, I'm finally moving forward w/ this and I've been very transparent about all of it.

So how's about letting me know what it is you're looking for exactly in this apology. To be even clearer (ironically I think when you went on your quote search you left this one out), somewhere along the way I also said that my issues might very well be mechanical and that's the whole reason I didn't want to post in the actual "ARD Review" thread; I said I'm not ready because I haven't even begun to know how this tune works.

And here's another; I don't even know (short of now having a functioning boost gauge) what was fixed and what wasn't. The car might still throw an overboost CEL for all I know, and I might still have a hesitation at 2500 RPM. So wouldn't addressing everything at this point be a little premature??

LOL at your sudden concern for acting "premature".

You acted "premature" when you (in some cases implied and in others directly) stated that the tune was the root cause of your issues - while failing to disclose that you had this much >< knowledge of turbo induction.

Even now, after realizing that the drive ability issues that you were having were more than likely due to your screwup instead of ARD's, your post still seem to lack... contrition.

Here's an idea - if you're genuinely apologetic the go back and edit each of your posts that Alain referenced, and disclose that you incorrectly attributed your self made mechanical problems to the ARD tune. It'll probably take 10 minutes to do - but it'll be immensely valuable insight to future searchers who may come across those posts but never find this thread.

Then, and only then, you might have restored some of your credibility when/if you determine that the TUNE is actually an issue.

[Dick Dastardly]

... to have paid $770 and then be told (by Michele) that "you're not our only customer"?!?

This is the kind of shit I don't like.

I was given the same type of email...

But at what point do you stop smiling? how many times was Lucky called and blamed? This could have been one of those "Fuck, not this guy with the AWD 6spd conversion again..." situations.

I would be frustrated with this car if I were both Matt and ARD for different reasons.

This swap was not something to be handled by a novice and there were mistakes made on both ends, at this point I think both of them should start over.

Matts responses in the ARD thread should be edited to reflect ONLY actual issues with ARD.

[Fudge_Brownie]

(Hold Up, Group Hug) picture

Uh dude...What the fuck. You managed to piss of Hussein so much he started swearing. And here you again in the same thread, doing it again.

OP, it seems you have solved your original problem, and this has become a debate thread. Moving to Off-Topic. If you have another issue, you can either append it to this thread, or create a new performance thread.

[Commander Riker]

Uh dude...What the fuck. You managed to piss of Hussein so much he started swearing. And here you again in the same thread, doing it again.

OP, it seems you have solved your original problem, and this has become a debate thread. Moving to Off-Topic. If you have another issue, you can either append it to this thread, or create a new performance thread.

Uh, dude... I'm just trying to lighten the mood. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings.

Most of my communication on this subject has been with Mattsk8 directly. We're working to help one another... why can't we have a little fun. If you don't want me to hang out here because I wasn't being serious enough on the internet... just let me know.

As for Hussein... if he's that pissed over some images... on an internet forum... TFB

[mattsk8]

There was an ass load of work done to this car, by someone who wasn't familiar with volvos or turbocharging and when it was put back together it must have been the tuner, not the "shade tree mechanic" who put this cob job together. I would bet just about anything am over boost code would be caused by the wrong vac lines going to the waste gate actuator etc.. No question.

You can't reasonably expect lucky to sit down on the phone and walk step by step through the whole manual swap process and every wiring trace and vac line trace to make sure your work is ok. He has to go on the assumption that it's a running car. Unfortunately for you you swapped an ME7 car so you couldn't slap another ecu in and see that your car still ran like shit. Which it would have. For sure.

This is where the point of due diligence comes in, I'd bill $75 an hour to trouble shoot all this monkey business too.

Now what's he supposed to do? It will be assumed at this point there will be other mistakes in the swap too.. Is he to keep doing this for free?

I'm not anti ARD, I'm not anti Robert, and I'm not anti Matt.. But owning up to the situation is important..

Sucks being in a small business during times like this.. "The customer is always right" is a lot of the time bullshit, but if you start an argument, they won't be a customer. I have customers that aren't right and they get charged for fucking up..

First of all, calling this a "cob job" is based on what exactly? One mistake I made? The transmission shifts great and I spared no expense when I did this, its hardly a "cob job". And also, I didn't ask Lucky to walk me step by step through anything; I simply wanted clarity as to what he meant when he said my ECU might still be fried and couldn't get any.

Wrong vac lines to waste gate actuator causes over boost and vac issues. Period.

You know this now.

Everyone makes little mistakes from time to time. As you've discovered what seems little isn't always that little.

After the ice melted I got a chance to drive it on some dry pavement this past Saturday and not only do I still get a choke at 2500 rpm and the car still bucks every once in a while... I still also get the overboost CEL. This morning on my way to work the CEL came on again (for overboost) and I was hardly even getting on the throttle. After the overboost CEL on Saturday I went home and disconnected the battery to see if I could start back at zero, and this morning the overboost cel came on again and the choking and bucking issues are still there. It seems that swapping those vacuum lines has done nothing more than make my boost gauge function the way its supposed to.

From here you can say what you want or call this install a "cob job", but the vacuum lines were the only mistakes I made in this (and I can own up to the fact that I made that mistake). The intake manifold is tight and right (w/ a new gasket), the PCV system is basically new and correct, the wiring is 100%, and all the vacuum lines (at this point) are 100% correct. The transmission shifts great, the clutch works great, the shift linkage works great, everything is done right.

Not everyone types 1000s of words about a particular tuner being the problem when there wasn't even the one gauge you absolutely need before you say one thing about how a turbocharged car is running. Honestly if I was lucky I would have been very Leary of this car from the start.

I don't understand how it got this far between the 2 of you with out there being a boost gauge installed. Seriously.

You don't suppose that has anything to do w/ the fact that I couldn't get hardly any (reasonable) communication from Lucky, do you??

LOL at your sudden concern for acting "premature".

You acted "premature" when you (in some cases implied and in others directly) stated that the tune was the root cause of your issues - while failing to disclose that you had this much >< knowledge of turbo induction.

Even now, after realizing that the drive ability issues that you were having were more than likely due to your screwup instead of ARD's, your post still seem to lack... contrition.

Here's an idea - if you're genuinely apologetic the go back and edit each of your posts that Alain referenced, and disclose that you incorrectly attributed your self made mechanical problems to the ARD tune. It'll probably take 10 minutes to do - but it'll be immensely valuable insight to future searchers who may come across those posts but never find this thread.

Then, and only then, you might have restored some of your credibility when/if you determine that the TUNE is actually an issue.

Turns out it wasn't "my screwup" that was causing the issues. And show me where I said the tune was definitely at fault please. Over and over I stated that I didn't know, but I simply needed clarity about what it meant that my ecu might be fried and couldn't get any.

And this is all following the fact that I was originally pushed into the performance tune when I basically was planning on just getting the manual tune (do you suppose this might have something to do w/ why I didn't know having a boost gauge was a must in this situation??). All I knew about "The Blue Tune" at the time I purchased it was what Lucky said about the price breakdown, that if I purchased it w/ the manual tune I would save $100 over buying the 2 separately (getting the manual tune, then later getting the Blue tune). Then after I decide I probably couldn't even afford the performance tune at that time (let alone the fact that I've done zero research on what the blue tune entails short of the fact that it upped horsepower) and I already have my transmission components on the way, I send ARD an email and tell them that I'm sure I want the manual tune but still not sure about the performance tune (because I didn't know if I could swing it and obviously had done no research), and Michelle sends me an email saying sorry if Lucky mislead, but I can't get one w/out the other. So at that point I had no option, seeing how no one else offers the manual tune for my car and I have over a thousand dollars worth of parts ordered and on the way. The only facts I got from anyone regarding any of this entire process, aside from the prices I got for the tunes (which weren't even facts in the end), were what I got from you guys here.

Then the fact that the original tune didn't take, and it took me 6 days to finally get ARD to allow me to mail my ECU back for them to re-flash it (at which point it would finally rev past 4k rpm), and it was in that 6 days that Michelle stated "You aren't our only customer", because I was persistent that it wasn't my wiring job and they needed to look at my tune. Then, when they do mail the re-flashed ECU back they send me a guy named Kyle from Idaho's ECU to me and mine to him.

Then, once that fiasco gets straightened out and I finally have and install my ECU, I send ARD a message stating "it works" and I get the message back that says, "that's great, but your ECU might still be fried". I tried to get clarity about what that means and couldn't for another 3 or 4 days until I get the message, "Just keep an eye out for odd behaviors". Seriously?? Because I was and still am having odd behaviors.

So yes, at this point my replies probably do lack... contrition. And to say after all that my responses were "premature"?? I think not.

This is the kind of shit I don't like.

I was given the same type of email...

But at what point do you stop smiling? how many times was Lucky called and blamed? This could have been one of those "Fuck, not this guy with the AWD 6spd conversion again..." situations.

Unfortunately, that's kind of how I was treated right from go, even when I had the original issue w/ the first tune. It wasn't countless issues, in the beginning it was just the one that it took 6 days for them to accept, and to this day Michelle still maintains it was my fault somehow that the original tune got messed up. Explain that one to me please; I didn't change anything, didn't hook it up any differently the second time when it actually worked than I did the first time; but somehow I messed the first tune up?? How would anyone here respond to that?? Did BlackT5 "hook his up wrong" too? Because I'm pretty sure he had the same issue.

Then, after this whole can got opened back up because Alain thought I owed ARD an apology simply because I found one mistake that I made (and hadn't even had the chance to know what fixing that problem solved), I try to call ARD and get their take on the whole situation (this was last week Friday). This is when Michelle continues to maintain that the original tune got messed up because of something I did (which IMO is a load of crap), then she tells me that a policy change was why Lucky told me one thing and she told me another. Really? They made a policy change in the 2 or 3 days between when I emailed Lucky and when I decided to get the tune??

I would be frustrated with this car if I were both Matt and ARD for different reasons.

This swap was not something to be handled by a novice and there were mistakes made on both ends, at this point I think both of them should start over.

I know what I'm setting myself up here for by saying this, but this isn't the first transmission I've done, I don't even know how many I've done. I helped put an LS3 w/ a 4L60E transmission in my dad's 69 Cutlass last year, I completely restored a 67 Camaro (including installing an LT1 350, 700R4 trans, and the rear diff w/ 3:73 gears) I have pics if you need proof. The first car I completely restored on my own (including installing the complete drivetrain which included putting a 289 in what was originally an inline 6 car) was a 65 Mustang convertible that I did when I was about 25, but I don't think I have pics of this one. I built the 351 Windsor for my Bronco from the ground up, myself, including pistons, rods, heads, crank, block, intake, etc; then beat the hell out of that truck and the engine took every bit of the abuse. I've done countless intake manifold and head gaskets, more brake jobs than I can remember, and Lord knows whatever else. This wasn't my first go round w/ a car; I made an honest, simple mistake and crossed 2 vacuum lines. I'll give you that I'm not overly familiar w/ diagnosing turbo issues, and that this is my first Volvo and also the first time I've ever worked on a Volvo. This is also the first time I've ever done anything as far as modifying a turbo car goes. This is also my first round w/ tuning of this sort, although I did have to take that 69 Cutlass in and have that tuned but that was basically a stand back and watch moment. And if you look through my past threads and posts here, you'll see that I research everything before I do it; so you should be able to see that if I had time I would've done this Blue Tune right, but I didn't have time. But even then, I did actually do my best to make sure I was a stage 0; I just made a mistake and crossed 2 vacuum lines (which, as of now, seems to have had no adverse effect on my car short of making my boost gauge not work).

The worst part of this is (for anyone that actually took the time to read this long, drawn out post) that Lucky and I are working together to figure this out now. For the most part I meant what I said when I said I think Lucky is a stand up guy; but just like I said earlier, I don't think I could've waded into this at a worse time. Where this stands right now is ARD is going to program another ECU that I bought used and put JUST the manual tune on it so I can try to work through this. At this point I've waited to write any kind of official ARD review because this venture isn't over.

Lets stick w/ the facts, and these are the facts. Filling this up w/ conjecture won't help anyone, not ARD or me. I'm not out to ruin anyone's reputation, I just want my car to work and I need realistic answers when it doesn't work and there's a possibility that it could be related to the tune. I've been totally open and honest about this whole thing, I expect the same in return and when I don't get that I get really pissed off. I never once said that my car was perfect; actually quite the contrary. I'm aware that this problem might be related to simply upping the boost (and whatever else they do when they do the blue tune) and maybe something's out of whack in my car somewhere; but I also know that my car ran practically perfect before all this (aside from the original automatic transmission issues I was having).

So there you go, that's just about everything in one spot. I can go back and edit through all that crap in all the previous posts, but I think anyone w/ a brain can figure it out for themselves.