GIAC tune woes

[futureme]

Hello everybody.
So yesterday i went and got my GTI (FSI 105K miles) flashed to GIAC stage 1. upon getting the car back from their test drive i was told it didn't have any power. So i figured I blew my DV and they agreed. they hooked me up with a new DV and i installed it this morning. I have much more power than before but still don't have "stage 1 power" the car still feels stockish. I would like to say it feels somewhat faster but the butt dyno is not all that reliable. either way I definitely don't have that "holy crap this is a big difference" feeling. So i took it back to the shop and let the dude who flashed it drive it. He agreed that the car had improved with the new DV but did not feel like stage one. He said it didn't have the same balls in the low end that stage 1 normally had.

I did some searching and ive ruled out the PCV . trying to blow through the hole is futile and it also passed the dipstick test. The DV is brand new. I checked the connections on the nose pipe and they are secure. checked the connections on the turbo outlet tube and the hose that feeds into the passenger side of the intercooler they are all secure. they passed the soapy water test as well. did not check the driver side yet. I figured i would be able to hear the boost leak anyway. also i have no HPFP/cam lobe issues. they both look good and since ive had the car the follower has been changed before the coating was even worn too the edge.

thats all ive done as far as diagnostics go. I asked the shop if it could be a problem with the flash and they said it was unlikely but that i should drive it for a few days and if nothing changes and it did not throw a cel that they would re flash it for me.

sorry for the long post but i wanted to give all the background information. I do not have a boost gage or VAG to scan my car unfortunately. but if anyone is in the western NC area willing to help I can meet and provide some compensation. So are there any other common issues that im overlooking? anything else i can rule out? wastegate maybe? :iono:

Thanks in advance

 

[GIACUser]

Hello everybody.
So yesterday i went and got my GTI (FSI 105K miles) flashed to GIAC stage 1. upon getting the car back from their test drive i was told it didn't have any power. So i figured I blew my DV and they agreed. they hooked me up with a new DV and i installed it this morning. I have much more power than before but still don't have "stage 1 power" the car still feels stockish. I would like to say it feels somewhat faster but the butt dyno is not all that reliable. either way I definitely don't have that "holy crap this is a big difference" feeling. So i took it back to the shop and let the dude who flashed it drive it. He agreed that the car had improved with the new DV but did not feel like stage one. He said it didn't have the same balls in the low end that stage 1 normally had.

I did some searching and ive ruled out the PCV . trying to blow through the hole is futile and it also passed the dipstick test. The DV is brand new. I checked the connections on the nose pipe and they are secure. checked the connections on the turbo outlet tube and the hose that feeds into the passenger side of the intercooler they are all secure. they passed the soapy water test as well. did not check the driver side yet. I figured i would be able to hear the boost leak anyway. also i have no HPFP/cam lobe issues. they both look good and since ive had the car the follower has been changed before the coating was even worn too the edge.

thats all ive done as far as diagnostics go. I asked the shop if it could be a problem with the flash and they said it was unlikely but that i should drive it for a few days and if nothing changes and it did not throw a cel that they would re flash it for me.

sorry for the long post but i wanted to give all the background information. I do not have a boost gage or VAG to scan my car unfortunately. but if anyone is in the western NC area willing to help I can meet and provide some compensation. So are there any other common issues that im overlooking? anything else i can rule out? wastegate maybe? :iono:

Thanks in advance

You need the Ross-Tech cable (VAG) to diagnose it. You don't want to start a guessing game of parts swapping. It is the first thing I bought before modding the car.

 

[xSabretoothx]

How many miles did you put on it since the tune? It takes the ECU a while to adapt, I have a feeling that more miles will equal more smiles.

 

[futureme]

yeah i kind of thought i would need that to diagnose it any further but was hopeful that there were some more "hands on" type tests i could do.

I have driven about 60 or so miles since to tune. about 55 being highway miles and the other 5 driving it like i stole it trying to feel a difference.

 

[xSabretoothx]

How you drive it doesn't matter as much as the miles.

 

[futureme]

I have to be honest. I do not believe miles driven is the problem, ive read many reviews on tunes from different companies and all of them notice an immediate difference. I did not. but if the problem were indeed lack of miles, then how many should i have to put on to see a difference?

 

[xSabretoothx]

I've been through multiple tunes from multiple companies, they need time to adapt. I'd wait until you've driven at least 200 miles before passing final judgement.

 

[navyslideby]

Idk man. Back when I got my stage 1 tune it was night and day. There's no way I was wondering if it actually worked, I was well aware that it worked

 

[futureme]

Update/bump

been over 110 miles now with no really big change. Would like to say it feels faster but i can't guarantee it's not the placebo effect lol.

Gonna get a cheap ebay boost gage and a boost tap to see what im actually boosting to rule out a boost leak for certain. from what ive read i should be in the 17-19PSI range? after that I will take it back for a re-flash and go from there.

Also i have to say i am starting to consider the fact that my expectations were too high. I read on the mk6 forum that they are breaking tires loose on the regular in 2nd after they are tuned. is this true for the mk5? If so then im definitely lacking because my tires don't so much as shudder (UHP all seasons)

 

[U.G.MKV]

Stage 1 should be like a slap in the face. Have the place that installed the tune run some logs. You paid and you shouldn't be wondering if you have stage 1. When I went stage 1 it was like holy crap why didn't VW build the car like this.

 

[SIIIICK08]

/\ Agreed. Stage 1 GIAC really impressed me. Of course shortly after I got used to it & had to go more. Now I'm stage 3 GIAC & STILL want more!

 

[futureme]

Just another update. 200+miles and no real change. Decided against ordering boost gauge for now. Going to take it back to them next Friday for a reflash and see if they'll help me out with diagnosis. In the mean time it turns out that I might be able to get access to VAG-COM though a friend of a friend.

If I can get access to vag com what exactly do I need to log to properly diagnose? I assume I would log boost first to see what I'm at? If my boost is low then where do I go from there? Would wastegate duty cycle tell me if it was N75? Sorry not well versed with all this logging and advanced diagnosis yet

 

[obdboost]

Where are the guys from giac? Are they no longer active on this forum?

 

[futureme]

Update/thread revival

So today I took my car back to the shop for a reflash. After talking to them we decided to flash it back to stock to see if I could feel a difference. They flashed it to stock and indeed I felt a drop in power so as expected the flash is not the culprit. After discussion options and such with them I decided to flash it back to stage 1 and continue diagnostics myself. Upon leaving the shop I have absolute no power, no boost. Car sounds and acts as if it's naturally aspirated. I hear no turbo spool sound, no pshhhh that would indicate a boost leak.

What would cause this? I am gMade a calculation error. Going to do some logs with a vag-com Sunday to see what's exactly going on. But the car was running good until the series of flashes today. As stated earlier I have new DV and PCV is good, no obvious boost leaks. I'm at a loss right now. I'm almost at the point where I want my money back to get rid of the headache

Ideas?

 

[flat tire]

From your latest post it sounds like 1 of 4 things is wrong:

0) you're in limp mode due to shit going wrong, probably your wastegate

1) your cat shit the bed and clogged your exhaust (car won't boost at all when this happens)

2) your wastegate has a problem and isn't clamping

3) your wastegate solenoid has a problem and is causing #2

PULL CODES WITH VCDS!