Right, had my car set up standard, 7psi and it worked bang on no problem!

Then..one day out of the blue it started going upto like 18psi (dare say it'd go more )

Wastegate penny is free, not sticking, standard piping, amal valve etc...(Im sure ive not touched it but will check tommo if each pipe goes to the correct place).

Ive tightened all amal valve hoses, so no leaks at all...

What would happen if the amal valve wasnt working?

anyone got any other suggestions, no bleed valve, actuator hasnt been touched since setup...

If I cant work it out, will I jus winde the actuator to lower the boost, also which way does it go to lower the boost? or are their simpler ways to lower the boost back to 7psi?

Thanks

 

the amal valve should click if you pull the plug on and off, if it does them it is workin

it works by bleeding some of the boost pressure off, making it harder to open the gate.

try it unpluged see what it does

 

ah cool, so if it wasnt working it wouldnt bleed any boost off? and overboost maybe?

 

i had the exact same problem as you but it was just a leak in the hose, are you sure there all ok

 

What hose? Amal valve hose?

cheers

 

The AMAL only bleeds off pressure if ACT's get too high, sure your actuator aint goosed?

Or a split in the pipe running to it?

 

Id check the pipe ive seen a few people having this sort of problem and it was down to a split/lose pipe

 

split pipe

 

I'll double check the pipes!

Suerly a goosed actuator wouldnt hold boost? or do you mean a sticking actuator...not bleeding it off?

will check pipes tommo an report back, cheers

 

If its seized up or whatever, or split internally!

Bet its a split pipe!

Pipe probably aint even on there knowing you

 

i had a pipe split on me the one that goes from the metering head to the inlet manifold it runs over the top of the gear box and had worn through changed it and no problems!!

 

Thats a breather pipe, will just make the engine cut out and not run.....

 

They are all on their, I renewed the clamps as couple were loose the other day too! but never checked for splits although should of at the time

 

run your hose from compressor straight to actuator,this will tell you if its amal valve related or not,then check that the amal valve is jetted,it should have small plastic jets inside the outlets cominf off amal valve

safechav expand on this quote


where does the amal get its reading from to sense high act's?

 

If the AMAL isn't jetted it will boost even lower because too much will be allowed to waste!

The amal in controlled by the ecu, if ACT's get too high it drops the boost level to avoid DET.

 

ive got a small jet in my boost hose comin off crossover pipe which controls my boost pressure,when opened up it boosts higher
also i was under the impression that the bigger the jet the higher the boost

how does the ecu control the amal valve?,theres no sensor/wires or vac hose going from amal to ecu for it to control it,it gets it pressure reading from the inlet manifold,unless s1's are different from s2's

 

Yea a bigger jet will allow more air flow, yours is in a different pipe!

I believe the AMAL is jetted on the waste conenction, could be wrong though!

What do you mean how does the ECU control the amal. It has a wiring plug on it........

 

the wiring plug i thought was only a live feed to power the amal valve,not a sensor or anything to control the ecu,ive never seen boost on any mfi rst that has been reduced due to high act's,power reduced through timing but not boost reduced

 

another thing if your theory is correct then that would make having a bleed valve a very bad thing if the ecu controls boost as the safe guard would be eliminated and how would you safe guard against damage from det or running lean

 

the ECU DOESN'T CONTROL the boost, its there as a safe guard! If things get too hot it reduces the boost until things calm down.

The AMAL is fed with an unfused 12v ignition feed, the ecu switches the earth.

Go to your car, turn the ignition on and listen for the amal clicking a few times, its not theory, its fact!

I believe there are chips around that can use the AMAL to control boost though, Stu's Evolution chips i believe are one of them.

 

Ive got a feeling my Anal valve isnt clicking when I turn ignition on, I dont hear it anyway?

 

Either way, im pretty sure the amal wont make it overboost!

Wire 12v up to it and see if it clicks

 

i think your having a blonde moment
how can the ecu lower the boost,its mfi we're on about here not efi,the boost is set manually on a mfi car either by jetting the amal valve or running a bleed valve to bleed air off,so how can the ecu lower the boost on an mfi equipped car,it has no vac hoses coming of it except one to inlet,so that just leaves this 12v power supply,how does that lower the boost?im genuinely interested mate,not questioning you just cross reference what i know with what you know
put it another way if i run amal valve and im havin high act's then your sayin that i wont have full boost pressure which i had before hand as its gettin boost held back by ecu and by me fitting a bleed valve im then not going to get boost held back thus risking damage to my engine

 

I can tell you now im NOT having a blonde moment!

What do you think the AMAL is there for, its not to look pretty! MANY people cut the wiring to the AMAL and wire it to a switch on the dash to run 2 stage boost!

The amal sends waste back to the airbox so the actuator doesnt lift off so much, therefore lowering the boost level!

 

must be your period then

seriously mate ive never heard of that before,never seen it happen on all the rst's ive seen with std coolers running too much boost
so bleed valves are bad then as when times when you need this safeguard its not there
i understand what your sayin but cant understand where the ecu gets its high act reading from,i know that it senses det via KS,so take it it must get it from there

 

The ECU has control of the AMAL valve by pulsing the earth to the valve at varying frequencies. This is JUST for a boost curve and to drop the boost off it the ECU detects a problem. The ECU only drops the boost to what the actuator is set to lift at and the boost can be set to anything but the ECU will still control the boost curve.

On my car, the ECU controls my boost curve by the jetted AMAL valve. It is set to peak at 16 very breifly as it comes on boost and then holds 14 till the limiter. What ever I set the boost to, it will always peak and drop off 2psi quickly. If it detects a fault, the ECU will just keep the AMAL valve diverting air to the actuator as if the pipe went straight to the actuator from the compressor housing. This will limit my boost to 11 psi as this is what the actuator is set to lift at. If I dictonnect the AMAL or bypass it by the piping, it will only run 11 psi. The ECU and AMAL valve is what makes it peak at 16 and hold 14.

 

DazC, i had read somewhere before that the AMAL is switched to control boost curve but after a fairly in depth convo with Rick im sure he said it wasn't switched at a frequent rate, just either on or off.

 

yeah i get that bit, bit i dont get is the rolling eyes at the top,sorry im not as technical as you but a brief explaination in this adult convo instead of childish rollin of the eyes
seriously my 2 kids can be more grown up then some folk on here,prob are more grown up than most folk on here

 

Is comparing us to your 2 kids grown up?

Your the one telling people they are being blonde?!

Anyway.........ive now gone back over some research and i have found the info i was told wasnt completely correct, the AMAL does turn pulse at varied frequencies and is only operational in a specific RPM range.

The main influence of its operation being from ACT's.

 

Don't worry about the rolle eyes. I'm just tired and couldn't be bothered doing a technical topic but did anyway!!

Mr Chav, the ESC 2 module only takes control of the AMAL at engine speeds over 2.5k rpm. Once it's in control, it pulses the voltage to the AMAL valve, altering the frequency depending on circumstances. At high RPM, the frequency decreases to allow more pressure to the actuator instead of bleeding off most of the air. At approximately 6.1k rpm on an S1, the ESC 2 module allows the turbo to produce max boost pressure as the demand the engine makes for air is getting close to the turbos limit.

 

I seeeeeeeeeeee! the main question i have......why does it only operate in the range of 2500-6000 RPM? Anything to do with reducing lag by any chance?

 

When it's not operational (like it's been unplugged), the amal directs air straight to the actuator to run reduce boost. When it is operational, the AMAL is opened on idle and up to 2500 rpm to try and encourage the turbo to spool up faster (any air is being diveted away from the actuator). Once above 2500 rpm, the amal is switched to reduce the pressure to the actuator in comparrison to the actual boost pressure.

 

was only teasing,ive now went over some research too and have found that you's were right all along
no honestly ive learnt something i didnt know,so been a worthwhile post even though its off topic slightly

 

Glad we got this sorted!

 

Daz, i have never had a std ECU in my car to ever check. Are you saying that when the valve is venting, the path to actuator is closed? That can't be right, as a permanantly shut valve (ie grounded on say a switch) would lead to unlimted boost. My assumption was that the valve was always open between waste gate and compressor, and opened to airbox when it was grounded.

 

An amal doesnt waste 100% of the boost, the jets inside are used to achieve how much is wasted, but will still help prevent actuator lift on, in order to help spool up/reduce lag.

 

Rick,

The amal valve completely diverts air away from the actuator below 2.5k rpm. Above 2.5k rpm, the valve is open and closed at a rapid rate to supply pulses of air to the actuator. The ECU alters the rate of pulses to maintain a constant boost pressure from first coming on boost to the limiter (or near enough).

The AMAL valve should be divert air from the compressor to the actuator when unplugged or switched off. When it is switched on, it will divert air to the air box.

 

Well, seein as im jus in the door I doubt i'll check the hoses today...

I forgot to mention its got a chip...im thinkin either turbosystems or superchip

 

This is what i'm unsure of - people put them on a swich, so they are on permanently, as in a 2 stage boost mod. From what you are saying, when it's on it diverts air to the box - so that means the actuator won't see any.....

 

As i said rick, they are jetted, little what plastic inserts, i have my doubts as to whether they bleed ALL the air away or not though.

I acquired a spare AMAL the other day so ill have a play with it and test whether it switches port or just bleeds some air off