Generic flash remap
 

So, as the old adage goes, buy cheap, buy twice, well thats exactly the position Im now in. When I got my wagon, I wanted a little more omph so I contacted Duncan at racedynamix, he gave me a price for a custom remap including rolling road that was quite good, however, one of the guys at work wanted his TT remaped and arranged for a guy to visit our office, I paid £230 for a flash remap that took just over 2 hours. Straight away, I noticed that the car was "lumpy" and hesitant in second gear but assumed that it would settle down, after 4 months, its worse than ever and seems like the turbo isnt coming in until around 4,000rpm (its just been with Dan from Surrey subaru specialists and he confirmed that something isnt quite right), so my question is should I put it on surrey rolling road first( saturday deal £40) to find out if Im right about the turbo cutting in late (if it was an issue with the turbo itself I assume it would cut in earlier but no significant power?) or should I just bite the bullet and arrange for a custom remap? (around £430.00) trying to keep costs down this side of christmas otherwise the kids will get an IOU this year, what other simple things could be causing this apart from the flash remap and would it show on a rolling road?
2001 WRX wagon, dump valve fitted previously, cold air induction fitted previously, no other known mods.
Many thanks in advance.

I AM CERTAINLY NO EXPERT.

You know there is something wrong with the scoob, so why put it on the rollers just to be told its not running correctly.

Book it in with Duncan (or another highly recommended mapper) and he can sort things correctly, the last thing you want is to put it on the rollers and something go bang.

Best bite the bullet.

The first thing to do would be to flash a standard map back in to see if the running issues disappear.

There may of been an underlying problem that the remap has un-covered i.e a dying MAF. The old ECU flash would of gradually self-learnt to a certain degree to compensate for the changing performance of the MAF. When reflashing the ECU defaults to 'un-learnt' settings and sometimes this causes running issues from there on.
The same would occur if you force and ECU reset on the standard ECU.

What year/model are we talking about ?
Unless the 'generic' map is very wrong i.e they have somehow flashed an image from a different variant in it should not cause running issues.
By different I mean an STi base map into a WRX or vice versa. I'm not even sure this is possible as it is something I have never tried through fear of bricking the ECU.

Even a map adjusted for much higher boost should not cause running issues at part throttle or idle because generally those values/areas do not get changed. It would only be an issue if the injectors are changed and require rescaling.

The mapping company should be able to give you back your original map they should have it stored/backed up somewhere.

A generic map like that just ups your boost pressure and not much else. Doesn't adjust afr ratios etc.

Would think by the sounds of the symptoms the map is not the only issue possibly MAF on the way out as well.

Give it to Duncan ( or another decent mapper )and get it on the rolling road he will soon diagnose any issues while mapping and may be able to rectify the problem there and then.
First time he mapped mine he found a boost leak and fixed it within 5 minutes.
There are so many opinions on who the best mapper is on various different forums but I will go with personal experience I've used Duncan a few times and never had any issues with his work.

As others have said wouldn't put it on the rolling road for a power run if its not running right that's just asking for a blown turbo or engine

Thanks guys. Had the MAF out today, (the guy before me installed a cold air induction kit and when I removed the MAF, i noticed that the retaining screws weren't tightened however, it didn't make any noticeable difference). I removed it with the engine off and although it looks slightly dirty (I will get some cleaner in a bit and give it a good clean) and my fingers were ever so slightly black, it all appears ok (I assume that you couldnt tell if its on its was out by a visual inspection anyways), put it all back together and then disconnected the MAF with the engine running, it started to splutter and hunt then settled down to normal after maybe 3-4 seconds but with the management light on, reconnected and carried out an ecu reset and took it for a quick spin, no difference. So my next step will be clean the MAF sensor and reset, see if that makes a difference and then see if I can borrow a known working MAF, then if still not solved, get the custom remap (just had a new clutch last friday so the funds are low)

DUMP Valve remove and retry.
Extra psi from the map could of made the leak and its been getting worse hence why no turbo.

Scoobs and dump valves do not work they should be banned, then if prob is still there look around at other stuff as mentioned

Why didnt you just book it with duncan in the first place instead of getting some random dude that flash maps any car .

Because I'm a numpty.

If you were closer I could flash in a stock image. You could then run it around for a bit to make sure it's ok before shelling out for a bespoke remap.
Perhaps you can get to our breakfast meet and I'll do it then.

Not an expert on this,but Scott certainly is so getting to the breakfast meet would be a good solution.

And that's what these clubs (particularly this one) are all about..... :ok:

Plus of course Scott likes to Flash wherever he can :-|:angst:

Totally agree.

Scott, thank you so much, only 2 problems......
1) I have my girls this weekend
2) the car is filthy, and I mean filthy, we are off to chessington tomorrow and I won’t have a chance to clean her and there is no way you guys are seeing sue (my 8 year old named her) this dirty. But really appreciate the offer and next time I will be there for the meet (flashing or not).
Many thanks

get back in touch with whoever did the work initially and get them at last to restore to std..........

The meet is next weekend