[w00tplayaw00t]

Odds are, no. The population of forum members running the JB4 is probably single digits.

Why do you ask?

I was interested in purchasing a throttle response controller and would like to know the effects/results of having both modules installed simultaneously. The JB4 looks very promising, I'll just wait a while longer for more long term reviews before pulling the trigger.

 

[wtumrd0]

I was interested in purchasing a throttle response controller and would like to know the effects/results of having both modules installed simultaneously. The JB4 looks very promising, I'll just wait a while longer for more long term reviews before pulling the trigger.

The PC only interfaces with the throttle, which I do not believe the JB4 does.

 

[User1029]

I’ll ask aro

Does this make sense? Is he saying a new turbo wasn't necessary? Would the dealer need to do an Electronic WasteGate calibration while the JB4 is installed?
View attachment 554867

I’ll ask my dealership about this calibration

 

[SilverOnyx]

First I've heard of EWG calibration - I don't have a 2020+ shop manual I wonder if it's mentioned in there at all? Since the JB4 plugs in to the EWG it almost seems as if the JB4 is the one reporting an anomalous reading to the ECU, but when you take the JB4 out, you still have the same error right?

 

[User1029]

Haven’t gotten a chance to completely unhook the JB4, I’ll do that on Thursday. I feel like with a Cobb AP in direct communication with the ECU, wastegate calibration can easily be performed. Too bad it’s not available for our cars yet

 

[wtumrd0]

First I've heard of EWG calibration - I don't have a 2020+ shop manual I wonder if it's mentioned in there at all? Since the JB4 plugs in to the EWG it almost seems as if the JB4 is the one reporting an anomalous reading to the ECU, but when you take the JB4 out, you still have the same error right?

The only reference to 'calibration' is related to the battery.

 

[ChristopherOBW]

How many people do you think are running a jb4 on the fa24 at this point? I'm curious what the actual fail rate is so far. If only 3 out of 100 people have an issue I wouldn't worry much.

 

[wtumrd0]

How many people do you think are running a jb4 on the fa24 at this point? I'm curious what the actual fail rate is so far. If only 3 out of 100 people have an issue I wouldn't worry much.

You can guesstimate this number on your own by going to jb4tech.com and browse in the JB4 for 2022+ Subaru WRX forum. IMO, a device which causes a stock turbo to fail in 3% of the vehicles it is installed in is too many. Also. it has yet to be proven the stock turbo has actually failed.

EDIT
There are 28 different posters, so 1 reported a problem or 3.6%. I did not read every post, so some of these posters might not even installed a JB4, they might have been just asking questions.

 

[SilverOnyx]

Want to thank early adopters for beta testing the JB4 - and especially for being totally transparent about any potential issues. Still need to find out the root cause of this particular issue and what to do if it happens - which it seems happens often enough that at least for the Outback sample, out of maybe 4 people using it in this thread, one has the problem within a couple months of use. I didn't do an actual count through the 15 pages to figure out how many installed it so this is just my general impression. It could be that it only happens with certain fuels/maps.

Burger is selling this as a Beta device - They're not claiming that it's perfect so finding out potential issues is what early adopters should expect - that's what beta testing is all about. Burger and the 2.4 turbo community all benefit from your test reporting so thanks again!

 

[Buru Jenkins]

Whether it is, or is not related to the JB4, is not something I am willing to risk. I will admit that I have gone back to the factory tune, disabling the JB4 (Map 0), temporarily while waiting to hear what @User1029 or Terry (Burger) finds. I am hopeful that this, along with similar issues reported on other forums, is completely unrelated. My car feels sluggish now 😅

 

[wtumrd0]

Whether it is, or is not related to the JB4, is not something I am willing to risk. I will admit that I have gone back to the factory tune, disabling the JB4 (Map 0), temporarily while waiting to hear what @User1029 or Terry (Burger) finds. I am hopeful that this, along with similar issues reported on other forums, is completely unrelated. My car feels sluggish now 😅

I agree, an unfortunate issue, but it is hard to imagine this is not related to the JB4, with two people reporting the same code. As @SilverOnyx posted, this is what beta testing is about.

Fortunately, the first person 'resolved' the issue by clearing the code. I put resolved in quotes since clearing the code is not fixing the problem. IMO, neither is taking it to the dealer to run an EWG calibration procedure. Again, IMO, Burger's responses are a bit disappointing. The first report was on Oct 16, 2022, which they passed off as a 'false alarm'. Which might be reasonable since it 'went away' by clearing the code. They got the logs on Nov 4, 2022, then asked for them again on Nov 8, 2022. @User1029 reported the same problem to them on Nov 23, 2022. Unfortunately, clearing the code has not resolved @User1029s problem and he is left with 1 psi of boost. Not to mention buying a new turbocharger at $864.32

 

[User1029]

So we reverted all the connections back to OEM and disconnected the JB4 and still getting the P003A code. I called around several Subaru dealerships and they don’t do any sort of EWG recalibration nor is there a system wide reflash bulletin for this code.

These electronic wastegates are brutal. Whenever you get a CEL it puts the car into limp mode and you have zero boost whereas pesky CELs on my past Subarus with mechanical wastegates you can still boost. Even if I clear the CEL with the JB4, I can only generate 5psi or boost and the CEL opens up again on the next start up.

The P003A code is not common on Subarus with only 1 documented online occurrence on an Ascent years ago. There is now several of them with the release of the JB4. Whatever the piggyback is doing it might be frying the electrical signal to the EWG and causing actuator dysfunction.

The other thing with the EWG is that you can’t just order the EWG by itself. You have to buy the whole turbo. The turbo might be on backorder since I placed my order last week and still no shipping notification.

 

[SilverOnyx]

Thanks for hanging in there with this experience and not ghosting us when things turned sour. I'm hoping that JB4 can get to the bottom of this and revise their hardware or software to make this far less likely.

Are you going to re-install the JB4 after installing the new turbo?

 

[User1029]

Thanks for hanging in there with this experience and not ghosting us when things turned sour. I'm hoping that JB4 can get to the bottom of this and revise their hardware or software to make this far less likely.

Are you going to re-install the JB4 after installing the new turbo?

I’m done with the JB4 haha I’m going to wait for Cobb

 

[SilverOnyx]

This Cobb article may give some insight:

Subaru Accesstuner FA24DIT Tuning Supplement - Customer Support Center - Confluence

cobbtuning.atlassian.net

-begin quote-
Boost control code is entirely new on the Ascent due to the introduction of a fully electronic wastegate valve and air bypass valve on its FA24DIT motor....

...The starting commanded wastegate position is determined by the Wastegate Initial Position table (final boost target vs RPM) with compensations for baro, IAT, and initial position (this one is fairly redundant and the factory calibration is set to no comp). Wastegate position is represented in units of length (millimeters). The wastegate is more progressively open with higher values. This initial position is corrected by the turbo dynamics corrections based on boost error (described in next section). This commanded wastegate position ranges from 0 mm (full closed) to 15 mm (max. open) and is reflected in the Wastegate Position Commanded monitor.

The final commanded wastegate position (represented in the Wastegate Position Commanded Final monitor) is typically different than the initial commanded position described above due to a learning adjustment and ramping behavior:

When the commanded wastegate position is near 0 mm (i.e. request fully closed), the ECU enters a learning mode where the final commanded position is set to a fixed (low) position with a previous learning adjustment applied. The evaluation requires 1 second of time (where commanded position remains near 0 mm) after which the current (actual) wastegate position is sampled once and a learning adjustment is derived from this actual position vs. the theoretical fully closed position (0 mm). This difference becomes the new learning adjustment (shown in the Wastegate Position Learned Correction monitor) which is always added to the commanded position (with the total reflected in the Wastegate Position Commanded Final monitor).

If the commanded position is within 2.25 mm of the fully closed learned position, the ECU will slow the adoption of the commanded value by ramping down to it or, at times, hold the commanded value for a very brief period. This entire process occurs, typically, in less than half a second (at the start of a WOT pull for example).
-end quote-

When the new turbo is installed, I wonder if they need to use SSM4 to reset the thing?

 

[wtumrd0]

So we reverted all the connections back to OEM and disconnected the JB4 and still getting the P003A code. I called around several Subaru dealerships and they don’t do any sort of EWG recalibration nor is there a system wide reflash bulletin for this code.

These electronic wastegates are brutal. Whenever you get a CEL it puts the car into limp mode and you have zero boost whereas pesky CELs on my past Subarus with mechanical wastegates you can still boost. Even if I clear the CEL with the JB4, I can only generate 5psi or boost and the CEL opens up again on the next start up.

The P003A code is not common on Subarus with only 1 documented online occurrence on an Ascent years ago. There is now several of them with the release of the JB4. Whatever the piggyback is doing it might be frying the electrical signal to the EWG and causing actuator dysfunction.

The other thing with the EWG is that you can’t just order the EWG by itself. You have to buy the whole turbo. The turbo might be on backorder since I placed my order last week and still no shipping notification.

I know this was a beta and all the risks, etc., but IMO this is a major defect by BMS and, again IMO they should tell everyone running the JB4 on the 2,4T to uninstall until they have a fix. The parts and labor to install a new turbo will add up to several thousand dollars, assuming it will fix the problem. And if it does, how could anyone trust a BMS product to not screw up their engine? I wouldn't.

What a sad ending. I hope you get the new turbo soon and it resolves the problem. Finally, I wonder why the dealer couldn't just run through the post new turbo installation steps on your existing turbo?

 

[SilverOnyx]

I don't want to dogpile on them but I did feel like in their forum they were pretty dismissive and curt regarding issues - unless they had more extensive private communications. It kinda felt like early adopters were hung out to dry if they had issues. Since they are selling the device as a beta, they should be communicating with the beta testing customers more extensively to prevent or mitigate whatever issues there may be. Would Map 0 prevent this from happening, so it doesn't need physical uninstallation, or are only certain maps problem prone? JB4 needs to figure this out and communicate.

 

[Roverhound]

You are speculating that the JB4 is the cause with out any anecdotal proof.
We don't know how many of these have been installed, and out of those, how many have gotten this code.
We also don't know how many have gotten this code without any modifications to their cars.
Some of you have been in this thread from the beginning to seemingly try to discredit the JB4. When this came up you jumped at the chance to weigh your opinions without any actual experience.
I also would like to get to the bottom of this and see one way or another but will wait for more data before I pass judgement.
BTW I have been troubleshooting advanced electrical and mechanical systems for the past 30 years so I do have some experience in this type of issue.

 

[ChristopherOBW]

You are speculating that the JB4 is the cause with out any anecdotal proof.
We don't know how many of these have been installed, and out of those, how many have gotten this code.
We also don't know how many have gotten this code without any modifications to their cars.
Some of you have been in this thread from the beginning to seemingly try to discredit the JB4. When this came up you jumped at the chance to weigh your opinions without any actual experience.
I also would like to get to the bottom of this and see one way or another but will wait for more data before I pass judgement.
BTW I have been troubleshooting advanced electrical and mechanical systems for the past 30 years so I do have some experience in this type of issue.

I agree that there are some in this group that were just waiting for an opportunity to throw Anything other than Cobb under the bus. There is a handful of us not having issues and plenty of WRX owners enjoying it as well. I have blown up two EJ motors so I'm aware of the consequences. I'm not going to go out of my way to discredit Subaru... if you don't want to play that's fine but stop pushing your opinions on others.

 

[ChristopherOBW]

I want to add that when you joined the beta program you were given Terry Burger's email. He has been very responsive and helpful. The forums are not the place to get professional car advise. The forums are a place for people to share opposition.