[starxidiam]

dang a cable is 70 to 90 bucks. wow. cant i just use the OBD connector that comes with the AP and the usb and plug it into a laptop?

[Flycaster]

If it will connect up to a computer, I don't see why not.

[Loubaru]

Originally Posted by starxidiam

dang a cable is 70 to 90 bucks. wow. cant i just use the OBD connector that comes with the AP and the usb and plug it into a laptop?

I think you can use it to log, but I'm pretty sure you can't use it to flash. I haven't tried it myself, but I remember reading this a few places.

I got my Tactrix cable in the mail a few weeks ago, hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to log COBB STG1 and post them here.

[b0nd18t]

soo you bought a $695 useless device (IMO) but $80 for a cable freaks you out?



and no you cant use the AP cable to connect to a laptop.

[Mykl]

Originally Posted by b0nd18t

soo you bought a $695 useless device (IMO) but $80 for a cable freaks you out?



and no you cant use the AP cable to connect to a laptop.

I don't think you're seeing his point... yes, $695 is really too much for what the AP offers, at least by a few hundred bucks. But $80 for a cable? You don't see anything wrong with that?

If I had a Tactrix cable I could probably send the damn thing to China and get ten copies made for less than $80.

[starxidiam]

see thats what im saying, 80 dollars for a wire. ill end up buying it, unless a friend has one. where do you get the program from for your laptop"

[gabedude]

Just saw this. I know of over 100 07 STIs, stock and modded that have blown. I posted a long time ago on Nasioc about the 07's blowing up left and right. With the recent recall of some of the 08 Turbo models and the class action lawsuit, I have come to a good educated guess as to what Subaru did. My father in law is a mechanical engineer and this is pretty much standard practice and he agrees with my assessment. The casting in 07 changed, so the machine that makes the blocks (and pistons) on some 07 turbo motors changed. This is why some blow and some do not. I have 13k worth of datalogs that I will be posting soon that include WBO2 data. I am not going to type it all over again, but this issue was the primary reason I was banned on Nasioc, prompted by SOA and SoD (Subaru of Dallas). I will go into the details in my journal once I am finished building my car, but for now, here is a primer:

PLZ UPDATE!!! Post your mileage on your 2007 STi...

Originally Posted by gabedude

Engine #1

Started driving it hard at around 2k miles, engine always had a hard time starting for some reason (was not acting like my previous WRXs) after driving it hard. #4 Piston went at 3k on the clock. Diagnosis was a bad injector caused the failure. This jives with #4 heating up too much and getting "stuck" when cooling down. The failure was not gradual, it just popped one day.

Engine #2

New shortblock and #4 injector. I reproduced an issue where you can reset the ECU and run lean due to lack of fuel supply at low altitude (this is due to fuel learning to lean out up to 9%) on a stock car. Noticed that the engine was idling rougher than before after I did this test and knew it was a matter of time as the lean DET must have cracked a ringland. Logged 3k miles of stock knock and hesitation on the stock map for the community. Engine took loads of DET, I knew it would eventually blow. Made free Stage 1 maps anyway. Beat the hell out of it with over 300 flashes and 6 free conservative map releases (of course in development, I was not running conservative, I was pushing the limits). Went Stage 2 at 11K miles (8K on new motor which already had a crack in a ringland). Contributed to Stage 2 XPT mappings. Car was an animal. Noticed that the car started burning oil faster, so I knew at that power level, the crack was getting bigger. At 14.5K the ringland on #3 broke.

Rebuilt engine myself. Upon teardown, I discovered 3 things:

1. Casting bubble in broken ringland on #3. 2 small cracks on #4 and one small crack on #2. #1 was pristine. No signs of horrible DET on bearings, bottom end all speced and miced out. Motor internals near mint (except for the pistons).
2. DW flow tested my stock injectors and #3 flowed 5% less than the rest of the injectors, however this is still within Subaru's manufacturing specs. Running my car at the limit with that combination contributed to the failure.
3. Oil pickup tube had holes in the brazing.

The good things:

Drivetrain is rock solid. I still love my STI. I know I got a car with a bad injector and the second motor failure was my fault. No big deal. For the free maps I put out, I got 500 dollars in donations. Thank you to all of my supporters. My wife has an 06 STI and we have it at Stage 2 (My map) for 49k miles (9K on my map, bought it used with 40K on the clock). It does not burn a drop of oil and runs great. I have owned an 02 WRX when they first came out in 2001, threw an MBC on it and ripped 13.7's all day long at the track for 40k miles before I wrecked it. I have owned and tuned an 06 WRX (Free Stage 1 map as well that is very popular) that people still run to this day which puts the car into the mid 13's.

Now the really good news:

My car will be running again this weekend. Rebuilt the motor myself (and no this is not the first time I have built a motor, it is just my first EJ build). Ceramic coated CP 99.5mm pistons (quick buff with a drill hone so rings will seat correctly), 20G 8CM^2, 750CC DW, WB FP, Samco hoses all around, 08 STI TMIC, Snow Performance Meth kit. This motor should be rock solid and I am done using it to develop free maps. I will tune it once and forget about it, let the ECU do the rest, just as it should. I want to enjoy driving my car now that I have had it for a year.

I still tune some people's cars every now and again, but I am a software developer. Cars are my hobby. I have not had a problem with any car that I have tuned (although some people with cars that have over 100k do not like it when I tell them that their MAF or O2 sensor is bad, etc..)

With all that said, I have had countless people tell me of their experience with blown 07 turbo motors, stock and modded. Some are due to mechanical flaws, some abuse, some due to bad tunes (like the missing Advance table that every once in awhile would be added in and cause havoc on a Stage 2 car). I would speculate that Subaru has two plants making 2.5 blocks and they have some flaws (Subaru did pull a huge batch of 08 Turbo motors and the casting did change in 2007).

Some 07's have run great. I know 2 other people in Austin who own 07 STIs. One ran my free Stage 0 map with no problems whatsoever until he upgraded to a bigger turbo and went with a Cobb AP and dyno tune at the only shop here (early model run). Another (later model run like mine) went strictly Cobb AP stage 1, then Stage 2, then more upgrades and another dyno tune. His motor lasted ~8k. He now has forged pistons and is on breakin. Another 07 FXT owner who has tuned his own cars (2.0 WRX, 04 STI, and his 07 FXT) motor blew at 8k as well. It was probably his fault though when he overboosted a couple of times.

So what is the real deal people wonder? My educated guess is that Subaru put some motors out there made from a new manufacturing plant that had process flaws. Of course, there are always going to be some bad cars coming out of any plant. However, more 07 motors have blown than I have seen in any year, stock or tuned. It is a multi-faceted issue. I love Subarus and will drive nothing else. I think they are great, safe cars and they have saved my ass 2 times already. Also, my 2 1/2 year old loves our STIs.

Buy one, love it and drive it. I am still an avid Subaru supporter, however I still do believe that Subaru did not do a good job on the 07 STI (the hesitation issue speaks for itself as when this occurs, up to 7 degrees of timing is pulled). For a cast piston motor, they are tough as hell. Working on them is very easy as well. Not as easy as an inline 4, but at least as easy as a smallblock chevy.

After my car is running, I will be posting all of my data with logs and pics in my journal. My advice to any 07 STI owner is one of two things:

If you mod it, get it tuned or at the very least go Cobb Stage X v1.04 or an opensource mapping (My free stage 1 or the XPT Stage 2).

or

Keep it stock.

A tune is essential on these cars now due to emissions. The worst thing you can do is just throw a catless downpipe on it with no tune. I actually had a guy who works at SOA send me an email stating that he bought a demo 07 STI and put his catless TBE with no tune from his 06 STI on it and the motor blew 2 weeks later. They did not warranty his car and he works for SOA, not a dealership.

-Gabe

[gabedude]

Originally Posted by starxidiam

see thats what im saying, 80 dollars for a wire. ill end up buying it, unless a friend has one. where do you get the program from for your laptop"

openecu.org

[PuccasBad_STI]

well written man. I plan to keep the motor stock for now. If I keep the car for more than 2 years I will invest in an AP. My 07 does have the hesitation but its liveable. I plan on getting an 09 so no reason to put myself thru torture and mod the engine only to have SOA deny a warranty claim just in case my motor was to go.

As to other 07 owners, whichever you choose to go with, either stock or modding, just remember you take the chance like everyone else does. At least 1 of 3 dealerships here in my area are cool with the AP so if I do go with it all I have to do is unmarry it should the motor blow. My suggestion like I posted earlier, find a dealership that is ok with APs at the very least.

Now lets hope the 08 and 09s don't have similar issues

Originally Posted by gabedude

Just saw this. I know of over 100 07 STIs, stock and modded that have blown. I posted a long time ago on Nasioc about the 07's blowing up left and right. With the recent recall of some of the 08 Turbo models and the class action lawsuit, I have come to a good educated guess as to what Subaru did. My father in law is a mechanical engineer and this is pretty much standard practice and he agrees with my assessment. The casting in 07 changed, so the machine that makes the blocks (and pistons) on some 07 turbo motors changed. This is why some blow and some do not. I have 13k worth of datalogs that I will be posting soon that include WBO2 data. I am not going to type it all over again, but this issue was the primary reason I was banned on Nasioc, prompted by SOA and SoD (Subaru of Dallas). I will go into the details in my journal once I am finished building my car, but for now, here is a primer:

PLZ UPDATE!!! Post your mileage on your 2007 STi...

[Mart]

Hi

When you say "getting a tune after putting a catless downpipe", does a OTS Cobb Stage 2 map is ok or you are saying that a tune is way safer?

Mart

Originally Posted by gabedude

Just saw this. I know of over 100 07 STIs, stock and modded that have blown. I posted a long time ago on Nasioc about the 07's blowing up left and right. With the recent recall of some of the 08 Turbo models and the class action lawsuit, I have come to a good educated guess as to what Subaru did. My father in law is a mechanical engineer and this is pretty much standard practice and he agrees with my assessment. The casting in 07 changed, so the machine that makes the blocks (and pistons) on some 07 turbo motors changed. This is why some blow and some do not. I have 13k worth of datalogs that I will be posting soon that include WBO2 data. I am not going to type it all over again, but this issue was the primary reason I was banned on Nasioc, prompted by SOA and SoD (Subaru of Dallas). I will go into the details in my journal once I am finished building my car, but for now, here is a primer:

PLZ UPDATE!!! Post your mileage on your 2007 STi...

[2Dogs]

I just purchased an 07. It has dealer installed intake and exhaust - is that making the problems more likely to happen (if my car is in that group)?

Totally on the fence for the AP stage 1. I am not to the point where I want huge mods for performance, I do like increased performance but not sacrificing reliability - I see stage 1 as a reliabilty enhancing mod but if there is a problem......

Anyway, I will be reading this again and driving the piss out of it while it is stock

[Flycaster]

Originally Posted by Loubaru

I think you can use it to log, but I'm pretty sure you can't use it to flash. I haven't tried it myself, but I remember reading this a few places..

I've used my AP cable to log, but I've never tried going the other way. Interesting that it will allow data to flow only one direction...are we all positive about this? Just asking, since I had always assumed it would work.

[jordanretro1223]

Originally Posted by starxidiam

dang a cable is 70 to 90 bucks. wow. cant i just use the OBD connector that comes with the AP and the usb and plug it into a laptop?

Originally Posted by Flycaster

I've used my AP cable to log, but I've never tried going the other way. Interesting that it will allow data to flow only one direction...are we all positive about this? Just asking, since I had always assumed it would work.

You can't use the accessport cable to log in romraider (enginuity) it will not work. You have to use a tactrix for this. You also, as far as I know can't flash an ecu with anything but an accessport with the accessport wire. EcuFlash needs the tactrix to flash...

You can, however, from what I've heard use the accessport cable to log with ecu explorer and from what I've read the Cobb forums have the directions on the entire process somewhere. I think this is what Flycaster is doing, correct me if I'm wrong.

So if you want to log but don't want to buy the tactrix search their forums.

Personally, I've seen the ecu explorer interface and I prefer romraider more.

[Flycaster]

Originally Posted by jordanretro1223

...You can, however, from what I've heard use the accessport cable to log with ecu explorer...

It's been a while, but IIRC that is the program I used. The interface was indeed a kludge, but I was able to log what I needed.

[jordanretro1223]

Yeah it does do the job.