Well I finally found the source of all my problems.

Well this weekend I finally got to hook the car up to an air compressor to try and find the mystery leak. Reviewing my logs showed symptoms of heat soak or a boost leak. I knew I couldn't be heatsoaking this massive thing, but I couldn't find the boost leak using a 12 volt compressor. Well we fill 'er up and boost starts falling again, but we still can't find it. When I walked to the other side of the car, I felt air pushing against my leg, wtf? I run my hands through the intercooler and voila, it's fucked. At least 3 of the bars are not sealed whatsoever. They're completely loose. The intercooler leaks air like no other. Since it is the 3 bars almost all the way across, it's definitely not because I hit some rocks or something, it has to be a manufacturing defect. This is why the car wouldn't hold a tune, why the ECU's estimated a/f was different that the real a/f, and why knock events up top were happening.

We'll see how Slowboy handles this. I had to email them proof of it leaking, and they still haven't responded back yet. I have a feeling I'm going to have to really got on to them about giving me a new one. They even admitted they've had a few come back because of the manufacturing defect (Kevin, wasn't yours messed up too?), but I bought mine about a year ago, so it's going to be tough. We'll see how it goes, but I'm hoping for the best. Here are some pics (spraying soapy water on the leak makes it bubble up shows where it's leaking). I'm hoping they'll take care of it right, this is my daily, can't afford the downtime of sending it in. If they take care of this, my faith in Slowboy will be renewed.

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/4137/dscf0535jp1.jpg

that'll do it :icon16:

That blows man. I hope everything works out for you.

Suckyness for being a SBR FMIC... I wonder if my XS Power one is gonna leak like that. lol

Damn that sucks man. Ironic thing is that you were always on us about trying to go for the no namers and save some money. I guess this proves that even the big companies fuck up sometimes. Anyway man I feel you on the daily driver mine is my daily driver too and this blown hg is killing me. I hope it all works out for you. BTW, if you still have your smic couldn't you just hook that up if they make you ship it out?

Yep, definitely ironic. It does show that everybody fucks up. Trying to make the smic fit again with the piping I have would be impossible.

Life is a bitch...I would raise hell if they didnt give me a new one, but then again yours is a year old...that will be the major obstacle that will be need to overcome....GL

They should be ok about it. A little OT but this sorta pertains to this topic: I think I figured out what I am going to do FMIC wise on my car. Think I am going to buy an eBay core and test it out, you know air temp drops and that. Then comes the name brand. I think I am going to do some half way extensive testing and see if I see if they are really worth the money or not. Would you by chance happen to know the before/after temps from your SBR FMIC?

They should be ok about it. A little OT but this sorta pertains to this topic: I think I figured out what I am going to do FMIC wise on my car. Think I am going to buy an eBay core and test it out, you know air temp drops and that. Then comes the name brand. I think I am going to do some half way extensive testing and see if I see if they are really worth the money or not. Would you by chance happen to know the before/after temps from your SBR FMIC?


you can't get air temps after the intercooler unless it's a custom probe setup. The MAS measures air temps before the turbo. Only way to judge is by knock reduction.

Man, that's aweful that you AND Kevin both had problems with the SBR fmic. Hope you get it all squared away man.

you can't get air temps after the intercooler unless it's a custom probe setup. The MAS measures air temps before the turbo. Only way to judge is by knock reduction.
Yup, I know. My buddy had a sorta "two stage" intake probe dealy. It was a guage with a switch and two temp probes, one basically right after the turbo, one a few inches before the TB. The switch would switch between the sensors. I am definately going to get one something like that, but with one right before and right after the IC on the IC pipes. Just curious as to if you had one or any way of taking the temp.

It would definitely be a good project.

Well I'll tell you that I couldnt be ahppier with my ebay core. That sucks but at least you didnt cw lol

i thought for sure when i read the title this was going to be a grand prix thread

.... that is a lot of bugs on your fmic... lol how long have you had the core? and did it come with a warranty, because if it has been say a year... and it has been fine, they don't have to replace it at all... they coulda have said that you did that by hitting something running 30 psi lol, what you gonna if you have to ship it out

It will be a year in a few days. It is obviously a manufacturing defect because 4 solid bars are not sealed. It's impossible that I could have done something to uniformly rip the bars apart. It has been like this since day 1, which is why I've always had some issues with the car that I couldn't find. Slowboy has already admitted they have made a bad batch, now we just have to wait and see what they choose to do.

O and there are lots of bugs because for whatever reasons there are millions of monarch butterlies migrating through South Texas right now.

Thats fucking retarded. SBR never ceases to amaze me.

SBR does NOT manufacture these cores. It never ceases to amaze me how many people think they're making these things :) The cores are made by garret and are some of the best in the industry. Kinetic Motorsports welds on the end tanks and brackets. So this in no way SBRs fault, and it sucks that they have to deal with this. But as a retailer, that's thier role. To intercede for us with the manufacturer.

The problem you are having is the first I've heard of. Mine, and what I believe all the others were, is a leak at the end tank welds, inside where you can't see it. SBR replaced mine promptly, but it's only a cuple months old. And I felt pretty retarded for waiting that long to pressure test it. 1 year is going to be really hard to explain.

I think I could argue this one both ways. If the bars are leaking along the whole length from end to end, it is most likely a manufactures defect. But at the same time, companies like SBR have to protect themselves from people that run these things for a year, pop them with a nitrous backfire or something, and then try to get it warrantied. It's too bad that all the douchbags out there that won't own up to thier own mistakes and take advantage of warrantiess ruined it for the rest of us.

I honestly don't know which way this is going to go... :(

Any update?

Sort of. I called them and immediately they said too bad, "sorry bud can't help ya". Well I bitched at them a bit and kind of got a little upset, this went on for about 30 minutes. Finally, they said well why don't you send it in and we'll have a look at it. I asked if they intended on fixing it and they said they won't know until they see it. This basically means they would only fix it if it was a pinhole leak that took 5 seconds to fix. I also have to pay shipping.

I'm taking it to my welder in town on the 10th (When im back in town) and we'll fix it. The core will be uglified most likely so I'm also going to anodize it black so it's not as visible.

I can't stand slowboy. They have the absolute worst customer service of ANY company I have ever dealt with, I'm not talking just about cars. They are very rude and attempt to be bossy on the phone. Once I get everything fixed I will be going on an anti-slowboy internet crusade. (You already know how the dsmlink forums feel about slowboy, kevin, heh) I'm not just talking about DSM forums either, every single car they deal with will know the whole story, (not just regarding this fmic, they have fucked me and others over before) and they can do with the advice as they please.

I understand mistakes happen, I'm not even mad at them for the mistake, they didn't make it. Garrett did. However, a vendor is supposed to be an intermediate between the manufacturer and the customer. That's what they do. They should not advertise a fmic as "the best we've ever seen" if they don't fucking pressure test it before they send it out. I would love to switch cores, but due to the piping setup of this core that is impossible without redoing everything. Sorry if I'm ranting but I can't deal with such incompetence. You'll see the whole write-up on every DSM forum soon enough ;)

I've always heard horrible things about SBR's customer service. I never want to deal with them just for the simple fact that if I end up in the same situation they will be homos about it. Some of the best people with customer service is Shepherd, Buscher, and Extremepsi.com... Simply the best ones I've ever encountered. Its no wonder they excel to the top. Maybe SBR would have a better rep if they weren't so rude and nasty to customers. :2cents:

dsmparts.com has been really nice to me as well as extremepsi. SBR I think kind of sucks all the way around, shipping and c/s.