[nissubaru]

Slowly but surely getting this bastard going again. If you're keeping up with my posts you may have noticed in the last one I was having some smoking coming from the turbo area however I think I'm all good there. After 5-10 minutes or so of running the car and idling it started to not smell like shit burning and stopped producing smoke. It was probably something related to the engine swap, valve cover gasket job, or walnut blasting that I did.

Took the car out for a spin finally but I was throwing 30CF and 3100 even before I got on the road. I can clear the codes but they come right back. Here are the descriptions of each code:

30CF: Wastegate, input signal
EXPLANATION: Wastegate physically unplugged.
FIX: Check wiring. Green and purple wires on JB3.

3100: boost-pressure control, deactivation
EXPLANATION: This code is triggered any time you experience a reduced boost mode.
FIX: This code itself is meaningless and serves only to let you know a 'limp mode' took place.

There is also another code but I'm not getting this one, could it be only one of my turbos having an issue?

30D0: Wastegate 2, input signal
EXPLANATION: Wastegate physically unplugged.
FIX: Check wiring. Green and purple wires on JB3.
---

Turbos are "newish", 8k miles according to the previous owner. Wastegates both were set prior to install to close at 5.9hg of vacuum. Also replaced vacuum lines at this time with platinum cured silicone hoses. JB4 has been removed 100%. I'm now on an MHD stage 2+ map, previously was on a JB4 BEF.

Not sure what other info to provide, I think that's about all the relevant info.

[dpaul]

30CF is bank 1 (front) wastegate activation error. Clearly, the description of "physically unplugged" and "JB3" are irrelevant here and I presume came from some Burger Tuning code list.

Wasn't bank 1 wastegate actuator the one you replaced?

[nissubaru]

Originally Posted by dpaul

30CF is bank 1 (front) wastegate activation error. Clearly, the description of "physically unplugged" and "JB3" are irrelevant here and I presume came from some Burger Tuning code list.

Wasn't bank 1 wastegate actuator the one you replaced?

Oddly enough yes, if bank 1 is the front turbo then yep. The turbos were shipped like garbage, just a box and no padding. Before installing them I went to check the wastegate arm settings with a Mityvac and noticed the front turbo wastegate arm was completely stiff. After removing it entirely I was able to get a better idea of what happened. The arm itself was bent somehow, that arm goes in and out of the actuator but because it was bent it wouldn't move at all in its installed position.

Bought a brand new BMW wastegate actuator from FCPEuro, installed and set the wastegate arm length. This part was sorta tricky because I was starting from scratch on a new arm, I wasn't just tightening it a turn or two. Regardless, I figured it out and from the rear turbo to the front turbo there was nothing different I could tell about the wastegates. At 5.9hg they were both set appropriately and had minimal play when you rotate the flapper by hand.

I would be surprised if I screwed something up here. It was pretty clear because I was using a Mityvac to test everything.

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by nissubaru

Oddly enough yes, if bank 1 is the front turbo then yep. The turbos were shipped like garbage, just a box and no padding. Before installing them I went to check the wastegate arm settings with a Mityvac and noticed the front turbo wastegate arm was completely stiff. After removing it entirely I was able to get a better idea of what happened. The arm itself was bent somehow, that arm goes in and out of the actuator but because it was bent it wouldn't move at all in its installed position.

Bought a brand new BMW wastegate actuator from FCPEuro, installed and set the wastegate arm length. This part was sorta tricky because I was starting from scratch on a new arm, I wasn't just tightening it a turn or two. Regardless, I figured it out and from the rear turbo to the front turbo there was nothing different I could tell about the wastegates. At 5.9hg they were both set appropriately and had minimal play when you rotate the flapper by hand.

I would be surprised if I screwed something up here. It was pretty clear because I was using a Mityvac to test everything.

So one worry, which you've most likely considered, is that when the JB4 was removed, one of the pins in the connectors was bent or dislodged and the bank 1 boost solenoid is not functioning.

[nissubaru]

Originally Posted by dpaul

So one worry, which you've most likely considered, is that when the JB4 was removed, one of the pins in the connectors was bent or dislodged and the bank 1 boost solenoid is not functioning.

I considered the pins too, I saw a thread or two where someone had a bent pin on their jb4 harness I think it was. I could see this because the JB4 harness plugs into the existing connectors with a bunch of pins. Thing is, when the JB4 is removed there are no pins leftover on the original harness that could be bent. They're all flat connections/pins on the plug side.

The DME could have bent pins but I have a replacement DME that I can swap around and they both throw the same code so I can probably rule that out.

Dislodged pins is a possibility, I'll look up the wiring diagram from the boost solenoids and trace it back. For now I ordered a couple replacement boost solenoids and will try them out if I can't think of anything else

Thanks

[nissubaru]

New boost solenoids didn't help. Flashed back to stock as well but still throwing the same codes.

Is there anything else that would control boost or the wastegates indirectly? My car just doesn't want to boost for whatever reason, it's not like I'm low on boost I just don't have wastegate activation. Bad gas? I'm almost on E and the fuel has been in for ~8 months.

I'll take any suggestions or thoughts.

[nissubaru]

So I finally gave up on diagnosing it myself and had AAA tow it to a BMW shop nearby. They figured it out thankfully, and to my surprise it was nothing I did to the car. It's something the previous owner did, which I can't even begin to understand why or what the hell he was doing. But, if you look at the attached pics you'll see he was screwing around with the wires to the boost solenoids and then twisted some things together. Then I guess he shrunk wrap the wires again to make it look somewhat factory, I had no clue since I bought the car this way. Our best guess as to why this happened after the swap was that something came loose when removing/installing the harness. The shop did a great job fixing the wiring and actually made it true to the factory as they do part outs and had the connectors etc to rewire everything the right way.

[PARANOlD]

Bump on this thread, had the same problem at one point and zip tied the connectors to the solenoids after replacing solenoids. Codes went away limp mode went away for a long time... now I'm having the 3100/30CF again. Looked at the connector for bank 1 and it looks darker than the rear. At one point before all of this, the thing split in half and I had to re-seat the wires and glue it back together. Not sure how to know the difference between an actual wastegate problem or just a wiring issue. Vacuum tubes are good.

[PARANOlD]

Another bump - since I have replaced solenoids, I'm going to pick up and install a new wiring harness. This helps rule out other electrical gremlins in this area as well.