I started this swap (2011 JCW engine, upgraded custom turbo, FMIC, 2.5" catless downpipe, Forge BOV, DDMWorks intake, JCW AP Stage III tuning) into my 2007 MCS back a few months ago, but sort of let it hang since then due to crazy work schedule and a death in the family. Just bolted up the last bit of piping and she runs!!! Purrs like a very mean kitty.

Planning to get her finished tomorrow, all that left is to reconnect the cooling system, headlamps, and troubleshoot any driveablity issues

 

Awesome! Nice work.

 

two issues have occurred, right after the swap was complete and the car was filled with coolant:

1) Driove fine, until you get on the boost, then it flashed a warning "Engine malfunction, reduced power available" and had no boost. No codes available to read through accessport

2) the little auxiliary electric water pump cracked, shooting coolant everywhere. I shut down the car. Have ordered a new one.

Any idea what causes problem 1)?

 

I'm not sure how carefully you've engineered and tuned this swap, but the most obvious cause (ignore this if you've found a way to account for it) would be that the airflow sensors on the jcw are different (they can accommodate and measure higher boost levels). I would assume this means that your Ecu isn't communicating correctly with the engine (since I think I read that you started with an MCS).

That was actually a question I was going to post: do you have a strategy/method for getting the MCS Ecu to communicate with the jcw engine sensors?

 

Plan A is to just stick it in and see what happens. I've done that, and got the reduced power message, but that message can also be related to cooling issues, which I was certainly having! New electric water pump is on its way and should be in the car on wednesday or thursday next week.

Plan B is to switch back to the MCS MAP sensor and see what happens.
Plan C is to swap the ECU for a JCW one, get a JCW flash, or a custom tune

 

Hats off to you. That's a lot of hours

 

Great. Well let us know what works in the end. I'm sure not the first person to consider the swap, so it would really useful to have a good record of what works and what doesn't.

I know that others have had trouble with bigger turbo swaps because of the turbo pressure was in excess of the sensor's range (although it seems like more recently, others have been successful, maybe there was a change at some point?).

There has been discussion of that topic on the other forum (the one for the tuning company in LA).

 

I will update after fixing the water pump failure. After getting the car filled back up, I'll try the MCS MAP sensor.