My car will be in the bodyshop next week and I want to disable the car from producing all of it's horsepower. Drivable, but slow. I was thinking of forcing the bypass valve to stay open. Do you think that will work? Or is there a different way to achieve this? It's ok if it makes a SES light.

I had a bad experience on one of my previous cars. The guys at the shop took my 500hp Ford out for a "test drive" and burned half of my tire tread away. I don't want that happening again. I'm not going back to the same place, but I don't trust anyone with my car anymore. The less power they have to fool around with the better.

 

If you do not trust the shop...don't use it.
You could zip tie the lever on the bypass valve (it is both vac and spring activated).... Will still drive like a cooper...no codes. Only time a bypass valve makes codes is if the internal vacuum diafram fails...causing a vac leak.

 

P.S.
you could also loosen the sc boots...so if they drive it much or hard, it will get a code and enter "limp mode".... Would act like a leaky or cracked boot....

 

i would make note of the miles and let them know you did, nicely of course, even ask that no one drives it. Im the same way, i dont trust most shops myself. My girlfriends jetta came back from the dealer with 200 extra miles and a concert ticket stub in the backseat, good luck proving anything though.

 

I zipp tied the bypass valve open. It works great! In the video I was pushing almost full throttle and it can't make any boost. It goes into limp mode when pushed hard, but it can drive normal just fine, it feels like a really slow car, but it drives.

 

Nicely done! The bypass valve zip tie works. A bit of a hassle for valet at the hotel though. That's why I don't valet. Nobody treats my girl right. And I'm not giving instructions as to how to warm up my car.

Oddly my dealer was kind of against putting miles on my car. Back when it went to the dealer. I kept telling them to run it and find the issue and they came back with 'we ran it and couldn't reproduce' they put 6 miles on it.

 

I watched a valet that couldn't drive stick try to park my old GTI at a wedding. After he stalled twice in front of me - I walked back to the drivers door opened it and told him sternly to "GET OUT" and go get his manager who could drive stick.

 

Isn't that a basic requirement for being a valet?! How can you not drive stick and expect to be a valet?

 

One would think but I live in the New York metro area and it was a very high end venue. Not a lot of manual cars in this region because a stick in NYC traffic is brutal.