legacycentral bbs

I got the urge to test my stock BCS to see if it really was broken. Its been out of the loop for atleast 4 years, so I cleaned it with carb cleaner and compressed air. It clicked when tested with 12v.

The first few times I get into boost it spikes to 15+ psi like the wastegate is welded shut.

After a few spikes the ECU realizes something is wrong and just drops it down to the 6psi wastegate pressure. So atleast that portion of the solenoid is working.

I reset the ECU just to see if starting from scratch would help it learn to control boost again, but nothing changed although I didn't really give it much time to learn.

From my searching its seems very common for the stock BCS to stop working correctly. Has anyone ever successfully taken it apart and/or cleaned it with good results?

Hmmmmm... I am sure alot of guys just decided to run MBC. I honestly prefer the ECU controlling my boost. With mine I just filled a bunch of hoses going to the solenoid with seafoa and left it. Seems to work fine.

I wonder if the BCS from a like 02+ subaru works?

The SS BCS is a better unit than a WRX one. The WRX BCS is limited in it's range, and will have a different response than yours. I wouldn't consider it since you can't adjust your boost map like you can with a newer turbo car.


I have an extra stock SS BCS here that worked well for me with my GT2871R up to 23psi. I'd let it go for a small fee.

So you're still using your stock BCS? Were you having issues that the seafoam fixed?

Yeah I kinda want to get it working so if I get a revtronics chip I can see how it controls boost differently.

Lol seafoam, fixer of all problems. I may try soaking it in seafoam before I think about busting it open.

Has anyone ever broken one of them open to see what is getting stuck or worn out?

To be honest it was probably fine to begin with but I figured some seafoam where it connects to the wastegate actuator mainly and any other hoses I could access I filled with seafoam thinking it would help lube seals and make things seal better.

Are you sure you have the hoses hooked up correctly?

Solenoids don't typically break unless they have been misused/abused or you have excessively high duty cycles.

Crap, I got half way thru writing a "yeah its hooked up right, i looked at that diagram" post, but then decided to check it. Somehow in between looking at the diagram on my computer and walking outside I mixed them up in my head.

Hopefully running the wastegate/compressor hoses backwards doesn't break it.

Update in 45min.

Legacy777 wrote:Are you sure you have the hoses hooked up correctly?

Solenoids don't typically break unless they have been misused/abused or you have excessively high duty cycles.

Legacy777, Crusader Against the Stupid, triumphs yet again.

The BCS works much better when you hook it up correctly.

Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

Yeah the BCS works much better when it can bleed boost off correctly