Apexi Avcr Boost Controller Manual

[Klacee Sawatzky]

I've just spent the day installing the Apexi AVC-R and playing with the settings and to be honest it would have been a lot easier with the following information.

So just to make it easier for anyone installing one in the future I'm going to do a write up and put all the links I used here to get it installed, running and working etc !

Reading about, you're supposed to mount this with the nipple point downwards... I'm not entirely sure if it makes a difference, but do it anyway just to be sure lol! I've put mine on the bulkhead hidden behind the inlet with zip ties. Once you have mounted it plumb it in like so...

1.Run a line from the front of your inlet to your dumpvalve.

2. Cut the line in step 1, and insert a T-Piece and run another line to the map sensor.

Map sensor plumbing diagram.



After that's done, plug in the Map sensor and the Solenoid !

NOTE* Running the wires through the bulkhead is a fucking pain in the arse. I have no idea why they put such massive connectors on the parts, but there we go... To make it easier I cut all of the connectors off and then ran the wires through the bulkhead from the inside. Even like this it was hard. I ran the tube from my old boost gauge through the bulkhead and then zip tied all wires for the map sensor to the end, and gentle pulled them through by pulling the tube back... For the solenoid I still cut the connector off but ran these wires through the wing and took the indicator out to pull them through. When all wires were in the engine bay I added bullet connectors and made them water tight with heatshrink. This way it will be much easier to remove the bits if need be in the future!

This is the fun bit. Get on your hands and knees and get comfy in the driver's footwell like a hobbit because you're going to be here for at least half an hour fiddling about just to fit 5 wires. (Micra owners will have it a bit easier here seeing as your ECU is behind the dash, which can easily be found by removing the glovebox)

Unplug the connectors from the ECU from behind the centre console under the dash on the driver's side (EP82 owners). Peel back some of the plastic covering to reveal the wires and give you space to splice into the wires. Next you need to match up your wiring to the diagrams below by splicing into the wire using scotch locks. Pretty straight forward... Have fun LOL.

Wire colours and what they are...



NOTE* Throttle position is NOT needed on manual cars as the EP82-91 TPS is either on or off. So no point wiring in the GREY wire. You can add it if you wish although there is no point unless you have a TPS from an automatic starlet as that does use a progressive TPS... I can't remember exactly why you would need it, another feature on the AVCR that I've forgotten about .

Where they go:

Your an actual diamond!! Ive been looking for a write up like this everywhere for my external wastegate as my boost controller is boosting what ever it wants as i had just the bottom nipple from the wastegate plumbed in and the top venting but it all make sence now! You ledge!

Does anyone know how to set this up? i have installed the apexi avcr to my r33 skyline gts-t, i cant seem to get it right. I set it up to boost 1 bar & duty 45%. however its not boosting to 1bar at all...i notice on the boost gauge, it only goes up to 9psi.

1 bar =14psi isnt?but how come it only goes up to 9psi? have i dont anything wrong? its all hooked up properly, everythings working in the avcr, just not boosting properly.. i even preferred the turbosmart manual boost control... anyway any help would be much appreciate. Also any sydney siders who is willing to help me set this up? i am located in west of sydney.

Have you tried to raise your duty cycle? According to what I've read, if the actual boost is lower than the desired boost, you should raise your duty cycle in small increments (like 1% at a time) until you get the desired result. By the way, what did you set the boost at in Kg/cm2? If you want 14psi, this will equal 13.530Kg/cm2, so you need to set your boost on the AVCR to 0.95. I'm just about to install an AVCR in my R33 GTST so I'll see how I go with it.

from the screen, it currently shows 1.0kg/cm2 boost & 45% duty. So you're saying to put the setting to 13.530Kg/cm2, this will equal to 14psi??? or put it as .90kg/cm2 of boost??? Also the rpm is set to 3000.

I have an english manual also, but it doesn't really tell you anything at all! I've just set mine up, got it set to 0.70Kg/cm2 and at 30% duty (taking it very easy for now just to make sure I've installed everything right!). The website that I looked at for my settings was -R.htm. The table they have in there states that you should set your boost to 0.95Kg/cm2 (on the screen where you set up your boost duty) to get 14 psi. I don't know much about the rpm settings yet though. Just remember to make small changes at a time when altering the boost duty!

Turn the thing off and see what the AVC-R reads in the way of boost. If you then turn it to Seting A and 1.0bar with 45 duty and it still runs the same boost then im guessing thre may be something wrong wth the install

I even unplugged the stock solenoid to see if thats the prob. Last night i plugged the stock solenoid & place back my old single stage turbosmart boost controller, seems fine, boosted up to 12psi, thats ok, but weird it aint working for avcr...i think i wanna sell this if its not working for me...

I'm still running my AVCR at safe levels until I can find some time this weekend to give my car 'a few herbs' (i.e. a thrash) and set it up correctly. I can't think of why you are only getting a max of 9psi out of it though, but maybe you should get a tuner's opinion first before deciding to sell it. My brother installed an AVCR in his '95 Supra last month and his unit is holding 14psi easily. Maybe the unit has 'self learnt' something and isn't recognising some of your changes? Was the unit brand new or second hand? Cause if it was second hand the previous owner's settings might still be in effect and you should reset the unit before installing it. To re-set the unit go into the 'etc' menu and say 'initialise all'. Hope this helps!

I have printed the avcr documentation from apexi site & the site you gave MacGuyver, I guess i'll be busy reading all these pages lol, let me know how ur thrashing went & if the boost you set it up to is working well.

hay bro crank you duty cycle up to 60 percent and see how that goes. it took me a week to tune my high and low boost settings. 60 percent wont be right but it will get you close. soon as you get with .05 of a bar or so it goes into self learn.

There should be an option in settings that lets you clear all settings n start fresh. The higher the duty cycle the more it will over shoot ur boost boost setting and the reverse if its lower, it should undershoot n then creep up. Mines set to .9 and 50% duty so it hits bout 1bar n drops back. Not sure if this is any help.

It says in the instructions if u set the controller to '0ff' mode rarther than 'a' or 'b' mode it should run normal boost, which in my case is 0.8bar, however in 'off' mode it almost loses all boost/power 0.3bar or less?

I did manage to speak to the chap who installed it and he said either the hoses are wrong, as in placement or it's because he's connected the purple harness wire to the inj signal not the revs, which apexi also recommends not too do?

It seems theres so many settings on this controller and its not very user friendly so if anyone could help me out please let me know, it would be great to see what settings u have your controller set too and what kind of performance your getting, maybe i have problems now with airflow, intake air temp, airfilter etc...maybe these factors are restricting me from any higher boost levels?

The easiest way to cock up one of these is to get the solenoid connections wrong. There are three holes in it and you'll use two of them to control an internal wastegate and a different two to control an external one. If you've got these wrong it'll be very unpredictable and behave strangely, which sounds like what you've got here.

The Ne point settings aren't that great I realise now, as I've attempted to control the boost below 4000rpm and that's daft because the wastegate isn't used for that. In my defence the date stamp on this file is 5/4/2003 so this was over seven years ago

Set your target boost pressure, say 1.2bar, and put in a duty of about 40%. Go for a 2nd/3rd gear run and see what pressure you hit. If it's lower than your target boost, increase the duty cycle value. If you suddenly see *** instead of a percentage value, it's trying to self-learn and tweak the duty cycle across the rev range, which is good, it means your base duty cycle is about right. Pressing "next" will show you a bar chart of the duty cycle per Ne-point. You can tweak these individually as well.

I've checked your garage and you've got an auto, so the gear judge values are completely wrong as they are for a manual. It only affects the Start Duty settings anyway, and they are just a bit of a tweak to try and get boost faster in lower gears or stop it spiking in higher ones. So, for now, turn off Learn Gear by putting an X in all the holes for FB Speed and Learn-Gear, and zeroing the Start Duty values.

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