My turbo seems to work fine in like first and second gear. but when im going like 40ish or faster when i go to speed up my boost gauge very quickly goes all the way to the peg in the white and my rpms dont go any higher then around 3400 and boost gauge stays tapped out until i take foot off of gas. ive know my turbo wasnt working like it should since i got it ( a few weeks ago) i went through and have checked hoses as best as i could without having my car jacked up. I found some hoses that were loose/hole/crack in them and fixed them up i had my heat shield off and air box out to see them all better. there are couple hoses not going to anything ill try and take a photo later and post one loose hose comes from right next to the air box under the air intake where there are 3 hoses that come from there ones goes to the wastage the other someplace els on the turbo that i cant really see and then one only have a very short hose connected to it and doesnt connect to anything. another hose i found loose was a very small hose that ran with a bigger hose coming from somewhere in the exhaust manifold and to where the intake hooks up to the turbo i forget the name pvc valve or something ? anyways the bigger hose had a little oil in it and the small hose was a vacuum it seemed like the both hooked up at the same place between turbo and air box.

 

ill try and up load a video tomorrow of how it is when driving. thanks everyone

 

Im assuming its an 850 turbo of some sort. lets start with the first picture. The vacuum line your holding in your hand connects the cold side turbo and wastegate vacuum lines to a factory electronic boost controller. pull your filter box out. Unlatch the clips that hold the top on, loosen the hose clamp on the MAF sensor, and set the cover assside. along with the filter. Next, in front of the airbox above your radiator, gently remove the longer oval shaped tube that connects from the "ram air style" duct above your radiator to the bottom of the air box. On the motor side, or driver seat side of the airbox you should see a little box with 3 nipples on it, un mount that from your air box. tug on the motor side of the airbox untill it comes loose. It is held in with two clips, and should just pop up. This will give you easy access to both repairs. The 3 nipple box you removed from the bottom half of the airbox is the "factory boost controller". This needs both the vacuum lines from the turbo hooked up to it or you will over boost and wreck your turbo and the engine. The engine tried to protect itself from that, and thats why it is cutting out. the middle of the 3 nipples connects to your intake tube (the random nipple with nothing on it that you found). As far as the other two nipples on the "box" go, Your going to have to test it because they are not labeled. if one is already hooked up, simply put the puzzle pieces together.

The other picture is your PCV breather. This system re routs positive crank case pressure back through your system. Don't worry, oil is supposed to come out of it. The big piece goes right into your intake tube. and the small line connects to the nipple right next to, or on it.

I hope this made sense. and for the love of all things Volvo, do not drive the car with your waste gate not hooked up.

 

"I hope this made sense. and for the love of all things Volvo, do not drive the car with your waste gate not hooked up."
What he said ! ! ! !



There is a boost controller down from the distributor. You need to pull the air filter housing to get access to it. I'm thinking you many have a hose or two loose or mis-connected. Sean gave a better description.

 

ya it seems my hoses are not hooked up correctly, the middle was going to my waste gate, the yello was going to fresh air, and the other was going to other part of turbo and looks like it should be replaced. .... i feel like this problem just started though? hmm maybe i just wasnt paying as much attention. one question thought on the turbo hose diagram the red hose #20 in the photo shows it going back to like the fire wall...? on my car it comes up front and connects right into the intake manifold. ?

 

thanks guys really appreciate it. alot of time i think i know what i need to do and can find most of the info, but your responses really help make me feel confident instead of just thinking i know what im doing and messing things up even more... thanks!

 

The diagram is universal for volvo. So the colors will not match. In the picture above, the only ones that matter are the yellow green and blue. All you really need to know about the vacuum lines for the "boost controller" is that the cold side line (shown as green) needs to be connected to the box. the box then can regulate vacuum passing through the box into the wategate line (shown as yellow). the blue line is to let out the extra air when need be.

The wastegate will not open without these lines hooked up. Which means you were pushing the turbo to its absolute maximum. Bad bad bad. lol. But now you know. Keep us updated on weather you get this fixed or not; or need more help!

 

ok so went through and changed out the three hoses. the only different is that i hooked up the hoses oposite as the photo shows. In the photo the yellow hose from waste gate hooks up to the lowest nipple on the controle solenoid. but on my boost controle solenoid had yellow paint marking the top nipple and that was hooked up to the waste gate when i got the car so i just kept it like that and just changed the hoses. The hose leading to the bottom of the turbo was destroyed, had holes in it and was cracked to ****. plus while i was looking down at the pvc breather i noticed the wiring to it was not connected so i connect that back up and made sure the hoses were snug. Now everything seems to working correctly which is great. i just wish it was faster now... shouldnt my tires have been chirping/spinning out if my turbo was working at its max ? idk the car doesnt seem to have the power it should. also one other big hose thats missing is the one going from top of radiator to bottom of airbox. I went to a couple places that were close today to try and get one but autozone and advanced auto didnt have anything. so im up for suggestions... a better air intake, just a replacement hose, or a cheap efficient makeshift hose. not sure how much that hose would be and if its very much mite make more sense to get something better idk

 

"one other big hose thats missing is the one going from top of radiator to bottom of airbox."

Unless you're talking about the snorkel from the air filter housing to the grill. I'm guessing that's the one.
You'll need to pick one up from a salvage yard or go with something aftermarket like you mentioned, cold air intake.

 

your turbo may have been "maxed out", but your ECU does not like that, and is probably cutting a lot of the power. Let alone that your probably running stock exhaust. Big boost on stock exhaust doesnt really work. long story short, 12psi on stock exhaust is going to make more power than 20psi on stock exhaust. 20psi is basically going to clog your exhaust with air. You actually risk building so much pressure that it can actually stop the turbo, and spin the wrong way....which is catastrophic for the turbo lol. There is a lot more in depth details explaining it, but thats the way it always seems to make most sense.

As far as broken vacuum line goes, I just picked up a small roll from fleetfarm for $5 and replaced all the boost control solenoid lines.

Your going to want a factory replacement for the intake hoses. Junkyards are your best bet as far as budget goes.

For the power comment. I'd start with "stage 0". Some nice plugs and a K&N replacement (not cone) filter should bring some power back. If your really feeling wild you could pick up a manual boost controller and boost gauge. Heres a link to a thread with my experiences on having a boost controller and gauge as well as some other info if you're curious about going that route. https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...st-help-68435/