Good idea. That should decide if the problem is a vac leak or turbo problem. It would just be weird for the turbo to do that at the same time as some vac maintenance.

 

My brother was changing the oil lines and a gasket running to the turbo.

I told him I suspected a leak and asked if he had dismantled any turbo hoses. Naturally, not ready to admit guilt, he said "no".

However, I peeked while he was working and saw him taking off the upper IC hose.

 

Oooh. Either way, they're both pretty easy fixes, I mean granted you can find the vac leak, or if it's the housing, that's not such a big deal either. Just an afternoon's worth of work.

 

But if its none of those, I have no other answers. I no longer get the "misfires in cylinder 4 and 5" CEL so I am assuming that was a fluke.

 

Yesterday I removed two of the nipples from the turbo tree creating 2 seperate vacuum leaks. I was still bossting 5 psi and felt the same amount of spool time. Why do these two leaks not reduce my boost?

 

Dunno. That's strange. Maybe it is the housing then. I wouldn't know where the burning rubber smell would be coming from since there aren't really any rubber hoses or anything like that around the turbo. I was thinking that if the wastegate is open you have that constant stream of hot exhaust flowing through there that that maybe could do something, but like I said, I never smelt something like that on my car.

 

If the part on the housing raised up you can carefully tap it back down and have it work fine. I havea to do it on my car before I changed mine to the other style.

 

Please read this post. I got some major results.

So I disconnect the tubes to the TCV and plug-up the one from the turbo to prevent it from leaking. I WOT it planning to let off at 15 psi but it only hit 13 psi tops.

So I floor it again on the highway. The car climbed to 13 psi and then as the rpms rose (about to change gears) the psi's slowly diminished till it got down to 7 then I let off the gas.

After getting ready to pull in my street I notice the burning rubber smell I described in another threads in my cabin. Previously, it was never enough of a smell to reach the cabin.

I look at the turbo and it was coming from even behind there. I figured it was the O2 sensor getting fried but it was coming from even farther down. The smoke was coming off of the catalytic converter. I do not think there is a cat problem because I think the smell was oil on the cat being burnt. The bottom of the car is lined with a thin layer of oil and I think since the cat gets hot it was burning the oil off its surface.

Now I think it is oil but I am not sure becasue it is brown but the bottom of the car is so dirty it could be any other fluid disguised as oil. Also most of the oil is pooling up directly to the left of the cat (if sitting in drivers seat looking forward). Is my turbo still leaking oil? Did my brother not fix the oil leak properly?

 

Is it leaking from the turbo return line o-ring?

He might have swapped the vacuum lines somehow off the factory control valve.

 

So last night everything just kind of fell together on its own. After reconnecting the vac lines to the TCV I noticed I got my normal boost back. . I am going to check for more leaks this weekend because I am still not getting 7.5 psi but more like 6.5 psi.

The thing that really changed was the levels of boost I ststed earlier. Before the recent fix, the turbo would not spool up like it used to. Now I am back to that 2-stage boost where it will kick, initiating the turbo then kick again as it spools up really fast.

What I don't understand is that if there was a vac leak on the TCV, wouldn't that lead to overboost? I mean if there is a leak, the wastegate will in essence get less pressure that it normally takes to open and will remain closed longer right?

There is still the problem of the burning fluid by the cat which I am assuming is oil. From on top, the turbo looks clean of oil leaks. Is this o-ring seal underneath the turbo somewhere?

It must be a small leak because I still am topped off with oil. If I notice no oil loss over the course of the week it must be some other fluid.

 

Yes, it's at the bottom of the turbo. If you jack up the car and get underneath it's really easy to see. It's a metal line that goes from the bottom of the engine up to the bottom of the turbo. It has two hex bolts holding it to the turbo.

 

Thanks brother.

I will look this weekend. I am gonna fight for every pound of boost I can get.

One question guys. If I get an MBC and set it at say 12 psi, will the boost feel the same just larger. Is it still gonna spool at the same rate?

 

No problem. That's a good question, I would actually like to know what it's like too if i'm running more boost.

 

The question surfaced because yesterday when I disconnected my TCV and overboosted, the 13 psi max which I hit did not really feel great. I did notice though that even when I would tap the petal to conquer a small hill, I would already be up to like 5 psi .

And I still had that problem where it hit 13 psi but only held it for about 2 seconds then slowly bled down to about 7 psi. Will this happen with an MBC as well or was that a result of a diconnected TCV?

 

It only happened becuase of the leaks. MBC will hold pressure for good. you will probably encounter some boost spiking. shot to 15psi then hold at 14psi. nothing serious.
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You didn't like the way it felt. becuase the computer was not ready for the extra boost and you had a vacuum leak.

When you do get a MBC, let the computer learn the new AF's settings. it will feel good after it learns.

 

I sealed the boost signal that I disconnected from the TCV with a paper clamp that seemed to hold and not shoot off.

This makes me wonder why it only hit 13 psi. Isn't the 15G supposed to hit 20psi (unsafetly)? No other leaks to my knowledge.

 

most turbo can shoot 20 psi, my little 13C can but would explode

yes it should have had uncontrolled boost. should keep building and building, when you floor the gas.

I still believe you have a stuck wastegate. like tech said in a few post back.

 

Its very possible. Thanks for all the help TIPSP

Do I have to dismantle the turbo or can I just play with the externally mounted arm from the wastegate to try and see if there is resistance?

Would there be any negative effect to playing with that arm?

I'll take a picture and show you guys the location of the arm then one of you can maybe say "hey, my arm doesnt extend that far" or something like that.

 

Yeah, I know if I see it I could tell you since mine was like that.

 

I want ot avoid the extra long job of removing the turbo so I'm just gonna try and fittle with the arm.

Just foe sh*ts and giggles, yesterday I blew on the vac line going to the wastegate actuator and I moved it a little bit. It really is amazing how much 7 psi is. I blew into my gauge and only hit like 4