I can't figure out my hesitation problem, someone help.

[Deadly BlaZe]

I've been getting some massive hesitation at low and higher rpm's. It happens when i start boosting. It'll happen with little or full throttle applied and no matter if the motor is cold or hot. The car does not pull at all at higher rpm's when I get the hesitation.

I have new ngk plugs and wires. From what i can hear, i don't hear any knock. The only time I hear the engine making any strange noise is when i open the hood and pay very close attention, then i hear some very very light knocking(sounds more like internal parts moving around). But I don't think that's a big deal. Sometimes the car will pull really hard and not hesitate at all, but 75% of the time it will hesitate and not pull hard at higher rpms.

What do you guys think? I'm leaning towards fuel problems (i always use 93 btw) or phantom knock. The only problems i can think of with the car is that there is about a 3 inch long hole in my flex pipe in the exhaust and a ground wire hanging off the exhaust that i can't figure out what it's for. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Rex2342]

The ground wire goes to your exhaust. Mine is clamped down with a hose clamp on my 3" DP. Do a boost leak test and see if you have any leaks before anything else. Your problems sound like a boost leak to me. Get yourself a logger too. It's much better at picking up knock than your ear will ever be. You can pick up a used Palm M515 on ebay for cheap and MMCD is free. You'll also have to make a cable or buy one from a vendor. I made mine for like $5 from RadioShack stuff.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

The ground wire goes to your exhaust. Mine is clamped down with a hose clamp on my 3" DP. Do a boost leak test and see if you have any leaks before anything else. Your problems sound like a boost leak to me. Get yourself a logger too. It's much better at picking up knock than your ear will ever be. You can pick up a used Palm M515 on ebay for cheap and MMCD is free. You'll also have to make a cable or buy one from a vendor. I made mine for like $5 from RadioShack stuff.

I don't think it's a boost leak cause my gauge goes up to 14 psi smoothly without any pauses.

 

[oldman]

I don't think it's a boost leak cause my gauge goes up to 14 psi smoothly without any pauses.

Doesn't matter, it just means the turbo is working overtime.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Doesn't matter, it just means the turbo is working overtime.

I'm surprised i didn't see you tell me to do a boost leak test . Also, it spools to 14 psi right at 3k rpms so it seems like it's fine. But i guess i should do another test (no leaks when i first did it) since i haven't done it in a long time.

 

[oldman]

I'm surprised i didn't see you tell me to do a boost leak test .

But I did.

Also, it spools to 14 psi right at 3k rpms so it seems like it's fine. But i guess i should do another test (no leaks when i first did it) since i haven't done it in a long time.

I'm not saying it is or isn't boost leaks but in a situation like this, you can never rule it out so it's best to get it out of the way first.

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

Is there anything else that could be the problem? Fuel wise, what could be the problem?

 

[Rex2342]

Since your running 14 psi (stock?) and you haven't upgraded anything else it's more than likely a boost leak or maybe your timing is off. Just because the turbo is spooling to 14 psi doesn't rule out a boost leak. Mine always spooled to 20psi with no problem. After I fixed my leaks it spooled to 23psi and I had to back it down. Now if you were running say 20psi with the stock fuel system it could be a fuel delivery problem. Your profile tells me your car is basically stock so the only logical explanation I can come up with is a boost leak.