After Market BOV on a 1G?

[Oblivion02]

Hey guys,

Just wondering... Does installing an aftermarket BOV on a 1G Eclipse GS Turbo [basically stock] affect its performance? I was thinking of changing the BOV, but if it is going to affect how my car runs, then I'd rather not.

 

[absolute_DSM]

It shouldnt affect performance at all as long as you get a BOV that recirculates.

I wouldnt worry about it on your part. If you do a boost leak test and it doesnt leak, that 1g BOV will do you good for a long time.

 

[dsm-onster]

For a few cents, the stock bypass valve can be made to handle well over 30 psi. Gary's Talon BOV Hi-boost Modification page.

 

[Oblivion02]

My turbo is stock. I do not know what recirculate means... Not sure if you've been to my other threads, but im a computer geek... Im pretty much learning here about cars. I do not plan on upgrading my turbo or anything, and I'm not sure what psi is... but how can I know if my BOV is leaking?

Also, for someone as inexperienced as me, do you recommend doing the stock BOV mod, or buying a new one?

 

[19Eclipse90]

One would think a computer geek would be able to find and utilize the Search feature.

Anyhow, here is your boost leak tester you can make. That will tell you if you have a leak anywhere in the system, including but not limited to the BOV.

The BOV you will notice has two 'nipples' on it of two very different sizes. The smaller of the two should have a hose running to the intake manifold. The larger of the two is the recirculation nipple; it has a larger hose running and recirculating into the intake pipe.

PSI is an abbreviation for Pounds per Square Inch; it is a unit of pressure. This is what most boost gauges will be scaled in to measure the boost pressure your car is running.

If you are not planning on upgrading your turbo, you do not need to mess with your BOV at all, unless it is leaking. The stock BOV is perfectly capable of handling any boost your stock turbo is putting out.

 

[JusMX141]

I do not know what recirculate means... im a computer geek... I'm not sure what psi is...

Unfortunately, most will agree that you chose the wrong vehicle to learn on. I'm not saying you can't learn, but not understanding common mechanical jargon such as "psi" is going to leave you guessing when it comes to many of the problems that plague these cars.

 

[Oblivion02]

@19eclipse90 -> My bad... Keep forgetting the search engine. Thanks anyway for the detailed reply.

@jusmx141 -> I didnt know these cars came out bad... Hope mine goes well... I dont plan on hurting it TOO much. Thanks anyway for the advice. I'll try to work it out though, since I do not have much choice. I wont be getting my 1,400 bucks refunded.

 

[dsm-onster]

We have a very reliable engine. It's our transmissions that seam to get the bad rap. All 15 year old cars display minor idle issues, sluggish cold starting, nitpicky stuff. Don't be taken back. I've had several of these 1990-1992 cars over the last 3 years. All their original sensors still being used save ONE throttle position sensor on my 1990 GST. No head cracking problem, which seams to be an ongoing 4-cylinder theme in the late 80s early 90s.

You have the sought after 6-bolt block. Which, in absolute stock form, has been proven to tolerate 500whp on a daily-driven basis.

 

[JusMX141]

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea....I didn't mean these cars were unreliable, they just require a lot of attention. I think we can all agree with that.

What I meant was that if the O.P. doesn't know what "psi" means, will be be able to test his car for boost leaks or diagnose idle surge?

 

[xdxoxuxgx]

Don't worry about replacing your BOV unless it's leaking or you running over like 30 psi, or pounds per square inch of pressurized air that your turbo sends through the intercooler piping that the BOV is attatched to.

 

[MountainDew]

Really the only benefit you'd see is a cooler sound. The stock blow off valve is pretty solid and for what your car is (at the moment), it would be dumb to upgrade. Once you start cranking boost and other silly things like that then you'll want to look into modding your current BOV or looking into an aftermarket one.

 

[JusMX141]

Really the only benefit you'd see is a cooler sound.

To some, maybe....although I would describe the sound emitted by most aftermarket blowoff valves as annoying (with the exception of those made by Tial, and maybe Forge.)

 

[MountainDew]

To some, maybe....although I would describe the sound emitted by most aftermarket blowoff valves as annoying (with the exception of those made by Tial, and maybe Forge.)

Meh I personally like the sound of my 1G.

Also now that its polished it looks sick under the hood.

 

[turbosax2]

Tial ftw in the sound department!

 

[kenamond]

To the original poster (OP): What is the story that led you to start this particular thread? I assume there's a reason you're thinking about changing the BOV. That might help folks help you.

And the BOV is best explained by an analogy: Imagine the air molecules are people. These people are being scared nearly to death by a monter named, "Turbocharger" which has them in a frightful panic and running frantically down a hallway that the locals refer to as "the intake tract". At the end of the hallway is a special room called, "the intake manifold" with plenty of room for all of the people and an emergency exit into a safe place called "the engine". Just before the end of the hallway are a set of double-doors called the "throttle plate" that are currently open. These doors are under the control of a god called "Driver". So the people are all rushing to the end of the hallway away from the monster, and God decides to close the double-doors all of the sudden. People smack into the door, and the whole crowd behind them start crashing into whoever is in front of them, and the whole hallway is quickly backing up with scared folks. Fortunately, the people in the "intake manifold" room realize that God has closed the double doors and are compassionate about the fate of their brethren locked in the hallway. So they press an emergency button called the "vaccuum line between the intake manifold and the BOV". This opens a side door in the hallway called the "BOV" and lets the folks spill out of the hallway before the traffic jam backs up to the monster and folks die.

So the BOV is a way of letting air escape from the intake tract when the driver lets off the gas pedal and the air has no place to go even though the turbocharger is still cramming air into it. In our cars, that escaping air is recirculated upwind of the turbocharger so that it just "loops" through the turbo over and over again. I guess you could call the upwind part of the intake tract (the intake pipe) "deja vu" in the story, and the folks just keep reliving their encounter with the monster, running down the hall, and out the side exit over and over again until God decides to open the doors at the end of the hallway. Oh hell, I'm not the best story teller, but I hope that was at least a bit entertaining if not informative.

 

[Oblivion02]

@Kenamond -> Great Analogy! Enjoyed the story.

I started this thread because at first just out of curiosity. My first impression of my BOV sound made me think something was wrong with the car. It has no leaks [at least that I know of]. Just checking out, and learning more about my car. I'm very new to this area, and these things are quite new. But thanks to everyone for their help!

 

[dsm-onster]

Mack, that was some funny stuff. Partly because it is a great illustration.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Concerning BOV sound. Mine sounds rather "aggressive" now that I have a 3" stainless steel intake pipe. With 3 inch turbo back exhaust and a tithe of a muffler, it can be clearly heard even though it is recirculated. This was after doing the mod I linked too above. Have you installed a boost gauge? More boost makes more noise from the valve, too. It could be a symptom of something else.

You should invest in a boost gauge anyway.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea....I didn't mean these cars were unreliable, they just require a lot of attention. I think we can all agree with that.

What I meant was that if the O.P. doesn't know what "psi" means, will be be able to test his car for boost leaks or diagnose idle surge?

Yes, and absolutely yes.

 

[JusMX141]

I personally like the sound of my 1G.

I agree. For what it's worth, I will never use anything but a 1G BOV as long as I need to recirculate. Once I switch to blow-thru, it will be Tial all the way.

Tial ftw in the sound department!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Oblivion02]

Thing is, I'd be kind of scared to work on my BOV since I'm new at this, and do not want to mess up my BOV and then have to pay $85+ dollars. I did read, however:

from: DDG- Talon BOV mod for HIGH BOOST
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now for the question, I am looking at the BOV stuff and notice that you have some sort of chrome muffler/aircleaner thing attached to the BOV exhaust hose, what is that thing?

Its a Moroso valve cover breather PN# 68811 with a K&N style element.

Can this be purchased in any local auto-parts? Anyone have any experience with this?

I'm thinking about boosting my turbo to the max PSI that my stock BOV can take. Not sure how this is done yet, but I'll search a while and ask you guys later if I still have any questions

 

[Oblivion02]

Is an MBC necesarry to boost my PSI a bit more? I just want it to boost the max my 1G stock BOV can hold.

 

[JusMX141]

Can this be purchased in any local auto-parts? Anyone have any experience with this?

That breather is used on dumped 1G BOV's in an attempt to make them quieter and more sleeperish, as well as filter the air that is drawn back into the valve on vacuum. Yours is recirculated into the intake pipe AFTER the air filter, so any air drawn back into the piping will already have passed through the air filter.

Basically, DON'T do this portion of the BOV mod.

Is an MBC necesarry to boost my PSI a bit more? I just want it to boost the max my 1G stock BOV can hold.

Yes it is necessary, but you shouldn't do this without some way to monitor how lean your engine will be at that pressure. It's not as simple as just cranking up the boost and driving- you'll be sorry if you do that.

P.S.- Stock 1G BOV's can hold up to 30psi. Your car, on the other hand, cannot.

 

[Oblivion02]

Gotcha. How much does it boost at stock? 13psi?

[The BOV mod is really not necesarry then, since I will not be cranking up the PSI right now. I do not have the money for a MBC. So basically I can leave the stock turbo, boosting the stock psi, and the stock BOV. Right?]

 

[dsm-onster]

Stock boost is typically 10 psi. And unmodified BOV or Bypass Valve can take pressures in excess of 18ish psi before it begins to crack open, so you have a lot of range to adjust your MBC before you even have to modify your stock BOV. And 18 psi verses 10 is about 100 more horsepower, if *properly* supported. Is that enough for you?

 

[JusMX141]

You can possibly squeeze 12psi out of it after you've removed the restrictor from the boost control solenoid and done some of the other free mods (Tech Guide: 1G 4G63t Upgrades: Stage 0 Power - DSMtuners).

You're right- now's not the time to worry about a BOV (unless the ricer in you really wants to come out of it's shell.) Better off spending that money on things that will make your car faster!

 

[kenamond]

I think everyone on this forum would agree that before you do any modification to your car, you should do the general maintenance first. After you've got grime under your fingernails and scabs on your knuckles, you'll have a lot more confidence about doing other, power-adding modifications...or you'll realize that wrenching on your car is "not your thing". Some of these maintenance things may very well actually make a noticeable difference in performance.

One thing you can do is to build a boost leak tester and perform a boost leak test on your intake system. If you find leaks, you get to fix them. Some are trivial, others take a bit more time, but all of them will teach you about what parts are where, what their function is, and how to take them off and properly reinstall them. If you have boost leaks, fixing them usually adds power that you didn't realize you'd lost.

Another thing is changing your spark plugs and wires. If they're new, but you didn't do the work, you should at the very minimum make sure that they are NGK BPR6ES plugs and that they are properly gapped to 0.028". If none of that makes any sense to you, it's pretty easy, and I'm certain you can learn enough about it to know as much as the rest of us. This will also force you to take things off of your car, learn more about what they do and why, and give you more confidence to do more wrenching on your car.

A compression test is another easy and important test. It will tell you the overall health/age of your engine. The inside of the combustion chamber is sealed at several locations, but as the engine wears, some of these things start leaking more and more. The compression test can also tell you if there is something seriously wrong with the engine. Again, you can do this test. You have to have a few tools which aren't expensive but aren't free either. You can probably borrow all of the required tools depending on who you know, or you can buy them if it's in your budget. You'll use them all more than once if you keep this car and keep wrenching on it.

The rest of the "Stage 0" mods (which includes basic maintenance) vary from trivial to more complex, but you can most certainly do them. Pick off the ones you think you can do, and afterward, you'll probably realize you can do some of the more involved ones as well.

The big thing is to just start. You'll find out soon enough if this is something you like doing and/or are good at, or you'll decide against it. Hopefully, you'll like it and soon learn enough that you can help other folks on the forum. That's what happens to most of us around here.