car boosting, but not moving

[HBM4G63]

My 1990 has had it share of problems, and here is another one. The car will boost but it will go no where. I will gain speed but in order to gain speed will be in 4th gear and i will be at 25 mph. The boost gauge is reading 18psi and I hear the turbo spooling and the bov, but like i said it goes nowhere. I checked the intercooler piping and the cables to the maf. They are all connected. But i have not had a chance to check the lower intercooler piping(one off the intercooler). The exhaust side of the turbo and exhaust manifold become a red-cherry color. I have intake, 3" full exhaust, 255 fuel pump, mbc, 2g ported exhaust manifold, and ported 14b. I think that when my engine blew the guy may have put a non turbo bottom end on the car, but i am not sure. The car is going in to AMS on monday because i have a boost leak. Would the boost leak cause this? Please help....I want my car boosting again and smoking camaros and mustangs. Right now i would lose to a civic. I hate that. Please help!!!

 

[Eclipse9x]

I do not have your answer but I live very close by you in dupage county.

 

[eclipx]

does your engine rev too? if your still hear spooling, and reviving, but your not going anywhere, it could be the clutch

 

[HBM4G63]

I do move. Also why would the clutch being out cause the exhaust manifold and turbo to become red hot? I will give the car almost wot and not move like wot. The rpm's will only go up to like 4 tops and then a backfire. But at the 4,000 i am only going like 20 mph in 3rd gear. I have no clue what is going on.

 

[jmsmit5]

The turbo is supposed to turn red.

 

[echo]

Originally posted by jmsmit5
The turbo is supposed to turn red.

i'm not wanting to start anything, but whoever told you that is lying or my car and everything i have read is wrong. the turbo is not suppose to get so hot that it turns red. i don't have your answer and i wouldn't recommend driving it that much. if you have to take it to a mechanic and have them check it out.

 

[DAskren]

Its the boost leak. Your turbo is trying to pressurize the EARTHS atmosphere. Its probably overspinning itself to death shortly. I wouldn't try to make boost until your leak is fixed. Your car is probably running VERY rich because of the leak (The ECU is dumping fuel for the amount of air flowing through the air meter, but you are leaking some of the air out so.....) Check your tailpipe. Probably black.
HTH
Dave
92 Laser AWD

 

[greentrbo_95gst]

it's the clutch...if it was a boost leak the car would lose some boost but it will still go. Definitely the clutch

 

[Satori]

You are not being very clear on what your issue is at all. Is the engine revving up as you go through gears yet you don't accelerate? If you can go 25 mph in 4th gear without lugging the engine or spinning the tires, I'd have to say you need a new clutch. You have a 5-speed right? If not then you need to talk to someone who can diagnose an automatic or take it to a shop that can fix or replace an automatic.

Also if your turbo gets to the point it is glowing red I'm willing to bet you are running too lean and need more fuel. I recommend and ETG to see how hot your exhaust is running. If you’ve been running lean for too long under hard conditions you may have holes in some of your pistons or broken rings allowing any power the engine makes to blow past into the crankcase. Try doing a compression test on your engine.

I kind of doubt any boost leak is your issue based on what information you've given. It sounds like something else in the driveline is going south on you.

 

[SPEEDY]

My old T-25 use to glow red all the time after hard runs, and so does my FP ported Big28. You could only see it during the night. It is perfectly normal for a turbo to glow red after running your car hard.

 

[djpast]

Originally posted by SPEEDY
My old T-25 use to glow red all the time after hard runs, and so does my FP ported Big28. You could only see it during the night. It is perfectly normal for a turbo to glow red after running your car hard.

\

i agree..everystock one i have seen does this.

 

[crashed97tsi]

Originally posted by DAskren
Its the boost leak. Your turbo is trying to pressurize the EARTHS atmosphere. Its probably overspinning itself to death shortly. I wouldn't try to make boost until your leak is fixed. Your car is probably running VERY rich because of the leak (The ECU is dumping fuel for the amount of air flowing through the air meter, but you are leaking some of the air out so.....) Check your tailpipe. Probably black.
HTH
Dave
92 Laser AWD

I'd put my money on this being the problem. Some of my boost leaks have been ridiculous. The car would spool like you sais but it would never go anywhere. I built one of those vfaq leak testers and never had a problem since. Seriously, the best thing I bought for my car was that 5 dollar piece of PVC

And both turbos I have owned glow red under boost.