wastegate vs. boost leak

[ChrisFlo]

I've been experiencing boost loss lately, and was hoping to get some direction as to whether it would be the just a leak (soon to be tested) or the wastegate remaining open. My car will pull decently, but every now and then, I notice it lagging, especially from a low rpm in 3rd -5th gears. It will get to around 3k rpm's and sllooooowly rise. If it were the wastegate, would it be a lot more dramatic loss in power than that of a boost leak? I can hear the turbo spooling louder than I'd think normal for it being stock...

Aside from a bov and intake I'm stock.

 

[Twista-Flip]

I sorta have the same problem with mine too. Like sometimes my car would run good with no problems but all of a sudden all my power seems to be gone but yet i can hear the turbo spooling loud and my greddy bov still releives pressure. For me Im guessing it's the wastegate staying a little bit open since i upgraded to a 16g and have a 2 1/2 exhaust which i think the flapper can't handle the extra exhaust flow...I think for you it is likely to be a leak, yours does not lose power as dramatic as mine does. As for the loudersound of your turbo spooling up i think that is because of the intake. My turbo sounded much louder after i gutted the air can, added a k&N filter and moded the sensor. You can hear it more because it is sucking in more air easily to the turbo. Well I hope you figure out what your prolem is, hopefully i can fix my problem too

 

[ChrisFlo]

Thanks for your input. Is there anyone that could give me more specific syptoms of each problem (boost leak or wastegate open), so that I know which of the two might be causing the lack of boost?

 

[v8s_are_slow]

you could always take the hose off the actuator and plug the end of the hose off and see what happens. it should of course spool up real quick and peg out the gauge if you let it cause the flapper should stay shut. so be careful of course not to let it get too high. or you could take off the O2 housing and look in there and see if it's cracked open a bit.

other than that, it might be a boost leak.