Been a while. My son is reviving my 97 TSi-AWD. We got everything running GREAT last summer then there was a massive oil leak and seized the front balance shaft. We yanked the motor and sent it off for a rebuild but my son had to go to college over the winter so the rebuilt motor sat in my...

Boost leak test. If you have a serious leak between the compressor and the motor, that can kill performance above 4k rpm. BLT is part of the job with these cars. BLT every oil change or two. In order to BLT, you need a real boost gauge. Worst case, tee in a cheap gauge, run the line and...

@Dat240zg and @1990TSIAWDTALON I swear I responded first to your messages earlier, but they didn't show. Will do on the FSM. Thanks for the DSM links for rebuild info! I read through the Haynes manual on the rebuild chapters years ago and re-read them the other night - not exhaustive but...

Thanks a million for the engine references. Might not need them (hopefully the motor is salvageable) but having options sets my soul at ease. Had dreams of car stuff with my daughter (20 yo) but that ship has sailed. Awesome for you! Is your profile pic a Camaro or is it a C2 Vette? Sorry. I...

Thanks BigLady, The whole 2.3L idea was hatched before the motor ran dry of oil. Everything changed then. I explained the 2.3L stroker turbo general concept to my son a week or two before the motor died. It was looking like it was going to be our summer project. My pre-kid upgrade path was...

Thanks a million! I'm a perfectionist. Fortunately, I'm not cash starved. But doing it right, taking my time, learning stuff *deeply* is how I roll. If things go sideways, I'll be bumbed/ashamed, but it won't stop me. It's really kind of ludicrous that my hail-totaled, neighbor-dented DSM is...

Wow. Very similar circumstances! Bad motor, 17 year old son! My son is a poster child for "good". His other car (which he'll sell to help finance this) is a 2011 Nissan Murano. He wasn't like me with a car at 16 (I dared my tires and the pavement to let me down in a corner - they failed me...

Thanks! I'd read through my Haynes manual back in the day on rebuilding just out of curiosity and re-read it last week, but I'll get a factory service manual - so many more details! I've daydreamed about rebuilding these motors as a side job, mostly because I love 'em, offering exhaust mani, 02...

Sorry for the delay in responding, but thanks a million! We managed to tow the car with straps up onto our side-street (dead end) and on level ground. We don't have the room to cherry-pick a motor out of the car in my 2-car garage (1-car considering extra "necessities"), so we're doing this...

So, I had handed down my 2gb DSM to my son (Kyle, 17) on the condition that he'd get it running well. It was my DD up until 2016 when I threw in the towel and got a new DD. He kept his end of the bargain and had it (mostly) running like a champ, but he ended up running the engine dry of oil...

Sorry, the boost gauge line is a thin white plastic tube running from (a) a tee connector on the vacuum line between the FPR solenoid and FPR and (b) the mechanical boost gauge. The material is like plastic rather than rubber. There's a rubber adaptor on the tee fitting. White tube press fits...

We've temporarily bypassed the FPR solenoid. I installed it that way, because I read some thread that said to do it that way eons ago when I first started wrenching on this car. Yes, it's the thin white plastic line. Also, if it were tee'd in between the IM and solenoid, it wouldn't have...

My son and I are trying to get my 1997 TSi-AWD back to "perfect running condition" and have hit an issue that has me a bit stumped. I'm pretty sure that this issue is what led me to park the car years ago and buy a new DD.Cutting to the chase, the car runs perfectly or it doesn't. Schizo...

Welcome! What is the state of your car? Runs great? Has issues? I ordered my '97 TSi AWD from the factory in October of 1996. It got beat up pretty bad over about two years and ended up sitting in not-so-great working condition for a few years and I ended up buying a new DD 4Runner. I...

I upgraded my stock clutch back in 2008 and still have the stock parts (would be 12 years old with 80k miles on it). No idea about shipping to the UK. I dodged a work meeting to the UK (hate transatlantic flight) that would have been in April. Had I'd not done that, I could try tossing my old...

If I understand correctly, it's the chirping sound (like crickets). If so, you should probably chime in and let us know for sure. Maybe it's not that noise that you're worried about...? I'd add "belt dressing" to all of the accessory belts, one at a time, and see if that changes anything. If...

I second fwdmaster. Replace the thermostat. It's pretty cheap and easy. Basically, when the motor is cool, all of the coolant recirculates inside the motor bypassing the radiator, letting the motor warm up as fast as possible. The thermostat is a gate that, when things get warm enough...

I have the ACT 2600 but on an AWD. I've had it for 15 years. No complaints. Broke a clutch TOB fork tine after installing the 2600, but that happened a couple of years afterward. I'm not sure if it was because of the increased clutch load from the 2600 or just wear and tear on the clutch...

Might be a broken tine on your TOB clutch fork. One fork broke on mine years ago and the TOB would still KIND OF disengage the clutch, but not completely. I felt it break but didn't know what had happened at the time. Ironically, I sent it to a shop and the guy calls me in to look at...

Officially handed down my DSM to my son. It has languished since it was replaced by a new DD (2018 4RUNNER). Now I get to pass on “da nolledge” about this machine to my son. Has boost leaks (probably) that are no problem but it also has an exhaust leak somewhere. When my DSM was my DD, I let a...

It's not hard to remove the stock exhaust. Biggest PITA is getting the O2 sensor out. The rest are just hangers and the O2 housing bolt/nut.

If they weren't clear, consider how much it costs to fix your stock exhaust and how much it costs to upgrade your exhaust. If the prices are close and you want to have a bit more performance out of your car, upgrade.Anything you make less restrictive (bigger) in your exhaust lets your...

I'm not a clutch expert, but if you have clutch dragging issues (push in clutch, in gear, on level ground, gas it, and the car moves) then you'll be wearing out the clutch while you have it in gear, stopped, clutch pedal depressed. So when you stop, just put it in neutral and you don't drag the...

The flex section plus all the rubber exhaust hangers give your exhaust system flexibility so that when your engine shifts on the mounts under load changes, you don't bust exhaust mount points. It also gives you some flexibility in incorrect flange angles and such. If you can't torque your DP...

Actually, it's been 6 years since I've looked closely at it, so I'm not sure where the cat would connect; mine is catless, so I paid no attention to that particular detail. Might be between the two bends after the flex section, might be after the 2nd bend. But the bends seem to be very similar...

Hard to say for sure, but it might be a 2g AWD DP for a cat. Here are pics of my 2g AWD SSAutoChrome exhaust...been on my car for 6 years (:rocks: BTW): http://www.angelfire.com/home/mackvicky/Talon/GPower_Turboback/Turboback.JPG...

Well, it's been 5.5 years since I did this. Since then, my car got totaled in a hail storm, backed into by my neighbor (left a note, bless her soul), and backed into by a stranger (damn his/her soul). Then my now-ex-wife spent the insurance money ($6700) on...dunno. But the exhaust is still...

No problemo.The simplest solution on the VC breather end is to just run a vaccuum tube from VC breather to intake pipe. An in-line filter can be added later once you fix all of your problems.On the PCV end, your local autoparts store's PCV doesn't effectively shut off airflow from the...

I'm not MAFT-knowledgeable, but I'd imagine that if the air was metered on its way to the IM and then it's lost out the VC, it has still been metered and the ECU will inject too much fuel. But let the MAFT experts tell you the real deal.

An *in-line* *closed* filter in your VC breather line is okay as long as it's not clogged (I run a cheap NAPA GM fuel filter in-line). If it has any opening such that air can escape, that's not good (some catch can setups are like this and are inappropriate). All air from the VC breather goes...

Huh. I was told otherwise, but you never can believe everything you're told. Are you sure both Chrysler and Mitsu recalls expired?

If you have the stock VC breather setup, then it shouldn't affect air metering. The VC breather is supposed to let excess pressure in the crank case escape back into the intake tract *post metering* (after the MAS) when you're under load (boosting) and the PCV valve is closed (only other way...

Great! The BLTester I have works like a charm. Uses the pvc end cap, rubber hose, hose clamp, tire valve version. Been so long I don't remember all the parts. Search...heck someone probably came up with a better version since I made mine. If you don't have an air compressor (I don't) and...

What I'd like to know is why you felt something through your foot and then noticed a clutch engagement issue. That sounds like a clutch issue. You said you heard grinding before. Could be the rear diff was already dead then you broke something in the clutch. If the PO changed the clutch...

I re-used the stock metal TB gaskets and added copper gasket sealer on them. Sue me. No leaks for 5 years. I replaced the injector seals and they're still good but I suspect it's just a matter of time before I get to squirt myself in the face with gasoline while removing the fuel rail.

I love this forum! If this is the case with OP, this is easier to fix. My clutch fork broke at the end of my street when I pushed in the clutch to stop and look left/right/left to turn off my street. I wasn't turning.

I agree. Call the vendor and ask them what you should do. If you go grinding the stuff off, you could easily mess up the surface so that it doesn't seal to the O2 housing.

Awesome! Once you've come out the other end, you'll have much more confidence in doing other maintenance and modifications. I got hooked when I blew my turbo. I upgraded a bunch of stuff and even ported my exhaust manifold, turbine housing, and O2 sensor housing while I was at it. Then I...

I agree that you should consider upgrading while the tranny is off...if you have the funds. If you don't want the car offline for too long, I'd just order fork, pivot ball, TOB no matter what you do so you have those handy. If you want to spring for a clutch, now's the time. My ACT clutch...

Do your homework and do it yourself. They charged me way too much, but I'm guessing I could have had it done cheaper elsewhere (they lost a customer, BTW). It would've cost nothing but my time if I did it myself (fork is really cheap).Make your old man proud and do it yourself. You'll feel...

I didn't smell anything, but the clutch would only slip a bit with the pedal to the floor, and I knew something was wrong so I took it easy until I could get it fixed.I chickened out and had a local shop drop the tranny (what a mess that turned out to be). The guy finally gets the tranny off...

Similar thing happened to me a couple years back. Felt something pop through the pedal and heard something, too. Turned out to be a broken clutch fork, but I didn't hear the grinding or rattling. In my research for my problem, the potential list was:broken clutch fork spring popped out of...

I also agree with the check valve. I've had one on my car for a couple years and it hasn't clogged and still blocks flow from the IM to the VC. I did have an issue with the vaccuum line splitting this past summer and replaced the line, but it was 17 years old. The other benefit of the check...

A T25 won't creep on a 3" exhaust. This assumes he still has a stock turbo.

When I ordered my 2gb TSi-AWD in '96, I picked tan/black inerior. Dash and center console are black, but the door panels are black/tan and all of the interior plastic panels (under the dash on both sides of your feet, side panels over the rear side speakers, a/b/c-pillars, etc.) are tan. Front...

Disconnect the rubber hose from the PCV valve which screws into the back of your valve cover. Boost leak test your car and check if it's leaking out of the end where the rubber hose connects. If any air is leaking with a test pressure of 15psi (should hold up to 30 psi at least, but 15psi is a...

a) Sorry, but I have no direct answerb) for those at sea level (or close to sea level), realize that Rock and I are at ~8000ft elevation ("Mile-High" Denver is below us). We live where there is only 80% of the air pressure you sea-level-folk enjoy (jog a mile with either of us and realize...

Not much to add here. You can apply 12v directly at the pump relay and see if the pump activates. If not, either the relay or pump is bad. I imagine there's a way to hotwire the pump and bypass the relay, but I know not how to do this.As Talyn already mentioned, the pump doesn't come on...

I'd also like to chime in about Mantega's response. Don't get defensive about it...as I was reading through the thread, I was skeptical about your claim on maintenance...if you're new and you just say you did "all" the maintenance, we tend to wonder what "all" means. No offense to you...it's...

You might also check your compression. A cold engine with worn rings has really low compression cold until the rings warm up and expand to close up the ring gap (which happens pretty fast). Mine's not as bad as yours, but it takes 2 tries in the winter, usually, 3 tries sometimes but rarely.