1990 tsi. stock boost gauge doesnt work. problems?

[Gravity Fed]

i recall that when my 95 tsi's stock boost gauge didnt work, there was trouble afoot and the car ran poorly. is that the same for the first generation cars?

 

[95whitegst]

your going to want to get an aftermarket gauge anyway the stock ones are terrible

 

[Gravity Fed]

i expected as much. but i was wondering if the gauge not working was a indicator of the ecu not reciveving a signal it needs like my 95 did.

 

[95whitegst]

any other symptoms or is just the gauge not working

 

[Gravity Fed]

well currently its hard to tell since the turbo is seized up. So im not driving it again til i fix that. hard to tell if the car was running incorrectly or not given that situation. but the gauge should have at least read vacuum changes... so i want to see if its something i have to address or not while im sourcing a replacement turbocharger.

 

[SrKegler]

It should move. If not, check the caps in the ECU. 1gs are notorious for having leaking capacitors.

 

[Gravity Fed]

now if they are leaking, is the whole ecu f'ed or can i just replace the caps and be good. im plenty experienced with microsoldering. just not sure if the run off can be cleaned up or not.

 

[Rex2342]

It depends on how bad and how long the caps have been leaking. The fluid is corrosive and will eat its way through the pc board if not caught early enough. if the board is ok it's simply a matter of soldering in new caps. if the board is messed up you can contact Steve on the site or try ecmtuning.com or many others to repair it.

 

[Gravity Fed]

ill take it out by this weekend and inspect it.

 

[bnr32_coupe]

check if the mechanical aspect of the boost guage (air pressure getting to the sensor, needle can turn) is functional. if its electrically related, check the circuit board, connections, soldering points. if that still doesnt work then chuck it out, a/m boost guages are better anyway
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