Bad wastegate?

[procircuit1250]

I have an all stock '93 TSi AWD, and the boost is hitting sometimes 25psi (I have an aftermarket boost gauge) I know these cars arent set to hit that much boost stock. Could I have a bad wastegate or something?

 

[J95GST]

someone answer him please !!!!!
i need to know mine says it hits 30 in third 4th and 5th but cant stay on it, i have checked everthing i think it is my boost controler and my wast gate, bc i changed boost controlor and in first it spikes to 16 falls 10 then the rest of the gears it holds at 15
what the heck!?!

 

[harjms]

hey my friends VR4 cant hold that in first either....in first it hits 15...then about 4000-4500K it goes down to 10....his turbos arent big enough to hold that about of CFM(?) in his first gear....all the other it boost to 17 all day...on track at 98 degrees... its just his 1st gear...(speaking for the VR4) i dk about the dsm...

 

[Quasimondo]

To check for a bad wastegate:

Get an air compressor. Hook the compressor up to the wastegate nipple. Pressurize the wastegate. It should move the arm at ~10 psi (10 psi comes very quickly with a compressor, so be ready to shut it off as soon as you see the arm move).

Alternate idea:

Bypass your boost controller and run a line directly from your boost source to the wastegate. Boost should be limited to 10 psi. If it goes to 10 and climbs after ~5K, then you have a boost creep problem.

 

[procircuit1250]

What exactly do you mean when you say "from a boost source to the wastegate"

 

[Quasimondo]

Run a hose from the compressor outlet nipple directly to the wastegate actuator.

 

[procircuit1250]

OK my boost is now hitting 10~11 psi max. The only thing is, it pulls harder when the turbo is still spooling up than it does when it is at max boost. I was thinking that might be because it's running rich right now. There are a few cracks in the exhaust manifold. Would that make it run rich? What other things would make it run rich?

 

[uh-oh]

can be a cracked manifold...but it sounds like you have a vacumm routing issue...where are you located???

 

[procircuit1250]

If you mean where do I live, Kansas, otherwise, what exactly do you mean?

 

[procircuit1250]

My vacuum routing is like this: http://www.taboospeedshop.com/emissions.htm it's like the one that says "1g with emissions removed" or something similar

Also, there is a hole about 1/4 inch big on my intake manifold that is right next to the throttle body with just a bolt screwed in it. There is supposed to be some kind of plug that goes in there and it has something to do with the idle. I can hear air leaking out of it and in a few other places on the bottom of my intake manifold

 

[Quasimondo]

OK my boost is now hitting 10~11 psi max. The only thing is, it pulls harder when the turbo is still spooling up than it does when it is at max boost. I was thinking that might be because it's running rich right now. There are a few cracks in the exhaust manifold. Would that make it run rich? What other things would make it run rich?

If you're hitting 11 psi, then that means your wastegate is fine. You either have a bad manual boost controller, or you installed it backwards.