Boost leak..ok to drive?

[afunkygbeat]

I use to be able to hit boost in 1st gear but now can't. I know that most likely im experiencing boost leak. But I can't get it checked out until Tuesday. My question is, is it ok to drive until then since I have no other means of transportation. Thanks

 

[grim reefer]

My car can't boost past 10 psi then it drops, I have been driving it like that for awhile and its drives fine just not alot of power.

 

[O HAI]

yup should be fine to drive.

 

[T is for TURBO]

You should be okay, just don't attempt to go into boost.

 

[Rogi]

If you have 5 min, water and soap you can do a quick cheap test, just mix the soap until it makes bubbles and put it on the ic pipe conections, rev it up a bit and if you have a big leak you should see it right away, maybe youre lucky and just need to tighten some clamps

 

[afunkygbeat]

If you have 5 min, water and soap you can do a quick cheap test, just mix the soap until it makes bubbles and put it on the ic pipe conections, rev it up a bit and if you have a big leak you should see it right away, maybe youre lucky and just need to tighten some clamps

Ill be sure to do that! Thanks for all the input guys!!

 

[T is for TURBO]

If you have 5 min, water and soap you can do a quick cheap test, just mix the soap until it makes bubbles and put it on the ic pipe conections, rev it up a bit and if you have a big leak you should see it right away, maybe youre lucky and just need to tighten some clamps

HUH?

You have to pressurize the intake for the soap test to work, and reving the engine WON'T build any pressure in the intake track.

If you don't have a boost leak tester or the time to do a proper boost leak test, spray starting fluid around the IC pipes, throttle body, and BOV while the car is running. If there is a leak there, the engine vac will suck the starting fluid in and cause the engine RPM to rise.

 

[jakelandry]

HUH?

You have to pressurize the intake for the soap test to work, and reving the engine WON'T build any pressure in the intake track.

If you don't have a boost leak tester or the time to do a proper boost leak test, spray starting fluid around the IC pipes, throttle body, and BOV while the car is running. If there is a leak there, the engine vac will suck the starting fluid in and cause the engine RPM to rise.

Im with this guy, i wouldnt spray soapy water on any connection and fre rev it. When its not in gear it doesnt build boost, thus it has vacuum. Vacuum sucks. You may as well be spraying water straight into your motor.

 

[em5780]

Just make sure you have the issue addressed, if you let it go for a while you'll end up with problems down the road.

 

[afunkygbeat]

Just make sure you have the issue addressed, if you let it go for a while you'll end up with problems down the road.

Yea Tuesdays the earliest I can check it out. But trying to get it checked before then

 

[gusu]

Im with this guy, i wouldnt spray soapy water on any connection and fre rev it. When its not in gear it doesnt build boost, thus it has vacuum. Vacuum sucks. You may as well be spraying water straight into your motor.

True and untrue. You can also do the test by having a friend hold the brakes and build boost. Of course you don't want to stand in front of the car just in case something goes wrong and it's not the best or most logical way to do it but it does indeed work if you need a way to test with out a air compressor.

Another thing you should mention is you wont hydrolock with a few water molecules that would be making it into the engine. If that were true seafoam would make you hydrolock a lot easier than it actually does. I've read several places it takes about a teaspoon of water to commonly cause hydrolock which is a lot more than you should be spraying in one spot with a water bottle anyway.

 

[em5780]

You'll be fine for the short amount of time. Just not the sort of thing you want to let go for months. I wouldn't worry about having it checked sooner than Tuesday. Goodluck on Tuesday!!

 

[T is for TURBO]

You can also do the test by having a friend hold the brakes and build boost. Of course you don't ever want to do this in case something goes wrong and it's not the best or most logical way to do it but it does indeed work if you have a boost leak the size of Texas and need a way to test with out a air compressor. Or you could go to your gas station with a properly built boost leak tester and a sock full of quarters

Fixed.

Also, this won't work on a manual trans.
Also, you can't hear any leaks with the eninge on, reving, and boosting.

 

[O HAI]

Yeah, I deffinetly would not try using soapy water and free revving, you need to buil pressure. If you can get someone to do a true boost leak test I would just wait and do that.

 

[afunkygbeat]

Im with this guy, i wouldnt spray soapy water on any connection and fre rev it. When its not in gear it doesnt build boost, thus it has vacuum. Vacuum sucks. You may as well be spraying water straight into your motor.

Makes sense I guess ill just have to wait a couple of days. Thanks for all the feedback guys!! I was worrying that if I waited till the weekend was over some major complications/ issues would arise.

 

[jakelandry]

A little water doesnt hurt, but hell would anyone with common sense spray soap straight into their motor to fix a problem? Boost leaks are not the end of the world, theyre not by any means good for your car but ive driven since the day i got my car with some serious leaks. Ive run decent times at the track and ive put some miles on my car with no signs of repercussions.

 

[Jay95GST]

When I first got my car it had a really bad boost leak and I ran it like that for about a week with no problem. Its just annoying and hard to drive while its surging.

 

[caseyrock]

You will be okay...for a while

 

[4G63_GSX]

you should be good to drive as long as you dont get into it real hard