Boost leaks in Odd Places

[EclipseGST-95]

quick questions i dont mean to jack this thread but im having similar problems.... if i drive my car maybe 5-10 miles and the car is warmed up and i get on it and at high boost it seems to have a huge miss... not every single time but a lot of times it feels like hittin a brick wall.... alls i have is intake exhaust n bov and its hittin 16 psi with stock fuel system.... i only have 70,000 miles on it... is this bad compression due to whatever reasons or bad compressions because the cars not warmed up enough after driving for 5-10 miles? temp is at half way when it does it and its started it this past winter when its been cold out... if u guys think its bad compressions for a number of possible reasons how much is it to replace the piston rings?

 

[oldman]

quick questions i dont mean to jack this thread but im having similar problems.... if i drive my car maybe 5-10 miles and the car is warmed up and i get on it and at high boost it seems to have a huge miss... not every single time but a lot of times it feels like hittin a brick wall.... alls i have is intake exhaust n bov and its hittin 16 psi with stock fuel system.... i only have 70,000 miles on it... is this bad compression due to whatever reasons or bad compressions because the cars not warmed up enough after driving for 5-10 miles? temp is at half way when it does it and its started it this past winter when its been cold out... if u guys think its bad compressions for a number of possible reasons how much is it to replace the piston rings?

Just because you have a miss doesn't mean you have bad compression. Sounds to me like you're hitting fuel cut due to boost leak. Since you have lower and upper IC pipes listed in your profile, I suspect you didn't perform a leak test after install and you probably have some leaks to discover.

 

[EclipseGST-95]

yea a friend said that about 10 min ago he said also i might not have a good spark from either bad plugs or wires or both...but he said its most likely a boost leak i cant imagine where it could be leaking from...i wanna freaking run at the track tomorrow too

 

[GTM]

yea a friend said that about 10 min ago he said also i might not have a good spark from either bad plugs or wires or both...but he said its most likely a boost leak i cant imagine where it could be leaking from...i wanna freaking run at the track tomorrow too

This just goes to show you that not every missfire is the same as the last post you read. It could be coils, transistors, ECU, crank or cam sensor, fuel filter, and a half a dozen other things not mentioned.

You check the easy most logical things first and then progress into more complicated or involved and then those things which cost money. If you save old plugs that were not giving trouble but it seemed like it was the right thing to do or you found them on sale so you now stick those in there and see how it behaves, same thing with plug wires. But you only change one thing at a time ... all the plugs or all the wires.

If you have not done a boost leak before then you will have to make up some hose plugs, find a pressure gauge, a pump etc. so there is time and money involved. So if you are going to have to chase parts you may as well throw in the spark plugs, make a quick test drive, swap out the wires and head out to the hardware store for PVC pipe plugs. If the problem is gone you stop at McDees and grab a shake.

Before you left the house you checked to see if anyone is having a sale on spark plugs and/or wires.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[EclipseGST-95]

thanks for the advice i think im going to end up getting new spark plugs and spark plug wires... i just replaced the spark plugs but the ones i got are supposedly "factory" u cant gap them they are "dual pronged" and the prongs are level with the electrode... ive never seen something like them before but it matchs up with whats in the manual and they were like 18 bucks or so so i think im just gonna get the 6 dollar ngks and the wires for like 20 hopefully thats alls thats causing the problem.

 

[GTM]

thanks for the advice i think im going to end up getting new spark plugs and spark plug wires... i just replaced the spark plugs but the ones i got are supposedly "factory" u cant gap them they are "dual pronged" and the prongs are level with the electrode... ive never seen something like them before but it matchs up with whats in the manual and they were like 18 bucks or so so i think im just gonna get the 6 dollar ngks and the wires for like 20 hopefully thats alls thats causing the problem.

Surface gap plugs are good but they must be the correct heat range just like any other plug. I've had my share of grief with incorrect heat range plugs. Do use a torque wrench if you are not comfortable with knowing just how strong you are with a particular tool. For example with a 6" ratchet I can torque 15# with one hand and 25# with two.

It's pretty hard to beat NGK 6's or 7's depending on mods and driving habits for these engines. Under torque or over torque can change a heat range by 1/2 it's rated value. Today's cleaner burning engines and longer plug life makes it hard to diagnose defective plugs unless you have proper tools. The bummer is by the time you spend checking them you wasted more time than the cost of new so that's why I suggest keeping some used spares around that were not giving any problem when removed.

Cheers
GTM

 

[Mike1992]

OK so I finally got around to pulling the head and starting on a in car rebuild. cylinder walls are very smooth, cylinder head very clean. All the exhaust valves look very white colored and 1 intake valve is also very white colored. Im gonna go with 2g pistons on 1g rods, a rebuilt head, revised lifters, bsek, and a set of comp cams. Im gonna try and hone the cylinders myself and go with std rings and std rod bearings while im at it. Wish me luck and thanks for the insight.

 

[mastadogg2]

Having similar problems that started this thread.... I am getting air comming out of my air filter breather on the valve cover.. I did a pressure test and held 16psi and sprayed down all my piping and no leaks from the turbo inlet pressurizing. Did a LICP test and the boost gauge was showing 0psi but i assume thats because the boost gauge isnt set to read on just the power piping??? I blocked off the turbo inlet and hooked my boost leak tester on the end of my lower piping and pressurized and detected 1 minor dinky leak around the jpipe compressor area.. I am clueless to whats causing me to not boost past 16psi when i take the car out.. I have replaced everygasket in the car almost and still have the same problem and checked the mbc spring and ball etc and im cluess now i dont know what to do.. I did test the pcv valve as well by removing the end tube from the intake manifold and blocking the intake manifold off and pressurized and the air still comes out of the breather filter..... i dont know what to do now tho.. is it normal for the boost gauge to not read from just the licp pressure test or? let me know what you suggest I do..

-thanks

 

[notractiongst]

is it normal for the boost gauge to not read from just the licp pressure test or? |

all depends on where your boost gauge is tapped....
If it is tapped off the intake manifold then it should read when you do the licp test if you have it running off the turbo then no it sohuldnt read

 

[oldman]

When you did the pressure test from the licp, are you still leaking air from the breather though the gauge read 0? Like last post said, you shouldn't read 0 psi unless you are taping the turbo outlet for your boost gauge in which case you should change it back to the intake. Have you done a compression test to check the rings? Are you smoking?

Give us more details on you only able to boost 16psi problem and all that you have tried so far before you got to the leak test. IMO although you would want the system to hold at least 20 psi for about 30 secs during a pressure test, 16 psi isn't too bad and shouldn't cause your boosting problem.

 

[EclipseGST-95]

i found my boost leak... intake manifold shaft seals..."not supposed to work on them" "just supposed to replace the whole manifold" words from mitsu... but i ordered them from machv.com and im gonna go for it...

 

[Mike1992]

i found my boost leak... intake manifold shaft seals..."not supposed to work on them" "just supposed to replace the whole manifold" words from mitsu... but i ordered them from machv.com and im gonna go for it...

I hope you mean the throttle body otherwise you just may be the biggest moron around.

 

[mastadogg2]

Sorry guys I just redid the LICP test and this time ran my boost gauge to the propper area for reading the psi when doing the LICP test.. I did it and it held 18psi but it was still letting air come out of the valve cover breather filter.. So this means its valve seals right? Cause I pulled the spark plugs and theres no oil on them...?

thanks for the help

 

[Mike1992]

Sorry guys I just redid the LICP test and this time ran my boost gauge to the propper area for reading the psi when doing the LICP test.. I did it and it held 18psi but it was still letting air come out of the valve cover breather filter.. So this means its valve seals right? Cause I pulled the spark plugs and theres no oil on them...?

thanks for the help

You wont really be able to tell unless you do a compression test. Start at the beginning of this thread and read through it.

 

[mastadogg2]

Alright let me state I did all 3 steps as mentioned in beginning of thread,

1. testing LICP.
2. pcv valve check.
3. compression check ------- just ordered so waiting for it to come

Other then that I cant really say anything else.... But you guys stated at the beginning if it was turbo seals then it wouldnt be pressurizing the valve cover from a licp pressure test.. so that only means its something inside my engine correct? more then likely valve seals..? let me know if anything i said is incorrect. And i hope im correct with the turbo seal cause i dont feel like dishing out $ for a rebuild right now..

 

[Mike1992]

Yep its internal, your compression test/wet test, will show you if its the pston rings, or guides/valve seals.

 

[mastadogg2]

=) i know thats still not good but that makes me alot happier knowing its not the turbo.. thanks alot for that good news. i will post my dry/wet compression test's ina few days i appreciate your help

-tom

 

[oldman]

Like mike said, compression test would tell you whether it's the rings or seals. In a situation like this you actually would want it to be the turbo seals because it's most definitely easier and cheaper to deal with the turbo than the engine, right Mike? Don't freak out though, if the system is able to hold 18psi it's probably not not a bad leak which is something you should be able to live with but do that compression test anyway to be sure. Now how about that boosting problem?

 

[mastadogg2]

Well i believe this internal problem has a big role in my boosting issue, because it holds exactly what i can only boost to on the leak test through the turbo inlet test....... if its what i think it is "valve seals" Its not gonna be near as much as it would be for a turbo rebuild since i can do the work myself.. but if its a piston ring or something on the short block thats gonna suck ass.. i really dont think its the piston ring's tho cause i had the car out a few hours ago and it drives fine only flaw not boosting past 15psi when i have it set to boost around 20 with my hallman pro rx. if it is valves hopefully its just a seals but my luck they will all be burnt.

 

[Mike1992]

Yea, umm cough I thought my turbo was bad to, I didnt beleive these guys at first, so i bought a new turbo to find the problem still occured, so uhh now I have a nice turbo and a crap motor. So now im in the process of a rebuild My cars been sitting in the garage for over a month now.

 

[mastadogg2]

Yea, umm cough I thought my turbo was bad to, I didnt beleive these guys at first, so i bought a new turbo to find the problem still occured, so uhh now I have a nice turbo and a crap motor. So now im in the process of a rebuild My cars been sitting in the garage for over a month now.

wow that sucks man!! i know the feeling, Right now i dont even want to drive my car just knowing its not boosting correctly piss's me off so i let it sit for weeks and weeks and just drive something else.. Im going to start ordering parts awhile tho I hope to get this all fixed up within the next 1-2 weeks. what all do i need when taking the valve cover off? i should get new bolts,gaskets etc right? some rtv prob to for the gasket. let me know of any tricks or anything that i may want to do when i put it back together.

 

[mastadogg2]

I got a quick question people, Even tho when i do a boost leak test its only holding 15-16psi throughout the turbo inlet area if I remove the wastegate tube from the wastegate so the wastegate stays shut should i beable to boost past the 16psi that i can hold on a boost leak test or not? Im really curious to know what this will do because i have a feeling my wastegate may be somewhat screwed...... cause i dont understand how just bad valve seals can stop it from producing over 15-16psi under boost..

let me know guys asap

thanks
ps i will be doing compression test in the next day or so,
so i will post results.

 

[oldman]

I got a quick question people, Even tho when i do a boost leak test its only holding 15-16psi throughout the turbo inlet area if I remove the wastegate tube from the wastegate so the wastegate stays shut should i beable to boost past the 16psi that i can hold on a boost leak test or not? Im really curious to know what this will do because i have a feeling my wastegate may be somewhat screwed...... cause i dont understand how just bad valve seals can stop it from producing over 15-16psi under boost..

Let's re-organize a little:

1. What lead you to the pressure test to begin with?

2. What psi were you able to hold when you start the pressure test from the turbo inlet? What about from licp.

To answer you question, if actuator is what you mean by wastegate tube then no, it will not make any difference if you remove it. The wastegate is part of your exhaust, not your intake tract.

 

[mastadogg2]

Ok I have some bad news I think. I just did a pressure test from the licp area and it only held 13psi, prior to last time it held 18psi when it was cold and I had excessive pressure releasing from the valve cover breather. This would more then likely mean its the piston rings right or do both valve seals + ring's require the engine to be warm in order to be sealed correctly? Anyways besides all this I will be posting you my compression test numbers hopefully Monday when I receive my kit.

Also the vacuum line on the right side of the intake manifold when I pressurized from my LICP I was getting no pressure what so ever at the nipple on the far right of the intake manifold is that normal?

regards
tom

 

[mastadogg2]

Let's re-organize a little:

1. What lead you to the pressure test to begin with?

2. What psi were you able to hold when you start the pressure test from the turbo inlet? What about from licp.

To answer you question, if actuator is what you mean by wastegate tube then no, it will not make any difference if you remove it. The wastegate is part of your exhaust, not your intake tract.

1. Not being able to boost past 16psi
2. 16psi from turbo inlet, 18psi from LICP when car was warm.