Boost leaks in Odd Places

[oldman]

However I do want to confirm I have this pressure tester hooked up on the right side of the lower piping, Its hooked up going towards the Compressor area of the turbo and not the side mount intercooler side.

You're killing me... Now turn that tester around pointing towards the ic/intake manifold and repeat pressure test again.

 

[mastadogg2]

ok wait a second, so you want me to put the pressure tester coupler on the side mount intercooler and pressurize the opening of the lower intercooler???? because before I was doing it so it was on the Jpipe part that goes to the top of the turbo compressor.....

 

[mastadogg2]

You're killing me... Now turn that tester around pointing towards the ic/intake manifold and repeat pressure test again.

Alright I turned it around so it was pressurizing the lower intercooler piping towards the intercooler ! held 14psi and air was still comming out of the valve cover breather.. Should i be doing this with the engine warm tho?

 

[oldman]

I hope you don't get flamed for this.

The whole point of a licp test is to determine if turbo seal is the source of your crank case pressure by bypassing the turbo so how are you bypassing the turbo by pointing the test toward the turbo? How you were able to pressurize it is beyond me, did you cover up the turbo inlet with your hand? ! Forget about the licp and take the tester straight to your throttle body elbow, it would be easier. With that said, If you're only able to build 13psi on a reversed licp test and air still flows out of the breather, the turbo seal is in question. Whether or not the rings and valve seal are health depends on the result from the TB elbow pressure test. Make sure you point the tester toward the intake manifold.

 

[mastadogg2]

I hope you don't get flamed for this.

The whole point of a licp test is to determine if turbo seal is the source of your crank case pressure by bypassing the turbo so how are you bypassing the turbo by pointing the test toward the turbo? How you were able to pressurize it is beyond me, did you cover up the turbo inlet with your hand? ! Forget about the licp and take the tester straight to your throttle body elbow, it would be easier. With that said, If you're only able to build 13psi on a reversed licp test and air still flows out of the breather, the turbo seal is in question. Whether or not the rings and valve seal are health depends on the result from the TB elbow pressure test. Make sure you point the tester toward the intake manifold.

Alright im going to pressurize from the throttle body elbow now the right direction ! And I'll be back with results

 

[Mike1992]

This is halarious, the whole time you were pressure testing the turbo compressor outlet. !

 

[DSM90AWD]

oldman... you have the patience of a saint.

Now get off the computer and fix your car "wiseman"

 

[mastadogg2]

Alright I just got done pressure testing the throttle body elbow and it held 14psi just like on the intercooler area and it was comming out of the valve cover breather like crazy..

Oh ya sorry about the compressor outlet deal i was doing .. and ya i used a coupler with a plumber cap and caped the turbo off.. thats why i was so confused i was telling everyone it shouldnt be getting pressure to the intake manifold and i kept stating it was pressurizing the compressor on the turbo but i guess no one thought i would make a screw up that bad !

 

[oldman]

Now get off the computer and fix your car "wiseman"

I guess now I'm under pressure to do so.

 

[oldman]

Alright I just got done pressure testing the throttle body elbow and it held 14psi just like on the intercooler area and it was comming out of the valve cover breather like crazy..

Oh ya sorry about the compressor outlet deal i was doing .. and ya i used a coupler with a plumber cap and caped the turbo off.. thats why i was so confused i was telling everyone it shouldnt be getting pressure to the intake manifold and i kept stating it was pressurizing the compressor on the turbo but i guess no one thought i would make a screw up that bad !

You're lucky this is a 5 page thread so less people tend to click on it. So was air coming out of the breather during your reversed test? If so, you may have multiple problems. Now do that compression test and post back results.

 

[mastadogg2]

yes it was still comming out of breather. I hope no one sees it if so ill just say i havent slept for 1 week straight and wasnt thinking straight even tho thats not the case !

 

[mastadogg2]

Alright compression numbers at last! Here we go;

Dry test results: 150 145 130 140
Wet test results: 170 150 137 157

Let me know what you think. Its definitly not the ring's
thank god. Must be the valve seals right?

(post edit reminder I used a table spoon of oil for the wet)

-tom

 

[oldman]

Alright compression numbers at last! Here we go;

Dry test results: 150 145 130 140
Wet test results: 170 150 137 157

Let me know what you think. Its definitly not the ring's
thank god. Must be the valve seals right?

(post edit reminder I used a table spoon of oil for the wet)

-tom

First, was the car fully warmed up and full throttle applied?
Although the differences between dry and wet test indicates the ring might be ok but none of those numbers are all that great, especially 130 which is under the service limit of 133 for a 2G. If the test wasn't done in the right conditions, repeat the test again. If it was done correctly, I would find a trusty shop to perform a leakdown to determine what else is in play here. Make sure they know the difference between compression and leakdown test. http://www.dsmgrrrl.com/FAQs/leakdown.htm Good luck.

 

[mastadogg2]

Yes it was warmed up and full throttle was applied.. I had taken it out for like a 15-20minute drive, and I seen no smoke what so ever.. now i gotta do a leak down test?? dont these numbers show its the valves?

 

[oldman]

Yes it was warmed up and full throttle was applied.. I had taken it out for like a 15-20minute drive, and I seen no smoke what so ever.. now i gotta do a leak town test?? dont these numbers show its the valves?

Yes, the valve seals are most likely in question but I'm also worrying more about those low compression numbers. You seem to have multiple problems overlapping, a leak down test would be able to pin point what they are. I wish GTM was around to chip in, he's the true expert when it comes to engine internals.

 

[mastadogg2]

Alright I appreciate your help, I will find a place to do a leak down test and let you know how it works out.

 

[mastadogg2]

Hey man I unhooked the tube from my mbc that goes to the wastegate and it still refused to boost past 15psi isnt that a sign of a bad wastegate?

 

[oldman]

Hey man I unhooked the tube from my mbc that goes to the wastegate and it still refused to boost past 15psi isnt that a sign of a bad wastegate?

Sure. If you read back all the posts carefully you'll see that I have said you have a problem with the turbo since the "reversed licp test" yield only 14psi and you had air coming out of the breather. Many times I have said I suspect you have multiple problems overlapping each other. Let's me try and lay it out for you.

1. Possible dying turbo or actuator/wastegate problem causing you to only boost 16psi even with the actuator disabled. We all ready know for sure the seal is leaking though it's good that you're not smoking under boost.

2. Probably valve seals because the TB elbow pressure test yield only 14psi and air was again still coming out of the breather and the initial wet/dry test seem to suggest the rings are OK however remains to be seen until the leak down test.

3. Most troubling are the low compression numbers, since wet test didn't reveal anything, a follow up leak down test is a must at this point. I do want to point out that I'm basing this on the compression numbers you have provided, you would have to decide whether the test was done right. Repeat to double check wouldn't be a bad idea.

I think you should go back and review this whole entire thread from the beginning, a lot of the questions you're asking have already been answered. Don't sell yourself short, do some search and thinking on your own. Follow up questions are fine, but make sure it's a more informative one.

 

[mastadogg2]

Sounds good your advice is very convincing to make me want to keep attemping more test's however I just did another boost leak test from lower and turbo compressor inlet and both yielded 16psi and the valve cover breather was leaking air out. Now im done with boost leak tests. and when i was pressurizing the reverse to the compressor outlet i was boost testing 20psi fine before. I will stop wasting my time and get a trusted shop to perform a leak down test and post the results, once again i appreciate all your feedback.

-tom

 

[mastadogg2]

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to do another compression test after taking the car for a nice long drive and it was driving really good and i decided to tune it a bit and it pulled much much harder and i turned the boost down to around 12psi.

New compression test results are as follows;

Dry: 151 151 153 156
Wet: 185 185 175 175

The reason I was getting bad compression before was because my dumbass
had my system in my car still turned on draining the power and the starter
wasnt getting full power so it was turning over slower. It doesnt help when you
got 2 12' subs, 2 amps and a bunch of other stereo equiptment draining your
battery when your trying to do a test !

Let me know what you think of those numbers.

 

[oldman]

You dumbass....

Anyway, that is good news and everything makes much more sense now. new numbers indicates you probably have some small ring issues since two of the wet test was over 30 psi difference which explains why you were getting air into crankcase. You can probably nurse it for a while, just make sure there are no other leaks and that your crankcase is always well vented.

The main focus now goes back to the turbo, which is much easier to deal with then those first set of compression numbers. You last mentioned that you test run leaving the actuator nipple open, which should result in all out boost, and you were only able to boost 16psi. At what rpm are you hitting full spool?

 

[mastadogg2]

Full spool at 4500-5000rpm its pretty far up there. I just double checked everything and tightened stuff up and even tested the wastegate actuator and the rod moved and i got it to hold 45psi. took car out for another drive and i was kind of getting on it, its building around 10psi @ 3000rpm but it refuses to go past about 13psi before 5000rpm. But for the life of me I cannot get this turbo to go past 15-16psi and this really sucks!

 

[mastadogg2]

Alright oldman, when I did another boost leak test starting at turbo inlet It held 13psi and when i turned the compressor off i opened the oil cap and put my ear up to it and i heard bubbling but it was like a heart beat on key bubbling and i also felt like a wierd feeling on my ear almost like pressure and i also heard a consistant air noise. What would cause this?

Next thing I forgot to mention after all teh compression test's When i restarted the car it smoked which is normal.. but it was smoking pretty bad around the turbo area so that means i got a bad turbo housing leak right? smoke was pouring out of the turbo area pretty bad.

Let me know what ya think this time
thanks
-tom

 

[oldman]

I think you're becoming a boost leak expert which is great news for your car.

We have already determine air leaks through the turbo seal, I was reluctant to just come out and say it because you have indicated you are not smoking several times. If you are sure oil is now leaking out of the seals then the turbo needs to be replace or rebuild. This is probably the reason why you're only able to boost 16psi. I do however still think there are some issues with rings and valves seals. After you replace the turbo and clean the system of any oil, repeat the test and pay attention to whether you're smoking especially during take off. You have done well.

 

[mastadogg2]

thanks, My buddy told me I might have a not fully closing wastegate flapper as well as soon as he heard me say it was taking until around 5grand to build the 16psi he said add washers to your wastegate and that should fix it, i just got done adding the washers but i wont beable to test it until tomorrow hopefully thats what it is tho.