external wastegate not opening

[yamaha4life89]

Ok i just put a small 16g w/external wastegate on my 92 laser awd. The turbo came off of 1996 tsi awd and was boosting fine on that car. Now my car in 1st gear boost about 9 to 10psi. in 2nd 12psi and in 3rd goes to 15psi and drops back down to 12psi. I cant hear the wastegate opening from the o2 dump. I set my BC all the way in and all the way out and same thing happens. I read alot off threads just cant figure it out.

 

[1992awdlaser]

Take the boost controller off and see if it opens without that.

 

[yamaha4life89]

i had already tried that but it didnt do anything it opens up if i put 20 + psi to the wastegate with an air compressor

 

[1992awdlaser]

Maybe it has a spring in it that has too much pressure for what you want. See what color spring it has in it.

 

[greentrbo_95gst]

It's definitely the wrong spring. How much was the previous owner boosting?

 

[VelocitàPaola]

If the spring checks out, then the diaphragm could have a leak. I don't think that would happen with a TiAL (I've seen it happen many times with Turbonetics), but it'd be the only other possibility if the spring size is right.

 

[yamaha4life89]

the previous owner was boosting 20 psi but had ran as low as 10 psi with it and it stll opened up it sounds like it opens slightly but i cant get my boost to go over 15 lbs with the mbc all the way up its a shame the car had way more power with the stock 14b and i dont see why this extremely ported small 16g wouldnt have more power it pulled hard on the previous owners car

 

[greentrbo_95gst]

Open up the wastegate and look at the color of the spring. Is it a 44mm wg?
Check your car for boost leaks at the same time.

 

[yamaha4life89]

Ok ill take it off as you can see in the pic. the hole turbo has to come off of the car. Ill get back to you after i remove it.

 

[Mikael SS]

If it wasn't opening, you'd be going over 30psi. I'd recheck the boost controller and how its hooked up. Some of the external wastegates operate like BOVs, they need positive pressure to help hold them closed.

 

[yamaha4life89]

i already hooked it up directly to the intercooler piping from the wastegate but it boosted the same

 

[turboglenn]

If your wastegate wasn't opening you'd be boosting off the scale/gauge whatever you want to say. It sounds to me like you just haven't got the boost controler hooked up correctly yet.

 

[talon187]

ive got a big 16g and before i went exental gate id boost 20 or more psi if i let it go that high im running a 38mm gate now im good check the spring if you can take off the gate without tearing the entire turbo off i would and hook up a pump or somthing i used a little pump on mine to see what it would open at it was set for 15 with the spring i got with mine...i changed that. another thing i was wondering is there just one nipple for a vac line on your wastegate? because on my 38mm i had two with the way i got it had to have the vac line on the top nipple of the gate. when i changed to a smaller spring i had to have the vac line on the other nipple just a thought good luck

 

[1992awdlaser]

There is two port on most external gates. They both will be used if using an electronic boost controller.

 

[turboglenn]

There is two port on most external gates. They both will be used if using an electronic boost controller.

After every way of setting my profec or any other controller that way I've not had any luck getting consistent boost. The best way I've found is just the simple way of using just the side port on the wastegate with a bleeder setup in line with that. That's actually how I'm running my Profec, any other way and it will spike like crazy for some reason, and i did the vacuum lines exactly like the instructions showed.. I'm not dumb but that hook up has always gave me issues, and i have no clue why.

The best boost controller I've ever had is one i made from brass fittings, a spring from ACE hardware and a bearing ball from there too.

I tried getting a higher rate spring for my Tial today, but since i have the "old style" i have to order a new top for it so i can use the newer large springs or duals with a large and small together. That way my profecs adjustment from it's lowest setting should yield me higher boosts with better control

sorry if I'm rambling, just been having boost issues myself since the dyno, i can't get as much as i want to make. But i haven't tried to hard since it's been cold as hell out, I'll just wait till it's at least in the 40's.

 

[1992awdlaser]

I never actually tried it with an ebc as I have never owned one. I was just stating, like you mentioned, the instructions said that. I just use a mbc and leave it set at 28 psi.

 

[Mikael SS]

ive got a big 16g and before i went exental gate id boost 20 or more psi if i let it go that high im running a 38mm gate now im good check the spring if you can take off the gate without tearing the entire turbo off i would and hook up a pump or somthing i used a little pump on mine to see what it would open at it was set for 15 with the spring i got with mine...i changed that. another thing i was wondering is there just one nipple for a vac line on your wastegate? because on my 38mm i had two with the way i got it had to have the vac line on the top nipple of the gate. when i changed to a smaller spring i had to have the vac line on the other nipple just a thought good luck

as has already been covered, its not the spring. If the spring were too tight, he would blow over 30psi. His issue is with his boost controller

 

[viprez586]

Boost controller stuck.
I did a write-up on how to disassemble and clean a Hallman Evolution In-Cabin manual boost controller, just so you have an an idea. Its in the turbo tech I believe.

 

[yamaha4life89]

Heres a pic of the wastegate. I believe the spring is a 40mm. Correct me if im wrong!!!

 

[yamaha4life89]

well i just finished up removing the turbo and decieded to use a different hotside becasue there were a few cracks in it. I also switched it to an internal wastegate and installed it back on the car and it is now working great. My question is now it spools to 10 psi untill 5 grand then it shoots up to 15 psi where my mbc is set to, do you think if i port the turbo it will spool 15 psi quicker? another question, does anyone know if theres a difference between a stock 14b internal wastegate to a stock 16g internal wastegate or are they the same?

 

[1992awdlaser]

You have something wrong with your setup if it spools that late. I wouldn't even worry about porting it until you find out what the problem is. Maybe the wastegate flapper is blowing open. Is the actuator arm connected to the flapper? Put some type of pump on the wastegate actuator and see when the flapper opens.

 

[yamaha4life89]

the wastegate arm is hooked up and the flapper is opening i made sure of that before i installed it last night

 

[talon187]

your geting creep or a spike with the internal gate. eaither you need to port the turbo or have a bigger flapper installed. can i ask how you blocked off the internal gate when you had the external on ? i had mine welded shut

 

[talon187]

how could it be his boost controller when he said he took it off and it still boosted over 20psi?

 

[1992awdlaser]

I was saying maybe your flapper is opening too soon. I would hook a pump up to the actuator and see when the flapper opens.