I have NO BOOST!!!!!

[PaintMunky468]

Ok, I just finished a clutch/flywheel install and i put my tranny in and everything seemed to be working fine. For about three days I had full boost and the break in was going smooth (except for the annoying shuttering from the new urethane motor mounts, ). The problem started on the highway, were I was trying to accelerate, and when i boosted the gauge showed boost but it didnt make a spooling noise, instead it made almost like a scratching or sqeeling noise (I cant descride it) It almost sounded like a big leak. The weird thing is I had NO blow off. Then after I got to where I needed to go I opened the hood and looked at all the obvious vaccum lines and they were all connected, so I went for a quick spin and i built boost, blew off, and now the car won't build ANY boost, the gauge stops at zero. However I do build vaccum. I got back to my house and ran a quick midnight boost leak check and it came back normal, just a small leak by where the greddy type-rs BOV conects to the stock UIP, nothing new. I checked my new EVOIII 16g GT turbo with only about 2k miles on it and there is minimal shaft play, no more than there was coming out of the box, and it spins freely.

PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!! any suggestions?

P.S.- I still need to run a better boost leak check, with the MBC turned all the way open (as i read in another post) but for now and with the info i have can anyone help me? I'm thinking its a major boost leak, but this doesn't seem normal.

 

[CanadianTSi]

Is the arm on the wastegate actuator still connected to the wastegate?

 

[MrBoxx]

Beat me to it. A disconnected wastegate arm will usually only build boost to 0. My wastegate arm came loose as I was driving through town one day and I could only get the boost gauge to go up to 0, no matter how much throttle I gave it. Pulled into work to replace the cotter pin with a paper clip and had to wait for the car to cool down so I wouldn't burn my hand.

 

[PaintMunky468]

Its not the wastegate actuator arm. I checked today and the arm is still connected. I am not sure which way is open, so for all I know the wastegate could just be stuck open. Any more suggestions, anyone????

 

[90blacktsiawd]

I've actually blown the seal in my internal actuator before. I was out doing some tuning then i hear a pop and theres no boost anymore. Like one person up there said, no matter how much throttle i gave it i couldn't get past 0 on my boost gauge. I popped the hood expecting to see an intercooler pipe blown off but there was none. The wastegate appearred to be hooked up, the pin was still in and all, but i couldn't touch it right then. Next day when i could get my hands in there i pulled the pin off to find that the wastegate was part way open because the actuator wasn't holding it shut. I could literally move the actuator arm back and forth throughout it's range of motion with no resistance. A new actuator fixed it for me.

Just something else for you to check.

O and a really big pre-turbo exhaust leak might do the same thing. But you could probably hear that and would already know that.

 

[PaintMunky468]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna go check the actuator to see if the wastegate is just stuck open. How much did that actuator run you?

 

[90blacktsiawd]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna go check the actuator to see if the wastegate is just stuck open. How much did that actuator run you?

Well i actually went external from there. But the actuator i had been using cost 125. Now i couldn't tell that it was broken until i took it off the flapper arm so make sure you do that to check.

 

[PaintMunky468]

well i checked the wastegate actuator and it is still very stiff. I cannot move it at all.

 

[90blacktsiawd]

Did you actually unhook the actuator or just try to wiggle it while it was still attached to the flapper? If the first then do it again but unhook it and make sure to pay attention to where the flapper arm is positioned while hooked up. It is possible that the actuator isn't holding the flapper tightly shut. Even being open alittle bit can drastically lengthen spool time.

The only other thing i can think of is a massive boost leak. But with you having th estock mas still and not a blow through set up i don't think your car would run that great with an intercooler pipe hanging off.

 

[Bohrn]

check to see if your exhaust is plugged, specifically the cat.

had this in a local car. No one thought to check it, but when we pulled the cat out a piece of the matrix had come off and wedged itself in there sideways, allowing almost no flow.

 

[PaintMunky468]

Ok, I took the car to the DSM shop and had them take a look at it, and sure enough they found the problem. This will be helpful to all of you who have an EVOIII 16g GT. The kit comes with a bad gasket that goes between the turbo up to the exaust manifold. The heat and changing temps cause the gasket to act up, in turn making the screws holding to the turbo to the exaust manifold to unscrew themselves. This will cause the weird sound I heard (like a big leak) and the sparatic no boost then high boost. The solution is to just get a better gasket. Mine ran me $30 bux and has japanese writting on the top (not sure where to find these). Hope this was helpful...

 

[DROOPY209]

I bought a stainless steel laser cut 7cm turbo-manifold gasket from RRE for $20. My gasket should never blow.

I've seen places sell the SS gasket for even $13 on ebay.