I need help with my stock turbo

[bpriest_1063]

I just bought my first ever Eagle Talon. Its a 1995 tsi awd, im having toughts of turning the psi boost up on the turbo to where i can get atleast 10-15 psi total out of it. i have never owned a turboed vehicle of anykind before. im really mechanically inclined, i am a student at nascar technical insatute so its not like i dont know my way around a car i just dont know crap about turbo's

 

[Smallfry311]

and your question is how to turn up the boost? you first need to buy a better than stock bov (stock leaks at like 12 psi) and then a good boost controller and T off the hose that goes from the compressor housing to the wastegate

 

[DSMDriver69]

So whats your question? How to turn up the boost? If so you will need a Boost controller, Manual or electric. And you will also need a boost gauge, because the stock one is a pos. Or if you wanna squeez out a few psi for free you could do the BCS mod. Also on this site the search function is you best friend.

 

[bpriest_1063]

what do you mean by bcs mod? fre is always good in my wallet

 

[LiquidX]

There is a selonoid called the BCS (boost control selonoid) that controls when the wastegate opens up. It's a stock electric boost controler. Airflow signals are sent to the ecu and tell the BCS to open up and allow air pressure to the wastegate so the wastegate flapper opens. On the BCS, one of the nipples has a restrictor plug in it. You remove the plug and it raises the psi by 1 or 2 psi.

Before you decide to think about turning up the boost, do EVERY single piece of maintaince first. You don't want to blow the car up because you forgot to change something. If you don't know when the timing belt was last changed (have any records) change the whole assembly including the balance shaft belt. Water pump, tensioner pulleys, hydraulic tensioner, balance shaft belt and timing belt. USE OEM ecept the water pump; can use autostore there.

2g Upgrade Path
BCS Restrictor Mod

 

[bpriest_1063]

where is the wastegate located at like i said i have no knowledge about turbos

 

[talon187]

Search botton

 

[boostedtwo]

The waste gate is mounted to the turbo, look for a cyclinder looking thing about 1/2 as tall as a soda can, with a arm coming out the bottom of it going to the hotside of the turbo.

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You can see the wastegate in that picture

 

[96mitsugsx]

You need to do your homework first for you to be able to follow people's suggestions or else you will have a hard time following them. Educate yourself first on how turbocharging works.

 

[bpriest_1063]

i know how they work but not how to tune them up the easy way with out spending thousands of dollars that i dont have.... .... i pulled the restrictor plug out and it seems to help a little bit is there anything else that i can do to get more power out of this car for free???

 

[nek]

I seriously wouldnt turn up the boost till I researched around the site naturally to find what you need. Everyone says start with maintenance for a reason. Then look at the upgrade path. "How to turn up the boost" has been asked many times. Search my man, search.

 

[BIRDCLAWTSi]

I seriously wouldnt turn up the boost till I researched around the site naturally to find what you need. Everyone says start with maintenance for a reason. Then look at the upgrade path. "How to turn up the boost" has been asked many times. Search my man, search.

+1 15psi seems to be the magic number too.

 

[kenamond]

There are several good "how turbochargers work" web pages out there, and you'd probably learn a lot from a few minutes of reading. When you start digging into the details, there's a lot to it, but the basics are pretty quick to pick up.

As was mentioned, tune up the car. Check compression. If you have maintenance records, check that the normal 60k maintenance was done, and if your car is past 120k, that means it has to have happened twice along with the more frequent stuff. You must know the consequences of breaking a timing belt.

Ignore your Haynes manual regarding plugs and use NGK BPR6ES plugs ($2/ea at Napa). Do a boost leak test (search on this) and fix all leaks. They happen on every car, and you lose power from them (run rich as a result). I do leak tests every now and then, but haven't seen a new leak in 20k miles. You might as well pull the intercooler off, clean it, and straighten the fins. It'll get you under the car looking at what's where if nothing else.

If you're going to up the boost and are upgrading your BOV without upgrading your intercooler piping, you may need an adapter to fit a 1g or Greddy BOV. If you upgrade the IC pipes, you can buy them flanged for whatever BOV you plan on getting.

The BCS mod didn't help my boost at all. Varies from car to car.

Check the health of your turbocharger by checking shaft play (search). The turbo bearings wear out, but you can fix it for ~$80 if you do it yourself, but if you wait too long and the thrust bearing fails, it ruins the turbo, and the cost goes up by 10x (new turbo). Shaft play is one warning sign.

Start reading around on the forums. Pretty much everything has been asked and answered many times on this forum, so it's a great resource. Welcome to the bloody-knuckled world of DSM ownership!

 

[LiquidX]

i know how they work but not how to tune them up the easy way with out spending thousands of dollars that i dont have.... .... i pulled the restrictor plug out and it seems to help a little bit is there anything else that i can do to get more power out of this car for free???

Please don't be stubborn and ignore everything everyone is saying including what I've said. You NEED TO DO MAINTENANCE FIRST and once everything is A OK, then go head and upgrade. If the timing belt or any of those components fail, you have a potential to rebuild the block along with fixing any bent valves in the head. If the turbo is going out and you don't fix that, you can end up rebuilding the block in the worst outcome. Do things right and don't half ass it. Learn as much as you can about the DSM before doing anything so you know how our cars are.