max boost

[chehsgsx]

just got my 95 gsx and have been looking at all the stuff on the forums. theres alot good info out there just had one quick Q and sry if theres an answer out there,i didnt find one, but anyway just wondering what u guys would recomend as the max bost the engine/ turbo can handle. didnt want to dive in and blow somthing up. thanks for the help
Patrick

 

[rich3389]

What are your mods?

 

[chico904]

To be safe if you are on the T-25 set it at 15 p.s.i.

 

[Xeiros]

Get a logger, then worry about upping the boost. You never know whats going on, and until then, I'd recommend you leave it alone.

 

[MrBoxx]

just got my 95 gsx... what u guys would recomend as the max bost the engine/ turbo can handle. didnt want to dive in and blow somthing up.

A: If you JUST got your car, then you should be following the first step in the staged upgrade guide, which is a complete tune-up, with all of the major maintenance issues looked at, and any repairs that need to be made completed before doing anything that may exacerbate those problems. Example: If your head gasket is blown, turning up the boost will probably make that problem even worse. So, before turning up the boost, fix your head gasket. Repairs before Modifications, in other words.

B: The max boost the engine/turbo can handle is a relative term. Shep runs 60psi in his engine, but does that mean your engine can? But even two identical stock engines will respond to the same level of boost differently. So, what's needed is a way to tell how modifications affect your engine in particular. Since you have a 95, DSMLink is an excellent option for you to start understanding how your car, and tuning, works. Or, you can get a pocketlogger or other datalogger. Also necessary are the proper gauges, since most of the stock gauges are inaccurate or don't convey enough information to really tell what's going on. I'm speaking mainly of the boost gauge, water temperature, and oil pressure gauges.

But you can't expect any kind of honest, accurate answer of how much boost you can safely run if nobody knows what modifications you have, or what the shape of your car is in. I consider it bench-racing, since there is no right answer. Sure, someone could say that their stock engine runs fine at 15psi on the stock turbo and the stock fuel system, but another person could say that their car knocks at 15psi, so they can only run 12psi. Still another person might run 19psi on a stock DSM and not know that he's slowly destroying his engine due to high intake temps and lean AFR conditions.

C: By all means, do NOT just dive into this. If you do, you may not blow something up, but you may endanger any reliability of your car. Worst case scenario, you DO blow something up. The search function is there for you to use; it's free. Take advantage of the collective knowledge of all the members here. Use www.vfaq.com to help answer some of those pesky common questions. You can spend hours reading the 1000 most asked questions and learning all about these cars.

Welcome to DSMTuners. Good luck.

 

[chehsgsx]

thanks for all the help. i definatly plane on doing repairs first and a code reader is in the works, had an older 85 merkur xr4ti and that was a must. ohhh and the motor is completly stock except for the bov. i dont detect any issus( no smoke in exuste, temps and fluids good, no major leaks) what would u guys say would be issus to look for that i may not know about. thanks again patrick

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Get a boost leak tester first and make sure everything seals good. A lot of leaks go unfixed because you can't tell if anything is wrong without testing.
http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html

Then I would recommend taking your car somewhere, or you can do it yourself, and getting your wheel bearings checked for play, tie rod ends, look for torn or worn out ball joints and replace them. Then another good idea would be to change your transmission and diff. fluid because you never know when it was changed last. Check your timing belt as well and see if you can see any daylight under the ribs that go into the gears. If there is any light or the belt has any signs of wear replace it and all of the tensioners and then you can decide whether or not you wanna replace your balance shaft belt or eliminate them all together. Check your base timing as well to ensure it is set ok.

The max boost on your turbo is gonna be 15. Anything over that and your just blowing hot air. Before you do anything like that get a boost gauge and logger. I recommend www.prosportgauges.com A lot of people have used thier gauge's off here and you can get a boost, water temp, and oil pressure gauge for just over $120 for all 3 and they have proven thier accurate. You wanna make sure to get a logger first though to monitor your timing and knock.