Poor acceleration, not sure if boost leak or something else

[phase17]

I have a 91 TSi AWD, everything stock. The car accelerates very poorly, it's comparable to my friend's stock 92 Eclipse GS. The only time acceleration is good is if I'm slowly cruising in a parking lot or something in 1st at like 2000rmp then punch it. I assumed it was a boost leak, I can hear the turbo but after it hits around 3,500 rpm it barely accelerates as the turbo continues to spool. I installed a boost gauge and it reads 11psi and is consistent for however long I'm driving. Would a boost leak produce these symptoms?

I have one other thought. There is a crack in the exhaust manifold, the gaskets on the o2 housing to manifold and downpipe are blown, and one of the bolts that holds the manifold to the o2 housing is stripped and wont stay in. I assume exhaust leaks from these faults causing the turbo to spool slower. But since I'm new to having a turbo that was just a wild guess. Overall I'm just wondering which seems more likely as the cause of my cars performance.

 

[viprez586]

Well your guess is correct. Any leak on the turbo significantly hinders its performance. The 1g manifolds are prone to crack and that could be one of many problems. I suggest you take that turbo off, replace all the gaskets and look into a new manifold. Also while you got the turbo off you can pull the exhaust housing off and port it to gain faster spool time. When i pulled off my turbo housing i found that the flapper was not even seated correctly which led me to full boost at 4.5k. As for a boost leak tester these are a wise investment as any boost leak will make your car run like crap. While you got it out get yourself a nice snap ring pliers and pop off the compressor side, there is an O-ring that helps seal the compressor side and can be a HUGE leak if it is dried out and cracked.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255984
^^Go here to see what im talking about with the compressor^^

VFAQ.com--Good site to learn some basics.

 

[phase17]

Did boost leak test today, there were small holes in the intercooler piping. Fixed the leak, drove home and the car stalls every time I come to a stop. I've noticed every time I remove the negative battery terminal to work on something then reconnect it, the car almost stalls for the first 30 miles or so driven until returning to a normal idle at 750rpm. Would this have something to do with a dirty TB? Does the ECU resetting have something to do with it? I don't understand how fixing a boost leak will make my car stall whenever coming to a stop.

 

[synthetek]

After reseting the ECU sometimes it runs weird for a while until it relearns everything