replace wastegate actuator or new turbo? few questions

[jonathancullen]

hey everyone hope ## day is going well, i havnt driven my tsi in a week so ive been better. have a few questions im hoping the knowledgeable people of this site can answer.

the wastegate actuator on my 14b is junk, its stuck open a 1/3 of the way meaning i have nothing for boost, having issues with idle surge as well. i paid 2200 for this car because it is really clean for a wisconsin car and i love the 90/91 talons. (have a thing for pop-up headlights =)

but the bank will let me borrow money against it so i can fix it. i want it to be fast when i want it to be fast otherwise its my baby and i treat it that way. was looking at turbo's and after browsing the forum's and a lot of reading i decided not to get a full turbo kit from ebay. (prices are tempting tho for the people who are unaware or dont care to research what they are putting into thier vehicle). i can get up to $1500 from the bank if needed. would like it to be able to smoke a buddies rx8 if i want to. if i'm able i'm not for sure =/

as far as mods done so far its bored 30 over. greddy pistons with molly rings, xtd stage 2 clutch and fidenza flywheel.

whats a good bang for the buck as far as turbo's that wont fail after a few hundred miles. ive had dsm's before but never a turbo'ed so any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance -john

 

[bryanwheat]

hey everyone hope ## day is going well, i havnt driven my tsi in a week so ive been better. have a few questions im hoping the knowledgeable people of this site can answer.

the wastegate actuator on my 14b is junk, its stuck open a 1/3 of the way meaning i have nothing for boost, having issues with idle surge as well. i paid 2200 for this car because it is really clean for a wisconsin car and i love the 90/91 talons. (have a thing for pop-up headlights =)

but the bank will let me borrow money against it so i can fix it. i want it to be fast when i want it to be fast otherwise its my baby and i treat it that way. was looking at turbo's and after browsing the forum's and a lot of reading i decided not to get a full turbo kit from ebay. (prices are tempting tho for the people who are unaware or dont care to research what they are putting into thier vehicle). i can get up to $1500 from the bank if needed. would like it to be able to smoke a buddies rx8 if i want to. if i'm able i'm not for sure =/

as far as mods done so far its bored 30 over. greddy pistons with molly rings, xtd stage 2 clutch and fidenza flywheel.

whats a good bang for the buck as far as turbo's that wont fail after a few hundred miles. ive had dsm's before but never a turbo'ed so any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance -john

Stay away from the ebay turbo's, they are junk. Your car can go plenty fast enough to destroy a rx8 with the 14b. Get the car running up to par before upgrading anything. You can put washers between the wastegate and compressor housing to shim the flapper closed. You can also cut the rod shorter and re-weld it. Before upgrading the turbo you are going to need a fuel pump, injectors, bigger intercooler with piping, bigger exhaust, and something to tune the car with. You can't just throw a bigger turbo on there with no supporting modifications. I would also be willing to bet that you don't have greddy pistons in that engine.

 

[evileagleawd]

Well if you have the stock 14b on the car you wont have any problem walking your boys rx8. You have AWD so you should be able to see his head lights in your rear view mirror all the way down the track. I would pick up a used actuator. But first take your old actuator off the car and make sure the waste gate door moves freely. Could be a issue with the door sticking open not the actuator holding it open.Your first mod should not be a turbo. Id start with reviewing the upgrade paths under the tech guide. Purchasing a new turbo is great and all but there are a lot of supporting mods that are needed with a upgraded turbo. If you are dead set on getting a new turbo you cant go wrong with Forced Performance!

 

[1990AWD]

bryanwheat covered it pretty well, your wastegate is probably just weak from 20 years of service so you can either shim it up or find another used one.

And as said, ECMLink, injectors, pump, fmic, intake & exhaust, and good maintainance and you'll be in the 12s.

Tech Guide is also very helpful.

 

[WES_393]

A stock RX8 shouldn't be too hard to beat. If it's boosted than it might take quite a bit of work since boosted rotaries can be quite a monster.

As for what turbo, if you want it to be purely bolt on I would go with a 16g. Unfortunately a new one would cost all of your budget . So I would look into used ones. But you have to consider more than just the turbo, you need the right supporting mods to handle the turbo. In order to get any gains (crank up the boost) you will need to have the right fuel/tuning mods.

 

[jonathancullen]

yes the wastegate flapper moves freely, somehow and im not sure how it happened but the wastegate actuator is shoved in on one side. i want to do this right and i want it to be as reliable as it can be. as far as the pistons i am not 100% sure whether or not guy that i bought it from was lying or telling the truth. once my d16z6 for my 99ex is done im going to rip apart the talon and make sure the guy did everything right. it would be sweet if it where true but wont know until its apart.

i have been strapped with bills this month otherwise i would be able to put more towards the talon, the 1500 is to get it running decent. i have been trying to find a used actuator around here without much luck. and a new one is $120?!? are they really that expensive or am i looking in the wrong place. that in my opinion seems kind of steep for something that seems simple in design. but i dont know for sure. thank you all for the replies

 

[bryanwheat]

Go find some washers and try shimming it. That is nearly free to do.

 

[jonathancullen]

even if i were to shim it tho the actuator still wont move back and forth to open/close the flapper tho.

quick question before i go outside and do this, i am taking the oil pan off to toss a leaky gasket and replace with black rtv. do i have to change the oil filter it only has about 600 miles on it. will all the oil drain out of the filter while im doing this and is that bad for the turbo. sorry for the nooby question i just really dont want to mess anything up.

 

[AllShallPerish]

It is fine draining your oil, wont harm your turbo. As far as the filer goes, i would replace it just to be safe. you dont need too per sey, but it will leave you with some piece of mind.

As for the wategate, can you grab the rob with your fingers and move it back and forth with it attached to the flapper? If so, you will need a new one. you may be able to bend the rod so it tightens itself back up.

I had a problem like that, BOTH of the bolts for the WGA on my 14b had broken bolts in them. So i attacked the arm, and let the WGA rest on the coolant lines so its nice and snug, then took a prybar and bent the crap out of the rod till it held the flapper closed. Now it is sitting in there perfectly, the bent rod is holding it in place by jamming it against the turbo housing and coolant lines. It sounds a little ghetto, but it works perfectly.

 

[bryanwheat]

even if i were to shim it tho the actuator still wont move back and forth to open/close the flapper tho.

quick question before i go outside and do this, i am taking the oil pan off to toss a leaky gasket and replace with black rtv. do i have to change the oil filter it only has about 600 miles on it. will all the oil drain out of the filter while im doing this and is that bad for the turbo. sorry for the nooby question i just really dont want to mess anything up.

Have you actually tested it to see if it moves with air pressure or did you just try to pull on it. You have to pull it real hard to overcome the tension of the spring. For the oil pan i would recommend permatex grey rtv. Also DO NOT let the rtv skin over before installing the pan. Clean both surfaces of all gasket material including the groove in the pan. Before applying the rtv clean both surfaces with acetone or break clean. The surfaces must me clean oil free. Once the surfaces are clean than you can put a bead of rtv on the pan following the groove in the pan rail. Install the pan and torque the bolts right after you apply the rtv. Now let it sit for 24 hours before adding oil and your pan will be sealed until perfectly.

 

[jonathancullen]

wouldnt that be bad tho? as far as boost im saying if the wga flapper doesnt open how does it relieve boost? the wastegate actuator is shoved in on one side as i said earlier making it almost impossible to move. i could move it maybe a 1/4 inch and that is reefing on it. so junk in my eyes

 

[bryanwheat]

Isn't what bad? Is the actual body of the actuator damaged?

 

[jonathancullen]

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

[/URL] Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]yes the body is shoved in on one side, ill go take a picture of it. do i have to use imageshack or something to post pics? so bryanwheat should i take the black rtv back and get grey? yes i tried with air pressure as well and nothing.

workin on uploading it

wouldnt it be bad if the wastegate could not open to relieve boost* sorry have alot goin on atm thanks!


its junk right? or you think i could try and pry it back and it would work? i dont what the internals on something like this would be, if its just an air chamber and spring type setup if i straitened it out would it work?

no advice at all?

 

[evileagleawd]

Just throw that in the trash! Dont know how that could of happened.... If you want a used one i might have one in my basement ill take a look in the am send you a PM with a price if your interested.

 

[jonathancullen]

yeah i know i really have no idea how it could of happend. when it was on the car it looked fine because it was crushed in on the back side. im not sure what's inside of it but my dad and i bent it back out just to see if it could work. (already junk might as well try) we bent it back out and it moves alot easier now. i probably wont have time to put it back on before work today but tomorrow i'll see if bending it back worked.

so bryanwheat should i take the black rtv back and get grey? what is the difference?

 

[bryanwheat]

yeah i know i really have no idea how it could of happend. when it was on the car it looked fine because it was crushed in on the back side. im not sure what's inside of it but my dad and i bent it back out just to see if it could work. (already junk might as well try) we bent it back out and it moves alot easier now. i probably wont have time to put it back on before work today but tomorrow i'll see if bending it back worked.

so bryanwheat should i take the black rtv back and get grey? what is the difference?

The black should work just fine, i prefer the grey because it gets harder than the black. It's your call though. Just make sure to use permatex and not the junk versachem stuff.

 

[92AWDHX40]

You can pick up the grey stuff at most stores, i like the grey stuff works very well.

 

[evileagleawd]

Hey jonathancullen check your pm box i have 3 acuators if fixing your old one did not work!

 

[jonathancullen]

so got it all hooked back up, went to go start the car. pushed the clutch in and it dropped to the floor and has to be pulled to come back up. realized that the spring isnt anywhere to be found to bring the clutch back (not the issue i know but still dont have a spring). clutch master cylinder was out of fluid. checked the slave cylinder and its leakin fluid =/. are there certain slave cylinders that are better then others/oem? if so where would i buy it? thanks guys i could not emphasize enough how much i appreciate all of your help. also where would i buy just the spring for the clutch? so far looking online i have not been able to find just the spring.

 

[bryanwheat]

The spring isn't 100 percent necessary. I'd just pick up a slave from the parts store, they are usually pretty good.

 

[jonathancullen]

i have read though on other posts that it could cause abnormal clutch wear? is this true or if the clutch system is bled properly will it be fine?