Turbo issues or boost leak

[TSi Kid]

i was driving my car, getting on it a little, and i see this burst of air come from out of the hood by where my throttle body is. from the rest of the drive home it feels like my car is N/A. i hit about 2lbs of boost and can't get it to go any higher. I just took of my ebay, yeah i know, 16g and had two of my mechanic friends check it out and say that their is nothing wrong with it. We even blew air from a compresser at the turbine and it spooled perfect. The wastegate seems fine as well

I'm about to start checking all of my intercooler piping and clean my intercooler but i have absolutely no clue whats wrong. I've replaced the throttle body and used brand new gaskets with rtv.

Any ideas? My last resort is to put my 14b with the 7cm housing and try that but if its not the turbo i'd like to save myself the time of taking it off and putting my 16g back on

 

[92AWDHX40]

Put the 14b back on and see what happens my friend used a ebay 16, nothing but looks but problems, now it runs like crap. The 14b is a great little turbo, was it blown?

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Well a boost leak test should be able to tell you if its a boost leak or not. If you don't have any leaks then its your turbo. It sounds easy but to be honest I'm kind of in the same boat as you right now. I've been doing boost leak tests for almost 2 weeks now and I've gotten rid of just about all of them so I think my little 14b is shot.

 

[awdtalon21]

A boost leak test is the first thing you should do. Eliminate the small problems first.

 

[kenuwine4g63]

I honestly think your gasket blew on your tb. And dont look down on the turbo because its ebay, mine is too and it spools good and havnt had any problems with it. If you dont have any shaft play and the oils seals are good(not leaking oil in the exhaust) then your turbo should be good. Check that gasket

I had to edit my post due to you already saying you changed the gaskets, look for cracks. Rare, but things happen.

 

[rlacasse1]

My cars boost leak was the intake manifold gasket. But definitely do a boost leak test and see what you get.

 

[TSi Kid]

all brand new gaskets
i did a boost leak test before i replaced the throttle body and it seemed like all of my air was coming from the throttle body so i replaced it and then started to replace the turbo, should've done a boost leak test

I'm throwing everything back together, with the 14b, and am going to do a boost leak test

what about the wastegate or the actuator? could either of those be the problem? i'm thinking that maybe it leaks under boost

i know i'm dumb for buying an ebay turbo but there is litterally nothing wrong with mine. no shaft play both turbines look brand new

got to love DSMs right?

i'm just trying to think about the burst of air coming from my hood, i completely replaced the throttle body with a brand new one and with all brand new gaskets

i've just checked all my houses and they're good and my intercooler is drying right now

 

[awdtalon21]

Should of done the test before changing the turbo, anyway let us know what happens with the 14b.

 

[DeadsEvolution1]

There are several places you can leak from at the throttle body.
At the butterfly, where it connects to the TB elbow or to the intake manifold, out of the BISS screw, and at the ISC as well. BLT it from the upper innercooler piping first since you think your problem is at the throttle body. Also remember to use soapy water with a sprayer it helps a ton.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Just because you have new gaskets doesn't mean its still not leaking there. Check everything.

 

[TSi Kid]

yeah i know i'm really regretting not doing a boost leak test before all of this
i got called into work so i won't have it together till sometime tommorow
but i'll post my results and go from there

 

[TSi Kid]

swapped the 14b with the 7cm housing and its boosting like a champ
we did a boost leak test and now i've got a boost leak on my intake manifold gasket so just another thing in my way to getting her running perfect but i guess there was something wrong with the turbo we couldn't see

 

[DeadsEvolution1]

Well I am glad to see you found the problem. I have a boost leak at the fuel rail where the injectors go. The guy that owned the car before me broke off the bolt inside the head and I drilled a hole into it and got an extractor in the but my Drill is no where near strong enough to undo it. so I'm kinda stuck for now, but it really sucks.

 

[TSi Kid]

i use my car for pizza deliveries so with that boost leak can you say bad milage?? ahh oh well i'm glad i can atleast hear my bov now