waste gate actuator and exhaust manifold

[TJ Donahoo]

I have recently came into this 95 gst. It has many problems that I am trying to resolve and fix so I can get it back in driving condition. I notice while trouble shooting that the waste gate actuator does not move at all under any condition. Slow rev fast rev ect. But if I take a pair of pliers it moves towards the drivers side and springs back. It has a 20g turbo on it.under what condition should the actuator move engage or disengage? And which position is engaged or not. Also while looking at this I noticed that the headers have some sort of adapter between the head and the header. There is also gaps where you can see the previous person just slapped some rtv sealant on it. Would this cause trouble trying to build boost? It also has a greddy bov, is the waste gate actuator even necessary? Sorry for so many questions just new to the turbo world.

 

[pauleyman]

The actuator won't move until you reach full boost which isn't going to happen under no load conditions. Revving it up is not a load. Yes you need the actuator. The actual gate is in the turbine housing and the actuator hooks up to the arm. As we don't know what kind of turbine housing you have there isn't much else that can be said. Rtv has no place on an exhaust. Ever.

 

[TJ Donahoo]

The actuator won't move until you reach full boost which isn't going to happen under no load conditions. Revving it up is not a load. Yes you need the actuator. The actual gate is in the turbine housing and the actuator hooks up to the arm. As we don't know what kind of turbine housing you have there isn't much else that can be said. Rtv has no place on an exhaust. Ever.

Ok makes sense. Here are some pics of the manifold I am trying today to get down to the turbo and check it out to check for shaft play and oil on the intake side of the turbo. Would the exhaust manifold be aftermarket for the 20g ? Or is that a direct bolt up? can the actuator be adjusted ? the car really struggles to hit 10psi. There are other issues that could be causing this but just a thought. Among the wrong spark plugs gaped at .041 and some supper cheap plug wires that I never heard of before, BOV was adjusted far out that it was constantly leaking when building boost ( the little that is was making). I am slowly trying to get this thing back together.

 

[ajcavanah]

Looks to me that the RTV could easily be picked off . I think 20g turbos have t3 flange so it's not a direct bolt on turbo .Waste gate actuators come in different psi.For example 15psi or 18psi and a boost controller will trick actuator to open at what ever psi you want .Check for boost leaks.

 

[TJ Donahoo]

Looks to me that the RTV could easily be picked off . I think 20g turbos have t3 flange so it's not a direct bolt on turbo .Waste gate actuators come in different psi.For example 15psi or 18psi and a boost controller will trick actuator to open at what ever psi you want .Check for boost leaks.

Yes it can and I started to pick it off. But I'm worried that is the wrong flange or adapter. I may just buy a hear header with the correct flange but I will have to search and se e if that 20g is a t3 like you said .

 

[jbeaton9292]

That 20g is a t3 what kind is it if its a knockoff i would get rid of it asap but regardless that manifold is a stock manifold (header as your saying) and the rtv was just a lack if experiance and using cheap paper gasket buy a good gasket and replace it ive had success with just the felpro from any parts store

 

[pauleyman]

Jbeaton look harder. There is something behind that manifold in addition to something adapted at the inlet flange of the turbine. It does look like a stock manifold but if so why the plate behind it. May have been somebody's hack idea to have the turbo clear the water pipe.

 

[TJ Donahoo]

That's exactly what I was thinking because it is tight. And I think that if I remove the spacer that the turbo won't have enough clearance. I haven't had a chance to tear into yet. But the adapter does look cleanly made like from a machine shop with a cc or something along those lines .