Why am I not getting boost!?

[TylerSealey]

Okay so I had my 2g built a while back and i had to do some break in miles so the turbo was "tuned down" for the first few thousand miles... Well once i got some miles on it I brought it to where it was built and asked them to turn it up... The guy CLAIMED that he had turned it up but my boost gauge was still reading zero... I was pissed. Any way i ask him for the wastegate spring so i can just install it myself and attempt to get some boost out of my 95gst... He tells me it doesn't have a spring and that it is adjusted internally. Once i get home I take my wastegate apart revealing the spring that I KNEW was in there... I call him and ask why it still isn't boosting... He says to install boost controller.. And im not a dumbass i know that boos controller or not i should still have the boost from the wastegate spring preset... I decide to look at my turbo and see that the shaft is bent to shit and that i need to order a new one. What my question is even though it had a little bit of shaft play does that mean that i would be getting ZERO BOOST?!? Please help, I've been working on this car for months and finally want to see it boosted! If you even want to text me with some help please do 315-416-1413

 

[GofaST4life]

First off, there is NO reason to have your danm font that big.

Secondly, you do have a aftermarket boost gauge right?

Thirdly, make sure all vacuum lines are hooked up correctly?

 

[yeoldsippage]

you should still build some kind of boost even if your turbo has shaft play, and your boost gauge should be reading in vacuum while its running and not building boost not at zero psi, so is it climbing out of vacuum to only 0 psi or does it just read 0 boost all of the time?

 

[TylerSealey]

I do have an aftermarket boost gauge and it is reading the vacuum lines... I have zero leaks anywhere im just not getting boost at all... And ok my wastegate there is a nut on the top i can loosen or tighten and when i loosened it about a quarter turned my car would bog... Its all brand new stuff too besides my turbo being messed up a little. Im so confused.

 

[gusu]

Wait are you asking if a turbo with a bent shaft should be making boost?


If your shaft is bent I would see no boost as being normal.

 

[gophishy10]

As gusu said, if the shaft is bent, then it most likely is not going to build boost. A bent shaft and shaft play are two completely different things. If the shaft is bent, you need to replace/rebuild the turbo. But if you think the turbo is ok, then I would do a boost leak test.

 

[TylerSealey]

It is bent... No play. I guess the best way to describe it is i can spin it with my finger then at one point its just a tad more effort to spin it but even if that was the case would that mean absolutley ZERO boost? Im not askif if it would get boost im wondering why i have none... There are no leaks its just not boosting at all not even 1 psi... Its get to the 0 after the vacuum reading and then stays there like its not even hooked up

 

[gophishy10]

As we said, a bent shaft means the turbo is bad. Therefore, no boost.

 

[TylerSealey]

Even if it spins still that means its completley shot? Hmm... Learned something new today guys thanks... Ill replace the turbo and get back to you! Thanks

 

[curt-s]

The shaft needs to spin rather effortlessly because it's supposed to spin tens, even in the low hundreds of thousands of revolutions per minute (all this depends on many factors). If there's any binding whatsoever, it's not going to spin fast enough to compress air properly.

It's one thing to reduce vacuum, an entirely new thing to build positive pressure.

Normally, a tied-open wastegate that can bypass enough exhaust gas would put you at the permanent 0 mark. However, if that is all operating as it should, then yes, the bent shaft probably caused all sorts of internal damage to the turbo and is binding enough not to get the speed it needs.