0.0 boost- 15psi to work, 0 psi home??? why?

what happened? it's dark, cold and 3 am- but my car no longer is boosting at all. Just going from -10 vac to 0.0 when i get on the gas. It's not all that fun to drive. Nothing is visually disconnected (using my cell phone as a light).

Where to look?

thanks

-drew

 

Check your exhaust between the engine and the turbo. Check your intercooler hoses. My bet is on an intercooler hose.

 

does it have the stock up pipe?

 

Also check the wastegate arm. I've seen the little c-clip pop off before and cause the exact same problem.

 

i'll check things over in the light

it doesn't have an exhaust leak prior to the turbo (for sure), but that was good thinking

 

i'm actually really not seeing anything!

It seems that if any of my intercooler hoses were leaking i'd still build a bit of boost (same as with most any other leak)

the wastegate seems fine...

what else guys?

 

Does the car feel a lot slower? It will if it's only making 0psi.

If not, your boost gauge may be screwed up.

 

The arm on the w/g is still connected?

 

yes, arm is still connected and it seems to be functioning normally- I pushed it through it's range of motion.

The car is SUPER slow and is not building boost. It's not the boost gauge.

I'm running stock boost control still- could the issue lie therein?

I mean, it seems like the night and day switch to 0 psi can't be the result of anything short of a major catastrophic failure in the piping/hoses somewhere (which i couldn't miss visually or sonically)...

i still haven't done more than just peer under the hood, but everything i have ready access to is just fine etc.,and def. doesn't seem like major leak.

 

my guess would be a piece of your cat is lodged in your turbo, ive seen it before in stock up pipes

 

sorry for not answering this earlier- i don't have a stock up pipe and mine has no cat

i have the erz up pipe with flex off of ebay

 

N/M! hmmm maybe your turbo is shot, perhaps you should pull off your inlet pipe and see if you can get it to spin freely

 

yeah, i guess that's the next step.

If there isn't a leak it only makes sense that it's not spinning eh? which by the sounds of it "may" be the case.

 

I don't think this is the case. Usually a failure of your bcs will result in wg boost pressure -- ie, about 7psi.

 

yeah, i also don't have any cel (but limp mode still has some boost anyways right?)

 

Yup, limp mode basically shuts off the bcs -- and again, you would get ~7psi.

 

adding other info for potential help-

currently running

low mileage vf22
stock tmic
erz up pipe
3" downpipe
blitz blow-off (from previous owner)
no "pill" hence 15 psi max (was planning on upgrading bcs soon)
AP tuned by DB

 

yes ~7psi

There either has to be a large leak somewhere (check your front O2 sensor) or something is jammed in the turbo.

 

i know what it sounds like with a leak up there (ran it for a bit with no 02 once) and that is definitely not the case.

Something must be in the turbo- what the heck could it be/why?

I won't be able to take stuff apart for a few days at the earliest.

can the wastegate be staying open? I can "actuate" it by hand and it seems to be working (it's hard to push it by hand).

-drew

 

Yup, good advice.

 

yeah, i'm sure once i get a chance to look at it in the garage and with some tools i'll at least be able to sort something out.

It's just getting me that it's not building any boost- since most of the easy fix things in my mind would still allow SOME boost to build.

-drew

 

You don't hear any extra noise from the engine compartment do you? Anything that may suggest a stuck bov or other leak?

 

no absolutely no random/different noises.

I'm looking forward to getting back to it and trying to hear if the turbo is moving or not.

my impression right now is that it sounded like the turbo was "spooling" as i was driving despite the no boost building (it hadn't crossed my mind before i got to work that the turbo might in-fact be "stuck")



-drew

 

still, no odd/new noises. No boost. Now with cel.

 

Do you know which cell?

 

Get your AP out and read the CEL. :roll:

When was the car tuned?

 

7 weeks ago

i've never read the cel with the ap- simple to do without the instructions? Once again, i'm at work and still no time to really look into it.

 

Yup, real simple.

Plug in the AP to the car and select something like "read engine trouble codes" from the main menu. Make sure the ignition is in the ON position (like when flashing).

 

thanks- will do and post later this afternoon

also, will likely have time to mess around with it a bit this afternoon.

 

no real time yet-

will actually tear into this tomorrow afternoon

my C43 is running with the supercharger on it now though! Feels great to finish a long project and have it actually run.

anyways-

My brother claims he had the EXACT SAME problem while in colorado with the car 6 weeks ago and was able to fix it by changing the tune... He said that a loose battery cable had occured directly prior to losing the boost as well... I had to jump the car the same day that i lost my boost too... Are my AP tunes losing some boost setting when they get reset?

When i go to re-load the tune fully, it "can't communicate with vehicle". However, the AP lets me reflash the tunes the short way (but that doesn't solve my problem). Is there a possibility this is tune related?

It's been driven probably 3k miles between times when it's had these symptoms all with proper boosting.

Also, say if my turbo were "stuck" why would i see exactly 0 psi anytime on the gas? wouldn't i see major vacuum?

-drew

 

well, tried that and no boost

working on taking downpipe off- it's cold and wet out there so i came in for a bit.

not looking good!

 

ok- turbo is NOT seized

do i still remove it? what else can break in the turbo?

Also, there is quite a bit of oil (imo) in the y-pipe area. Have not had any signs of burning oil though- what does that signifiy?

-drew

 

the oil could be from blow-by in the turbo. that will happen on turbo vehicles without a catch can. Also might be a good time to check for shaft play and other wear on the turboz.

 

yeah, it just seemed like there was a bit more oil than i would expect. However, i'll just ignore it for now.

i guess i'm going to pull the turbo off the rest of the way and look around- any suggestions as to what i might see?

i'll be disappointed if i take it all apart in this weather only to put it back together and not know what's wrong/have a solution. I'd rather just ahve a blown turbo, lol.

 

How much oil? Like a caking of the pipe, or enough to pour out?

 

the turbo spins, but does it have alot of slop in it?

 

just enough to pour out

how do i test it for slop? want to make sure i'm giving the information in the same terms as people are asking

 

Well, I'm bored and prolly not much help but I could stop by and give you a hand if you like.

 

i am in Red Wing right now though- otherwise def. would have liked help.

I can't even get my cousin over here to help, lol.

As you guys can tell i'm inside posting dumb questions doing anything not to have to lay in the slush out there... lol

 

as far as any play in the shaft as i can determine from the exhaust end of things- there is literally none

so, what's the deal?

 

If the turbine spins freely and the shaft has no wiggle you have a good turbo. Might want to check the wastegate next.

 

how do i check the wastegate?

it spins freely and with no wiggle

there is definitely a significant amount of oil gone through it though (i investigated that angle more) far more oil than should have

 

the wastegate is hard to open as i would assume the spring pressure for 7-8psi should be. It is not stuck open in any way... the pin is in and the arm is connected.

what else could potentially be wrong?

how does the extra oil relate to the turbo not working? there isn't a connection there in my mind other than potential turbo failure from lack of oiling (but that is down the road currently, right?)

-drew