Pretty new to turbos. Know about them, but clearly haven't met my fair share of problems to learn from.

Problem:
My car doesn't seem to get anything out of boost. The boost gauge shows 12psi on the gauge, the BOV works, but the car feels totally stock even at 12psi. No pull, no power gain. Wth?

I've checked all the charge pipe couplings, they look tight. No other vaccum leaks that I'm finding. I'm pretty sure the wastegate isn't stuck open because it opens to atmosphere. I'd hear it if that were the case. The wastegate opens right where I expect it to at 12psi.

I did recently did a timing belt change and swapped out the turbo because the last one was toast. Clearly the problem started at that point, but I'm trying to think of what may have gone wrong during the process.

Setup:
B16A
t3/t4 turbonetics turbo
External turbonetics wastegate.
Manual boost controller.
NepTune.

 

Does it rev fast? What clutch are you running? If its still stock then its probably slipping and you are not going anywhere.

 

Maybe your timing belt is 1 or 2 teeths of the right timing mark..

 

-- Clutch is new. Broken in.Again, everything was fine before the turbo swap. I'm trying to figure out if I effed something up.

-- You know, I was thinking the same thing. But the car runs/idles beatifully. Even if that were the case, don't you think I would feel at least a small gain after I have 12psi of boost being forced into the cylinders?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jeffrey9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">-- Clutch is new. Broken in.Again, everything was fine before the turbo swap. I'm trying to figure out if I effed something up.

-- You know, I was thinking the same thing. But the car runs/idles beatifully. Even if that were the case, don't you think I would feel at least a small gain after I have 12psi of boost being forced into the cylinders?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If the timing is even one tooth off, not only will you feel a decrease in power, but you could be damaging the engine by boosting the snot out of it right now.

I suggest you stop beating on it and wondering why it's slow, and take the time to figure out what the problem is. Start by looking over what you messed with, but if that's not it, do a compression and leak down test. Maybe it's time for a rebuild.

 

The timing is good. This problem is new to me, but I'm not an idiot. Doing compression test after work. I'll report back.


Modified by Jeffrey9 at 11:00 AM 9/18/2008

 

you say the clutch is brand new, but what brand is it and what is the TQ rating VS the TQ that you are actually making?

 

Is it tuned? do u have a wideband bc u may have a lean condition and if u do u need to stop driving the car immediatly

 

Are you running a catalytic converter? If you are more than likely is clogged. I was runing one on my setup for long time and it works out great 3" but when i put in new engine i drove it to the exhaust shop to get the dp extended and some road debris got into the cat and when i picked the car up it would only boost like 6-8 psi and the more th eboost rose the slower the car got.

Hollowed out the cat and retuned and it was good to go. i since installed new cat and its still fine

 

Yeah, it's tuned. Car is actually running slightly rich at the moment with the weather. Not enough to hurt anything though.

Interesting idea on the clogged cat. I'll check into it when the car cools off.

Before the last turbo died the car pulled like a beast. The Gravitron ride at the state fair had nothing on this little car.

Now, it still pulls a tiny bit, but certainly not enough to feel it. Feels almost like the boost is slowing the car down a little.

I'm starting to question my timing work. As mentioned I'm pretty new to turbos. When I switched out the timing belt, I just did the cam/crank alignments straight to TDC. I don't know if there is some advancement or retardation to be done differently with the turbo setup. Input?

BTW, yanked the plugs, and pulled the fuel injector fuse. I got:
200, 200, 195, 210 wet /w oversized HG.

Thanks for the continuing help guys.

 

how does the car run lower into the rpm range out of boost now compared to b4 u did the timing

 

Not as well. Lot more exhaust popping that didn't happen before. I think I see what you're getting at. Any specifics on how I need to readjust the cams to fix it?

 

Popping too much timing. Pull ur exhaust at the flex use a flash light look at the cat see if it is melted or broken honey cone. I had the same prob before it was running to rich and the cat had alot of carbon build up

 

Oh well if u did the timing belt thats where your problem lies.

Just pop the valve cover off. Pull number 1 plug out thats the plug closest to the crank pully. If you sill have a white timing mark ont he crank pulley. Put a long screw driver or welding rod down the plug hole spin the motor to TDC and move it back and vorth verifing that the timing mark is dead on. Then On the cam gears the marked UP and there is 2 marks on them they should line up in the center. Take pics of them if your stuck. Possibly you are out 1 tooth man. Dont run it lol .