99 Civic EX

i am running an sc34 turbo on a b18c1. inline pro manifold, 2.5" DP, tial 38 mm wastegate, greddy BOV, 550cc injectors, neptune fuel management, the rest pretty much stock. the spring in the wastegate is a 7 lb spring. i was only able to boost 5 when i purchased the car about 2 months ago. got in the car the other morning and had no boost whatsoever. the motor stays in vacuum the whole time while boost should be engaged. there is very minimal shaft play(just a tiny bit of up and down, which is to be expected) no in and out though. there is oil on the wheel if you stick your fingers in far enough. when the car is idleing should'nt the wheel be spinning? it will spin when you give it gas, but stops as soon as the motor winds down. i took my charge piping off above the BOV and verified that it is building pressure. the wastegate did not seem to be stuck open(very rare, but a possibility since i have no boost). i'm not really sure what to do, any ideas? i'm planning on pulling the turbo off tonight and seeing how it looks on the inside. oh ya...when i bought the car it had an oil leak coming from the return flange underneath the houseing. could the turbo have been starved of oil and just worn down over time. any insight would be a big help guys

1SiC 3DR

i had the same problem with a friend of mines car, blocked off the wastegate, ran vacuum lines different finally bought another turbo and put it on problem was solved, and the original turbo was brand new, ended up being bad - hope it helps

k24em2

did you put the valve seat in on the wastegate? a lot of turbos dont spin at idle, its no big deal

99 Civic EX

i did install the valve seat correctly...i dont really think its a wastegate problem. i'm just not building boost. who would you recommend to have it rebuilt by? is rebuilding the way to go, or should i just purchase a new one?

supabang

does the turbo wheel spin freely by hand? give the wheel a little spin and see how hard it is to move the wheel. Oil leaking from the bottom return means that oil ran through the inlet being that its coming out the return outlet so I do not think your turbo was starving for oil. boost should at least go to 0 and not stay negative pressure even without turbo. i think even with a leaking BOV, you can still get a few pounds of boost. Getting ZERO boost means something is really wrong. give your IC pipes a good look through and make sure there are no leaks at any joints. Make sure to check your IC for leaks for that may be possible. Once all the charge pipes nad intake pipes are for sure not leaking. Check and make sure the turbo is not loose and firmly bolted to the manifold. Look for exhaust leaks from wastegate and manifold. IF everything checks out and you're sure it does, then remove the turbo and take a close look at it. something may be wrong. check to see that both intake and exhaust wheels spin freely by hand and both wheels are spinning at the same time. If you spin the intake wheel, the exhaust wheel should be spinning also. being able to produce only 5psi with that turbo on a GSR motor already said something was wrong 2 months ago. good luck.

EFbomb

check your charge pipe from the turbo for oil

1SiC 3DR

pulling charge pipes is a good idea but, our problem was a brand new turbo that was assembled incorrectly, and the bearings siezed enough to spin but not enough to build boost, and like i said we had the same exact issues you are having. And i'm not knocking anyone elses theory,because HT has very intelligent people that have saved me more then once.

FastEg6

It's fine if it doesn't spool when Idle. Check and see if your turbo fins aren't chipped or broke off. I chipped 3 fins on my 35r and it built no boost at all.

99 Civic EX

thanks for all the replies guys, your help means a lot. ill have to look over all the charge piping tomorrow, unfortunately i dont have a garage here at school. is there any way to do a leak down test or some sort of pressure test? i know my silicone couplers are pretty much junk and they are secured with junky hose clamps, this could be a big problem. it just seems weird that one day i have boost and the next i have none...ill figure it out eventually

JaredKaragen

BOOST LEAK!

Make some caps for the system, and pressure test to 30+PSI.

You will find the culprits, and get em fixed, there are threads about how to make em so search

also, new turbos, don't always spin at idle; not when new. My .42/.48 did, my T04e does not, till warm then it would, and after driving the car off of boost for a few days, it started spinning at idle. The bushings on the turbine wheel just need to seat with the surfaces and wear-in.... if your wheel is balanced properly, it will not keep wearing after the initial break-in period... it depends on the motor/turbo/driving