Well this may be a little long as I'm going to try and explain everything I
can about my problem. BTW I do have an SRT-4 but I didnt get a solid answer
on srtforums and I know you guys know what you're talkin about for the most
part over here on HT. Anyway it all happened a few weeks back when I was
driving home from work on a cool night(maybe 60ish). I wanted to get on it a
little to feel how strong it was since I havent rasised too much hell latley.
In 3rd gear at about 3000 rpms I punch it and the car TAKES off..BAM 17psi
pulling hard then the boost skyrockets and burries the boost guage which is
WELL over 20psi and the computer was pulling timing like crazy and it sounded
like a really bassy, low fart. I'm assuming my wastegate actuator had gotten
stuck. I got really scared and took it easy for the rest of the trip. I get
home and let it time down and pop the hood and I see a milky substance in the
catch can. I talked to a friend (sceraxn on here) and he told me it's
possible I blew my headgasket. I told him I didnt see any leaks from the
outside but then again it could be internal. On the way to school the next
morning the car drove fine....didnt overheat or act different or anything. I
watched the temp guage VERY closely and it acted EXACTLY the same as normal.
I could tell when the thermostat would kick in as usual and then when it
would cut off. It was staying in the regular temp range. Anyway it acted
totally normal for a few days and thought the head might have lifted a little
under the spike so i decided to get on it a little to see what would happen.
Well lets just say the wastagate actuator was still stuck but i didnt give it
time to hit over 19psi. I went and took the WGA off to inspect it and
everything was fine. Here's where things start goin nuts. I installed the
WGA just like I did and I only get about 8psi with the same adjustment as
before. The WGA is adjustable BTW. Well I turn the nut a little more....8.5
psi...turn it a little more and 9 psi....then 10....then 10.5. Now im
scratching my head wondering what's up with it so I CRANK that bitch around
to where i finally get 15 psi initially....then at about 3500-4000rpms it
rised to 19 then drops back to 13-14 at redline. Before the crazy spike I
was hitting a solid 17-18 and holding then dropping to around 13-14 at
redline. So Im getting a 15,19,14 boost pattern now. Also I'm still gettin
a little coolant mixed in with the oil in my catch can after boosting. One other odd thing is that my BOV will now sound like it's fluttering at around 10psi with
partial throttle. If i got WOT it's fine and doesnt leak but at partial
throttle boost it flutters. What im THINKING is that I may have
stretched/weakened my head studs and it's causing the head to lift under
boost and/or my headgasket is f-ed. Does this sound right? Again I
apologize for the really long post but I need some help and dont have money
to drop for the dealer to tear it apart and tell me what's wrong. So I now have the WGA adjusted 10 times more than it used to be and I'm still not getting my desired results, odd boost pattern, BOV flutter with partial throttle boost and milky substance in my catch can. I'm NOT noticing any coolant level change either. I added some a while back but the level hasnt changed since the incident. The turbo spools just as fast as it ever did and I'm not putting out any white smoke. Everything seems normal except for what i stated. The car runs, sounds and drives fine but the performance aspect of it isnt what it used to be as the boost is being really odd. The car is fairly modded with the exception of a larger turbo or
nitrous so i have no warranty. If I'm correct about the problem or if you
guys think so too I plan on getting a new HG with some ARP head studs and
hopefully that will cure my problem. I couldnt think of any other thing that
would cause the odd boost and coolant mixed in with the oil. The car "seems"
to pull like it should for the amount of boost im running. I REALLY
appriciate any help from you all!!!

Andrew

 

So the car has never overheated?
The coolant level in the overflow tank is always normal?
Have you checked underneeth the oil cap for this milky like substance?

 

correct sir there has never been any abnormal temp change. The guage is telling me what I've seen since I've had the car which is around 1 year. The overflow tank has not changed....I will check again today just to see but as of last week it was the same as it's been in the last month. changed my oil about 2 weeks ago and I didnt notice any milky substance in the oil but i didnt check under the cap. When I go outside in a little bit Ill check the tank again along with the cap.

EDIT: Checked the coolant level...it's fine...checked under the cap and there was nothing out of the ordinary. There WAS the milky substance in the catch can again though but I figured there would be.


Modified by dreweg at 5:58 PM 10/14/2004

 

Your headgasket is definitely not blown nor do you have coolant mixing with oil, you also don't have any head lifting issues sence your coolant overflow never got full and your not overheating.

I would look at the turbo, wastegate, boost controller, vacum for your problem because your engine is doing just fine. The milky substance is nothing out of the ordinary really thats why you have a catch can on the engine so you get rid of different residue that gets created during running conditions and boost.
Unless you fill the damn thing all the way up driving it around your good to go.

 

Take the AGP wga off and put the stock wga back in (with all of the vaccum lines in stock configuration). This the only way to properly diagnose the car.

Without a mbc to properly dial in the wga you aren't raising boost the proper way by just tightening the tension on the wga arm.

The flutter you hear at part throttle is turbo surge and it means your overboosting which is common whenever you remove the pcm of controlling boost. This is heavy wear and tear on the turbo.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eTec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Take the AGP wga off and put the stock wga back in (with all of the vaccum lines in stock configuration). This the only way to properly diagnose the car.

Without a mbc to properly dial in the wga you aren't raising boost the proper way by just tightening the tension on the wga arm.

The flutter you hear at part throttle is turbo surge and it means your overboosting which is common whenever you remove the pcm of controlling boost. This is heavy wear and tear on the turbo.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont get it...how is he overboosting at part throttle and 10psi? I dont think its compressor surge though. If i had to guess id say that he might have too many t's from one vac source...but like i said that would just be a guess.

 

What i dont get is that I NEVER got any milky substance in the catch can before this happened and the bov also NEVER fluttered before this either along with the tension on the WGA is 10 times what it used to be and it's not seeing the same boost. I know the WGA isnt meant for raising boost but it should atleast be the same as it was. If i put the stock WGA back on would the PCM just correct the boost even if i had a problem?....seeing how it's nothing more than a factory EBC with a set boost level. I may put the stocker on tomorrow to see what's up with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sCeRaXn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I dont get it...how is he overboosting at part throttle and 10psi? I dont think its compressor surge though. If i had to guess id say that he might have too many t's from one vac source...but like i said that would just be a guess. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, its compressor surge. He initially was peaking 10 but he stated that he is now at 19psi. Anything over 10psi at part throttle and you will get surge.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dreweg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What i dont get is that I NEVER got any milky substance in the catch can before this happened and the bov also NEVER fluttered before this either along with the tension on the WGA is 10 times what it used to be and it's not seeing the same boost. I know the WGA isnt meant for raising boost but it should atleast be the same as it was. If i put the stock WGA back on would the PCM just correct the boost even if i had a problem?....seeing how it's nothing more than a factory EBC with a set boost level. I may put the stocker on tomorrow to see what's up with it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The milky substance is just a mixture of condensation and oil. That's it. Its not a sign of anything severe even if you never had it before.

What vac line do you have to the wga?

How do you have your bov vac line routed?

 

They are both teed into the line that comes off of the IM near the TB. The one that has a 90 degree boot comming from it. Before got nothing but fast response straight to 17-18psi and dropping to around 14 at redline. This was a litte more than a month ago and I just installed the BOV a week ago and the only thing i can tell is that I've gotton like half a psi more from the hard pipes....well and the cool sound of the type s . I could hear the stock surge valve through the intake since I'm running an open filter.