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Okay. So car still has no boost.

Here's what I checked so far, and some other possibilities noted:
1. turbo - I can only get to the compressor wheel without taking the turbo out but it spins freely without freeplay. Can the exhaust turbine be screwed up without noticing a change in the compressor wheel action?

2. wastegate - I wired up the wastegate actuator so that it WON'T open. Being gentile on the gas at first to prevent overspooling I eventually ended up at WOT. Still no boost.

3. air filter - it was a shot in the dark, but I noticed my k&n was really dirty. Just stuck a a new fram filter in for a cheap check. Nope.

4. Checked ALL vaccum lines and connections to and from turbo to TB. They ALL check out fine.

5. Plugged up IAC - at least the outlet that goes back to the resonator in the intake. Capped the outlet from the IAC and plugged in inlet on the resonator. No change except for a crappy idle.

So this is what I have left.

1. PCV valve - I need to get to a friend's hose to take the SOB out.

2. intercooler - when I get to my friend's house I'll probably take the intercooler off and fill wiht water to check for leaks.

3. clogged cat - the engine runs fine (for not having boost) under 3000-3500 rpms and falls flat on it's face at anything greater than that.

4. Fuel filter - I really don't think it's this, but I bought a new one just in case. I'm grasping at straws here.

5. No compression or very little compression? I assume this wouldn't be the case since the engine idles rock solid.

6. Cracked block, wasted piston(s)? Same as #5.

7. Screwed up timing? Either ecu-related or timing belt related?

8. Injector failure/failing? Same as #5.

I really need ideas here as I am totally confused and am REALLY pissed that the car is a dog!!

You had a 16G on it right? If so then if you have your sock turbo, then put it on and see if it creates any boost. If so then you'll know it's the turbo.

Trust me, if your intercooler was leaking, you'd hear it. Take it from a guy with a 6" crack in his, it's audible when i'm blowing into it.

If the engine idles fine, revs ok to ~3000 and then falls pretty hard, i'd put the cat up near the top of the list. We had a similar problem on an FB RX-7 and the 25PSI of backpressure settled it.

Do you have both cats, or just the second one?

There is no real audible noise change, as far as I can tell.

I have an aftermarket cat. I can't remember whether the cat is attached to the DP or the midpipe.

I'm hoping it's the midpipe, that way I can take off the section from the DP back. I'll probably also check for the exhaust turbine damage while I'm down there.

I sure hope you're right about the cat as that would be the cheapest repair.

This doesn't make any sense.

Maybe you should see if you can turn the turbo by hand... if it's seized up or something you should still be able to flow air through it.

Remove the exhaust and see what happens

Do you have an automatic?

I saw something recently about a diesel turbo and they were showing an exhaust turbine from a bad turbo on it and all the blades were melted off. The compressor side looked ok but without the blades on the turbine it wouldn't spool.

I hope this isn't your problem.

Maybe you could unhook the DP and have a look at your wastegate and exhaust turbine?

Yeah, unhooking the downpipe would probably be the best way to check that the wheel is still turnable too.

vrg3 wrote:This doesn't make any sense.

Maybe you should see if you can turn the turbo by hand... if it's seized up or something you should still be able to flow air through it.

The turbo's definitely not seized. Spins freely with no shaft play on the compressor side.

I saw something recently about a diesel turbo and they were showing an exhaust turbine from a bad turbo on it and all the blades were melted off. The compressor side looked ok but without the blades on the turbine it wouldn't spool.

I sure hope it's not this either.

I'm hoping it's the cat as I wouldn't have to buy anything new for it. I'd just straight up gut the damn thing. I still have about a year and a half before another emissions test anyway.

Do you have an automatic?

Nope, it's a manual. I wish I could load the engine while stopped but no dice.

I'll pull off the downpipe. Hopefully, I can get some answers to this soon.

ouch doesn't sound fun at all, i'm also thinking that the exhaust turbine is pooched, but the cat sounds like a good thing to check before you go at the turbo.

Well, I took the car to an exhaust shop today. They pulled down the exhaust after the downpipe . . . I didn't find the problem but I did find out this useful information for you guys . . .

Looking into the cat I find it COMPLETELY GUTTED. It's not the cat that's the problem. And for you guys thinkin about going catless, well, no worries about passing emissions. You'll pass.

Given that it's rainin like a motha outside, I MIGHT try swapping turbos (and God-forbid find out that the exhaust turbine's wasted). We'll see.

Did they get a good look at the turbine after pulling the downpipe? It seems to me that damage so great as to completely prevent spoolup would be visibly noticeable.

I think he was saying that he didn't pull the DP yet. He pulled the mid-pipe to check the cat.

Oh, right... My mistake.

Good luck pulling the turbo, boostjunkie. :/

those TD05's are bulletproof! I had a piece of exhaust gasket in mine for a week doing 15+psi runs and pulled it out, it was fine with no damage! out of interest are you running the stock ecu? if you are sounds like you are running in limp mode, are you running any boost at all? i.e. 6psi? it could be your ECU throwing a code - solution is to reset your ecu, or it could be a leak from your exhaust manifold or up pipe, that will stop boost right away! maybe even get a compression test to see if its a cracked head or block, is it using coolant or oil? sorry I can't really help but those are my suggestions

You should have driven it with no exhaust

After hearing about people's exeriences running without exhausts (LOUD!) and given how loud my car altready is . . . coupled with the fact that the exhaust shop I went to was located in the middle of the city, I didn't want to take a chance driving around and waking everyone up (especially the cops) at 8:30 Sat morning.