legacycentral bbs

Sorry for making a new post about this.
I can only get into 1 inHG of vacuum(when boost should be kicking in). The turbo doesnt make any whistling or other turbo related sounds. I have checked the wastegate and it doesn't appear to be stuck. I only have one check engine light(starter switch, which i have had for months now) and I have tried resetting the ecu. I haven't notice any coolant or oil leaks or burning at the turbo. Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael

Sounds like the turbo's acting like a static restriction only. Perhaps it's stopped spinning for some reason? If you had a leak you'd still hear the turbo spool up, in fact you'd hear it louder.

Got enough oil in the pan to lubricate the turbo? Hopefully it's not seized.

Yep I've got enough oil, and I also hope it's not seized. Just to note I did have a leak coming from my intercooler hose (that is now fixed) that I could hear the turbo, and it seems that a few days after that I had no boost.

Another question, is it alright to drive the way it is until i figure out the problem? I realize the performance isn't anything to brag about.

I suppose if the turbo's already seized or otherwise screwed, it couldn't hurt your turbo any further.

However, there is the possibility that the turbo failure was of a sort that involved compressor blades breaking....then you may be pulling aluminum shards into your engine, unfiltered. Which could be quite detrimental to said engine's overall happiness rating.

Any experts care to chime in on this? Sound like anything familiar?

Hate to say it, but set aside a few hours to remove, inspect, and reinstall your turbo - after your car has not been driven for a while, of course. At least then, you can try to spin the turbine with your fingers and see if it is stuck, has resistance, or has any shaft play from side to side or in/out. Also, you can visually inspect the turbine blades and compressor blades if you spend the extra few minutes to remove the compressor inlet elbow.

You may find that a simple RHB5 rebuild kit ($70-$100 at a turbo supply shop) will fix your problem, or that your turbo is in great shape and for some reason it's not getting spun up - suspect exhaust airflow at that point, exhaust header / uppipe cracks or leaks I suppose.

How slow is it?? Did you un-hook and rehook any vaccum lines? Is there a check valve on your line to your gauge?

Other than that, I believe that a seized turbo would be a possibility...

If you had a leak (IC hose or something) , I wouldn't recommend driving around for a long time with the leak. Often it can cause the turbo to overspin which would in turn cause premature damage to the turbo.

Anyhow, check for leaks, check for a check valve on your vaccum line to your gauge, and check you turbo for free spinning.

Hope you have some success with this.

If the compressor wheel hit the housing to make chips you would have heard it!

The easy way to check the turbo would be to remove the DP and see if you can spin it.

Check the hose for your boost gauge as well, the plastic stuff that comes with most is crap.

It's gotta be seized.

Turbo's are mechanical. If the engine is running, they are spinning, and you can't push less than wastegate boost unless something is wrong.

So if you can't make ANY boost, it's gotta either be seized, or... seized. Even with an exhaust leak, you'd still be able to make a few PSI. With a fat vacuum leak like a disconnected boost gauge, the car wouldn't like to run, and you'd know PDQ that your boost gauge wasn't working.

Remove all intake plumbing and reach in the 90 degree bend and see if you can spin the turbine. It should spin FREELY without any resistance. If it doesn't, there's your problem.

I wouldn't drive the car like that, unless it was an emergency. But that's just me.

Thanks for the responses guys. The leak was temporary Pete GLH, a hose clamp was loose on one of my hoses and i did think i was overspinning the turbo, there are no intake leaks that I know of. I ordered a turbo from a salvage yard for fairly cheap, so I am going to try to install it this weekend. BAC5.2, I had the same concerns about driving the way it is, but I haven't had any problems so far luckily, except being down on power. I have been trying to limit my driving on it. I will let all of you know what I find this weekend.
Thanks Again,
Mike

good luck dude. That oughta get'er done from the sound of things (or lack of sound!)

Definately interested to hear about the condition of the turbo that is currently in your vehicle once you've gotten it out.

Thanks, I'll let ya know. I just got the new turbo. It spins freely. Just a few questions. The turbo splits into two parts fairly easily. Is this normal? It spilts right in the middle and i can see the seal that I would assume holds it together. Also, the wastegate has no resistance at all, and it's very sloppy, can I use the one off of my old turbo or is this also normal when it's not installed? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to the turbo game.

It's been a bit since I rebuilt my turbo, but I don't believe it should split into two parts that easily unless you're in the process of taking it apart. Does this new turbo have a wastegate actuator bolted to it, or is the wastegate actuator arm just loose? The wastegate itself should have no resistance, but if it is attached to an actuator spring (as it should be) then you should definately feel that.

But since it spins freely, use whatever parts you need from your old turbo - and use your old turbo as an example for how it goes together. The blowups in the service manual / parts manual help for how things go together, too.

Edit: Can you post a photo or two of your new turbo? That would help a LOT for anyone who can visually identify the problem...bet we'll figure it out quicker.

I will post pics if I can borrow a digital camera in a while, the wastegaste actuator arm is just loose.

Ok, couldnt get the camera working. The best way I can describe the separation is the compressor wheel from it's housing.

I found the problem. The nut on the compressor side somehow loosened itself, and the shaft was spinning without actually spinning the compressor wheel. So you can scratch my questions about the new turbo.
Thanks for your help everyone.

Ahh, the old "loose nut" problem.

When you re-tighten that nut, torque it to 65 in/lb.

Yes the old loose nut. I definitely would recommend torquing it down a good bit, My came loose two days after i tightened.