WTH happened? haha (turbo related)

[SteelWarrior]

Alrighty so had my car since december, we had really cold weather, now the snows melting and its about 0 degrees C. I was driving my car on the high way and coming back into the city i almost had a heart attack when i saw my boost guage jump up past 10 psi. i was like holy shit that aint good. so i pulled over and my cars reporting about 5 of the exhaust pressure (opposite of the boost), where it usually sits at around 20 on idle. so very carefully i went back on the road and listened for leaks (ive had one before and it wasnt making any of the sounds or anything). so i tried speeding the car up, on the way shifting up i found my turbo seemed to be kicking in earlier (around 2.5k revs instead of 3+), and i was puzzled, so i tried boosting it hard, and the gauge shot up to about 15, but again, ive been in a car thats boosting 15 psi and it didnt make the sound it should have IF it was actually boosting that, as a matter of fact, it wasnt much different then a few days ago when i stomped it and it would fly up to about 7 psi....but the really funny thing is, i did a few speed trials vs my old times after deciding that i wasnt really boosting 15 psi, and the car seems faster and more free, the turbo/BOV makes a louder more beefed up sound, and the gas peddle felt like there was more power in it.....so im puzzled because my cars stock minus a cold air intake, i dont have any way of adjusting the boost as far as i know and i was just driving my car normally on the highway when all of a sudden boom, this started happening....so i was wondering is it possible the warm temp or some other random feeling has actually allowed the full potential of the turbo to emerge or wether or not my boost timer got ****ed up somehow or whats going on


from the descriptions ive read about putting too much boost into a car im pretty confident that i cant do any harm to it atm, but anyone wiht expirence id love to hear from!

[Shane5425]

check the wastegate.. seems like its opening late and overboosting..

[2.0t03speed]

yea your wastegate is fucked or your line going to the wastegate has cracked from the cold

[SteelWarrior]

so this would be bad right? lol

probably a real noob question haha


okay...so anyone got a good link to checking a west gate, bit confused where, what how and why lol

[shane02pro5]

The wastegate actuator is attached by a bracket to the turbo under the exh. mani. Pull the hose off keeping it attached to the actuator and blow in the vac line. If it doesn't hold pressure it's bad and has a tear in it.
You can find a new one from ATPturbo.com

[shane02pro5]

Oh yeah and DON'T BOOST until it is fixed or BOOM is very easy to achieve!!

[SteelWarrior]

shit


okay thanks ill see what i can do on my own and post more issues along the way lol


also is this just a wear and tear kind of problem or did i do something specific to cause it?

[Shane5425]

the cold prolly did it,

[msp35]

It's a faulty piece. Many msp owners have had to replace the WGA. Plus you may actually gain 1 PSI with the ATP WGA.

[SteelWarrior]

yea i suppose it could be alot worst

anyhow i think i found a WGA how to replacement thread on the forums and the link to buy the new part is only like 60 bucks, so i guess my first project on my car will be to replace it within the week and baby the hell out of my car till then....

thanks for the help guys :)

[SteelWarrior]

so funny thing, i left it over the weekend, and i went and started it, drove it around, even drove it hard near the end of my trip and everytihng seems normal, no wierd noises or vibrations or anytihng, boost gauges are showing proper boost/pressure....


so bit confused to what the hell was happening...

[shane02pro5]

Don't play around you will regret it when your motor pops!!

Get it looked at or DONT BOOST! 1 spike and your done!

[SteelWarrior]

i think im still replacing the WGA, for 60 bucks for a free lb of boost or 2 is a good deal lol. but yea ill be keeping a close eye on it and babying it till i can get it checked over. im thinking the guage was acting up because of the tempature but not going to risk it