Diagnosing vacuum leaks and initial turbo setup. No Boost?

[green2man0]

I think I have my vacuum lines on the wastegate backwards...it's an external gate and has 2 vacuum ports.  It came with the attachment on the lower point...correct me if I'm wrong but I think it should be coming out of the upper port(top).  I don't think it's building boost (just started it yesterday for the first time)(no bov action on reving)(got a boost gauge last night and will install to help check boost and vacuum to  start checking for leaks)  Lower would mean at idle under vacuum it closes the gate and under boost it opens it.  Upper would be at idle it helps reduce (open) the wastegate and under boost it would help it close the wastegate (build boost).  Also is there any common areas for vacuum leaks (most parts are from 89' mustang as far as the intake goes) I'm gonna try and use the free smoke check later this afternoon as well as get that gauge on.

[Stinger]

The port closer to where it bolts to the header gets the hose from the boost controller (or if no boost controller is used, the hose from the turbo outlet). The port on the end of the wastegate is open to atmosphere...no hose on it and not plugged.

You'll get no wastegate action in neutral since you can't build enough boost in neutral to open it.

[green2man0]

I've got 14-15 in/hg for vacuum at idle. I found 1 small vacuum leak in the hardline connection at the old egr solenoid (fixed). Still 14-15. With a quick blip of the throttle it goes to 18-21 and then to 0 as the revs increase. It makes no boost not even 1 psi. What's up with this? I plugged the wastegate downpipe to check that and it made no difference. Everything sounds normal as far as engine noise goes...no ticking/knocks/odd noises. There was a small puddle of water/liquid at the end of the exhaust pipe after it ran for 10-15 min and warmed up. Tasted it and it tasted like exhaust and not coolant (not oily)(20 degrees outside) Assuming this is normal exhaust liquid/condensation??? What am I missing here? What should I check for? Checked the oil lines to the turbo and drain to make sure I wasn't starving or damaging it. Feed warmed up as the engine did so it looks like everything is flowing as it should. Pulled off the vam/air intake to make sure the turbine looked good and was rotating. It was rotating as it should. Wouldn't start with the vam off (assuming that means it's functioning?) It would fire but stall right after (vam off)(started first rotation with it back on) I plugged the line for the old MAP new BAP into the vacuum tree (should I of just plugged it?) What are your thoughts? Thanks

PS Still haven't driven it (just rolled 1-3mph to check gears/rear/trans/clutch for proper engagement)

Good vacuum should be 18-20 in/hg at idle right?

I have a air/fuel meter on order to help with diagnostics

Oh and the vacuum/boost meter was connected to the tee off the BOV...so about 4ft off the main tree/manifold (it is the smallest of the vacuum lines)

Elevation here is about 4000ft if that matters

[fess40]

Like Stinger said, you're not going to build any boost in neutral. And 1-3 mph isn't going to get it done either. You need a real load on the engine to see the boost.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using proboards

[green2man0]

So it's normal not to see any boost when just reving it in neutral? It's a t04e .57 trim if that helps(external 38mm wastegate). Does that vacuum reading seem right (should it be higher?) I'm gonna do some more leak testing this afternoon.

[72capri]

How much vacum you should have will be largely dependent on the camshaft profile.

[green2man0]

I have the wastegate vacuum hose connected to the intercooler bend right before the throttle body (about 8in before) does it work better right off the turbo?  Routed the boost gauge into the cabin off of the main vacuum tree...sealing up 1 last leak then I'll see if that changes the vacuum reading...also gonna switch out a hose clamp to get a better seal on the IC pipe.

[fess40]

You're correct, revving the engine in neutral doesn't produce enough load to get into boost.
Double check your cam timing again with the string method. Mine was only a tooth off, but fixing it took my vacuum from 16-17" to 18-19".

Sent from my DROID RAZR using proboards

[Stinger]

Is this a stock cam or something aftermarket? We can make NO assumptions about what your idle vacuum should be until we know what cam you're running.

As stated previously, you won't get any significant boost in neutral, especially with a larger than stock turbo.

[green2man0]

I assume it's a stock cam. I bought the head complete with valves/springs/cam/ect. I did some leak testing yesterday and had to rtv(flexible rubber over the hard plastic)(don't worry it's not blocking it) one of the vacuum lines.  Also tightened up some of the intercooler piping.  Those stupid hard plastic lines are pretty brittle after twenty some years. I routed the boost gauge off of the main vacuum tree instead of having it teed off the BOV...haven't fired it up yet. Still at work switching out glow plugs/gasket/wiring/relay on my international 4700. I'll give you an update tonight...might even take it out for a short spin.

Thanks for everyone's help getting this thing going...you guys rock!!!

[green2man0]

AHHHH....ok I took it for it's first run. PCV valve came apart and blew oil everywhere...now my nice clean engine is covered in oil. It only made 6lbs of boost with a hard pull up to 5500rpm. I know it should be more, what to check now? Can I put hose clamps on the PCV valve...will that help with making more boost? Oil pressure dipped a bit when I pulled up to the garage and it stalled a few times (guessing a open PCV valve is the cause? What are your guys thoughts?

[Stinger]

Yes, you can clamp the PCV valve, though you'll most likely need to vent the crankcase pressure more effectively or it will just find the next weak link (valve cover gasket) and blow it out.

You'll make more boost in higher gears. Was this pull to 5500 rpm in 1st gear?

It will run bad with the PCV blown out since it creates a massive vacuum leak.

[green2man0]

1 2 and 3rd mostly 2nd though. I only drove it about a mile or 2...tires are next, the ones one there are bad (rims are nice though). Like I said in an earlier post I have a air/fuel meter and boost controller on order...right now it's just a vacuum hose from wastegate to intercooler pipe. I'm definitely hooking the wastegate dump into the exhaust....It's kinda annoying....sounds like a leaky muffler. Slowly starting to work out some of the bugs and issues....probably gonna take a while, get one thing set and then something new pops up. CEL is blinking and I have no temperature gauge(and fan is always on)(I'll probably have to switch out the controller or just wire it to a switch) Now to pick up some degreaser and do some cleanup....not kidding either...it went from spotless to dripping oil everywhere on the driver side.  The boost controller should allow me to adjust the boost up quite a bit right?  I'd like at least 12psi to do base tuning and eventually get up to 17-20psi

[Stinger]

What wastegate? With it hooked up the way you currently have it, you'll get whatever the internal spring pressure is for boost. For example, our wastegates have a 16psi spring installed so that's how much boost you get with no boost controller, just the hose running to the wastegate.

[green2man0]

I used a wastegate I had initially bought for a turbo swap upgrade on my audi (that's where the t04e came from also(.57 trim)) I pulled up the specs and it looks like it only has a 7-8lb spring in it so that makes sense. I could of been off 1-2 psi as it was about 5 and getting dark, the gauge is hooked up but not to power so I had no backlight since I'm still waiting on the air/fuel gauge. Do I need new springs or will the manual boost controller compensate for that? I am also looking at doing your catch can/PCV fix, that oil explosion is no good.  How effective is venting the valve cover compared to this?