No boost with new 2.3T swap

[apagnozzi20]

Hey everyone, so I recently got my 89 mustang with a 2.3T swap running great... Except for the part that I am getting no boost at all. At engine idle I have 20 pounds of vacuum and when I rev it quickly it goes right to 0 pounds of boost and just stays there. And if I slowly rev it the engine sits right around 15-20 pounds of vacuum. I've checked those readings with 2 different vacuum/boost gauges with the same readings on both. Everything else with the car is great, even drives fine, just feels like a N/A 2.3. I started out with a non adjustable waste-gate actuator on the car had no boost, installed an adjustable waste-gate actuator so I was able to put a good amount of pre-load onto the flapper arm, STILL goes right to 0 pounds of boost. There was one time where it actually blew off an inter-cooler coupler because of the pressure that the turbo was putting out. The turbo is moving a great amount of air, just the pressure isn't building up inside the engine to create boost.

So I've tried a boost leak test and only found one small leak and quickly fixed that, installed an adjustable waste-gate actuator to put pre-load onto the flapper on the turbo elbow (literally had to give the waste-gate actuator air from my air compressor to make the waste-gate open enough to put on the flapper arm). I tested both the old waste-gate actuator and the new one and both work as they should. I'm just at a loss and have no clue what else it could be. Possibly just the flapper isn't' seating against the turbo with pre-load or maybe a warped turbo elbow? Any help is appreciated as I just want to drive the car and enjoy the new engine and sounds of the 2.3T. Thanks in advanced.

~Anthony

[Stinger]

If it blew a coupler off then it made boost. It can't blow off a coupler without boost.

It won't make boost in neutral, that's normal. It only makes boost when driving and when over approximately 2500-3000 rpm depending on what gear you're in and how much throttle you're giving it. You can give it a little throttle and make it all the way to redline without making any boost, that's normal.

Use a regulated boost source, or even a hand pump for airing up balls and such, and send 15psi to the actuator. You should see the actuator arm move and get longer when you do so. If it does, it's functioning properly.

Preload should be "in" so the arm is pulling the flapper arm towards the actuator canister when preloaded.

Use the same 15psi to send air into the line going to your boost gauge and verify it reads boost when you do so.

[apagnozzi20]

Thanks so much, looks like I have literally just been chasing a ghost with it. For know I just have it running on waste-gate pressure which is 10 pounds, which is perfect for know until I get everything slowly worked out. Runs and pulls great now. I'm just happy that was all it was. Thanks again!

~Anthony

[Stinger]

Good to hear it's fixed but you didn't say what it was that fixed it?

[apagnozzi20]

After I installed the new adjustable waste-gate actuator I never drove the car, just ran it in neutral and saw I had no boost. So after your response the first thing I did when I got home from work was take it for a drive and saw it was boosting perfectly at 10 pounds. So with the pre-load against the flapper it boosts and runs great now.

~Anthony