No boost, is it in the tune?

[Bleu]

Hey ya'll I've been working on getting my car drivable lately and I seem to be having some problems. I have a link stand alone and 13T turbos on the car with 550cc injectors and it just won't build boost. It won't even register 1lb of boost. The highest I've seen the MAP sensor go is 96kpa. I can't find any huge boost leaks that would keep the car from building any boost.

I can hear the turbos spin. They were taken off a running car about 3 years ago. Sat in an attic for three years and then put on my car. I think the turbos might be part of the problem. My friend says they are perfectly fine since I can hear them spin and its most likely the coil packs/alternator (The car also wants to die the moment the fans come on). I have the timing dialed in and the fuel has been kind of wonky but I'll be trying to fix that soon. It seems to be running a 12.7-13.1 AFR consistently but if I pull any more fuel then the motor dies.

Anyone have some tuning advice that can help get this car running smoother and hopefully with some boost?

I'm going to swap the coil packs and possibly the alternator soon but the car has a consistent 13.6-13.8 voltage. Can the alternator still be bad?

Looking forward to a reply.

[mjannusch]

You are going to need to run richer than that once it starts building boost, but I wouldn't think fuel alone would stop it from building boost. You are trying to make boost while driving it, right? Not just revving it in the garage?

Did you check to make sure your actual timing matches what your ECU is calling for with a timing light?

[Bleu]

Yup, the timing is spot on. I even made a game out of it with a friend. I know I'll need to run richer once I start building boost. I'm just trying to get the vacuum part leaned out. It doesn't need to idle at 12-13 afr. I'll update ya'll as I tinker.

[stealthee]

Answer Matt's other question. Are you just revving in nuetral, or are you actually driving it when you cannot build boost?

[Bleu]

Driving. WOT in 2nd gear. Well any gear really. I'm going to double check all the charge piping and make sure there isn't a boost leak there and then try to check the plenum and throttle body. I'm pretty sure that the throttlebody needs rebuilt but I don't think that it would leak that much air.

[J. Fast]

Driving. WOT in 2nd gear. Well any gear really. I'm going to double check all the charge piping and make sure there isn't a boost leak there and then try to check the plenum and throttle body. I'm pretty sure that the throttlebody needs rebuilt but I don't think that it would leak that much air.Are you getting any knock counts? Have you performed a fuel pressure leak down test? Have you checked for the possibility that a hose in the gas tank off the fuel pump is damaged and bleeding off fuel pressure?

[Gray Haze]

do yourself a huge favor, go ahead and pull the inlet pipes off both turbos, see if one of them is seized. This happened to me eons ago on my vr4 and it was a locked up turbo, you could hear the other one just spinning its little heart out, but all the air was escaping back through the seized counter part.

IF both turbos are free spinning, then you need to pressure test your intake tract/ic piping, something is blown the fuck off.

[Bleu]

do yourself a huge favor, go ahead and pull the inlet pipes off both turbos, see if one of them is seized. This happened to me eons ago on my vr4 and it was a locked up turbo, you could hear the other one just spinning its little heart out, but all the air was escaping back through the seized counter part.

IF both turbos are free spinning, then you need to pressure test your intake tract/ic piping, something is blown the fuck off.

Something was blown the fuck off indeed. The coupler on the output of the front turbo. I started wiggling charge piping and found the outlet pipe was barely in the coupler with the clamp tightened down above it. Looked good but wasn't. WE HAVE BOOST! Makes me feel great.

Also, both turbos spun amazing. Felt brand new.

Thanks again guys. Back to just finishing it up with the little things like interior and fluid changes and the car should be much more road worthy.

[TwIzTeD_3kGt]

Do yourself a favor and get a pressure tester. Looking and shaking pipes is not an efficient way of checking for boost leaks, you will miss a ton.

[mjannusch]

Do yourself a favor and get a pressure tester. Looking and shaking pipes is not an efficient way of checking for boost leaks, you will miss a ton.
Yes, this exactly. Even leaks that don't show up at 10 psi show up big-time at 20 psi. Have to have a pressure tester.

[Bleu]

Yea, I'm going to work on that soon. I know my throttlebody needs rebuilt. When I get to that I'll build a boost leak tester and fix all the rest.