Rep Power: 350

I put my turbo back in on Friday and the car ran fine. Then Saturday afternoon, I drove about an hour and a half on the interstate and the drive up was fine. After stopping and driving around a bit, for some reason the turbo wouldn't make more than 2 psi. I shut the car off and started it back up and it was fine. After driving more, it would boost in some gears and then not in others. Then after shutting the car off and letting it sit for a bit, it would boost fine, then after a few miles, not at all. Then I drove in to work today, for the first mile or two, it boosted fine then not at all again. It is internally gated, btw.
It was suggested to me that it may be a blown pipe but I don't think that's what it is, otherwise it wouldn't be so inconsistent, not to mention I checked all of my piping and yanked on it all. I can hear the turbo spooling when it doesn't make boost but it also doesn't blow off. It's really weird. My thought is maybe the bov isn't shutting or maybe the gate is getting stuck open somehow. Not to mention the turbo sounds like ***. Any ideas?

 
Rep Power: 0

i would check the piping over again for a loose connection cause it would make sense if you can hear the turbo spooling and the bov isnt working and making zero boost or even like 1 lb. has happened to me before lol,

 
Rep Power: 350

The only thing is that if a pipe is going to blow off, it isn't going to magically reattach itself well enough to make boost after shutting it down for a few minutes.

 
Rep Power: 0

well its gotta be a problem with the air flow from the turbo to throttle body, its the only thing that makes sense, dont know what else to tell ya?

 
Rep Power: 326

check at the intercooler... when i first put it in, it slipped off and i only made 2psi at best... maybe with different temps and vibrations the hose coupler is "just right" to seal it...

loosen the hose clamp, pull the pipe(s) off then reinsert.

spray some hair spray on the pipe before you put the hose coupler back on, it'll keep it from sliding off

 
Rep Power: 312

Heh - they should call this site "7thgencivic-tech.com"......

 
Rep Power: 0

could be a boost leak within the turbo, but I trully doubt it. The only other thing I can think of is that the BOV spring is set to soft and is leaking boost (kind of dumb though). Well those can be the problems as well as fallen off piping. You are making some boost so some air is forced in.

 
Rep Power: 350

Not dumb at all. After playing around with everything, I've found it's the bov. Don't know why yet but it's staying open after letting off of the throttle and sticking, either due to a bad bov or a bad vacuum source. I"m going to try and t into a different vacuum source tomorrow and hopefully that'll take care of the issue.
EDIT: And btw, it's not a fmic setup. I have an air/water ic and the bov was custom made by Mike Stafford for that particular setup. Wish I could reach him to get his input, though.

 
Rep Power: 326

What kind of BOV do you have? Weird cuz I have the HKS and that's adjustable... Even at the weakest spring setting, I have 0 boost leak. I can even take the screw completely out and I still idle normal lol. If you haven't already, go the SF turbo install DIY that Cat wrote up, the vacuum source he chose seems to be the best one. Works great for my boost gauge, fmu, and bov.

 
Rep Power: 350

Mike Stafford and Catalyst came out here and helped with the install. They tapped into the vacuum source but I'm going into the brake booster line.

 
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Well, I guess that was not so dumb at all. If you go with different BOV's, make sure the welding is done right. You probably have a vacuum leak somewhere in the piping, or your BOV is leaking like you said. It always could be sent back

 
Rep Power: 326

My B i posted b4 you said that.

 
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Mad wheel, nice setup BTW. You road race right? Get that braking problem solved?

 
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Thats good you found the problem. Is the spring sticking when in the "open" position and its not closing? Maybe take it appart and lube it (not sure if you should, not familiar with bov setups). Or maybe the spring is warn down.

 
Rep Power: 350

Well, I tried sticking washers in it but the problem persists. The only other thing I can think of is that for some reason when it gets warm, the metals expand at different rates and holds it open. I'm going to verify if that's actually it or not tonight by capping off the vacuum line and leaving the bov open to see what happens. I know if it still stays open, it's the bov. If it makes boost consistently, it may be a bad vacuum source so we'll see.

 
Rep Power: 326

I never really had a problem, just need to figure out the best way to go.

I am doing the powerslot rotors, ebc greenstuffs, stainless steel brake lines, and DOT4 race brake fluid. This setup is better for heat and will supposedly work better than a big brake kit.

 
Rep Power: 326

The heat shouldn't make that much of a difference. I can understand the washer idea but you haven't had the kit long enough for the spring to "wear down". Talk to SF, maybe you can work out a deal for an aftermarket bov. I recommend either HKS or Greddy Type-S.

 
Rep Power: 350

Well, I am still waiting for a fmic and piping from them. I guess I'll probably take off the turbo yet again until I get them. I'm just sick of problems. I bought the kit back in August and haven't been able to use it for ****. I'm just tired of downtime due to stupid ****.

 
Rep Power: 350

Well I went and met up with a friend today and we spent the whole damned day troubleshooting it. We replaced the bov with a greddy, checked the pressure in the ic, checked the wastegate. No results whatsoever. I'm kind of stuck at this point. Not sure what to do now. Hopefully I can come up with something though.

 
Rep Power: 327

Well im a total turbo novice but using the small brain i do have it sounds like something that is temp related. My guess would be something aluminum is heating up , exspanding and causeing a leak. IC maybe split? shrug just a thought

 
Rep Power: 350

We checked that.

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, if you have checked all the auxilery functions and parts like the piping, BOV, etc, then it is time to look at the bigger things. See if your turbo blades are messed up (dotn know exact termenology) or if your manifold has crackes. Try disconnecting your downpipe and see if it has problems flowing. There is one method that I have heard of and its called the Steam or smoke out method. I saw it being used on old small blocks to check for leaks in the head and cracks in the block. If you believe it is a leak issue, then look into that method. If you want I can help you look into it aswell.

 
Rep Power: 350

Well I have had a wideband o2 sensor in it for the whole time. I'm thinking of pulling it and replacing the stock sensor. Maybe if the sensor has no reading, it's throwing off the vacuum signal when it warms up.....

 
Rep Power: 0

where did you get your wideband o2 sensor from and how much?

 
Rep Power: 350

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what brand it is. I borrowed it from a friend of mine, not sure how much he paid for it. I want to pick up the aem wideband as well as the standalone if it ever comes out.

 
Rep Power: 350

Well, I went by my local turbo repair shop this morning and they took a look at it. Turns out that I have some bent fins on the compressor wheel and it's marred up the face of the housing. Don't know how it happened.

So I'm hoping SF will warranty it, hopefully they will.

 
Rep Power: 0

They said thats the problem? Maybe from installing and uninstalling. I would imagine sf would. A lot of stuff is going on right now though. Who knows. Atleast you can stop scratching your head to find whats wrong.

 
Rep Power: 327

Im just curious but did they explain why it was temp related, i would think that would be a constant issue no ?

 
Rep Power: 350

Metal expands under heat. Different metals expand at different rates.

 
Rep Power: 327

I know that, but i guess i just dont follow how from what they said could cause what you described. Im not saying its not possible i just cant picture it .