Boost Issues- Syracuse, NY

[88_pacifica]

I am posting this for a friend/member on here in the Syracuse, NY area. He is not one for asking for lots of help so this is a crapshoot:

Username: shelbyglhs151
Full Name: nick spina
City, State, Zip: whitesboro ny 13492
Contact:call 315-745-0054 or email shelbyglhs151@hotmail.com

As you can surmise from the username, he owns an '87 GLHS and is having issues with boost. I do not know all the details, but I will highlight what I know.

-Stock T2 car-

It is not boosting past 5 psi and the turbo is a known good(freshly rebuilt) T2 Garrett. All of the 'diagnosing' that I have done with him has been via the phone, so there is a LOT to be desired when speculating possible issues since I can't see it in person.

I do know that if he wires/holds the wastegate closed so that it doesn't let boost escape(weak wastegate can), it will hit 12 psi, but I am not sure if that is what it should be on an '87 T2 car. I 'think' it is supposed to spike up to map cutout I believe, but I may be wrong.

At this point I am not certain if it is a leaking vacuum line, bad WG can, bad WG solenoid, or something along those lines. Really, I was just hoping that a local to his area like Bucar. Orangetona, 1fastcsx289, etc. He is not on here that much and at this point and he is stumped. Rather than throw money at it, I was hoping someone might be able to stop in if they were passing through and give it a once over, or even give him a call to help walk him through solutions.

Give him a shout on his cell(he's in sales) and maybe set up a time to help him out. Thanks...

[88_pacifica]

bumpity...

[Aries_Turbo]

hmmmm. i wish i was less than 2 hrs away.

ill let sean know about this thread. he has family out that way. there are a few dudes right in syracuse.

Brian

[cordes]

Is the cat still on the car?

[black86glhs]

Any codes?

[88_pacifica]

I know very little about the car really. He stated that it ran just fine until the turbo took a crap and then he bought a low mile/rebuilt unit and ever since then, it hasn't boosted right.

The way I got involved was that I helped him rebuild his stock T2 turbo for just the cost of parts(the previously rebuilt turbo was of questionable quality he told me) and other than that, I know very little about the car. He said it was a stocker, so i would assume the traditional stuff(old vacuum lines, original cat, etc, etc). I am not going to armchair QB this one because it could be a host of possible issues.

Brian, I am sure he would even take some preliminary phone advice as to troubleshooting, but I do know that the car is driveable, so I am sure he'd be willing to roadtrip to somebody in order to find the issues. I would give him a bump on the phone as he knows that I posted up for him. He's a great guy from what I have seen and I am certain he would take any help he could get.

Thanks...

[shelbyglhs151]

Thank's nate for helping,what's happening yesterday i replaced all vac lines,pvc valve,wastegate also made sure everything is tight.So i took it out for a drive this is what i saw first gear max boost 5lbs 2nd gear max about 8 3rd gear max about 11 ,when we hold the wastegate shut we get 12lbs i have triple checked that timming maybe i should check it again .The car idles perfect runs perfect im lost , will a vac gauge hooked up while driving tell me anything.

[Aries_Turbo]

could be a leak in the intercooler piping/hoses. ive seen the lower one split.

take some rubber plumbing couplers and fittings and make an adapter for a air compressor fitting to connect to the inlet of the turbo.

set the regulator on the air compressor to around 20psi and pressurize the intake and check for external leaks.

also, unbolt the downpipe and go for a quick spin. if you have all kinds of boost then the cat is probably clogged.

Brian

[shelbyglhs151]

tried that made one out of pvc and rubber coupler also no cat so im stumped

[Aries_Turbo]

yeah that is wierd.

sounds like the wastegate puck isnt there or sealing or something.

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------

oh wait.... did you look for rags in the intercooler? i got an intercooler from the JY once that had a rag in the inlet side.

Brian

[shelbyglhs151]

I will check that because i did clean the inside of the intercooler when i had the motor apart.Also going to check cam timing , i never lined up those to arrows on the cam so i might be off a tooth or two thanx

[onerippinturbo2]

cam timing will deff make it lack boost.

[cordes]

cam timing will deff make it lack boost.

No kidding. Check that ASAP.