First time posting here.
I just did some mods on my truck this weekend. 16cm housing, full power screw in 2 turns, AFC cone turned and getting full stroke. ( I shaved the plastic washer to .070 from .160.) The cone had been turned before by someone but was in the wrong spot. Star wheel was bottomed. It always smoked at low rpm/ boost levels. It really smokes now! Just going to take it for another spin after backing the star wheel up a bit.
So last night under fairly hard acceleration and somewhere above 20lbs boost I heard a loud whoosh like a tire blowing. I looked at the intercooler boots and they are all on and seem intact. I'm going to have the machinists at work make me a couple bungs for pressure testing the system. It still makes 22ish lbs and I hear air leaking.
Any hints or suggestions? Thanks

 

You should check all the rubber boots...pull them off and inspect visually. Roll the rubber between your fingers like rolling a smoke.....the can crack and suffer from a kind of "dry rot" or even have a "worn through" spot in places.
After that, the clamps can be leaking...check those for snug.
Then next area is the turbo outlet elbow...it comes out the bottom of the turbo's compressor housing. I has a v-band clamp and there is a square cut o-ring that seals the joint. Sometimes that wll leak.

Next you really need to go over the IC for leaks. This is also fairly common as a source of leaks.

Hope that helps ....

pb....

 

Thanks Pastor B! I'm going to give it a going over tonight. I'll pressure test the IC and hoses at the same time. How much boost is Ok with these 1st gens? I see some pretty large numbers in some of the posts.

 

All you really need to test the system with is about 20 psi.
From there you can expect to see some leakdown because not all the valves are closed so a bit of drop is normal.
That pressure is also enough to let you hear leaks too....

I hope it's something simple like a clamp...they do loosen off over time.


pb...

 

I disconected the hose at the intake and at the elbow off the turbo. Plugged one end and fed air to the other. It's the boots. It did sound like a tire blowing
The cooler doesn't leak which is nice.

I guess I'll be calling PDR for some nice new boots.

If the coolers leak under pressure then wouldn't air and possibly dirt get into the system when not boosting?

Thanks again PB

Fozzy

 

I had a hole the size of a quarter in one boot, so I just went to NAPA and got 2.5" radiator hose, the heavy duty stuff, and cut a couple lengths and put that in. That was about a year ago and its still holding up. Although I do want to get the right type of hose to put in there, but it works for a temporary solution!

Aaron