turbo dreams

ok so i have an edge ez on my truck and i still see the stock 20 psi with the packaged boost elbow. so i tightened all my clamps on the intercooler boosts up, none have any holes or are dry rotted, unplugged the ez and cleaned all connections, re-installed it and still only 20 psi. so, i got the idea of blocking off the wategate from another member here. so i thought i would try it and go really easy incase the turbo shot up in boost really fast. what i did was i took a piece of extra hose laying around and capped the ends with bolts and clamped it all up where the normal hose would go from the turbo elbow to the wastegate to check my experiment. started out slow and drives like normal, egt's the same, did boost out of control. then i did a slow roll on at wot and boost rose up to slightly under 30 psi, 29ish to be exact. and that was probably in 3rd or 4 th gear. i was humpin down the road when it finally peaked that high. no check engine light, nothing. did a nice burn out, stayed at under 30 psi. my questions are should i leave the wastegate closed? whats the best way to do so? other people tell me they run 30psi on their boost elbow that came with the ez, if mine ain't working, am i safe closing the wastegate and seeing the same boost they are? will i hurt the turbo??? it sure did bring a big smile to my face. please any knowledge on this will be helpful asap cuz i don't want to mess anything up if i am doing something wrong. but i know the boostfooler in the ez works because no cel. and i thought this hx-35 is good to about 35-40 psi. am i wrong? thanks

AlpineRAM

It seems to me that your wastegate actuator might be a little weak.
Completely disabling the wastegate will lead to higher EGTs and higher pumping losses, the wastegate is intended to feed just enough exhaust gas through the turbine to achieve the required boost and let the rest of it go out freely.
I'd say check the stock wastegate operation with shop air, do not exceeed 23 psi while doing so. Take a note at which pressure the wastegate starts to open.

AlpineRAM

lsgibb

Mine did the exact same thing you described with an adjustable elbow fully closed. With just a power puck and the elbow it would still open up at 20psi as well. I blocked my wastegate off and now can hit 30psi. I asked the same question when I did mine and what I got was I don't have enough fuel to take advantage of the elbow. I was told that blocking the wastegate will be fine until you start adding more fuel. So you will be fine with just the EZ but if you add any more (injectors or bigger box) then you will want to put the adjustable elbow back on.

CTD NUT

If you can keep your fueling level at the point where you have around 35 psi of boost, you will be just fine with a blocked wastegate......FWIW, ANY additional fueling over stock will benefit from higher than stock boost levels. When you start adding injectors with a box even the boost elbow will have a tough time keeping the boost down.

HOHN

ONe word-- TURBOMASTER!

jlh

turbo dreams

so whats the best way to temporarily close it until i need to put the elbow back in? do what i am doing now?

BIGHEAD

Hey TD I have my waste gate welded shut & have had for about 230,000 miles. I have 90HP injectors & EDGE Comp. I just spot welded the little flat plate to the arm so it won't move. Do this with the truck shut off. I pulled up at a friends muffler shop, got on the rack & he hit it with his wire gun. I have NEVER had any problems with this set up. I have achieved as high as 52 lbs of boost on a perfectly cool day. If I hammer on it on the hot days I am seeing 45/46 lbs of boost. I am telling you because with an EZ you have nothing to worry about. There are a lot smarter guys on here that will tell you not to do this , but then they have never tried it. I have done it on 3 trucks & the other 2 guys were greatly satisfied to. I do not try to kill my truck all the time any more though except when a ferd or chebby is blocking the road, then I light em up & smoke em out. For what its worth Jeff Garmon told me to do it for more boost. Anybody know Jeff? Then you know why I did it.

CTD NUT

Blocking the wastegate works great but a stock 12cm HX35 isn't going to make much more power past 35 psi.....when you start to get up around 40 psi, the HX35 is thoroughly out of it's range and is starting to seriously over speed causing the charge air to get super heated.......couple that with ever increasing turbo drive pressures from the over speeding turbo, and egt's will go through the roof. It has been proven many times here that you can actually make more power by keeping the turbo running in it's intended range instead of letting the boost get way too high.......when the extra boost is coming from super heated air, it is difficult to make power. A blocked wastegate will work just fine with an EZ or Comp but if you add big injectors with a box, it would be beneficial to have an adjustable wastegate.

lsgibb

If your's is the same as mine I just pulled the elbow and stuck an 1/8th NPT plug in the hole, then put a large screw in the hose and clamped it down so dirt couldn't work it's way into the wastegate.