Still not boosting right

[ddmgti]

Got myself a RICA,d ECU at weekend (Thanks Adam) fitted it and noticed a difference, but pigging thing will still not boost properly, as my previous Post ie 6 Psi in 2nd Gear ,just about 8 psi in 3d Gear, then i run out of road,aftermarket boost gauge fitted, now this is low for standard is it not, never mind chipped ECU? so after much searching i,m thinking it could be 3 culprits,
1) Hose/Pipe Leak,
2) Wastegate needing adjusting/tightened,
3) Boost control Valve,
i,ve checked hoses and all seem ok, if it had an air leak would it not just reach a certain pressure then just stay there? Worth adjusting wastegate rod a turn? ,Boost control Valve, Adam mentioned it may work better with pipes fixed another way round? ie the 3 Pipes coming off it, any info on this? Car goes well enough but if theres more power there i want it !! LOL, Turbo seems ok no smoke etc passed MOT emissions easy last week, Cheers

[leet5r]

probs be the wastegate m8 , its fiddle with the heat sheild on so just remove it lol

[Jamest5r]

The actuater needs adjusting mate had the same prob with mine while at hlm after a remap would not go over 8psi, with the actuater adjusted to 4psi it then boosted to 1.2 bar then settled back to 1 bar constant. I would go for that first mate a decent garage should do it for 20 quid only takes a few mins to do.

[ddmgti]

Thanks i,ll give adjusting the wastegate a go

[cameron]

Be very careful adjusting the wastegate / actuator , get a boost meter, too much low down boost could bend a rod.

And make sure you put the heatshield back on

Its there for a reason.

[ddmgti]

OK i,ll try it one full turn see how that goes.

[kmb]

Interesting thread (another revival) - Wonder if it fixed the problem, it's frustrating when people don't report back on their success.

So potentially being in an identical place to the chap who started the thread, how difficult really is this turbo heat shield removal? Have I got any chance of getting all bolts out without snapping them?

I may go down the fresh pipes and TCV route first...

Mine is mapped for 15 psi, although it is boosting to 85% of the gauge and not 95% as expected with 15 psi, it was only 55% of the gauge pre-mapping, everything appears in top condition - this makes me think slightly weak actuator tension, which maybe isn't surprising after 137k miles and 19 years.

[T5frankie]

Interesting thread (another revival) - Wonder if it fixed the problem, it's frustrating when people don't report back on their success.

So potentially being in an identical place to the chap who started the thread, how difficult really is this turbo heat shield removal? Have I got any chance of getting all bolts out without snapping them?

I may go down the fresh pipes and TCV route first...

Mine is mapped for 15 psi, although it is boosting to 85% of the gauge and not 95% as expected with 15 psi, it was only 55% of the gauge pre-mapping, everything appears in top condition - this makes me think slightly weak actuator tension, which maybe isn't surprising after 137k miles and 19 years.

the bolts have springs on them and are really tight, give them all a spray first with wd40 then should be fine, i used a spanner on the end of another spanner for extra leverage

[kmb]

Thanks Frankie, as the car is running perfectly (apart from missing a sprinkle of boost) I was thinking about regularly using the WD40 over a few weeks before attempting to get them undone.

I don't suppose there is any way to get to the actuator without taking the heatshield off? Could I hire a small child with a long spanner?

[bunka T5]

*cough* angle grinder *cough*..

Jokes aside, get yourself a blow torch, I use mine for plumbing / soldering copper fittings and came to the conclusion with my brother that we should use it on almost any bolt thats near a high heat source as the bolts just dont ££££ing budge when cold. The turbo downpipe for instance, near the end of the thread the nuts became almost impossible to take off, we then heated it up just before becoming red hot they came off like a hot knife through a small mouse.