Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) 16cm2 housing installed

[Jdimig]

well i got my act together last weekend and put on the 16cm2 non-wastegated housing and heres my thoughts. the hardest part of the whole process was getting the old housing off the turbo. once that was accomplished, it was a piece of cake. now i got some questions after i did a test drive. first of all lot more lag, that was expected, and alot more smoke when flooring it from 0psi. as far as my truck is right now i have a #8 plate that is slid all the way forward, afc housing and starwheel all the way forward. no injectors yet. with this new housing im making only 22psi of boost. before i was making 26-27, and that seems right, lost about 4psi of boost. now for egts im seeing something that i didn't expect. it sems like my egts are climbing faster and i can peg 1300 with this new housing. this was the same with the 12cm2 wastegated, but my waste gate was blocked and the egts didn't climb as fast, and it toped out at about 1300-1350. now my question is what boost should i be seeing if i had no boost leaks, im thinkin i sould be seeing at least 30 with this housing and the amount of fuel that i have. i know i got a good amount, things can get a little dark back there in OD. what sould i bee looking for when checking for a boost leak. ive tightened all my clamps, ive checked the tightness of the intake manifold, could that gasket be bad? ive had the manifold off a couple of times. possible head gasket leak? i may have a bad intecooler. back when i bought the truck it was in a small accident and i got i repaired, and had to replace the radiator, and looked over the intercooler and didn't see anything wrong. but now im thinkin i need a new intercooler.

sorry for the long post but i just had to get this stuff off my mind and let your all's knowlege find my soultion! thanks in advance for any information



-wes

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Wes, your truck sounds like mine once upon a time, I had a #8 slid forward, 3K's and a 16 housing also. The 16 housing dropped EGT's and the EGT's that were there wouldn't climb as fast but it made 30-32 psi! If you can make a pipe chamber (so to speak) that will fit in a piece of hose then slip onto the turbo you can pressurize the system and check that cooler out..... sounds like it maybe leaking!



Jim

 

[Jdimig]

well at first i thought i had dropped in egts, but it is the same before when i had my 12cm2 housing. ive not seen a dramatic drop, but the thing i notice now is that my egt's seem to be climbing faster with the 16cm2 housing, then with the 12cm2 housing, and i had the waste gate blocked. my max boost i ws seeing with that was only 26-27 psi, now im seeing 22, which seems right. im gonaa do pressure check this weekend, but im still alittlee bit puzzled why my egts are climbing that fast with the larger housing and still toping out at the same temp as the 12cm housing. any other thoughts guys?



wes

 

[KennyM]

I say you have a boost leak, your starting PSI with the 12cm2 also seems to low. I just upgraded from the stock 12cm2 to a 16cm2 in the last week, and hit 36 PSI, with 12cm2 was 39 PSI. The only thing different is I have a #10 plate.



If you have a leak on the turbine side I would think you would have black residue at the leak.

 

[Willie G]

Does someone have pictures of a "cap" for pressurizing the system. I am a new member and need all the help I can get



Thanks,

Wiltcher

 

[Jdimig]

thanks kennym. well i have to dissagree with what i said earlier, after driving home today from work, i watched my gauge and did notice an overall drop in egts by about 150-200 degress, so im happy with that. i still noticed that the egts seemed to climb pretty fast, heck they probablly climbed faster with the 12cm2 housing and i just never noticed. as far as boost goes im gonaa get the parts for a pressure tester and hopefully get my boost leak identified and taken car of this weekend. thanks for the input guys



-wes

 

[Cooker]

As fas as your PSI being lower with the 16 vs. the 12 that is normal. If your only fueling upgrade is the #8 you might be a touch low on boost PSI but not much IMO. I would not expect to find much in the way of boost leaks.

 

[Deezul1]

When I installed my 16 the boost stayed about the same except with the 12 it would peak at 39 and drop off to 36lbs and now it it hits 39-40 and stays there

 

[Andy Redmond]

I would swap the 8 for a 10 plate. TST will do this for a nominal charge. It will work better with the gov. springs.



I see 30 -34 psi w/a #10 plate and 3k springs (12cm2) housing frequently. I would think 30 should be a good total number.



Ck. for boost leaks. .



One that I use 9homemade) is a fernco 4x3 rubber reducer, a 3"pvc to 1" reducer bushing. 1"pvc to 1/4" reducer, then a 1/4" brass 90 (street elb) that allows a male air fitting to be threaded into the female side of the brass elbow.



Remove the air intake tube from turbo, slide the 4" end over the turbo and snug it up good. stuff some rags between your boost pressure teste and the altenator. Lay a fender cover and a hvy moving blanket etc. over the turbo should you get over eager with the air psi and blow it off the turbo.



I attach a regulator to my adapter and set it at 10 psi. hear/see any leaks at any connections? If the innercooler has leaks often it will be between the radiator (back side of innercooler). It might be helpful to have a garden sprayer and some soapy water to troubleshoot/pin point any leaks. I don't exceed 30psi. Usually no more than 20 is necessary to find a leak.



Good luck

Let us know what you find. Andy

 

[KennyM]

Wouldn't it be easier to disconnect from the compressor side of the turbo, use a cap (not sure of size)and use v clamp and o-ring already there. Then modify the cap to fit a valve stem. Then pressurize and soap. Also if you want to try a static test, try and plug off or cap off outlet of the inter-cooler. Just some thoughts.

 

[RHARVEY]

The instructions that I got from Piers. . was to use a 4" sewer plug in the air tube that you take loose from the air box. He said run a compressor at 25 psi and then check for leaks as the compressor is feeding in the air. .



Rick

 

[Andy Redmond]

Yes Kenny, but many don't weld (I don't for consideration! )

It really s/b made of metal tubing, and I like to put it down stream nearer to the innercooler.



RHarvey: Be careful that it doesn't pop out and smack ya!



Good luck

Andy

 

[BDech]

i have a #5 TST plate and I get about 31-32 PSi and about 1250-1300 at wot with the converter locked. the lag is pretty bad though

 

[Jdimig]

well guys i definaetly found my problem. the boot connecting the pipe coming from the turbo to the intercooler has a hole in it the size of my finger. i made a pressure tester, and when i first put it on i couldn't even get the system to hold air for 3 seconds. got my dad and had him hold the air on and i went and found that boot was gusing air out. im going to call piers tomorow to get a new boot kit on the way pronto. what really scares me is that ive been driving like that for only god knows how long. after i get the boot kit i hope i dont get any other suprises. i keep ya all posted



-wes

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Good find Wes, in time you will learn the sound of your turbo and the different pitch change it makes when it has a leak.



P. S. You will love those PDR boots!



Jim

 

[Jdimig]

update

got ahold of piers today and ordered the boot kit, (got the beefier version!). it should be here next tuesday. just for kicks i took the boot off and got some 5min. expoxy and put some of that good stuff on the outside and inside of the boot over the hole. let it cure, and got the boot back on the truck. took it for a test. well lets say it held up to 28psi before the epoxy let go, and i still had some more throttle left! i can't wait to get piers boot kit!

 

[BPonci]

To make the install of the boot kit easier,soak the boots in hot hot water. It really softens them up. Happy bombing!

 

[Jdimig]

good idea! thanks bponci

 

[Jdimig]

well guys i got my kit, i didn't get the heavier springs like i wanted too. i didn't have much light to put them on so i got the lower boots on the intercooler only. i put the better clamps on the other boots for the time being and cleaned all the pipes. put everything back together and took her for a test drive. i was very dissapointed. i still have the same psi before with the boot that had a hole in it. so i get back and put on the boost checker. the boot that connects to turbo to the pipe going to the intecooler is leaking very badly. i reposition and tight the clamp as best as i could, and still did not help. i think i have a small dent or something at the end of the pipe, which is not allowing the clamp to seal properly. im gonaa do some extensive testing tomorow and hopefully find a solution. keep ya all posted

 

[Andy Redmond]

Are you refering to the elbow that comes off the compressor of the turbo and is held onto the compressor with a "v" band clamp?

Is the o-ring damaged?



Also the metal connector pipe might have a pin hole? You live in a rust belt area?





Let us know what you find. Others swear by hairspray that acts a lube and then tacks up for installing the boots. The hot water to warm up the boot is an excellent tip/trick!







Good luck

Andy