Standard boost on 1.5TD?

[MK999]

Anyone know what it is? Mine is only boosting to around 4-5psi, I think, hard to tell with the crappy ebay gauge, it reads -5psi at atmospheric lol But I'm assuming the sweep of the gauge is accurate as the car also seems to overfuel a bit and doesnt seem as quick as it should be too.

[Adam]

8-9psi

So it sounds about right if its sitting at -5 at atmosphire and then hitting +5 under boost.... lol

[MK999]

8-9psi

So it sounds about right if its sitting at -5 at atmosphire and then hitting +5 under boost.... lol

nah it only moves by about 5, realised today it's less as the vacuum side of the gauge is less sensitive (measured in inHg on one side an psi the other?) but it did move a tad more on a motorway run, so it's around 4-5 psi. Causes? sticky actuator? guessing broked turbo is the most sinister of them? Have very little actual experience with diesels/turbo's... took me 5 minutes to find the glow plugs earlier lol

[Adam]

Hmm, id get a known working guage first tbh!!! Obviously you should never see vacuum on a diesel. So id find what hoost it is actually running and then go from there.

The turbos are hard little bastids and rarely break lol

[MK999]

working on throwing the gauge back at the ebay seller atm lol It's definitely holding back at full throttle though, which leads me to think it's overfuelling (if you back off a bit it will pick up and obviously theres no TB on a diesel) which means too much fuel, or not enough air.

[General Baxter]

working on throwing the gauge back at the ebay seller atm lol It's definitely holding back at full throttle though, which leads me to think it's overfuelling (if you back off a bit it will pick up and obviously theres no TB on a diesel) which means too much fuel, or not enough air.

how bad is it smoking :thumb:

[MK999]

Not noticeably while driving i.e I cant see the trails in the back window. Haven't had chance to find someone to throttle it for me so I can see/follow me and tell me yet, been crazy busy with uni stuff. You can definitely feel it hanging back, have been toeing it on the motorway before and let off because someone is in the way and edged closer to their bumper instead lol

edit: Does smoke a lot when it's cold, assuming this is glow plugs on the way out.

[pikey1986]

wont be the glow plugs, they only stay opperational(sp) for a couple of mins

my astra smokes a lot when cold so wouldn't worry about that

[MK999]

wont be the glow plugs, they only stay opperational(sp) for a couple of mins

i.e when it's cold:p and they only stay heated for a couple mins, they're the point of ignition for the diesel for the whole time it's running though afaik, not that that's very far but that's one of the few points I actually understand on diesels lol

[Adam]

The glow plugs are only in use when the lights on on your dashboard (i.e a matter of seconds)
They do nothing once the engine is running as the heat of compressing the air is enough to ignite the fuel/air mix when diesel is chucked in

[Jack]

that's one of the few points I actually understand on diesels lol
Whoops. lol

No air leaks from blower to inlet?

[MK999]

meh, sums up my knowledge of diesels really, why cant they just work like petrols but with something different in the tank lol I like spark plugs.

Not that I can see, certainly can't hear anything while driving, might have to get someone to rev it for me while I listen for a hiss :p

[MK999]

Right, poked it today after getting a working boost gauge, it's boosting at a maximum of 3 psi, and it smokes enough to make a cyclist swerve when you rev it hard stationary lol

Can't see any air leaks at all, it's a bolted on pipe to the inlet which the gasket looks fine on, the other end where it's hose clipped is the only likely leak point really and it seems to be fine as well... any ideas anyone? The gauge I got I got with a manual boost controller, would it be worth playing with that to see if I can actually get it to increase?

It's due for MOT end of the week so I'd rather get it fixed before then for emissions, although I think it should be fine as they only test at idle/2.5k but it has to pass the only day I'm free to take it, so I'd rather know it's gonna be fine.

[General Baxter]

The gauge I got I got with a manual boost controller, would it be worth playing with that to see if I can actually get it to increase?


lol, turn the ****ing thing up then you plum lol

[L14MNP]

Modifying the daily MK? Surely not! lol :p

[MK999]

Modifying the daily MK? Surely not! lol :p

Trying to get it through an MOT without making the MOT guy choke :p Also getting it to standard performance isn't modifying, it's repairs.

Still no boost with the controller fitted, builds quite quickly to 2 psi, then nothing...actuator, or a leak somewhere that I can't see?

It still smokes stationary, but then it doesn't produce boost stationary either, so is that normal? Guessing it might be worth getting someone to follow me while I toe it to see if its making derv clouds?

[General Baxter]

you have done something wrong with the boost controller and how you have fitted the gauge


tell me how you fitted the stuff :)

[MK999]

boost controller/gauge is: Ebay Jobbie (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TURBO-BOOST-GAUGE-52mm-PSI-VOLVO-T4-S40-T5-CONTROLLER_W0QQitemZ190388341675QQcmdZViewItemQQpt ZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2c5407 8bab#ht_2412wt_939)

Controller I've fitted the T piece between the actuator and the turbo, with the arrow pointing at the actuator as it says, and tube from that to the turny bit again pointing at the arrow like it says. Boost gauge is taking a feed from the inlet-fuel pump line via a T piece.

Can't see how the controller can be fitted wrong, as surely the only way you can fit it wrong means it will either leak or block all flow to the actuator and it will run as high as the turbo will boost? Boost gauge seems to be accurate enough for what I've paid for it, sits on 0 and sweeps across smoothly etc.

[General Baxter]

not one of them ****ing **** controllers, thats your problem,

spud and hendrix had them, took sometime to work them out lol

[MK999]

Whats to work out? lol As far as I can see it just displaces the actual adjustment bit, and you fit that on to the T piece? Or are they all labelled up backwards etc and therefore don't work as they should?

[General Baxter]

its becasue its a ball type boost valve for a petrol, (it can be done)

you really need a bleed valve

i cant remember on how we fitted it but the valve its self just vented to atmos lol

[MK999]

Ah :( See I like petrols, you buy random stuff and it works lol So how exactly can it be done? What is so different about a diesel, other than the lack of vacuum when you lift off? As I don't really understand the fuel limited boosting/why the ball valve wouldn't work, guessing they're linked.

Fuel limited boosting made sense to me in that with less fuel you're only making a 'bang' so big and that spins the turbo up less, but then I found out they don't make boost when revving stationary like a petrol does and it stopped making sense lol

edit: Just done a search on ebay for a diesel boost controller, and the same one comes up? :wtf:

[General Baxter]

you need them underload to boost lol



edit: Just done a search on ebay for a diesel boost controller, and the same one comes up? :wtf:
well stop looking for a boost valve, look for the proper thing ;)

[General Baxter]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/baxters83/Image060.jpg

thats all you need, £5 worth of valve lol

[General Baxter]

this is a blown turbo
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/baxters83/th_MOV03852.jpg (http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/baxters83/?action=view&current=MOV03852.flv)

[MK999]

Yeah I worked out that far, but why? the turbo should be spinning up when it's stationary, they make no sense! lol I can't figure out how you can get the valve itself venting to atmosphere, what if I took the ball and spring out of it, would that then work as a bleed valve? (Which is what I thought it was anyway tbh, just with the actual valve/adjustment fitted remotely)

Well it doesn't do that so looks like the turbos ok at least lol bleed valves at £20 on ebay :/ Wheres yours from? :p

[General Baxter]

i cant remember on how it works on them valves but its stupid


umm i think it was

use that T with the arrow on into the turbo line, then the other side to the valve then to atmos lol

[MK999]

That's how it's fitted atm, I think

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e255/gsk2000uk/mbc.jpg

As per that pic, except where it says vent to engine bay it's just vented to atmosphere with no tube on it as it's sat in the engine bay anyway.

edit: gotta do a run to london to pick my dad up as someone decided blowing up a gas main next to a train line is a good idea, I'll be back later

[General Baxter]

have you tried putting the arrow the other ways
have you tried putting the valve pipes on the other way ?

we had so much trouble with these lol

[Adam]

You will see fook all boost without the engine under load.

In that pic, thats the same controller i used on mine. It worked with and without the T-piece

[MK999]

How did you fit it without the T piece? As in one side out the other it'd have nowhere to vent to surely? Unless it just restricts the pressure slightly?

Got my dad to follow me home just now (had to pick him up from heathrow and take him to nearby train station as someone decided to hit a gas main next to a railway track or something) and apparently he couldn't see/smell anything, I noticed a bit of a cloud pulling off from a junction/just after but on boost it doesn't seem to smoke up much at all, so try turning the fuelling up?

[Adam]

I had pipe from compressor to the controller, pipe from controller to actuator.

I think there was something wrong with my turbo though because i ended up just running it with no controller and the wastegate permanently shut lol

Yeah wack the fuel up!! Still have fond memories in my mk3 td, nailing it at some traffic lights depositing a LOT of smoke/dirt/diesel everything over the front end of the sparking white Audi A4 sat behind me lol lol

[MK999]

well atm I can't get more than 3 psi out of it and it's reminding me of my 1.2i, it smokes like a bastid when you sit it on the spot and give it 4500RPM, but it seems when it's running on the road it's fine, I certainly couldn't see anything just now, besides a bit as I pulled away (it's a semi blind junction so I did give it a little bit to be fair). I'll try putting the controller in as you say and see what happens, got a long ass day at uni tomorrow though! Maybe I should take some tools and do it on my lunchbreak lol hmm, or now... :p

[Adam]

I had about 21/22psi from smoke, smoked like f**k when you floored it (i.e. can easily see the smoke through the rear window.... lol )

But fook me it went for a 1.7td!!!!, and made a good job of destroying the solid brake disc setup down the B-roads, and still did 45mpg, good ole days :(

[MK999]

just seeing the actual standard performance of it would do for now tbh, fed up of looking at 3psi, why even bother, I can blow down the tube to the gauge at 3 psi lol

[MK999]

Just went out and had a look and it looks like the fuel screw is wound pretty much all the way in?! :confused: Compared to the pic on baxters how to thing on here, theres none of the thread showing at all.