This is something that is pretty handy and costs a few bucks, eveyone should make one. Some people requested it on another thread so I'm posting here so others can see aswell. Here it goes.

Yours will look different but will do the same thing.



Parts you need:

-The coupler you use to connect your intake pipe/mafs to your compressor intake. -a pvc end cap from home depot that fits snugly into your coupler. (so its the same size as your compressor inlet on your turbo)-simple hose clamps to hold things together.-some form of air compressor (personal, shop compressor, foot pump, etc...) Further testing showed you need a pretty decent pump to make this effective, shop pump or home air compressor would be best -a fitting to attach your air compressor of choice to pvc endcap (refer to pictures)

Here are the pics:

The end cap needs to have a hold drilled in it so your fitting can attach to it. This is where you will presurize the system from.



you insert the end cap into your silicon/rubber coupler and clamp it down (I had that extra silicone bend for my new maf piping I was gonna make so im using that for the time being)

The other side of the contraption gets attached to your turbos compressor intake (where the air filter/mafs coupler would normally go).

if you have a bottom mount setup and its difficult to get to the turbos intake you can also pressurize the system from after the mafs and use your cars intake piping as an extension to the turbos intake. However when doing this make sure the any line going to the intake are plugged. For instance if you have a valve cover breather line/ PCV / catch tank going to the intake pipe it needs to be plugged or else you are going to pressurize your valvecover, crankcase, etc and it wont work. Although I did find a valve cover gasket leak like this



Then you attach your choice of air compressor to the fitting on the end cap side and you pressurize the system. Check your boost gauge and presurize the system up to like 15 psi or whatever you would run to see if anything pops off.

Final product



Thats pretty much it. Obviously the motor is off while you do this so If you have the slightest leak it will make a loud noise and you will find it, also if your intercooler connections are leaking it will leak and you will find those aswell. Depending on the size of your leaks you might not be even to pressurize over a few psi, so just keep fixing leaks till you hear no noise. Let me know if I left something out or if you have any questions.

Modified by virus77 at 5:18 PM 1/31/2006

Modified by virus77 at 5:24 PM 1/31/2006
Modified by virus77 at 5:24 PM 1/31/2006

LMAO, thats a good idea. Well done man, well done.

now that is a very very good idea. Sticky is what i say to the mods that have read this...........

Excellent idea, I will have to make one of these for testing soon.

Jookmasta wrote:now that is a very very good idea. Sticky is what i say to the mods that have read this...........

Ditto, b/c boost leaks can be a PITA to find

thanks

It costs the same price as a can of carb cleaner and works a thousand times better at finding leaks, a must have.

KAT site ROCKS!! Where else can you find such good info? This has to be one of the best forums bar none!!

I'm not saying that it isn't a good Idea but thats the short end of what I did to check my system for boost leaks just didn't do such a nice job, I guess great minds think alike hua? anyways great job If I still have my tube I'll post pics of it, I pressureized my system to double the PSI I was gonna run just to make sure, Its a good Idea I think to go at least a few LBS over what you plan to run.

You can either find it here: http://www.mx6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116779

or here:http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html

i have made one myself that is even simpliar then that. i just used the pvc caps and i drilled and tapped a hole in the top and put in a compressor male fitting on it. it cost me 5 bucks to make. all you need though is a compressor.

i'll take a pic and post up mine if you guys are curious.

those are all the same things as the one I posted.

so at what crank angle do you test so no air escapes through the valves on all 4?

either intake or exhaust or both will be closed so it doesnt matter.

nice, might have to try this on my buddy's car

I actually just checked my IM for leaks. I used a can of spray paint for my plug.lol I just clamped the bottom of the can to the TB using the coupler already there and pressurized it from the FPR line. It definatly works. Like a leak-down tester for your intake system.lol

That's pretty cool...thanks for the write-up!

Hey man great article! I made one up today with the same parts and found a leak at the EGR *doh* Thanks for the write-up!!

Would you do this with the throttle closed or what?? Otherwise you couldn't find a leak in your EGR like NateDogg did...dunno??

Dude, thats pretty sweet! I might put something like that together soon... I'm always suspicious of small boost leaks

Nate: Glad to see it already helped someone out

SonyPete wrote:Would you do this with the throttle closed or what?? Otherwise you couldn't find a leak in your EGR like NateDogg did...dunno??

The throttle plate doesnt need to be open, its never really closed all the way so it will pressurize the system all the way into the intake manifold so it will detect any vacuum leak on the manifold.

Hey Virus77:

When I pressurized the intake I also heard the BPT was hissing. Should it do that or is mine faulty? I know if you plug one port you shouldn't be able to blow in the other and make a leak..??

i think my only issue now with using this is knowing the pressure im inserting. i have like a 20 gallon air compressor so i dont really know how much pressure im inserting...............maybe ill need another person to sit in the car and look at the digital gauge?

lol, own3d....we found my leak remember........jsut gotta stop being lazy and order the couplers

just finished making mine... great write up man... I had a huge leak in my bov of all places.... hks ssqv sucks *** in my opinion..

it should hold the boost long enough to go check the boost gauge.

Also, when doing these tests, in addition to plugging up your pcv/breather/whatever hoses you have going to your intake, make sure to block off a recirculation hose if you have a recirculating BOV. I neglected to do this every time I did a pressure test, and finally realized that I had a massive boost leak from my BOV (1g dsm). The reason it wasn't showing up in the pressure test was that keeping the recirc hose there was equalizing the pressure on either side of th BOV, so it wasnt leaking like usual (intake pipe isnt normally pressurized). I have since crushed my bov, and my car is a totally new beast now. Unbelievable throttle response, and builds boost to redline.

I highly recommend doing a boost leak test... a boost leak can throw off your tune quite a bit

This thing is awsome!!! Fixed a bunch of problems with it. Thanks

Nice!

Glad to see its still helping people

i pressurized my manifold and im just wondering but is the IACV open when the engine is off? because i did this and air was coming out of the IACV hose... made me wonder.

thanksMarko