boosting really low

[bentotdagr3at]

Hello.
My friend gave me his hdi ebc se he had on his supra last year before going with a standalone this year. The ebc sat for a few months I guess. Now I tried to install it and I'm only getting 5psi max even with the settings on max.

I bought a cheap mbc to see if I can boost past 5psi and it stops at 7psi even with it maxed out. Not sure what the problem is. Factory boost solenoids are unplugged and disconnected.

I had weird issues last time as it was running in safety mode but I had that all figured out and now this.

Need help please

[ThisIsSparTTa]

Run your ECU codes. Do a boost leak test. Report back.

[bentotdagr3at]

Code 55 on the ecu.
No boost leak. Tested using 5psi air and takes over 30 seconds to go flat or 0 psi.

Actuators are moving when blown with 5 psi air.

Also did a test where the wastegates are open to atmosphere and she boosted really well and got her to 12 psi before letting off the gas.

Hose to wastegate are equal length and teed off to connect to the solenoid port a. My pressure source is the driver side intake before the throttle body. Should I be using 2 sources teed or is 1 good enough?

Hope I can figure this out. Felt good going up to 12 psi

[nissanfreak12]

Do you still have your factory stuff set up? Do you have a vacuum line going to the controller? 5 psi is stock wastegate setting , actually 7 is but age usually makes them down to 7.

[bentotdagr3at]

Factory boost solenoid is disconnected. Vacuum lines and electrical.

I have a vacuum line coming from the balance line teed off to supply pressure to myou boost gauge and ebc.

Also I'm running cat back, eprom, 740 injectors, new wiring harness and new silicon hoses.

I just find it weird that I cant even boost higher on a mbc. I have a vibrant needle plug kind mbc if that helps.

Thank you guys for trying to help me out. I appreciate it.

[ThisIsSparTTa]

Yea, if you can't get it to work with the MBC and you've completed a full boost leak test, then I don't know what the problem would be. Maybe you have blown turbos that aren't building the pressure they should be? Before you go down that route, I'd double check all your vacuum lines and what not for leaks.

[bentotdagr3at]

It is getting really frustrating trying to figure this out. Haha.
When I disconnect the wastegate hoses I can boost to 12 psi and she still wants to keep on going. Would blown turbos boost that high and I don't think I have telltale sign or smoke coming out of the exhaust. I will double check all hoses again.

[bentotdagr3at]

What's the easiest way to check the turbos?
Just came from under the car and looks like a lot of work to take down pipes out.

Can I just take compressor hose to intercooler and rev to see if it's pushing air?

[bentotdagr3at]

So I had my brother in law help me check and see if the turbos are functional. I had the him rev it up to 5000 rpm to see if the turbos are spinning and building pressure. At that rpm there is enough pressure for the turbos to push my hand away when I tried and covered the piping. Not sure if this is one way to check turbo functionality.

What I noticed though is on the passenger side is there is a trace of oil, almost like tar, on some parts of the silicone hose and hard pipe. Also there is some fine metal shavings. Could the turbine wheel be damaged?

Car had a blown engine and got a swapped a few months before I bought it. I wonder if this is from the last engine.

Dreading to pull the passenger downpipe but I might have to.

Did another boost leak while we were at it and we couldn't find anything. We even used the hose to the ear trick.

[ThisIsSparTTa]

Not sure how you would check the health of the turbos without having them off. It can be done by removing the transmission and then the downpipes, but it's something most people don't want to repeat. If you saw oil at the inlet of the turbo, that could be from the PCV system, it poops oil out everywhere. Shavings could easily be from whatever engine rebuild was done.

[bentotdagr3at]

Can you normally hear the turbo spool when reaching 0 psi and over? I could hear a whining or sorta hissing noise when I approach 0 psi. Could it be a positive d pressure leak?

[ThisIsSparTTa]

I don't know that I hear my stock turbos as much as a hear and feel the engine pick up its pace once the turbos are building pressure.

[nissanfreak12]

Can you normally hear the turbo spool when reaching 0 psi and over? I could hear a whining or sorta hissing noise when I approach 0 psi. Could it be a positive d pressure leak?

If you hear a "hissing" sound, you may have a boost leak. Do you have an aftermarket Boost gauge? What does the Vac read at idle?

[bentotdagr3at]

I was thinking that too. My idle is 10 mm Hg of vacuum.
It goes as low as 16 mm when driving. Not sure if that's good. It is an aftermarket gauge.

[ThisIsSparTTa]

Mine idles lower than that...its not running right now so I can't check, but I think more around 15-18 mm/hg. If I pull a strong engine brake it will drop as low as 20-22. That's on an autometer gauge.

[itsa300zx]

I was thinking that too. My idle is 10 mm Hg of vacuum.
It goes as low as 16 mm when driving. Not sure if that's good. It is an aftermarket gauge.

You've got a vacuum leak, at idle 18-20 mmhg is normal. When I let off the gas, is goes as low as 22-25 mmhg, also auto meter gauge.

[bentotdagr3at]

I guess I have to do a smoke test. It probably is a leak that doesn't show at 5psi but higher.

I have a turbosmart gauge and it came with the car. Should be accurate enough no?

[bentotdagr3at]

Ok so I did another boost leak test. Nothing again. I'm going to rig up a homemade smoke machine to see if I can find a leak.

Also my gauge is actually in in Hg. So it reads 10 in Hg. If my conversion is right that is about 24.5 mm Hg which seems to be right at the norm.

[itsa300zx]

Just check my gauge and it reads inHg. So 10inHg seem low

[ThisIsSparTTa]

My autometer is in/hg too. 10 is quite low. Maybe you should do a leakdown test on the block?

[bentotdagr3at]

Ok. Maybe I'll try that too. Compression on the engine is 150 on 5 cylinder and 145 on one.

This car is upsetting

[nissanfreak12]

Did you do the compression when it was warm and with the throttle open? 150psi is not that bad to be honest and its within spec between cylinders

I agree with Spartta, leakdown test will tell you everything you need to know.

[bentotdagr3at]

Yup. It was with the engine warmed up.

I'll buy a leakdown test tool and will do one

[nissanfreak12]

Are you sure All vac lines are hooked up correctly? Has there been any work to the injectors? There are grommets that go between the injectors and lower plenum, could cause a boost leak but not a vac leak, or just leak all together.

[bentotdagr3at]

I actually had my injectors leaking because the pintle cap popped off and flooded the engine. So I replaced all the injector o rings and also the injector insulators. The old ones were all dried and cracked.

I'm ordered a boost leak tester from amazon and it's coming next week. Also I'm going to rig up a smoke tester to check for leaks again.

I appreciate all the help and pointers here. Thank you

[bentotdagr3at]

So here's an update guys. I did another compression test and did a leakdown test as well.

Here are the results
Cylinder Compression Leakdown
1 150psi 2%
2 165psi 1%
3 150psi 1%
4 150psi 2%
5 155psi 10%
6 150psi 13%

So obviously there is some leakage on cylinder 5 and 6. I didn't pull the intake off but on number 6 there is an obvious leak coming from the exhaust and crankcase. Cylinder 5 has air coming from the crankcase as well.
Are these results any good of should I have some safety concerns?

Spark plugs had some carbon too from running rich.

I'm rigging up a smoke tester in a few days. I'll use it as part of the boost leak test. I'll report back. In a few days

[bentotdagr3at]

Ok. So today I rigged up a smoke machine using a spaghetti sauce container. I only found 2 leaks. The tee to where my boost gauge and ebc is and right at the fuel pressure regulator.

I spent at least 4 hours looking for smoke under the car and around all the hoses. I had my 3 year old try and spot the smoke too. I guess everything is tight and I gained an extra .5mm hg from fixing the leak. Yey.

Redid the leakdown rest and I got 2% on cylinder 5 this time but the rest are the same.

Replaced all the spark plugs too with bkr7e. Had them in the glove box and they seem to work good. My platinum are covered with carbon from running too rich.

Show what now?

[ThisIsSparTTa]

Bummer that its still not working out for you. Maybe its time to loop back around and try to find ways to tell if your turbos themselves bad. I don't know how to do that besides taking it off.

[bentotdagr3at]

I'll check it out over winter. I'll just enjoy it this summer. Maybe I'll sell it next spring.

[bentotdagr3at]

*UPDATE*

So I decided to pull the downpipe and testpipe off to check the turbo. I didn't take the transmission out and I got everything out.

Driver side turbo had no shaft play and spins freely.

Passenger side turbo had no shaft play and spins freely but feels like it spins less than the driver side. Needed about 25% more finger effort. It also had a lot of carbon deposit. Maybe due to an exhaust valve leak, as per leak down test on cylinder 6.

I installed megan downpipe and test pipe while I was at it to make it worth my while. I have cut fingers and bruised hands and knuckles. Car seems to spool faster but I'm still stuck on 10 in hg at idle.

Traced all the hose and nothing is leaking or missing yet again. I unplugged one vacuum hose and you can hear it hissing so if I have a missing or a cracred hose then I would know the sound.

Car is still frustrating. I'm starting to hate working on it but I love driving it.

On the side not I got to drive my friends Supra he bought from IBT in Florida I believe. Now that thing is a beast.