Not saying this has much to do with the problem but, how are you powering the boost gauge? I know my Autometer electronic boost gauge would do a calibration every time it powered up.

At first I had it wired to something that lost power when the starter was cranking. So I would end up with the gauge thinking what ever vacuum the engine was pulling when cranking was 0. Whihc would throw the reading off.

I then pulled power off the Cruise control slot in the fuse box (yes, I know evo's don't have cruise but, there is a slot for it in the fuse box). This is hot as long as the key is on and fixed my inaccurate readings.

 

I adjusted the rod by another 2 full rotations, making a total of 3, since the problem occured. The eyelet was halfway under the pivot peg just like sparky mentioned earlier, but I still only hit 10 psi of boost, throughout the rpm range in 3rd. The car does feel like it's pulling much nicer than previously. Although earlier in the morning prior to adjusting the rod 2 more rotations on a cold engine I hit 28psi, so now I"m kind of skeptical about getting into boost until this issue gets resolved. I'm going to try to go through the wiring from the boost gauge one more time and see if there is anything out of place.

 

Well, at least we eliminated the lack of wastegate preload as a possible cause of your problem. So, you'll just have to work your way through the rest of the list:

boost leak

flapper valve separated from pivot shaft due to weld failure

BOV/DV venting intake charge air

faulty BCS

faulty boost gauge, or boost gauge improperly connected

boost/vacuum lines torn or loose/improperly routed

Maybe someone else can chime in with some suggestions. At any rate, I hope that you get it sorted out soon.

 

Maybe when I go get it tuned they might be able to give me an idea of what could be wrong?

 

You never answered if the car feels like it is down on power when the gauge says it's only running 10psi.

Is there any chance your MAF isn't plugged in well or not making a good connection somewere?

 

Thats because I'm not sure how to answer that question, if my boost problem has been an issue prior to me installing the gauge than I don't have anything to compare it against. When I was doing the boost leak test I took the MAF off and put it back on so it shouldn't be a problem now, although when I looked at it the honeycomb and the resistor were covered in oil, so I cleaned them up a little bit.

 

I thought the boost gauge had been in for a while and you knew it was accurately reading boost before the hotside install.

Well, the one time that it said it made 2Xpsi did it feel considerably quicker than it does normally?

 

sparky great explaination on this thread thanks again bro

 

ok this is getting irratating how do i get the ****ing heat shield off do i need one of those ****ing stupid sensor sockets? amazing there isnt a write up on what you need to adjust this..... woulda been nice to go pick up a socket before i took the heat shield apart

 

Ya it felt unbelievably fast, but thats because it was on a cold engine. but at around 5k in 1st and or 2nd when it hit like 25psi I reached either a fuel cut or maybe the knock sensor cut off fuel cause the car just sounded like a machine gun going off lol, and it didn't pull anymore. Besides I wasn't willing to challange the knock sensor lol

The car pulls nicely especially after the wastegate actuator was adjusted, but it still does not go past 10 psi of boost, other than on a cold start.

 

did you just use and o2 sensor socket to get the lower heat shield off or howd you get it out of the way enough to adjust the WGA rod?

 

It felt incredibly fast because it had 15psi more boost than what you are used to not because the engine was cold. Do you know the car was making full boost before the HS install? I'm assuming you bought the car used so, you might not know what someone before you has done (read: f*cked up) to the car.

Make sure you tell the tuner before hand the car is having boost problems. They won't like it if you show up for a tune and they end up having to work on the car before they can tune it.

 

Ya I Know exactly what you mean, but I still can't understand why on a cold engine it boosts exactly how it should, but on warmed up car it stops at 10psi?

To get the metal shroud off I ended up using sheet metal cutters to cut through the
plate and guide the wire through it.

 

**** that i checked it out my WGA looks good so tomarrow im off to harman motive for a dyno test see what the **** is up

 

Today I used a friend's mechanical boost gauge, and the car would still only hit 11psi. I put his boost controller on and it hit 20 psi in first gear, cranked it down to stock position and the car hits 20-21 and falls back down to 16-17psi, in pretty much every gear. I guess my whole problem was caused by a faulty boost solenoid.