I am having trouble boosting past 20 psi. I have a stock ix turbo with an AEM tru boost guage. I have adjusted the boost controller to 6 different settings and its not seeming to make a difference. The car has low mileage so I cant see it being the turbo but anything is possible. What could be some possibilities? I did a boost leak test and everything seems ok...

 

Waste gate...have you tuned it or put it on a dyno? You should be able to diagnose based on effenciency.

 

boost controller may be the culprit. take it apart and maybe grease it or the spring is bound up. had that problem on one of my TDI's a while back, spring would bund up and not make any boost.

 

hmmm wg

 

Hmmm, very interesting. Maybe you are just not pushing down hard enough with the sole of your shoe on the go pedal. Also, you might want to check that the emergency brake is fully released. Finally, after verifying that the gear shift lever is not in neutral, you may wanna double check for potatoes plugging the exhaust pipe....nasty spuds

 

Edited.

 

To the OP: Is your car totally stock except for the MBC?

 

Full bolt ons except intake mani. and tb.

 

What MBC are you running? Is the AEM gauge an MBC as well? Are you referencing the boost signal from the turbo's compressor discharge pipe nipple, or did you "T" into the IM/DV hose? Are you running the stock DV(if so...is it metal or plastic?), or have you "upgraded" to an aftermarket DV/BOV? If so, then which one, and is it VTA, or recirc? Is the turbo fitted with a stock IX WGA, or an aftermarket unit?

 

Someone else alluded to it in an earlier response I think. Straight off the cuff I would suspect that your problem is a lack of wastegate spring pressure, or "preload" as it is sometimes referred to.

I'll bet that your turbo's WG is setup with the minimal amount of spring preload. Probably somewhere between 11-13 PSI. Incidentally, what is your target boost level? Or, how many PSI of peak boost are you wanting?

 

hey guys new to the whole forum thing, i suppose my issue is somewhat similar to EriCS. except ill pull hard to my MBC set 20-21 psi in first gear but then drop down to around 14psi in second then to the set WG 11psi in 3rd - 5th?

running TBE, intake, IC pipes and just put in a set of 1 step cooled plugs gaped to .024 or so due to the added boost i want to run. any ideas? thought maybe the new plugs, but its pulling great in first so not to sure?

Thanks!