I will do that tomorrow. What is the purpose of the boost solenoid if bypassing it creates no cel?

 

Hopefully you will be installing your BR MBC this week. You can then park your stock BCS in the garage alongside the old newspapers and worn out tennis shoes. Once you have gone over to the dark side there is no looking back.

 

Ran the line from turbo to wastegate, no solenoid. Did 2 more full turns, still at 13 psi. I do have a buschur mbc now, guy shipped it insanely fast

 

Did you mention having already done a boost leak test on this car? Boost should have increased a couple PSI when you cranked the turnbuckle in two full turns. Since it stayed at 13 PSI I would check for a leak.

 

What gear are you testing it in? Be sure to do it in 4th or 3rd, if you don't have enough road to do it in 5th.

I do WOT runs in 4th or 5th in my car. But, I forget that I have relatively short gearing being JDM RS. Whereas, on USDM 5-spd. cars, 5th would be out of the question and I guess that even 4th can get pretty hairy on public motorways. So, 3rd gear is fine. Just not 2nd gear.

 

I use 3rd for this stuff, 4th if I have the time to use the freeway. I'll have to order a boost leak detector, the only thing that I wonder is if it is still at 13, even with a boost leak wouldn't it still increase? It'd obviously be more output the turbo would do but theoretically it would be able to overcome the leak. And I know the turbo can put out the psi, when I did my clutch I checked the turbo and it has the typical journal bearing turbo side to side play but no in and out.

 

A turbo does not produce "boost" it produces air it's your engine that produces boost. A boost leak can be tricky and if it's a screwed up coupler the boost leak can actually get bigger as the pressure in the system rises. Do a boost leak test first, and secondly are you sure you don't have a stock actuator on there? Is there a part number stamped on the side of the actuator arm? Might want to message the guys at FP if you can find a part number and make sure you're not operating with a stock actuator.

What you're experiencing is perfectly normal the turbo was never designed to run 15lbs of boost and neither was it's wastegate port. In 3rd gear the amount of waste gasses increases and the small wastegate port is not able to bleed off enough of it to reduce shaft speed and thus airflow and "boost" increase as well. Running a MBC should allow you to reach the 20-24 range pretty easily but if that's a stock actuator you'll be limited to about 26 and it tapering off at higher RPM as the wastegate is not able to overcome the pressure inside the turbine housing and is forced open.

 

I'll take a look at the wastegate and see, but my cars an 05 and the hta green is a 9 turbo, so its not like he could've put the stock 8 actuator on correct? Mine would've had the stock 10.5 hot side but if I'm correct the wastegate still won't transfer over.

My boost leak tester is on its way, hopefully I have a good leak that I can just fix and solve my problems...

 

You are correct in assuming that the IX actuator is not usable on an VIII turbo. Neither will the VIII actuator fit onto a IX turbo. So, they are not interchangeable.

The 73mm HTA Green uses the IX compressor housing. So, probably your turbo is fitted with either the FP HD 18 PSI IX WGA, or the factory IX actuator. So, it is still within the realm of the possible that there is a stock MHI IX actuator on there though. Isn't there?

Even if your turbo were fitted with a stock IX actuator, you would be would still be able to lift spring pressure above 13 PSI easily with 5 full turns of the turnbuckle.

Is this an early HTA Green? The very first ones were issued with either the stock or FP HD actuator. I think that back then, it was the buyer's choice. Now FP sells them standard with the 18 pounder and the 25 pounder is optional.

 

I am unsure of the time in which the turbo was bought... the guy told me when he bought it it came with the astegate from FP, I asked which and he said he believed the 18. I took a look at my wastegate and I'm not totally sure if it is an FP or stock, as from what I've seen the part number is on the back side of the bracket.

So the possibilities right now are what...

Big boost leak? Tester is on its way...
Bad wastegate somehow?

 

It could be a tear in the WGA's internal diaphragm. That is a possibility. Although that doesn't happen very often. Usually, the tear results from improper adjustment technique(Turning the entire actuator rod, instead of loosening the backup nut and only rotating the turnbuckle on the end of the rod).

If the previous owner said that the actuator is an FP 18 pounder, I would tend to believe him. Although, as I stated before: Given a healthy actuator even the stock unit will easily give you over 18 PSI of spring pressure. So, whether the turbo is fitted with the stock actuator or an FP HD unit is irrelevant. Either one of the two if healthy will surely give over 13 PSI of spring pressure.

It might be that the actuator rod is too long. You may need to cut a couple threads off the end and run the turnbuckle without the backup nut. You have nothing to lose by shortening the rod IMO. It is worth a try. But, first, do the boost leak test.

We will have a clearer picture once you've done a boost leak test and you install your MBC.

Also, the BOV/DV may be playing a minor role in the scenario. That is it may, if adjusted too loose and lifting early, be a contributing factor although perhaps not the key player.

 

The only thing with making the rod shorter is at 5 turns, the spring already has a lot of tension. And when I had it at 6 (which bottomed out in the turnbuckle), I actually ran my air gun to the wastegate hose to get the arm to extend. Which to me in my eyes seems like a lot more tension then in reality I would need, considering most people are around 18 at 3-4 turns. And how would I know with the blox off valve? This was actually the problem with my friends Shelby Daytona, his Greddy was set too loose and it would only make 5 psi, I ended up tightening it up and now its t 15 psi. I could tell his wasn't set right because it barely made any noise from the BOV since it was constantly leaking. Mine is loud and a sharp release... it is a Synapse Synchronic with full recirc and using ports A and B with C blocked off.

 

Sure, I can appreciate and understand your hesitancy! However, once you've checked 1) the WG's flapper valve for proper range of motion and effective sealing of the flapper valve's face/seat interface, 2)the WGA's integrity and range of motion, 3) BOV/DV cracking and full open pressures, and finally 4) tested for and found no boost leaks, then we can safely assume that you are probably going to have to cut the actuator rod some. Or try a different actuator. 13 PSI is just too low given 5 turns, in my view.

 

I think that in your particular case a complete and thorough boost leak test will prove to be extremely helpful. Not too long ago I ran another dude through all the adjustments that I am having you do with respect to the WGA spring tension, flapper valve, DV, and etc. All to no avail.

Although the chap had initially done a boost leak test and hadn't found a leak, he decided on his own initiative to run a second boost leak test. In the first leak test he had checked all the IC hose clamps and found them to be tight.

However, on his second test...he discovered a slight tear in one of his IC hose couplers. At lower boost levels it was not an apparent leak. But, at high boost levels the tear in the coupler would turn into a major leak. The soapy water bubble test showed the leak at high boost levels.

 

Well I really appreciate you helping me through this, hopefully my boost leak tool shows up quick. I'll keep this updated as I find more stuff, and hopefully you'll stick around to help me too. I wouldn't mind a torn ic hose lol.