So I have been having car troubles. I have posted questions about what might be wrong with it. I am hearing that its possible that I have a boost leak. I looked at the "how to" for a leak test. I don't really have the supplies yet to perform this test. would it be cheaper to do this test myself and purchase the nessecary equipment for it or would it be cheaper to just take it to someone and have one done? how easy is it to perform this task and how long might it take for newbies?

 

It's very easy an cheap to diy as long as you have a good compressor. Costs about 10bucks for parts to make the tester.

 

Can take from 30 min to a few hours. All depends on what kind of leaks you have. My suggestion would be to have it done at a shop frat and see how they are doing everything. Then attempt it your self later on. Most shops charge 20-40$ for a quick check with out fixing the leaks.

 

Ok, so I did the boost leak test myself, I made a little contraption to mount to the turbo from the intake. first thing i noticed is there was a slight coating of oil or black grime on the turbos inlet...normal? I conducted the leak test with a compressor. 3 leaks found. two were on the lower innercooler hoses due to a mechanic not properly installing it and tightening the clamps down. Fixed it. Also I found a nipple of some sort that was leaking profusely. Looked like a line was disconnected or something. Not sure what it is but i can take pictures and give a general location of where i found it. i plugged it up to stop the leak since i couldnt find any lines that were loose or hanging....total cost of test $14 and labor was about 1hr.

 

the oil is normal if you are not using a oil catch can. my intake pipe had soooooo much buildup in it so i made one. did you spray everything with soapy water when you did the test? and how much pressure did u run into it?

 

I didn't spray soapy water no.....not 100percet sure on where to spray. I ran 60psi first then dropped it to 20psi after i sealed the leaks. whats the recommended preasure?

 

holy crap 60psi!? i think ur not supposed to go over 30... i could be wrong. you spray the soapy water all over the ic pipes, j pipe, vacuum/boost lines, pretty much every where.
when i did it on my car at 10psi i heard my throttle body seals squeeling... went up to 30, sprayed everything and found my licp was leaking. where was the loose line?

 

ok ya that would be the fault of the guy that was helping me with it. I found 2 leaks at the lower IC pipes actually. when i had my stock IC put back on i guess the mechanic chose not to use strong clamps when they threw it on. we just had to tighten them up more to stop the leak. prob gonna invest in better clamps. and suggestions? also found a huge leak on some sort of nipple bellow the turbo..the guy with me suggested it was where the Stock BOV was..im not 100 on the accuracy of that. I put a plug over it. after we fixed it and took the car for a cruise we still noticed we couldnt hear the BOV when the car was spooling up.