alright !!! i think i know what the problem is. i went to Autozone on my way to work to buy something. i mentioned my prob to one of the employees and we came up w/ a probable cause. on the driver side of the IC, i'm using exhaust flex tubing. it seems to work well until i boost. we think it's bleeding some of the low end boost through the slats. this would account for the increased turbo lag, running rich @ high rpm (since the MAF sensor pick up all the boost but it's not all getting to the motor), and why my manuel boost controller is set for about 10psi and i'm only getting 5 (i didn't want to run 10psi, i wanted 7 but couldn't go past 5). what do U guys think ??

 

As I said...

 

agreed....

 

Alrighty then, i'll look into where i can get some custom (real) intake tubing made. Thanx 4 all the help guys !!

 

Wow, I cant believe you'd use that but for sure that sounds like the problem get some hard piping and minimize the rubber couples u have. Hope you get everything running straight.

 

i believe i have the sae intercooler where did you mount it to and do you have any pics

 

i had someone weld some little metal tabs on the bottom of the intercooler. i bent them back to align with the hole for the support rollers in the front. then i made small hook style holes in the tabs. i scewed in the bolts for the rollers, and hung the intercooler on them. considering how tight it fit with my front bumper on, it's suprisingly stable. i would post more pix but my camera took a fat dump on my recently.

 

i know it was kind of a cheap idea, but considering so far i've spent less than $250 for the intercooler (w/ free BOV i can't use) and what i have for tubing, which the car did benefit from, i think it was worth it. And now that you guys have help me come up with a solution, i can really get the power i wanted. Hopefully it wont be too much $$$! right now my car is a gt model (ghetto turbo).

by the way, where should i go to have the intake tubing made ?? i went to an exhaust shop, but the guy didn't want to do it for me. he said "3 inch piping is too hard to bend like that." a friend of mine suggested another place, but it sounds like another exhaust shop. again, any help would be appreciated!

 

How do you find out if you have a boost leak? Because i bought a MBC hooked it up and no matter what i do i cant get to boost past 4-5

 

When i installed my MBC, i did about a third of a revolution to open it, test drove the car, and hit 10 pounds!! scared the $h!t out of me. this was before i got my intercooler. i got the MBC because i knew there would be a boost drop across the IC + i got a good deal on the it. when i got the IC, i was able to compensate for the 2 pound boost drop, which took me back up to 5 pounds but because of my intake tubing leaking (boost leak), i can't go anymore that that.

Blaze 125 asked me about a boost leak also which got the clock work upstairs working; so that's what i started to look for.

 

There are boost leak testers you can make (or buy) that are basically a PVC pipe tha acn fit over the intake side of the turbo, with a tyre gauge sticking out. Run compressed air thru the system and you should be able to hear if boost is leaking.

 

Yep... get something that will fit snugly over your turbo inlet, connect that to a compressor and compress your setup with 10-15 psi of air(engine TURNED OFF) and keep you ears open for leaks... put your hand over every single joint and feel the leaks, or mix soap and water, spray that over the joint and look for bubbles.

 

2psi drop on the intercooler... damn that kinda sucks bro. Maybe when you get the chance get a better one as that one is killing you right there.

 

MAF not registering enough air flow to the engine??? My car ran like crap just like you were describing. Try disconecting your negative from your battery for like 15-20 minutes to reset you ECU. Than just drive around and let you car ajust to it. Usualy when you add a new mod to your engine it takes time for your car to adjust, until then, it will run like crap! It only should take like a week or so. That's what happened to me when I put in me racing exhaust system.

 

Remember to read the whole thing... This guy is loosing Boost! He should be boosting Xpsi but he is only boosting Cpsi. No matter how many times you get him to disconnect his battery, psi won't just show up.