alright guys this is really pissing me off. the night of my turbo install i was hitting 6psi and now i'm hitting 4psi. actually i get about 5psi and then it goes down to 4psi. i have tightened every clamp down. i do have a exhast leak at the maniflold, and can't seem to get it to go away. its the bottom passenger side bolt. no matter how much i tighten it its still leaks. i'm pretty sure that the leak was there the first night of the instal also. when i warm the car up though the leak goes away (or atleast i can't hear it anymore). would having a small eshaust leak prevent me from hitting the 7-8 psi i should be hitting. i have spent countless hours trying to fix this leak. would getting a MBC push me up the extra psi or will i not be able to get any higher than the 4 psi i'm hitting now. help me, please

No answer here, but I have a similar problem on a smaller scale. I hit between like 3.75-5 psi just depending on the mood my cars in almost. It's been that way since install and I haven't been able to find any major leaks.

I've just assumed that it has to do with running such low boost through an intercooler. Hopefully I'll be able to resolve it with the BC when I do the internals thing. Up to this point I haven't really worried about it.

An exhaust leak wouldnt cause you to lose any boost. Did you add an intercooler since then? The exhaust leak will however DESTROY your gas mileage and you will lose tons of power because your running OVERLY rich. Take off the intake pipe from the turbo charger. Put something over it like cardboard while the car is running. If the engine dies, you dont have intercooler leak and your 100% sure of it. If it stays started, start checking those connections again.

so what about the exhaust leak? does it go away when the car warms up? or can i mot just hear it anymore? i really hope it goes away when the car warms up

It could be going away, once things get warm and expand a little bit. Get a manual boost controller and turn that biatch up!

Hey Optimus...

Just out of curiosity, what exactly does an exhaust leak sound like?

I'll try that test Greg...good idea, doesn't involve a compressor and a buncha homemade pipes.

its kind of hard to explain. if you think you have one try this: get a vacum hose or something similar and stick it in your ear. cover your other ear up and put the vaccum hose by the exhaust manifold or where ever you think you have the leak and move it around the edge(there will BE A VERY noticible difference in sound). if all of the sudden it gets louder and it sounds like air shooting out then thats probably it. this is how i figure out where my exhaust leaks are coming from. it helps tremendisly.

does any of what i said make sense?

amazingly, yes it does make sense. :)

exhaust leak: stick a piece of cardboard under the exhaust manifold and give it some throttle. you will notice black carbon on the cardboard if there is a leak on the manifold.

Use loctite on the manifold bolts.....they do tend to loosen and THIS is probably your problem. do not overtighten


intake/intercooler piping losing pressure: disconnect the external wastegage(star kit)silicone hose from the the compressor side of the turbo. cap that fitting for now(rubber cap of some kind with zip tie)
hook up longer silicone hose from wastegate to where you have boost gage connected(better place is just disconnect the pcv valve and use that fitting on the throttle body. whatever boost you now have, subtract your original boost and that will be your pressure lost from your intercooler/piping

good luck

What are the torque settings of those bolts?

I'm having this exact problem. When I start the car cold, or after it cooling for 10-20 mins, it makes this praap-praap-praap sound like an old POS oldsmobile with a cracked manifold. When I floor it, and especially if I hit boost, I get this god awful block-echoing sound of BrAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT like a VW bug w/o mufflers. My theory was this was the exhaust gas getting blown through the (MLS?) gasket and vibrating ALOT.

I traced my leak (using my fingers while the block was cold) to the same place: passenger side, bottom corner. Possibly right next to, or under where the coolant valve goes into the block. I can't get the manifold off because the hex bolts strip when I try to remove them.

*** DOES anyone else have HEX-head bolts holding their manifold on? There's 8 bolts on the manifold, 4 of mine are black hex ones.

I have one of the ttiracing.com DOHC copper exhaust manifold gaskets sitting in the garage, but I can't get the manifold off, thanks to the @#$^ing hex bolts that are very very stuck. RRE is supposed to fix it, but I've been on their waiting list since October. I'll let you know if I ever fix it.

Dan Green