well after reading that post about the turbo system i just realized that for the past 8 months now my turbo has been hooked up wrong, i ran a vac line from the actuator to the intake mani and it says its no correct it should run to the compressor housing?? odviously it doesnt matter cause if it did i would have broken something by now but you can best believe i will be correcting the issue tommorrow, thanks for the post and if anyone knows a down side to the way i have it hooked up now please tell me
thanks joe

The downside is if there is a boost leak, your turbo will work harder to spool until the wastegate opens up b/c the wastegate is reading pressure at the manifold not the turbo. You also won't really know if there is a boost leak because the turbo will continue to spool. I had mine setup the same as you for a while. It's not awful, but it's not the best.

who else on here has there actuator run to the intake manifold rather than the compressor housing?

dont most external gates run like that?

so you ran a vac line from your wastegate boost port to the intake mani right? ive heard about many many people doing the same thing because they were too lazy to drill and tap the turbo. u can either hook up the vac line to the compressor side of turbo or intake mani.. both ways they will give out the same signal and they will both tell the wastegate when to open. but if u got it hooked up to the intake mani u should always check for vac leaks because a weak signal means that your wastegate won't open on time which means ur boost will spike.. and thats obviously not a good thing.
i might not be as experienced as others on here because i still didn't even start installing my kit (getting other stuff fixed first) but i do alot of reading here and im sure everything i said was right :D

Actually i usually reccomend to run the line to the intake, because its what you want to read, manifold pressure, not turbo pressure. Its almost impossible to not have any small boost leaks from the turbo to the intake, while usually the largest leak is at the throttle body throttle plate shaft seals..That alone can let you drop 1 psi. Dont forget any small leaks past the PCV valve, and the EVAP system if still connected.. As far as it not being as "safe" to run it to the mani, it doesnt really matter. If you get that large of a boost leak to make the turbo work that hard, your're gonna know it. The car wont feel right, the turbo will sound off, and you will prob hear a leak that large.

I used to run the line at the turbo, but i had a problem with boost pressure dropping off 1 psi or so..it was that small leak at the TB. I then ran the line to the intake, and rock steady boost. If you want the most accurate or steady boost pressure setting, run the wastegate line to the intake. This way, if you have any small leaks, your pressure wont drop off, since the signal is coming from the intake, which is after all pressure losses.

+2 for the manifold vac source

I noticed a big difference in response when I switched my vac source on my boost controller to the back of the plenum. The turbo is the first source of pressure, so the wastegate cracks before its even at full pressure at the manifold and it takes a little bit longer to reach full boost. If the source vac is at the last place pressure is seen, the wastegate stays closed longer so you're not chasing your tail as far as exhaust pressure to the actual turbine. i never complain about things that make me get going faster.

edit: i cant spell...

so where it said in that turbo info from garret that the actuator was not designed to see vac and should never be run off the mani it was wrong? im not gonna mess with it because its been working for me so far, as for a boost leak. i dont think i got one if im hitting 10 psi at times. usually a good 8 unless i push it. the way i understand a boost leak wont allow me to get that high? might be wrong i dont know?
im still learning too in a way i think we all are!
joe

Originally posted by joeck76
so where it said in that turbo info from garret that the actuator was not designed to see vac and should never be run off the mani it was wrong? im not gonna mess with it because its been working for me so far, as for a boost leak. i dont think i got one if im hitting 10 psi at times. usually a good 8 unless i push it. the way i understand a boost leak wont allow me to get that high? might be wrong i dont know? im still learning too in a way i think we all are! joe

Well corky bell says that unless boost response is the number one priority, just hook it up to the compressor outlet and call it a day.