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Did a leak test, sounds like my turbo is leaking ??!!!

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#21 ·
ahh gotcha ...so what the heck is tht for? lol:confused: I take it that since it's a "seal" it shouldnt leak...any ideas on where to get one and how much $$?
 
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#23 ·
Ok sounds good, just seal it up with RTV. Is this a common place for boost leaks? Pressure fell of pretty quickly, so maybe i'll feel a little more pep...lol. Thanks for the help!
!
 
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#25 ·
Besides the fact that the rubber half-moon seal leaks, you need to keep air pressure from entering the valve cover. I had the same problem this week. I had just put in a new PCV valve in April and it's bad already.

The PCV valve is supposed to let air pressure caused by the oil moving around in the valvetrain area to go somewhere else. The problem is that yours is letting air come in. Once you pressurize the intake system, the air pressure in the intake manifold pushes right through the PCV and flows into the area under the valve cover. It would then exit through the crankcase breather or out the dipstick tube if you were pull it open during the test.

Since you have a puncture in the half-moon thing, it escapes there first.
 
#26 ·
hmm i see, so where do i get a new PCV valve? How much $$? What causes them to go bad in the first place? shew i have alot of ?'s...i feel like an idiot, o well only one way to find out. thanks for your help!
 
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Discussion starter · #27 ·
FlaToUt-GST: If you want one that works properly, you have to get an OEM PCV valve from the dealer. They're only like $10 or so, if not cheaper. Real easy to install too. Just unscrews out of the valve cover, and screw the new one in it's place.

destrux: I'm really hoping it's not inside the turbo, cause then I gotta break down and get a new turbo. I'd like to get a used one off dsmtrader, I'm just afraid I might get a bad one. Like maybe it'll have no shaft play or anything, but then it'll be messed up like mine internally. Maybe I'll look into a 14b off a JDM motor or something if it comes down to it. I like your ideas about testing different parts of the system though. Problem is I don't have anything to cap the turbo outlet pipe with. I thought of that before but wasn't capable of doing it unfortunately.
 
#29 ·
I ditched mine and I now run the PCV line from the Valve cover down to my catch can. In order to do that you have to plug the hose coming from the intake manifold.

If you wish to keep it as stock as possible, order a new PCV from a mitsu dealer. My last one lasted 4 months and it was a Fram unit from Walmart.

The PCV has a steel ball inside and when air goes out of the valve cover, there's enough room to get around the ball. When air comes in from the intake manifold, there's no room to go around the ball and the intake air is blocked from going into your oil system. The picture below uses a bullet shaped metal spike to close the airway, but our's uses a ball.

Image
 
#30 ·
actually if it is just the rubber o-ring for the compressor housing it's pretty cheap and easy to replace... all you need to do is take off the circlip that holds the compressor housing to the center section and put a new o-ring on there, you don't have to disassemble the whole turbo... just that one circlip. With a 10mm wrench, 17mm wrench, large circlip pliers (or needlenose pliers) and a screwdriver you should beable to replace that o-ring yourself in about an hour.
 
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#31 ·
Hmmm that bullet design seems perfect, but the ball design works better? O well. Would it be easier to vent the PCV into a catch can? Seems easier to leave things as they are and let the PCV do its thing and put a catch can on the valve cover vent. I'll have to try some things with that when i get a new PCV...first and foremost right now tho is my big16g install...:D
 
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Discussion starter · #32 ·
destrux said:
actually if it is just the rubber o-ring for the compressor housing it's pretty cheap and easy to replace... all you need to do is take off the circlip that holds the compressor housing to the center section and put a new o-ring on there, you don't have to disassemble the whole turbo... just that one circlip. With a 10mm wrench, 17mm wrench, large circlip pliers (or needlenose pliers) and a screwdriver you should beable to replace that o-ring yourself in about an hour.
Click to expand...
Well I guess that doesn't sound too bad. Stuff always sounds harder and scarier when you haven't done it before, ya know? :D Well if the band clamp is tight, I guess the o-ring in the turbo is the only thing left!
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Well, did another leak test yesterday at my buddy's place with a bigger compressor (4 HP). I turned the motor to TDC this time. I could NOT find what part of the turbo is leaking. I tightened the band clamp, and that didn't help. So I said screw it and checked out the rest of the system. I had to bump the compressor regulator to 70 psi just to get 17 psi on my manifold tapped boost gauge!!! When I did, I saw quite a few more leaks pop up. BOV is leaking, so I beat the shit out of it with a hammer and now it's a little better but still leaks a tiny bit (sounds all fluttery and weird now, so I think I'll be shopping for a new one soon, but it's definitely sealing better). Somewhere by the throttle body is leaking, but I couldn't exactly locate it. And then there's a huge leak on the driver's side of the intake manifold, I think it's one of the injector o-rings or something. But I guess it could be an intake gasket too. Hopefully for my sake it's the injector o-rings.
But damn man, that 4 hp compressor could not keep up with all the leaks in my system! We had to stop and let the compressor refill every few minutes or so because it would lose all it's pressure.
Oh, and my valve cover breather hose was definitely letting go of some air (even with my new OEM PCV valve), so I guess my rings or valve seals are getting worn after 142000 miles. It wasn't a heck of a lot pressure, but if I put my thumb over it for a minute or so and then let go, it would let quite a bit of air out.
 
#34 ·
i just had another thought... how long has it been since the car has been run? If you haven't run it in a while the oil might have drained out of the turbo and the air might be going right around the shaft. Probably not it, but just another idea.
 
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#36 ·
probably wouldnt matter then.
 
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#37 ·
How big of a leak does it take to not build pressure with an electric tire pump compressor? I am debating buying a "Real" 6hp air compressor just so I can leak test my damn car. Currently with the little Walmart 120PSI compressor I can get to 4 psi and thats it. I have some bubbles coming from an exhaust manifold stud (soapy water test). Is that large enough to mess up my test? OH the whole reason I'm doing the test is because my FP Green isn't building full boost till 5.5k when it should hit around the 3.8-4k mark. FP told me I have a leak somewhere so I'm on a mission to make it work :D Any thoughts?
 
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Discussion starter · #38 ·
Well on my cousin's electric tire pump-size compressor, it'd only build 2 psi in my system. My buddy's 4 HP would build full pressure, but it would lose it after a minute or so because the compressor couldn't keep up with the leak. I think on a system with no leaks the tire compressor should be fine, but I can't verify that until I rebuild or replace my turbo to get rid of my huge ass leak.
 
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