Regarding adjustment of your wastegate: He wasn't necessarily BS-ing you. Both my turbos have been '93 945T's -- so your '91 may be different... but on my cars the wastegate is NOT adjustable. I know earlier models DID have actuator rods that could be adjusted. You'll have to look to see.

Jeff Pierce
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'93 945 Turbo ( one kickass family car ! ), '92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece -- sold to a loving home), '85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow

There are 2 big things to look for with what you are describing, as has already been said, leaks in the hoses between the turbo and the Throttle Body. Be especially diligent around the hose from the intercooler outlet, it is a known culprit in these cases since oil tendes to pool there. A visual inspection IS NOT SUFFICIENT. I highly suggest removing the hoses and looking inside them since that is how they tend to fail, from the inside out (oil eats away at the rubber). Feeling around the UNDERSIDE of the hoses for any sponginess will also indicate a problem area.

Another possibility is a misinstalled timing belt (or maybe it just skipped a tooth) which will bog things down but still let the car run OK at low speeds. This is a definite possibility since the B230 timing marks do not line up intuitively and if someone tried an install without making sure of the alignment they could easily have installed it off by a tooth. Let us know what you find.

K
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Bob Kraushaar '94 945T, '91 940T(retired), '88 240, '84 242Ti, '94 F-150, '88 300TE, '89 560 SL, '68 Shelby GT-500 KR

boost is NOT dependant on revs..total misunderstanding of the way a turbo works...


boost is governed by the exhaust speed of gas from the engine spinnign the impeeleer fast enought that the inlet impeller can compress air faster than the engine swallows it...

so basically you can actually generate boost at 1k rpm in 5th if the engine is labouring (but you need a manual box to do that...)

i would suggest you read the FAQ section on turbo's at lewast 3 times start to finish then do it all (including checks for leaking pipes & plugged cat)...

basically in my turbo on a nice straight road with a gradient i can put it in boost from start and hold it there to 100mph plus with no effort and it feels fairly quick...

or put it another way get the car rolling at 45-50 and stamp on it and if the result doesnt make you pull your foot of fairly quickly as you pass 80+...well then it aint right...

first do the easy stuff (air filter, plugs, leads, distributor cap, rotor arm), perhaps 'open' the breathing thru the airbox and change the exhaust - stock is fine but a new exhaust flows far better than an old one...then check the CAT..

now also and these are MUSTS clean and service the PCV and clan the throttle body, and drop a can of injector cleaner thru the car....also clean out all your turbo pipes and intercooler

for peice of mind do a coolant replace, brake fluid replace, oil change andchange the thermostat. change gearbox oil (atf)

with the exception of the exhaust all the others are doable wwithin a day yourself with few tools and little knowledge...

do the above and I will place money that you get a fairly dramatic increase in performance...with turbo's the little things really add up...

Hi Justin, Find a vacuum port on the intake manifold behind the throttle plate, attatch a pressure guage to it and do a standing start full excell. Read the amount of boost in lbs. should be about 8 lbs. If you don't get that high you need to check your waste gate to make sure it is shut. If the waist gate is working and you still don't get to 8 lbs., then you need to check for leaks from the outlet of the turbo to the throttle body. To do that you need to block off the hose from turbo and the hose to the throttle body. Find the hose that crosses you valve cover and insert a valve stem into the hose so you can apply 15 lbs pressure to the intake system. Use a soapy water solution to detect for leaks. If at that point you have no leaks then you need to adjust your waste gate. Just a reminder, anything over 9 lbs of boost will shut down your fuel pump unless you modify the vacuum hose to bleed off pressure before it gets to switch. Good luck. Pauli