I recently installed a hybrid T04B/s5 turbo onto my Turbo II:



The turbo is equipped with a Turbonetics WG actuator using a 10psi spring. I recently found out that when pressurized, the actuator leaks... My fear is that with the pressure constantly bleeding off, the spring is not responding accurately.

In 1st gear, the max psi that I see is around 9-10psi, in 2nd it's around 10-11psi, 3rd is 12+, 4th is 14-15psi.

I've come to the conclusion that with the increasingly sustained boost pressure found in the higher gears (3rd gear+), the WG is wanting to shut as the pressure bleeds off, thereby causing the boost to rise to the 10+ level... Anyone else agree? It's so bad, that if I tune my car to low 11 AFR's (via wideband and SAFC) in 4th gear at 14psi, that when I get back on the street I see AFR's in the 9's in 1st gear...

Can my actuator be fixed by (for example) a local turbo shop? Or do I need to buy another actuator... If so, where should I look?

 

With most waste gates you can adjust/replace the spring to the setting you want.

What it sounds like to me (and you should NOT take my word for this since I only have first hand experience with NA at the moment) that the pressure is building correctly, however when you're in the higher gears what are your revs at? Turbos use the exshaust to spool so if you're revving higher in the later gears you should have more boost pressure built resulting in an increase of volume. If the WG is set to 10psi then when your turbo reaches 10psi it's going to start to vent. when it is revving high it may also produce alot more pressure (hence why you're seeing 10+) but the WG can only let out so much air at a time. is your wg using an electric actuator at all or is it compleatly spring?