Car is a 89 TII. 20k miles on the engine, 100k on the rest of the car.

- while idling, it 'hiccups' every couple of seconds which corresponds to a minor drop in rpm

- almost zero boost even under full throttle. needle creeps to maybe about a quarter inch above 0. pegged below -20 during regular driving and when engine is off / ignition is 'on'

- under full acceleration, the car seems to jerk. (as if the turbo was engaging/disengaging)

should i believe i have a vacuum leak somewhere which is causing my mixture to be too rich?

 

punt

 

broken wastegate diaphram.. those normally don't go bad thou.... check your boost controller.. is the car really loud like an exhaust leak..... it could be either the gasket between the engine and the manifold or the gasket between the manifold and the turbo. those doo blow out....i've had both blow before... ??????

 

Your boost gauge is f*cked (that's too harsh, it may be just the board needs a cleaning). You would be well advised to get yourself an aftermarket gauge so you know where you stand.

I'm assuming the car is stock?

How severe? Certain RPMs?

 

Heff, the car is pretty much stock, cept for the intake.

I've got gauges in the mail, waiting for their arrival because I assume the stock boost gauge is gone. What worries me is the not-so-steady acceleration I'm getting. It's hard to describe; basically it feels like it's choking under full throttle. The car doesn't buck - it just doesn't pull away from the line steady. Happens throughout the power curve in the lower gears, not so noticable once i'm cruising at higher speed.

It definitely feels like it's being held back. I've never owned a turbocharged car before so I dont have any experience with how much power i'm supposed to 'feel' - however this does not seem right at all.

 

I know grounds can be a problem with the transition point of the secondary injectors. And stock cats can become restrictive after a lot of miles and prevent the car from revving feely.

 

So the turbo has 100K miles?

 

i believe it does. previous owner left his reciepts from buying a brand new engine through mazda and installing it, but i assume they used everything from the blown one that they could. i didnt see anything about replacing the turbo on there.

 

I'd check the condition of the turbo. Shaft play...everything.

Stock turbo's for most turbo cars last 80-100K before needing service. I'm up to 103K on mine, and it's not boosting steadily.

 

how much does it cost usually to have it rebuilt by a place like turbonetics? they dont have much info on their site

 

First be SURE it needs a rebuild.

Check out the FSM (factory service manual) at www.fc3s.org ...

If the turbo is out of spec, give them a call. Plain rebuilds shouldn't be too much in price. Upgraded compressors and the "works" is generally something like 7-900.



Check everything else. Be sure what you replace is broken. I've done the opposite waaaay too many times.