Upgrading turbo, need some guidelines.
09-20-07, 01:04 PM
#1
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Upgrading turbo, need some guidelines.
My car is an 87 TII. First off, the reason I need to replace the turbo (not sure) is because I have a massive exhaust leak that's definitely coming from the general turbo/manifold area.
The turbo spools at about 1000 rpm higher than normal and it sounds kind of whiny and well....more like a turbo leaking boost than anything else. I think I might have blown my manifold gasket on the freeway when I was doing about 6500 in 4th and I heard something not explode per say...but more like some seal went out and since then it's sounded like a lawnmower and I can't even hear the turbo spool, but for the most part it's only lost about 20-30% power, so it's not a seal. On the freeway around 6500 rpm on the freeway it starts to lost power, so my turbo might be done, but i'm not sure.
If I go to a bigger turbo, i'll need the appropriate manifold and I'm also going to FMIC instead of TMIC while I have the turbo disassembled. Now I have two problems. Number one, I'm going to have about 2 vacuum lines that can no longer go into an aftermarket turbo and I have one big vacuum line going into the TMIC, what should I be doing with these?
Also, when I take my turbo off, since i've never done major work on my FC, will I have to take my intake manifold off and can I work around all the crap in there and take the turbo off without removing anything else? If I upgrade the turbo and still run 6 lbs. stock, will I have to go with a reprogram or different engine management or can I keep the stock ECU until I decide to turn up the boost?
Sorry it's a lot of crap, but I hope someone can help
Thanks, Steven.
The turbo spools at about 1000 rpm higher than normal and it sounds kind of whiny and well....more like a turbo leaking boost than anything else. I think I might have blown my manifold gasket on the freeway when I was doing about 6500 in 4th and I heard something not explode per say...but more like some seal went out and since then it's sounded like a lawnmower and I can't even hear the turbo spool, but for the most part it's only lost about 20-30% power, so it's not a seal. On the freeway around 6500 rpm on the freeway it starts to lost power, so my turbo might be done, but i'm not sure.
If I go to a bigger turbo, i'll need the appropriate manifold and I'm also going to FMIC instead of TMIC while I have the turbo disassembled. Now I have two problems. Number one, I'm going to have about 2 vacuum lines that can no longer go into an aftermarket turbo and I have one big vacuum line going into the TMIC, what should I be doing with these?
Also, when I take my turbo off, since i've never done major work on my FC, will I have to take my intake manifold off and can I work around all the crap in there and take the turbo off without removing anything else? If I upgrade the turbo and still run 6 lbs. stock, will I have to go with a reprogram or different engine management or can I keep the stock ECU until I decide to turn up the boost?
Sorry it's a lot of crap, but I hope someone can help
Thanks, Steven.
09-21-07, 03:35 AM
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ok ill start.
as for the first part i cant really give you a good answer.
For a new turbo setup i would honestly take off all the turbo related lines and start over. The 2 vacuum lines you are talking about i belive are for the wastegat? When i plumbed my lines i started pretty much fresh. I had a few lines that were already run that i left (fpr, boost sensor, map, the big metal tube on the firewall. Aside from that i replaced everything my boost controller had some lines it needed and my wastegate had some too so i ran those and all is well. i dont know if that helped but i tried. When you do your setup, run the lines you need then cap the rest. just make sure you arent capping something important.
To extract the stock turbo you are going to want to take off the uim, lim, dp and whatever else is around it. Then unbolt the manifold. There should be eneough room to extract it.
If you upgrade your turbo upgrade your ecu at the same time.
A few things that you havent mentioned... what are you going to do about upgrading the fuel. you also may want to think about upgrading your radiator too.
As far as turbo upgrades are concerned, tell us your budget and your goals/uses for the car and people can help you out,
good luck
as for the first part i cant really give you a good answer.
For a new turbo setup i would honestly take off all the turbo related lines and start over. The 2 vacuum lines you are talking about i belive are for the wastegat? When i plumbed my lines i started pretty much fresh. I had a few lines that were already run that i left (fpr, boost sensor, map, the big metal tube on the firewall. Aside from that i replaced everything my boost controller had some lines it needed and my wastegate had some too so i ran those and all is well. i dont know if that helped but i tried. When you do your setup, run the lines you need then cap the rest. just make sure you arent capping something important.
To extract the stock turbo you are going to want to take off the uim, lim, dp and whatever else is around it. Then unbolt the manifold. There should be eneough room to extract it.
If you upgrade your turbo upgrade your ecu at the same time.
A few things that you havent mentioned... what are you going to do about upgrading the fuel. you also may want to think about upgrading your radiator too.
As far as turbo upgrades are concerned, tell us your budget and your goals/uses for the car and people can help you out,
good luck
09-21-07, 02:27 PM
#3
Yeah sounds like some pressure leak.
You can take your turbo off without taking the LIM and UIM off. I'm in the process of doing this right now to my 87 TII for the first time . I have someone helping me who knows his ****. I would try to find someone to help you who knows what they are doing. If not just spend some time on this site. You should also buy a factory manual cause you need to know the tq speks on the bolts.
For my turbo I'm upgrading to an s5 turbo. You could buy a blown s5 turbo and combine that with your cold side s4 turbo. You will also need (should) to buy all new gaskets. IF you buy the s5 turbo have the hotside ported for a bigger wastegate and never have to mess with it again. No more boost creep. I would also upgrade the exhaust. I went with a full RB setup.
You can run the stock ECU with upgrading the turbo. Your ECU is set to run around 5.5lbs of boost so you should be OK.
You can take your turbo off without taking the LIM and UIM off. I'm in the process of doing this right now to my 87 TII for the first time
. I have someone helping me who knows his ****. I would try to find someone to help you who knows what they are doing. If not just spend some time on this site. You should also buy a factory manual cause you need to know the tq speks on the bolts. For my turbo I'm upgrading to an s5 turbo. You could buy a blown s5 turbo and combine that with your cold side s4 turbo. You will also need (should) to buy all new gaskets. IF you buy the s5 turbo have the hotside ported for a bigger wastegate and never have to mess with it again. No more boost creep. I would also upgrade the exhaust. I went with a full RB setup.
You can run the stock ECU with upgrading the turbo. Your ECU is set to run around 5.5lbs of boost so you should be OK.
