How do I know if my Turbo Charger is working?

[JSteward]

I have ordered my gauges. Until they come in, is there an easy way to tell whether the turbo is working?
I have low power and getting 14-15mpg. She runs a little hot as well.

Thanks

[Hubert]

Well you can't really tell how well its working without a boost gauge. It can work OK but not really make a lot of boost and its a sublte difference if you are just driving it easy.

Some tale tale signs are moderate to heavy black smoke under load with moderate to heavy throttle. Usually under acceleration or climbing a hill. It will set a code (service engine soon -ses) light if something is really out of tolerance.

But generally its not the turbo that goes bad its the factory vaccum controls, plugged exhaust, or dirty air filter that hurts boost. Or other problems. Tons of threads on it. If you have a vaccum gauge you can diagnose the vaccum system. They are $20-30 bucks at most auto stores. It should pull a min of 15in Hg at the turbo at idle the more the better. Could be a leak or weak pump or solenoid.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

Nothin' to it. Put the boot to 'er. If you get ANY black smoke, your short boost. If you get gray smoke that you can really only see at night in your mirror through headlights of following vehicles, that's about right.

If you or somone you know has an old vacuum/pressure gauge laying around, you can use if for a temporary boost gauge. Just put a fitting on your plenum & connect it to the gauge, running your tubing past the corner of the hood & the front edge of the door to your dash. I've been temporarily monitoring the boost in my 95 pickup this way for about 3 years now.

Blessings!

[DmaxMaverick]

Good Day!

....I've been temporarily monitoring the boost in my 95 pickup this way for about 3 years now....Temporarily?? Yeah. Like... "Honey (Honey=me), my brother will be staying with us, but it's only temporary." That temporary period was about the same, so temporary must mean 3 years. I'll have to have a talk with Webster about that one.

[Shikaroka]

If you or somone you know has an old vacuum/pressure gauge laying around, you can use if for a temporary boost gauge. Just put a fitting on your plenum & connect it to the gauge, running your tubing past the corner of the hood & the front edge of the door to your dash.

I did this yesterday; Installed a make-shift, "temporary", boost guage.
What is a good boost pressure to see? I was lucky to get it past 3 psi, and it only spiked up to almost 4 psi a couple times.

I can see the wastegate close when I start the engine, but I'd say the vaccum is a little weak. Maybe I need to look into the vaccum solenoid?

If I replace the wastegate accuator with one of the spring loaded units from Heath, I can ditch the vaccum solenoid, right?

What else runs off the vaccum pump?

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

Great - I gotta take my boost gauge off my dash so DmaxMaverick can get his life back. :)

[list]
With engine off, see if Wastegate Actuator moves relatively freely.
Tee into vacuum between vacuum pump & Wastegate Control Solenoid

[Shikaroka]

Thanks for the info! :)

I'd say I have a problem. When cruising at 65, my gauge reads about 0, or at least well below 1 psi.
I'll try to do some diagnosing this weekend.

If it's bad, should I replace the solenoid with a new or, or ditch it for the manual controller?

[JohnC]

Thanks for the info! :)

I'd say I have a problem. When cruising at 65, my gauge reads about 0, or at least well below 1 psi.

If your SES light is not on, my bet is the vacuum pump is TU or there's a major leak somewhere.

[Shikaroka]

If your SES light is not on, my bet is the vacuum pump is TU or there's a major leak somewhere.

Yeh, no light. I hope to check it out today. I just haven't had that extra foot to help me yet.