Not feeling the power from my turbo!

[Richiem]

Not sure if im just use to higher powered calis but mine seems well bellow the 200bhp it should be when i drive it.
Got her in 2wd right now and i would of thought pushing her would of atleast got a spin from the front wheels but nothing. Tbh, feeling like im driving a 150bhp car.. Boost gauge says im getting 10psi boost but it sure dont feel like its going to the wheels.. May have to check vac hoses ect as i suspect im loosing the extra BOOM!

[Chavtastic]

You may be getting full boost but any number of other items could be losing you power, eg fuelling, ignition, timing etc

[marianv]

i how god condition is your clutch. does it smels, but if you worn out it completely it wont smell

[Callyman]

Is it running really rich?

[v6 steve]

are your running std management ?

[Richiem]

Standard everything ( as far as i can tell) Might be running rich Andy as smells kinda like it is tbh and a little hesitant when warming up!! Also getting them little dink sounds from the engine when its running like its over fueling ..Not sure how to change that tbh either. Fuel pressure is correct as just checked!!
Plugs are new standard jobs from vaux. injectors have just been cleaned and checked! Wondering if i have any vacuum hoses are are wrong as the whole engine was apart recently so possible there messed up or the amul valve is connected wrong!
Have checked all the standard boost pipes ect and they all look spot on ..

[Richiem]

Also , the clutch seems spot on with the car and is possibly the best clutch gearbox ive had in all 5 of my turbos!

[Callyman]

If any sensor is telling he ECU it's hot the first it'll do I'd over fuel to protect itself.
Get another genuine cts to start with

[Robs-se]

If you're getting the dink/pinking noise i always thought the timing was out slightly coz i remember on the cars i had with distributers you had to either advance or retard the cap accordinly

[Richiem]

Have moved forward some what with this now and found a few pointers.
Firstly , another le turbo owner stopped by today with his standard set up car and its noticably better than mine and really pulls well.
This confirms my thoughts that mine doesnt feel like its hardly boosting at all.
He came for a blast around the block with me and also noticed that my engine seemed to be doing all the work alone and there seemed little help from the turbo.
Of course, once he went home i was now on the car looking for possible causes!
Called up martin p and we sort of exchanged thoughts!
1st i noticed my actuator seems shagged! By that i mean i can pull it across using only my thumb and forefinger and it has some play in the shaft. Its not really loose but i can move it back and forward without to much power ( something to sort)
Just drove after disconnecting the actuator vaccum and blocking the return vaccum to amul valve and it did drive better , but still not much gain. ( still dont spin wheels in 2wd??)
( did notice it cut when over boost came in which i guess shows its all working!!)
Also, the car does seem to be running rich as it drives like crap when cold and has dark smoke from exhaust and then gets better once warmed up ( noticed this since colder)
See that the lambda sensor is battered and out of shape and also cross threaded into elbow. ( this needs to be sorted)
Tried to remove it but its jammed solid! Thinking this could be rich running problem !!!
Thinking of looking to see if penny valve is cracked or not closing tight??
Or for leaks from turbo to top hat side of thing next!!

[Richiem]

On it tomorrow! Gonna see if i can get to the bottom of the cold running thing. Car stalls when started cold atleast twiced then when it does start i get a nice cloud of soot from the exhaust and it then runs ok but is hesitant till warmed up ok!
Only started doing this when it got colder outside. plugs are new and seem good / have new cts / new rota / new cap/ new leads/ new afm/ new coil/ fuel pressure is spot on. A few have mentioned the timing but im sure it would be more obvious if wrong and me and martin set that spot on when we did the new belt just a while back.
I suppose it could be running slightly off due to something rather than it being a turbo issue tho??
Still seem to be loosing around a ltr or so of oil every 100 miles with no idea were its going???
Not seeing it anywere on underside as sump and sub frame dry and not seeing it through exhaust ( not enough for that loss)
Thats still baffling me tbh!! Can smell oil through dash vents but no idea were from? ( very odd)

[Callyman]

You'll get the smell of burning oil in the cabin if the oil in the turbo bearing is getting past the seal. (fairly common).
Look at the turbo from underneath and look at the exhaust side, if it's black/carbonised on the surface then the oil is getting past the seals and leaking out, but to notice a drop in oil level it would have to be a bad leak, it would really stink.

[Richiem]

Well that was one of those days you wish you didnt do a job lol
Removed the elbow to check the inside of turbo and right at the start i got a problem.
One of them horrid cast 11mm bolts sheared of like it was made of butter
Now ive got the problem of trying to remove it from the turbo
And tbh, it seems like i might have done this damge for nothing!!!
Not seeing any damage in there to the penny valve ect other than the fact its really loose??
Not sure if this is the normal as i cant truely remember how it was on the other cars in the past.
No cracks tho ! Did seem rather white in there and i noticed the end of the lambda sensor was white also.
Added some pics anyway to show what i found. Ended up removing the whole turbo as i now have to fiqure out how to get the dam cast bolt out of the turbo ! Tried to drill for extractor tool but none of my drill bits will scratch the dam thing

[Richiem]

Hold up! Is that a small crack in the rim i can see there?? only tiny but looks like it might be one

[Callyman]

The Turbo can leak oil onto the outer casing. Mine did it.
You can see it on the drain pipe and where I've rubbed it onto the casing. It Wasn't coming from the pipe fitting.
If you have high oil pressure you really need staggered oil seals.