SSautochrome wastegate screwed me?

[suprafly]

Ok, I've had my ssautochrome 4 bolt external wastegate on my car for about a week now and it has been fine. Then, yesterday, all of a sudden I boosted it once on the freeway to 12psi and it was fine, then I tried it again and it would struggle to hit even 4 psi. It doesn't want to boost in the lower gears at all and you really have to ream on it to get it to boost. Could the WG have stuck open? I don't think it is a boost leak because I've checked most of the connections and with a boost leak i think i would hit FCO at 5 psi, which I don't. So I took the wastegate out and examined it, and it sure doesn't look like it's stuck open. The plunger returns all the way to the top. BUT, I've noticed I think it is a bit easier to push in the spring than when it was new. How can I check to see if it's kosher? What else could the problem be? I have the bosch bov, could it be leaking? My mods are:

MAFT Conversion, 550's, Wally pump, T4 manifold, Custom T61 turbo, 3" custom DP and catback, custom 2.25" IC pipes, huge ass ebay FMIC, ssautochrome external WG, Electric fan conversion, A/C and p/s removed.

Thank you so much guys for any insight

 

[Wreckless]

If you can move the spring easily with your hands then chances are its blowing open and causing your problem. Try getting a beefier spring and installing that.

 

[siman]

Can you HEAR the wastegate being stuck OPEN with 4psi boost being made? ( are you externally dumping?) If you have an external set up you would hear ALOT more exhaust coming out of the wastegate than normal....then that would be your problem.


-Jonathan

 

[Jon@935motorsports]

ohh ya, for everyone else, Ebay wastegates suck.

 

[siman]

ohh ya, for everyone else, Ebay wastegates suck.

And your findings ( opinions ) came from what studies?

Before you bash a product simply becuase its cheaper.....geesh:nono:

When an HKS/Greddy wastegate is stuck open or shut, people just automatically assume its "old" or "worn out"...

but when an SSautochrome wastegate is stuck open or shut...people say its cheap?

Sounds alot like people trying to put face to thier $500 waste gates:biglaugh:

Of course if your running 30lbs of boost you want something beefier and possibly made of better materials...but for us that are running 20lbs or less and not really THAT HARD on our cars....I think they do just fine.

And of course your mad, your losing business.

-J. Mann

 

[Dirgle]

You get what you pay for Siman, simple fact of life.

 

[figgie]

And your findings ( opinions ) came from what studies?

Before you bash a product simply becuase its cheaper.....geesh:nono:

When an HKS/Greddy wastegate is stuck open or shut, people just automatically assume its "old" or "worn out"...

but when an SSautochrome wastegate is stuck open or shut...people say its cheap?

Sounds alot like people trying to put face to thier $500 waste gates:biglaugh:

Of course if your running 30lbs of boost you want something beefier and possibly made of better materials...but for us that are running 20lbs or less and not really THAT HARD on our cars....I think they do just fine.

And of course your mad, your losing business.

-J. Mann

umm not for anything but when I seen them shitty wastegates get stuck closed that you have to open them up and sand away the inside... yes that constitutes sucking as that means boost goes up and up and up...

 

[WeDgE]

That's all you have to do? Just sand the inside? That doesn't seem too bad...just do it before you install it and you should be good to go!

 

[MDCmotorsports]

You have to take it apart and sand the shaft to a mirror finish. Then you shouldn't have a problem. Although I have been told the springs are cheap too and don't tollerate the heat very well.
Get a new HKS spring, sand the shaft to mirror, and you should be golden.

And to answer the first post, yes the wastegate is stuck.

 

[WeDgE]

Oh ok, that'll be easy to do. I'd rather do that than spend $500+ on a wastegate!

 

[IJ.]

Back in the "day" If you didn't pop the WG at least once a week they would seize up due to the condensation and contaminants in there.

Usually they'd seize closed and you'd have wonderful power for hmmmm maybe 20 seconds if you didn't catch it!

From time to time the Valve shaft would seize open so bugger all boost!

As mentioned already the cure was to polish the Valves shaft (Usually putting it in a drill spinning it up and using fine wetNdry sandpaper with crc 5/56 did the trick!)

 

[siman]

Well I would rather spend $125 + some $5 for sand paper and free water and some time in the garage than spend $500+ for a name.

You do not get what you pay for, you just have to put some work into what you have gotten for a deal

 

[outofstep]

ohhhh noeess!!! It doesnt have tial/hks/greddy stamped on it. It must be trash!

Same folks that bought the HKS pipe back in the day instead of spending 5 bucks on a SS one...

 

[suprafly]

Ok guys you were right I took it apart and greased the shaft and cleaned her up and it is fine now. And in response to the external wg comment, yes it is but my dump tube is rerouted so I could never hear it anyway.

 

[siman]

Ok guys you were right I took it apart and greased the shaft and cleaned her up and it is fine now. And in response to the external wg comment, yes it is but my dump tube is rerouted so I could never hear it anyway.

Thats why you should run it open. :icon_razz

 

[Justin727]

so she is running just fine now correct?

 

[chevyeater]

Hrm... $125 for a "Fischer Price my first wastegate" or $215 for a Tial. Tough choice there, especially when you are one stuck wastegate away from a new engine.

 

[WeDgE]

Hrm... $125 for a "Fischer Price my first wastegate" or $215 for a Tial. Tough choice there, especially when you are one stuck wastegate away from a new engine.

There is such a thing as fuel cut...

Sand/Polish the shaft before you install and you'll be good...nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd rather take my stuff apart and know how it works/inspect it instead of just throwing on some "name brand" part.

Not to mention, for $125 you get a heckuva lot larger WG than you do with the $215 Tial.

 

[chevyeater]

There is such a thing as fuel cut...

Sand/Polish the shaft before you install and you'll be good...nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd rather take my stuff apart and know how it works/inspect it instead of just throwing on some "name brand" part.

Not to mention, for $125 you get a heckuva lot larger WG than you do with the $215 Tial.

You don't need a gaping 50mm wastegate unless you are trying to run 5 psi on a GT28 or something.

I already know how a wastegate works (I've had my share of autochrome ones apart) so, I'm really not interested in taking apart a brand new piece to fix it, then take it apart again to fix it some more when it breaks again, then take the motor apart because it stuck shut in the middle of a race. Sanding the valve stem only solves one of the problems BTW.

Fuel cut is no longer in alot of peoples setups and isn't set at a safe airflow/pressure in alot of others. Don't bet on it to save your engine unless you have a fully configurable fuel cut, like the AEM EMS has, and actually have it configured correctly for current conditions.

This is all just my opinion, of course and I don't know about you but, I never "throw" anything on my car. Every part is inspected before installation, no matter the manufacture.

 

[drjonez]

Hrm... $125 for a "Fischer Price my first wastegate" or $215 for a Tial. Tough choice there, especially when you are one stuck wastegate away from a new engine.

exactly.

unfortunately, you and i are the only few that see sense in that logic. oh well....there's a large difference between being frugal and being stupid.