bigrpowr

short version-

dropped off my car at a local indy with a decent reputation to have injectors swapped for E85 and protomotive E85 tune . i figured while they're in there i had them weld coolant lines, replace fuel filter , replace coil packs , plugs ( needed them changed for E85 ) , serpantine belt , oil, and all the little things i could think of while motor was out.

fast forward, pick up car after they say it's perfect , drive towards home about 20 miles, easily , and the first time i lean on it , it lays down a good bit on the top end , like as soon as boost comes on. so i switch the gauge to boost , and i know mine pegs the gauge at 18 easy ( on ms109 with the tune built for it ) , it hits maybe 13 and immediately drops . as someone that deals with a lot of high boost vehicles , i can tell this thing has a boost leak or something majorly wrong. i text the shop owner saying " hey , i believe this thing has a major boost leak because this thing is WAY down on power vs when i dropped it off " . i assume he never leaned on it , as it seemed decently responsive at part throttle, but even then it wasn't anything like the animal i dropped off. so i pooped the trunk and noticed they had plugged in the MAF sensors , which were unplugged when i dropped it off per the tune , so i unplugged them thinking they could be the culprit, did a test drive, and boom , major white smoke and oil out of the tail pipes .. and as a person who has waste dhis fair share of turbos in the past , i knew what had happened.

so i have it towed right back , and said please figure it out asap, i want my car back. so a week or so later the shop owner calls and says we smoke tested the system and there are no leaks , and i knowing better said, if it made boost , that means its a higher pressure leak , and a simple smoke test wont expose any leak. as well i know from doing the exhaust , that those weird german boost lines needed special attention when reconnecting.

anyway , to the point , he tells me that if one of those lines is loose they will blow off , and that didn't happen. both turbo's are pissing oil and he is having them gone thru and rebuilt. does what he say about them blowing off hold water or can they leak if not connected 100% ? should i over complicate matters by just buying the DO88 boost hoses and be done with that end of things ? i actually meant to have those hoses for this job but forgot .

so should i swap hoses while in the middle of this debacle ?

as well the shop owner seems to be blaming the turbo linkage , i'm just having a hard time believing any of that because boost leaks waste turbos because they cause severe overspeed conditions.

any input would be great, i just want my car back , it's just too fun not to drive and i'm very sad without it . my 700hp f250 sucks compared to it . and not to mention i spent $4300 on all the work .

therock88

Well...In the case of the VTGs...If the linkage pops off or was left off, it would create an issue as the vanes would not move as they should and you would not get the proper boost...So you should check that before assuming it is something else.

DC

bigrpowr

thank you ! does leaving the linkage attached improperly lead to blown turbos ?

therock88

That is very unlikely as it just changes the pitch on the floating vanes. But it will manifest as lost boost, or boost leak, which is why I suggest checking.

It is common for these to be left off, loose, or knocked off while doing other work (like spark plugs, exhaust, etc.). There is also a TSB on these cars for them sticking, and a process for removing and applying high temp silicon to the snap on ball joints.

Easy to check visually and easy to snap on and/or lube once you have access to them.

See below image which is very close to what the 997 VTG Actuators look like. (This is not the exact model, but nearly identical). The ball joints can pop off/or be popped off, or stick.

Good luck.
DC

bigrpowr

i just assume boost leak because those hoses seem a bit tricky , at least when i did them while doing exhaust. any idea if they will leak at higher boost yet not come apart ? my assumption is because of 2 wasted turbos in 20 miles of driving , that it was that and not the linkage .

therock88

Usually, they will hold at lower boost, even if not installed properly, but when boost increases they will pop off. You typically hear them pop off. Also you immediately get a loud hissing sound if the hose pops off...