<VV> New owner turbo question

[FrankCB]

Grant and Guus,
     Good advice from Guus.  Even a small exhaust gas leak UPSTREAM of the turbo will eliminate the boost.  Further details on what to check are given in the Turbocharging Chapter of the Corvair Basics Manual available from CORSA as well as the Corvair vendors.       
     Frank Burkhard

In a message dated 01/24/10 02:53:04 Eastern Standard Time, guusdehaan at mac.com writes:
Op 24 jan 2010, om 00:51 heeft Grant Young het volgende geschreven: 

> I got the following note from a new Corsa owner. What should I tell him? 
> Thanks, 
> Grant 
> 
> <<I think I may need a turbo! I was told (may be wrong) when the vacuum gauge goes on the neg or minus side under power it means the turbo is not spinning. Is it that the more air pressure that the turbo is moving into the motor it will give you a plus reading on the gauge?>> 

It may not be clear to him what to expect from a turbo-vair. 

What I typically see from my turbo. Normal driving, needle moves from negative values to zero, no boost. When, let say in third gear, I fully open her up the needle goes to zero and then slowly moves into the positive values. This doesn't happen at low refs, it's not a modern turbo! You need to take the engine at least to 3000-3500 before any boost is shown but if you are up to it go on and see if boost is developing at higher revs, say 4500 to 5000. Be sure to fully warm the engine up and be sure you have a quiet and straight piece of road before you do this! If the needle still does not show any positive values AND you don't feel any power building up there is something wrong with the system. 

First check: tight exhaust system 
Second check: take the carb of the turbo and check if the turbo spins freely (if at all) 

Point him to VV if he has more questions! 


Regards, 

Guus de Haan 
The Netherlands 
'65 Corsa Turbo-Charged Cvt