Boost leak and t-bolts

sprz31 · 07-08-2009, 06:42 PM

I just put tbolts on the throttle body and drivers side of the intercooler and took her for a quick spin to make sure everything was good before I moved to the next side. I boosted wot in third and peeked at 18 psi before coming down to 16/15. I normally peek at 15psi and it felt like I had a boost leak(which is why I bought the t-bolts). I do not have an aftermarker boost gauge so I can not see the vaccuum which would likely be very helpful. Maybe it is just my imagination, but who knows.

Any thoughts?

Carpe Diem · 07-08-2009, 07:01 PM

I had a stock T-bolt loosen up on me while on my way to Denver. It was the one between the cast elbow that comes off the top of the turbo and the rubber tube that connects to the IC inlet pipe. Sounded like a small shotgun when it let go. Scared the last diet Coke out of me. Wasn't even near maximum boost - maybe only 4 or 5 psi. Somehow, even though there are traces of lock-tite on the bolt and nut, the nut had backed off. It was easy enough to fix, but it happened when I was about 6 miles back in the woods on a little traveled, single lane rough county road out of cell phone coverage.

Funny thing. After it happened I was able to limp into the next town, with zero boost, and not a whole lot of power. When I got to town, I was able see what had actually happened, and fix it myself. But I never got a CEL or a code on my Dashhawk.

sprz31 · 07-08-2009, 07:09 PM

^^^
Thank god you had some tools on you to fix that. If I had one i dont think it was too bad. Probably just some leaking. I really want to get a few more t-bolts for where my I/C pipe meet the tb elbow because it seems loose to me on there. My new flashed ecm should be here any day now and I think the increased boost is going to blow it right off.

XplosivePlushToy · 07-09-2009, 11:06 PM

Wow. After reading this thread, I decided to go check all my hose clamps just to be on the safe side (the car has been acting a little funny after a similar loud sound on sunday). The car has been hitting normal boost of 22-23PSI, but running up what I felt was just a little more slowly, and the exhaust sound changed (imperceptibly to my roommates). I was surprised at how much room I had to tighten those things. The clamps on the throttle body were especially loose.

Hopefully this fixed my issues, and if anything, I know at least some good will come of it.

rich71 · 07-10-2009, 06:27 AM

it doesn't matter how much you tighten the stock worm clamp on the throttle body, it won't seal properly. at least replace the 2 clamps on the throttle body pipe with t bolts. I too had the outlet tbolt clamp on the turbo side come loose even though the yellow marker paint looked intack.....tighten those too. The clamps on the intercooler seem to seal ok, but if you get to changing those too, it won't hurt.

Sol-Mates · 07-10-2009, 01:39 PM

I installed t-clamps on the throttle body side and I did see a difference, but every time I check them I can tighten them more. I don't know why they loosen up.

GS Stage 1 · 07-10-2009, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sol-Mates

I installed t-clamps on the throttle body side and I did see a difference, but every time I check them I can tighten them more. I don't know why they loosen up.

I also just had to tighten up the T-Clamps that I had installed on the T-Body inlet elbow. The car puked on itself a couple times during cold start warm up the other day, and I knew it was sucking air by a clamp again. It was not near as bad as when the factory clamp failed, when that happened the car would barely run on cold start up.

But the symptom was similar, so I figured the new clamps were loose.

I don't think they backed off, per say. I think it is more a matter of break in time for the the new clamps to seat. The factory clamp was much narrower than the T-Clamp, so the new clamp needs to squish down the rubber around the indent made by the factory clamp. I am pretty sure that is what is really going on. I am going to keep an eye on it, and if I have to tighten them back up more than a couple more times, then I will slap some lock tight on the nut.

rich71 · 07-11-2009, 06:34 AM

What brand of clamps are you using? I have clamps from verocious motorsport and they are still tight. could be a difference in the quality of the nylon in the locking nut? or yes the new clamp is settling into the hose as you said. Either way it doesn't hurt to check.

GS Stage 1 · 07-11-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich71

What brand of clamps are you using? I have clamps from verocious motorsport and they are still tight. could be a difference in the quality of the nylon in the locking nut? or yes the new clamp is settling into the hose as you said. Either way it doesn't hurt to check.

Mine are off the shelf NAPA T-Clamps. They are beefy construction with a self-locking nut. But maybe the nut could be backing off.

Sol-Mates · 07-11-2009, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich71

What brand of clamps are you using? I have clamps from verocious motorsport and they are still tight. could be a difference in the quality of the nylon in the locking nut? or yes the new clamp is settling into the hose as you said. Either way it doesn't hurt to check.

I'm using the Verocious Motorsports clamps as well.

rich71 · 07-12-2009, 08:23 AM

mine are still tight....maybe i overtirghtened them to begin with????? Either way, we are still in a better place with the t bolts.