would a leak on the inlet manifold show up all the time eg normal driving or tick over or would it be possible it could only leak over certain boost levels.. its got a cometic gasket at the moment...
many thanks.

 

yes it could leak only under boost some times they leak tick over just spray a can of carb cleaner and see if the reves shoot up if they do you have a leak and dont spray it near the cap or leads

 

my thinking behind the leak over a certain boost level is that i cant get the car to boost over 20 psi. A1 have said that i have a boost leak somewhere ive checked all the places i can think of and was wondering if it could be the manifold maybe. otherwise ill just wait for the better weather and brave the 500 mile round trip for them to look at it..

 

Are your boost pipes new? If not they may have a slight split that you cant see but 20 psi of boost will find it.

Are the jubilee clips that hold the boost pipes on tight?

Have you played around with cam timing?

 

not touched the cam timing and the boost pipes are new. i changed the bolts on the plenum for stainless ones and am wondering if i could have dislodged the gasket in some way . i did them 1 at a time not removing the cover.