my car wont boost turbo seems fine not much play at all in shaft and i have made sure i have no air leaks could this be the actuator ive tryed everything else but i havent a clue what to do i havent had to do anything with it till now how do i know if its bit the dust?

 

see if this helps, i've copied it from elsewhere on the site

SECTION 12 - BOOST PROBLEMS

Right before I go into this, make sure you have the right ECU for the right car. Some tuning companies won’t touch the car if it has the wrong ECU on it, and some will. Best to check if you don’t want to be turned away.

Blue-Red-Blue = Series one cars (B, C, D)
Blue-Red-White = Early series two cars, with no knock sensor, mainly the first D plates
Blue-Red-Black = Series 2 cars with a knock sensor (E, F, G)
Hearts & Diamonds = 90 spec cars, with a knock sensor (G, H)

If you are wondering what the knock sensor is, it is a green plug that is on the right hand side of the inlet manifold.

Right to test the boost on the car, the first thing to check are the boost hoses and jubilee clips, this will cost you nothing. Moving on from there the next thing to check is the Amal valve. It is a small electric solenoid, and it is attached to the gearbox, if you look below the water thermostat housing you should see it sat there with three hoses running to it. When you switch the ignition on, it should click. If it doesn’t it might well be dead.

The easiest way to check the boost is by a boost gauge, and that’s why most people fit them to their cars. A standard RST should be boosting at 7 – 8 PSI. If not then there are a few reasons why it might not be.

First up the actuator. This might be worn, or it might be set up wrong. To adjust the boost you have alter the length of this rod. To increase the boost shorten the rod, to lower the boost lengthen the road, and don’t forget the clip for the end of it either.

Another reason the boost might be wrong are the hoses that run from the turbo to the Amal valve. Check they are OK and that they are secured tight. Another hose to check is the one that runs from the ECU itself to the inlet manifold. Don’t run a car without this hose!

Another reason why the car might not be holding the boost is that the turbo might be dead. It might have worn internally and so it can’t create any boost at all, or debris might have got inside and damaged something. But only assume it’s the turbo as a last resort, as it’s the most expensive part to replace

 

cheers bud but that dont realy help ive just pushed on the actutor and it springed back im assuming this is good so dont realy have any ideas what else it could be?

 

Best and easiest way to check is to see if the actuator rod is hard to pull out, if its easy like a sunday morning then its fooked!

 

yeah its stiff to pull out im starting to think it istn that now im tatlly outa ideas im just hoping it aint the turbo how hard are the turbos to refurb yaself

 

you could have a cracked exhaust housing, where the actuator seals

 

Or a dodgey wastegate that leaks gas from the housing bypassing the fan also.

 

see the thing is the car aint been used been sitting in me garage for 6months and aint been drivin for 14month its only been started and ticked over every weekend so its gotta be sumit simple of sumit that can rot/erode so it could be the wastegat its self? im totally sick ov this car now like been 14month ov things going wrong any one want to buy it lol

 

have you checked the amal valve and pipework to and from it?

 

cant be a cracked housing if you havnt used it.

try a new actuator.

 

yeah might have too m8 ah its been sitting for months on end now so it shouldnt be a mechanical failure forgot to mention i ran it a couple ov weeks ago with the wrong oil in basiclly i put it just to keep it lubed was skint at the time so had some spare oil off my transit td lol could this have fooked the turbo