dhallilama
New member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Location
- Portland, OR
made this a while back when plagued with leak after leak in my last porsche 944 turbo (if you haven't seen under the hood of one, there are miles and miles of vacuum lines... all of which leak at random times).
chasing 20psi on my 744tic, i've been creating new leaks...
leaks are a bitch to find, most of the time. this cheap little rig helps to such an amazing extent i can't begin to imagine why anyone who wrenches on a turbo car would not have one. there are commercial units on the market, but the cheapest i've seen was $80, and it was a piece of crap.
this one cost about $10, everything is available at your local Home Depot, Lowes, or (what i prefer) a local mom and pop hardware store... and takes about 5 minutes to make.
i've taken a 1/4" barb | 1/4" NPT fitting...
<img src="http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2004/11/GetInLine/images/npt_barb_md.jpg">
+ a 3" test cap, by Oatey. heavy duty plastic, quite well made. it's indended use is to plug a 3" pipe for pressure testing.... (i also have a 2", but forgot to take pics of it)...
anyway, drilled a hole in the test cap so the barb fitting sits in nicely... then used the all-powerful JB Weld(tm)...
(the pic also shows the standard air line fitting which is threaded onto the barb/NPT fitting)
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak1.jpg">
(the barb fitting from the opposite side, which is trimmed down a wee bit)
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak3.jpg">
the rear portion of the test cap, with a few holes drilled for the air...
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak2.jpg">
place the thing into the intake side of the turbo, thusly:
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak4.jpg">
tighten the nut on the test cap, which expands the rubber seal (goes from roughly 2.75" to 3.25", so fits a nice variety of stuff). since i'm using the stock intake hose, i threw a hose clamp on it as well.
hook up an air line, with the compressor's regulator TURNED DOWN to 20psi... can't stress that part enough. i've gone to 40psi on other cars, trying to find any hoses that'll pop off... but i can't guarantee that it won't break something doing so. stay with 20...
and listen/feel for leaks.
i found 9. 9 leaks. all fixed within 15 minutes. without this silly little tool, i'd never have found some of them, and would have spent hours looking.
i actually had to turn my boost controller down, to keep it at 20psi, now... some of the leaks were pretty bad, some very minor... they all add up.
suddenly it idles better, gets better mileage, boost comes on a wee bit sooner...
ok, so if you don't have a compressor, it'll for sure cost more than $10... but you can probably borrow one... or be uber ghetto and use the one for filling tires at the gas station (just be real careful of the pressure)
i've got a 2" that works great for the hot side, this one that fits into the intake/compressor side of my T4 cold side (now off the car)... comes in all sorts of handy.
actually works reasonably well on N/A cars, as well, when searching for vacuum leaks...
shopping list:
3" Oatey (or other) Test Cap (plumbing section)
1/4" barb x 1/4" NPT fitting (plumbing section)
1/4" (standard) female air line fitting (tools section)
JB Weld (any self respecting TB'er has this on hand at all times, anyway)
a 3/8" 16TPI nut to replace the wing nut that comes on the test cap (which gets in the way of the fitting)
chasing 20psi on my 744tic, i've been creating new leaks...
leaks are a bitch to find, most of the time. this cheap little rig helps to such an amazing extent i can't begin to imagine why anyone who wrenches on a turbo car would not have one. there are commercial units on the market, but the cheapest i've seen was $80, and it was a piece of crap.
this one cost about $10, everything is available at your local Home Depot, Lowes, or (what i prefer) a local mom and pop hardware store... and takes about 5 minutes to make.
i've taken a 1/4" barb | 1/4" NPT fitting...
<img src="http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2004/11/GetInLine/images/npt_barb_md.jpg">
+ a 3" test cap, by Oatey. heavy duty plastic, quite well made. it's indended use is to plug a 3" pipe for pressure testing.... (i also have a 2", but forgot to take pics of it)...
anyway, drilled a hole in the test cap so the barb fitting sits in nicely... then used the all-powerful JB Weld(tm)...
(the pic also shows the standard air line fitting which is threaded onto the barb/NPT fitting)
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak1.jpg">
(the barb fitting from the opposite side, which is trimmed down a wee bit)
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak3.jpg">
the rear portion of the test cap, with a few holes drilled for the air...
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak2.jpg">
place the thing into the intake side of the turbo, thusly:
<img src="http://www.ratherzen.com/site/tempdump/boostleak4.jpg">
tighten the nut on the test cap, which expands the rubber seal (goes from roughly 2.75" to 3.25", so fits a nice variety of stuff). since i'm using the stock intake hose, i threw a hose clamp on it as well.
hook up an air line, with the compressor's regulator TURNED DOWN to 20psi... can't stress that part enough. i've gone to 40psi on other cars, trying to find any hoses that'll pop off... but i can't guarantee that it won't break something doing so. stay with 20...
and listen/feel for leaks.
i found 9. 9 leaks. all fixed within 15 minutes. without this silly little tool, i'd never have found some of them, and would have spent hours looking.
i actually had to turn my boost controller down, to keep it at 20psi, now... some of the leaks were pretty bad, some very minor... they all add up.
suddenly it idles better, gets better mileage, boost comes on a wee bit sooner...
ok, so if you don't have a compressor, it'll for sure cost more than $10... but you can probably borrow one... or be uber ghetto and use the one for filling tires at the gas station (just be real careful of the pressure)
i've got a 2" that works great for the hot side, this one that fits into the intake/compressor side of my T4 cold side (now off the car)... comes in all sorts of handy.
actually works reasonably well on N/A cars, as well, when searching for vacuum leaks...
shopping list:
3" Oatey (or other) Test Cap (plumbing section)
1/4" barb x 1/4" NPT fitting (plumbing section)
1/4" (standard) female air line fitting (tools section)
JB Weld (any self respecting TB'er has this on hand at all times, anyway)
a 3/8" 16TPI nut to replace the wing nut that comes on the test cap (which gets in the way of the fitting)
Last edited:
Still get some leaking around the CBV, which i hear is common on these mitsu CBVs. But what really worries me is that there is notable (tho mild) positive pressure in the PCV system when i pressurize the intake to about 15psi.