Cav Turbo issues

[ken707]

I had a mate driving my Cav on the way to and from Billing and he reckons the Turbo isn't working properly as it doesn't cut in until about 4500 rpm. It's an early car, so not too many electronics, completely std and low miles.

What would be normal for these cars and what should I check?

Ken

[btcctroy]

There could be a number of reasons..
To start is the eml light on.
Boost leaks
Vacuum leaks
Good starting points

[humbucker]

I had a mate driving my Cav on the way to and from Billing and he reckons the Turbo isn't working properly as it doesn't cut in until about 4500 rpm. It's an early car, so not too many electronics, completely std and low miles.

What would be normal for these cars and what should I check?

Ken

Hi Ken, nice to see you here!

C20LETs have small, punchy turbochargers on the exhaust side in order to avoid the kind of lag associated with cars like the Sierra Cosworth etc. Your car should pull boost pretty quickly. Do you have a boost gauge that you can plumb in in order to monitor psi levels? As Troy says, there are a number of reasons why your turbocharger might not be pulling (take a look at your car's airflow components, look for splits in hoses etc.), but a boost gauge will certainly give you an instant indication regarding the health of your K16, or its ability to perform as intended. 4500rpm is a ridiculously high starting point.

How many miles has the car done, and does the rear end produce billows of smoke on start up etc.?

(BTW, topic moved to the correct section)

[ken707]

Sorry about the duplicate post, I couldn't see the original!

The car is totally std, 61k miles mature owners all it's life so not fleeced too much, not smoky in any way. I'd replaced a few dodgy hoses a few years ago, just had another quick look again and nothing obvious, might look closer later. The eml sometimes comes on if revving hard but goes out after a while, I never checked if there was a code logged.

Boost gauge? I'll have a look at options, where do I plumb it in? (I tend to be working with older Vauxhalls with carbs)

[Ads]

I have my boost gauge plumbed in to the vac tube that goes from throttle body to ecu. Ads

[humbucker]

Sorry about the duplicate post, I couldn't see the original!

The car is totally std, 61k miles mature owners all it's life so not fleeced too much, not smoky in any way. I'd replaced a few dodgy hoses a few years ago, just had another quick look again and nothing obvious, might look closer later. The eml sometimes comes on if revving hard but goes out after a while, I never checked if there was a code logged.

Boost gauge? I'll have a look at options, where do I plumb it in? (I tend to be working with older Vauxhalls with carbs)

Ads is right. Plumb a T-piece into the vacuum pipe that runs to the ECU (driver's footwell). Run a length of vacuum pipe from the T-piece to your boost gauge. That's pretty much it, other than a feed for any illumination that your new gauge might have.