I usually know what I'm doing when it comes to boosted hondas. I've come across a real stumper, and am hoping for some help.
Brand new REAL Garrett 60-1, 60 miles on it.
Go autoworks mini Ram
Ebay intercooler
Brand new charge piping
Brand new bisi 3.6 cam, properley degree'd in
Vitara/eagle build
KMS valvetrain .5mm over
Omni 4 bar
EBC through eCtune
Brand new turbonetics wastegate with 9psi spring
Brand new tial 50mm bov
On the dyno right now.
This car had a china 50trim on it and had been sucessfully tuned at 28psi. Life was good for almost the whole summer. One day it wouldn't make over 13psi. Boost leak test was performed and found some minor boost leaks. They were repaired. Still made only 13psi.
Compression test was done, and it was dead even across the board. The wastegate was under warranty still, and it had some scoring on the valve. Maybe it was hanging up, and we replaced it. Still 13psi of boost.
We then turned our eyes on the china turbo. Shaft play felt fine, wheels looked great, no big deal. But it was still a china turbo. Also wanted to make more power and the turbo was maxxed out. We replaced it with a brand new garrett 60-1.
Voila. We had boost again. The car was retuned and it picked up 40whp at the same boost level. Got it unstrapped from the dyno, and took it on a road test. It felt strong as hell... for 2 pulls. Then there was a small pop from under the hood, and now only 13psi of boost is all that could be made.
WTF.
Brought the car back into the shop, and the camshaft was falling apart. The crower cam's regrinded welds were just flaking off. A bisi cam was ordered. At the same time, we upgraded the leaking turbonetics bov to a Tial, and also changed over to some nice charge piping, with all new couplers. Another boost leak test was done from the turbo's compressor housing to the intake manifold, and it would easily hold 28psi.
AFR's are mint for 13psi, and the car is running great. It just will not make any boost. The turbo is not to large. It has spooled to 30psi before. We even swapped it out for another new turbo of the exact same model and had the same results. The old turbo was put onto another car and it proceeded to make 25psi.
We even got ballsy and removed the wastegate and then put on a block off plate. Still didn't make more boost. Doing that we should have maxed out the turbo well over 30psi.
Also, we have tested open downpipe, and removed the air filter.
Knowing that cam timing is spot on, ignition timing is spot on, fuel is great, brand new turbo, no leaks in the charge piping from the turbo to the throttle body, good compression, no exhaust restriction, no air intake restriction, I'm now confused.
Anyone have any ideas? Tittys in return for good replies.