help please,,includes picture too

[Eclipsewhipping]

hey i was just wondering if somebody could teach me how to read the stock boost gauge, can someone tell me what each one of the lines mean and how much boost is each one,,,thanks

sorry that this is such a lame question but atleast i provided a picture haha

[DeleriousZ]

stock boost guages are prettymuch useless.. but the right side of the guage (bottom in your pic) is the boost side of the guage, which is read in psi... when at full boost it should read around... 9? psi i think... when the guage sits at 0 that means that's the point when the turbo's start making boost.. anywhere underneath that the engine is acting sort of like an n/a engine, just sucking in air until the turbo spools...

anyway, i think once at full boost the guage should be somewhere around the third notch to the right (say 4800 rpm in 3rd gear) don't quote me on it tho, someone else should be able to tell you better.. that actually owns the car

[Eclipsewhipping]

thanks, but i just need to know what each little dash means, like where is 9psi and where is 13psi.

[xXxRocker5150]

lol it's pretty simple man.. here's the deal, you've got -14 and +14 with a 0 in the middle. Now from 0 to +14 you have a medium sized dash in the middle with two smaller ones along side it, so that has to be the middle point between 0 and +14... so divide 14 by two and we get 7. So now that we know the middle one, all we have to do is find out what's between 0 and +7... so once again divide 7 by 2 and you get 3.5 voila there's your answer: it goes


-14, -10.5, -7, -3.5, 0, +3.5, +7, +10.5, and finally +14

[k3smostwanted]

Originally Posted by Eclipsewhipping

thanks, but i just need to know what each little dash means, like where is 9psi and where is 13psi.

what delerious was trying to explain to you is that it doesnt really matter...the boost gauge isnt accurate. so if you are trying to see where 9psi is, according to the boost gauge you might hit 9 psi but really your well over 15psi. if you bought a boost controller you need to buy a aftermarket boost gauge. the gauge is completely inaccurate and sometimes doesnt work at all.

but basically like rocker said...

to the left of the 0 is vacuum and to the right of the 0 is boost pressure.

[Eclipsewhipping]

ok well the reason im asking is because my boost gauge never passes the middle slash between 0 and +14, i wanna get a mbc. could the gauge be that inaccurate

[xXxRocker5150]

it's either completely fucked up, or you've got one bad boost leak....

[Eclipsewhipping]

i dont think it has a boost leak, i just go it back from the shop for a full tune up, and they said there was no boost leaks,

[xXxRocker5150]

^yea than you just need a new boost gauge...

[Eclipsewhipping]

wuts the most boost i can run on stock turbos with a manual boost controller?

[k3smostwanted]

Originally Posted by Eclipsewhipping

i dont think it has a boost leak, i just go it back from the shop for a full tune up, and they said there was no boost leaks,

did they use a boost leak tester?

stock turbos in good condition can handle 16-17psi but your fuel injectors can only handle 15psi safely. i wouldn't push 60k+ turbos past 15psi either though...

MBC's arent very good at controlling boost spikes so i would stick to 12-14psi tops with your set-up. a boost spike could and will blow your motor, turbos, etc. if high enough, long enough, or too many times.

before raising boost though, i would make sure your car is running as good as possible. raising the boost will only make problems present themselves alot faster.

just some words of wisdom being past on...