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850 850 turbo wagon performance loss. Help please

zackhusek

New member
Joined
May 11, 2014
Okay, so about two weeks ago I comepleted my 5 speed swap. Came out of another 94' but it was a non turbo.
Prior to doing the swap i was running consistant 15.5's in the quarter and i had a bad torque converter. Now i have a perfect shifting 5 speed with r clutch and my best time so far was a 15.9 and im getting mostly 16.2s...am i mistaken or should i be in the mid to high 14's right now? I found some vacuum lines that i had forgotten off but i got those fixed now and still no performance increase. Only vacuum lines i cant place broke during the swap and one is the out on the purge valve and the other is the line off the charcoal canister (the one that doesn't go to the rear of the car). I also have an occasional cut where I lose power for half a second as well as backfiring often. Prior to the swap it ran perfectly. I also straight piped it during swap which may have reduced back pressure but I doubt that is the issue. Also I know it isn't my shifting or traction issues because I lost a roll race with my friends tc that I always smoked before the swap. Please, any help is greatly appreciated.
 
All I have to offer is take a close look at all of your wiring, hose connections, pipe clamps, etc. Look for any pinched or disconnected hoses, loose or pinched wires. It's entirely possible in the thrash in there that something got pulled lose or loosened enough to make a change.:grrr:
 
Okay thanks, any main things I could look for to narrow down the search area? Like, what would cause a backfire and power cut?
 
During the swap I broke the firewall to engine ground and relocated it to a different engine bolt. Could it be getting a bad connection?
 
During the swap I broke the firewall to engine ground and relocated it to a different engine bolt. Could it be getting a bad connection?

Yes. It's possible. You may have changed the flow of electrons as well. A few electrical eng's here have described to me the importance of where grounds are located as well, so could be a combo of bad ground and bad location (causing a loop vs flow of electrons, if that makes sense).

also, you mean head to firewall? Because shouldn't your block be ground right to battery?
 
Yes. It's possible. You may have changed the flow of electrons as well. A few electrical eng's here haven't described to me the importance of where grounds are located as well, so could be a combo of bad ground and bad location (causing a loop vs flow of electrons, if that makes sense).

also, you mean head to firewall? Because shouldn't your block be ground right to battery?

yes, I mean head to firewall...I really just want it to run right and im so aggrivated with how it has been acting. Still havent found anything that could even nearly explain that.
 
So wait the head is grounded to the block now? Try grounding it close to the stock location
 
Just put it back to its original location and no improvement. If i unplug my idle air control valve shouldnt the car die? I think someone told me once that if it doesn't it means there is a vacuum leak and its getting air from somewhere else or something but idk...if this is wrong are there any ways to test?
 
I may have found part of my power loss. When pulling codes I got a code for sporadic rpm sensor readings so I went and wiggled the wires on it and when I wiggle the wires the car almost cuts off. I havent found the break in the wire yet because it goes into the main loom and becomes hard to trace but ill find it tomorrow and see of it helps. Also just to make sure the wastle gate is set right, it is suppose to be set at 1.8 psi correct?
 
By RPM sensor you mean cam position sensor? They tend to crap out but usually cause a no start. I'd fix that issue before it actually doesn't start.

Not sure on the wastegate settings but 1.8 seems low.
 
Okay, so I found something else. Its a hose that is completly broken. Idk if its a pcv hose or what but it goes from under the intake manifold to a piece of plastic by the turbo. It has a rubber connection in the back with a sensor as well. Its about a 3/8 hard plastic line but then its covered with a thick foam covering. That is why I could never tell it was broken. Is this pcv or something else? I am replacing all vacuum lines and mending the broken line tomorrow whatever it is. I believe the cutting while wiggling the wire was coincidental considering I cant make it happen again. It steadily got worse today as well. I had a 1 hour drive home from my friends and while I was there I was tryibg to make it cut by wiggling the wire. It wouldn't, but as soon as I left it was cutting every second or so unless I kept it in 3rd or 4th. It seemed to only happen below 3000 rpm. I took off my distributor today and check and cleaned up ritir and posts just to be sure it was unrelated. Once again, what is that lime im describing?
 
Well it's pulling air from the atmosphere instead of the crank case if it's broken. Basically a vac leak
 
Also a boost leak.

Well, in theory it's before the pressurized air from the turbo, so would be pulling IN via vacuum regardless of boost or vacuum at the manifold, not blowing out ;-)


OP, you fix this yet? You can buy PCV hose at most auto places. Super easy fix. You may have noticed around the same time the car smells like oil and gas more than usual.
 
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