I’m at Stage 0 all stock. When the car is running my boost gage is 20 on the vacuum side (-20?) is that normal? When I accelerate I might get it up to zero or a little above in 1st, in 3rd or 4th boost gage goes totally positive! 15 teens but as fast as it gets there it goes back down around zero. Is this normal? One reason I ask is I banged up my front end, so if this is not normal, now is the time to fix it? The car is fast can’t imagine I want toooo much faster but do want your opinion.

Anyone else have an opinion I would like input, I know there are a lot of people who know a lot but PSI Chick seems to know a lot about everything and I can’t list all your’ other names so thank's ahead 0 time!!

 

i know alot of people have had problems with the stock boost gauges....

 

-20 at idle is normal. showing positive 15 is just fine normally. what boost levels were you seeing before the accident? has it changed, and is that why you are concerned? does the car feel slow? don't mind what the boost gauge is telling you, what's the butt dyno saying?

if i'm reading this right, it seems that you're spiking to 15psi, and then dropping back down to 0? is that correct? if so, then you have a massive boost leak somewhere in the system. if you got into a front end crash, you probably either punctured the intercooler or have one of the pipes broken or popped off.

check all hoses, pipes, and clamps that you can find, and make sure that everything is where it should be. have someone get in the car and rev it quickly to redline and put your hand under the fmic and make sure that there's no air leaking from there. if you have a boost leak checker that would be even better.

 

PSI, i know that while working at the dealership, we had a few come back with boost gauge issues, and ive seen it mentioned here before...is this an issue with certain model year SRTs, or just so happened that some people were unlucky enough to have problems?

 

the stock boost gauge is a pos. lots of people have had problems with them. i ditched mine a long time ago in favor of the 30psi one as i didn't really trust it. it's not isolated to any year or even certain build dates, although i have seen more 04's with the problem than any other year, but then again 04 also had the most cars built. i know people who have gone through three or more of them, although i'm not sure why they don't just get a new one and be done with it. autometer usually makes very good gauges, so i'm not sure why this one is so bad.

 

You're right Psi I just got mine replaced on my '04

 

Thanks for input, being new to performance cars and more specifically TURBO I am learning from almost everything technical anyone says. Radiator and Intercooler both replaced. The boost leak idea is one that sounds good to either confirm or rule out. Butt dyno pretty good but I’ve never had a car anywhere near this level of performance. Very unhappy with my dealership

 

if they replaced the ic then i would bet on a loose clamp somewhere. check those first and let us know....

 

PSI read your post re-posted then went out and drove, tried to watch boost gage as much as was safe. Forgot to ask what is fmic is? I don’t know. Tomorrow I’m checking for leaks. I know where the ic is, I know where the turbo is, but other than that I don’t really know much more. Don’t know right now what a ic does. Going to use my eyes, ears and hands to try to find leaks. If you have any advice, explanations or tips I’m pretty good at listening and understanding. Am I looking for obvious high pressure wind generating whistling leak or something much more subtle. Also should I buy a chiltons manual to learn about the car or is there a better one. Would also like a book that shows body panel type construction (accident) does chiltons show that or other. I think you found the cars problem if so excellent. The boost spikes up and then drops even as I am trying to accelerate. Does not maintain at all. What is WOT shiftig?

 

fmic is the ic, it's just more descriptive as to it's location (Front Mount InterCooler=FMIC).