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Turbo Basics (3000GT related)

Typical setups / diagrams / pictures

This page shows some fundamentals good to know about our great cars. My aim is to have this page to grow
more and more due to YOUR input. Maybe it becomes something like an FAQ about basic things like vacuum
tubing, wastegates, blow-off valves, etc. It should become informative and helpful for the turbo-rookies as
well as for everyone just interested in the principles.

How the Turbo / Intercooler stuff works

The drawing below (from the Garrett pages) shows the typical Turbo / Intercooler live-circle. Please note that
there are no fuel parts necessary to understand the prinziple.
So, how does the thing work ??

1. The engines cylinder exhaust gases travel out of the exhaust valves to the Turbo.
2. The gases speed then drives the large Turbine Wheel and leave the circle through the cats and the exhaust.
3. On the same axle as the gas-driven Turbine Wheel sits the Compressor Wheel (the axle is lubed by the
engines oil).
4. This smaller but more tricky wheel has the same rpm like the Turbine Wheel and compresses the filtered and
measured air.
5. Compressing anything increases its temperature and therefore the compressed air has to be cooled down.
6. For this we let the air travel through an Intercooler. This reduces the air temperature before going back into the
engine.

Why do we need an Intercooler ??

Each engine has an optimal temperature operating range. As our different ambients can vary sooo much, the
engine computers also measure barmoetric pressure, air temperature and amount of air the engine sucks in.
With this the optimal amout if air/fuel ratio for the current ambient is determined and the engine runs in its
paramters.

Fact: The more heat the engine is getting the less power is produced. For design purposes it is also desired to
minimize the variable "intake temperature" as much as possible. But we learned that compressing the air
produces heat ! And the more the air is compressed the more heat is produced. Therefore somebody had the
idea to cool down the compressed air ... the Intercooler was born. With this element the air is cooled down to
acceptable temperatures and allows us freaks to increase the boost without the danger to loose the needed
horses. Of course, cooling the engine always helps to keep it longer alive.

What the &% is a wastegate ??

Its name says all.... a gate that is able to waste something away :) Physics tells us that the faster the turbine
wheel turns the faster the compressor wheel turns and therefore the more air will be transported. Also the
compression increases due to the speed. Of course, this depends on the style of the compressor wheel, housing
and whatever as the boost and rpm curve are not linear together. But this will be dicussed sometimes later :)

The wastegate now is a device that can control the boost by releasing (wasting) some amount of the exhaust
gases to the exhaust BEFORE traveling to the Turbine Wheel. Therefore the Compressor Wheels is not driven
that fast and boost is reduced. The wastegate is opened by a actuator, driven by air pressure. The actuator is
preloaded with a spring and opens the wastegate when the pressure applied exceeds the springs load.

Usually the Compressors output will be connected by a vacuum hose to the wastegate-actuator. Therefore the
bigger the boost of the compressor the more the wastegate opens and the less boost will be produced. But less
boost means closing the wastegate more and therefore more boost will be produced. To get more control for
opening and closing the wastegates, the 3000GT/Stealth are having a solenoid valve that, activated by the ECU,
releaves some of the boost out of the hose that runs to the wastegate acuators. This circle regulates the boost
our car needs to go that faaaaast :) This is the basic functionality for getting more boost.
 The bleeder valve or how do I fool the system

This is the easiest and cheapest modification to a Turbo-driven engine. For only a few $ you can get about 20%
more power out of your beast ! This section shows why it works and also the danger of it !

Ok. from the previos section, we know how a wastegate acts. Check out the picture below. At the y-pipe from the
intercoolers (the black plastic ellbow that goes into the throttle body) a vacuum hose is attached right at the
ellbow (marked red). This hose is running to a hose distributor called H-connector. At this point, the pressure is
distributed to the front and rear wastegates as well to a stock solenoid valve. This valve helps the stock system
to increase boost by releasing some of the pressure in this hose connection into the intake part. This means, if
the solenoid valve is open, pressure to the wastegate actuators will be lowered and the wastegates stay closed
or even will be activated later. If the solenoid closes the valve the full pressure from the y-pipe goes to the
actuators and, if pressure becomes more than the load of the actuators spring, the wastegate opens and
therefore less boost will be produced.

Now we know that the stock system controls the wastegates somewhat consevative and the maximum boost is
about 8 to 12 psi maximum that can be achieved. But if you look at the drawing there must become something in
mind. What will happen if I drop the pressure in the actuator lines compared to the pressure i nthe y-pipe ? You're
right, the actuators will be activated later as boost rises. Therefore, if we are able to release about 2 psi of boost,
we are having an advantage now of 2 psi and gained that amount of boost ! On our cars, this modification is
easy, ..... but dangerous as well : If the vacuum lines for the wastegate would leak and stay at atmospheric level
the wastegates would never open and you're car would run like hell around 20-30psi. But this would not last for
long as it'll kill your engine for sure :(

It can be done with the help of a cheap aquarium

valve that acts as a Bleeder Valve. In my setup I did
2 years ago, I used a professional bleeder valve with
a locking screw. It's very good quality and withstand
high temperatures. Also it cannot readjust itselfs :)

Here you see how this bleeder valve MUST WORK !

The blue arrow should show the pressure in the line.
A part of it is then bleeded to nowhere (or just the
ambient) to reduce the overall pressure in the line.
Note, with only this kind of bleeder and at this
position, the best performance can be achieved. This
because the stock solenoid still controls the boost by
the solenoid valve. If you do a differnt setup, then
you'll always loose low-end power

Where do I place the bleeder valve ?

First, check out the modified picture below. Here you can see that the valve is just placed before the stock
solenoid valve. This because it's so easy to reach to and can be removed within seconds :) Please note, that you
have to locate the hose comming up from the H-connector ! This is the right hose as the ones at the stock
solenoid could be exchanged.

Also note the aftermarket boost meter we need ! You must have it as the stock unit is inaccurate, too slow and
shows not enough on it's scale. A definite MUST for tuning in your new system.

To connect the gauge simply cut the line that

comes from the upper part of the intake
manifold in the middle and use a T-piece to
connect the additional hose that runs to the
meter. The hose can then go through the
firewall (under the steering column) in to the
cabine.

Do this before you install the bleeder valve and

go for a run to see if your readings are fine and
you're not having any vacuum leak. With the
stock setting you should see about 6 - 10psi,
depending on the year and health of your car.

Now locate the hose that goes into the stock

solenoid valve. If you have an additional hose
just pull it from the stock piece and plug it to
the one side of the bleeder valve. Now use
another piece of hose, connect it to the other
Picture not yet available
side of the bleeder valve and plug the other
end to the stock solenoid valve. Secure both
side of the bleeder valve with small clamp or
wire ties. Voil, that's it. Finally check for any
vacuum leak as this is the evil for any failures.
How do I adjust the bleeder valve ?

First, close the valve as much as possible and then just open it a little. Drive the car savely and watch the boost
meter. On our cars, the most boost will be produced in 3rd gear from 3500rpm till about 5700rpm. Of course it
depends on your mods, age and more. S just drive your car in 2nd, hammer it through this band and go into 3rd
around 5000rpm. Rpm will drop to about 4000rpms and boost rises very quick. Always keep an eye on the
gauge and do not exceed any boost over 15psi. If your car makes less than 14psi open the valve a little bit
more and secure the screw. Do this again and again until you're at 14psi peak. Of course close it more if you
overboost !!

As the 1st generation where limited to 8psi these cars will gain a lot ! My european 3000GT TT made 284hp
stock and we peaked up to 352hp with just this mod. This was in winter time and after we checked it again in
summer time we got about 334hp. After readjusting the valve we where back at around 345 horses.

The bleeder valve cannot work like a boost controller. This because it's a passive thing and it cannot toggle the
valve to wave-up the boost or to limit it. Therefore it was only a timely mod as I saved the money or just waited
until the boost controllers became reachable for my wallet. Read the next section about the boost controller
setup. I highly recommend a boost controller against the bleeder valve !

Typical boost controller setup in our cars

The following drawing shows the turbo-system of the 3000GT/Stealth TwinTurbo cars with a typical boost-
controller attached. Of course, my drawing is not complete in all details but contains the parts that are needed to
understand how the system works.

Remeber the described stock solenoid valve ? It releaves some of the boost that goes to the wastegate
actuators and therefore keep them closed longer as they would if the the boost at the actuators is the same like
in the intake. Also remeber the bleeder valve, with its help we kept the wastegates closed even longer. But all this
setups do not allow to control the wastegates optimally. So the best thing is to add an intelligent Boost Controller
to your cars turbo system.

As described earlier, less pressure to the wastegate actuators that their springs load keeps the wastegates
closed. For this, the boost controllers are using their own valve to reduce the pressure that goes to the actuators.

The picture shows the typical setup. The source for the boost pressure is the hose connected to the elbow of the
intercooler Y-pipe that combines the two intercoller pipes and goes into the Throttlebody. This hose is now
connected directly to the IN port of the solenoid valve of the BC. The OUT port of the box will then be conntected
to the front and rear wastegate actuators. Please note, that no bleeder valve nor the stock solenoid valve is
needed because the BC does its job perfectly with its own valves. To keep the drawing as realistic as possible, I
left the H-connector in place and only capped the one hose that went to the stock solenoid valve. Also the valves
input was capped.

A big note : Always check for any vaccum leak as this is the evil for all problems and never overboost :)

Have fun !