Surging turbo.

[Jayden2315]

Yesterday i pulled off my turbo and cleaned the turbine housing and fins for the vgt. I reinstalled it today and went for a drive to find that it was surging under mid throttle. It only surges about a psi either way when it does it. Any ideas?


Note: It did not surge before and I removed the solenoid and cleaned the oil passages.

[ajpu1983]

Do you hear any exhuast leaks??

[Jayden2315]

Originally Posted by ajpu1983

Do you hear any exhuast leaks??

No. It still hits about 35 psi with the converter locked.

[ajpu1983]

Were the O-rings ok on the solenoid? Never heard of that happening.

[Jayden2315]

Yeah they didnt look bad so i reused them. Made sure to lube them up with oil and everything.

[Jayden2315]

Figured id add some more info. The reason I pulled the turbo to clean it was because it would not boost up after a hard pull (no trailer, just messing around doing full throttle pulls). It was as if the solenoid was unplugged. After letting it idle down it would boost up again or if i got on the throttle hard again it would boost up. I figured it was just the turbo coked up. It had a little bit of carbon but not enough to raise any flags in my book. I made sure to line everything up and everything moved freely. Any ideas?

[firefighter254]

what was the problem im having the same condition

[bulldog84]

My turbo just started doing this. I'll have the cruise set at 60 and running about 3 or 4 lbs of boost then it will suddenly surge to about 9 or 10 lbs then fall back down. Then, sometimes when I get on the interstate it will stay at 20 to 25lbs of boost at 70mph. When that happens I have to get off at the next off ramp and let the boost fall back to normal. How can you tell if the VGT solenoid is going out or the vanes are just sticking?

Also, I called the dealership today and they said the solenoid alone cost $350 and $100 for labor on top of that. They said it would be about $225 just to clean the turbo. Does that sound right for those that have had this done before?

[Jayden2315]

Problem did turn out to be the solenoid. It was just kind of weird that I pulled the turbo with the solenoid working fine and when I threw it all back together it didnt. I actually got away with buying a used solenoid on Ebay for $30. Just wanted to try a cheapo before I spent 250 to install a new one.