Waste gate Rod?

[Mike Mags]

IM new to GN owernship. I have an adjuatable waste gate rod that was put in by the previouse owner.
Let me know if this is correct.
Tightening the rod, or shortening the rod will increase boost?
is that right?
The previouse owner raced it a bit and am curently running 18#.
Id like to decrease it a bit.
What is a good setting for street driving?
How many turns on the rod would equal 1#.?

Thanks for your answers to my few questions, I'm still learning.

 

[BoostKillsStres]

shortening the rod increases boost. Something around 1 full turn is about 1 psi. 17 or less is usually about the max that can be run on pump gas depending on each car and its mods. Try and tune for zero knock and if you don't yet have a scan tool, do some research and get one.
Happy tuning.

 

[blackbuick87]

Do not turn that thing up unless you are running race gas or Alky. It is probably set too high already.
Mine took a couple of turns to get 1 more psi. My wastegate is probably getting tired anyways. We will find out when I get some 100 in there

 

[blackbuick87]

Sorry I thought your post said INCREASE not DECREASE. I need to go to bed. What kind of boost gauge do you have? You cant count on the stocker

 

[1ARUNEM]

Welcome to the darkside. These guys have answered your question. I just wanted to say welcome and don't forget to check out www.gnttype.org for tons of turbobuick reading.

 

[strikeeagle]

Mike,

Welcome.

Shortening the rod increases boost. Lengthening the rod reduces boost.

One full turn of the rod (i.e. 360 degrees) equals about one PSI. However, this is not cast in stone, and presupposes a bunch of things, including that your wastegate actuator is in good shape.

I'm constantly amused at the sort of boost folks claim they can run on pump gas. I believe that a lot of them are getting a ton of knock/knock retard without knowing it, or just ignoring it and driving on.

While there are a million things that can influence the amount of boost one can run, without knowing your car, and whether you have a scan tool, I wouldn't try for any more than 15 PSI. And yes, that's using a good aftermarket boost gauge, not the factory idiot gauge.

Lengthen the rod until it "drops onto" the wastegate swing arm. See what your boost is for that circumstance, then adjust from there. You can always go up on boost as you get your ducks in a row.

Good luck!

 

[UNGN]

Approximately 5.25" from the face of the actuator to the center of the hole is the stock rod's length, which equates to about 14 psi.

Every full turn of the rod is a .05" change in rod length (if it was threaded 1/4-20)

You can roughly estimate your max boost by measuring your rod length, subtracting 5.25, dividing the difference by .05 and adding it to 14, but you have to like math.

 

[Mike Mags]

Thanks guys!

Thanks guys for the valueable info. I'm goning to turn my boost down to 14#. i have a scanmaster and my retard readings are usually between .5 to 3.5 A couple of times i've been in the 5's.
Its always an education on here and I thank the guys who always reply to my questions, no matter how basic they are!

 

[dconnor]

0.5 to 5 degrees of retard is not too bad at all, so you shouldn't need to go all the way down to 14 lbs of boost. I'd recommend tuning for the most boost you can run knock free, 16~17 lbs would be a good place to start at.

BTW, what is your fuel pressure set at?

Doug C.

 

[Mike Mags]

Fuel pressure.

I dont know what my fuel pressure is set at. What should it be set at?
I'll have to get a gaudge to read my pressure.
The car was set up by the previouse owner.