Showing zero vaccum on gauge?

[manifoldsrme]

Guys, I just bought an 87 Shelby Dayton turbo 2 car. It used to read about 12 pounds of boost at 5500 rpm, and 15-20 inches of vaccum on deceleration. I blew the intake gasket out and took it to a shop to have it fixed. Now, it only reads about 7-8 pounds of boost at 5500 rpm, and the vaccum gauge never drops below zero. It never shows vaccum. What did the shop screw up? Any ideas? The car does seem a little slower as well, like it is missing that 5 pounds of boost as well.

[c2xejk]

Sounds like the vacuum gauge vacuum line didn't get hooked back up right. Other lines may not be hooked up right either. (look for the boost gauge to be hooked to a check valve, if it wasn't you would be complaining about the engine idling high..)

[moparfreak3]

+1 on the vacuum lines. IMHO ditch the stock gauge and go with an autometer. The stock gauges aren't the most accurate and the autometer just looks cool :-)

[manifoldsrme]

Now that you mention it, the idle does seem high.

[ol"blue]

Looks aside, if you were happy with your set-up before the mishap it should be good enough for now. The current problem is an obvious vacuum/boost leak that you need to trace down. With engine idling, spray FI/carb cleaner on the vac lines /man./TB connections one at a time and notice when the idle changes. There's your leak. Take your time and really check each connection carefully before moving on to the next in sequence.
Next time, you can buy a FSM and do the repair yourself!

[manifoldsrme]

Alright, I traced the vacuum line from the gauge and sure enough, they left it unhooked at one point. Plugged it off, and the gauge works again, and I have my 5 pounds of boost back, it runs and idles better as well.

I was looking at all the vacuum lines, and there are splices galore and way too much extra hose. I was reading the post on the vacuum block and how it cleans everything up and I am definately making that my next project.

[manifoldsrme]

Just an update guys. I removed about 2 feet of vacuum line and it cleaned up the appearance nicely. I tucked everything together and wire tied it out of the way as well. The shop had left the line to the fuel pressure regulator off! IDIOTS! I cant believe the way it runs now that everything is hooked back up right! I am very mechanically inclined and have built many engines, but I am pushing 40 and dont have the time to do work like I used to with family responsibilities, and I have 4 other cars, 2 Camaros that take up most of my time, a truck, and the wifes car. I took the Daytona to a shop because I just didnt want to mess with it. As usual, I REGRETTED IT! I fixed all their mistakes and it runs NICE now. 10 pounds of boost, and the idle is smooth as silk. Boost gauge works again, and everything is nice and organized under the hood now. I just ordered an MBC and cant wait to play with it!

I have always wanted a Turbo Dodge car, and have owned 2 Shelby Chargers over 10 years ago, neither turbocharged though. I came across my current Daytona and couldnt pass it up. It has been sitting in a heated garage the last 7 years unused. The prior owner had the engine rebuilt, the transmission rebuilt as well, and an aftermarket turbo installed from turbonetics, then basically parked it. I do have all the receipts from the work. It runs really well now, and is in very nice shape. White with red interior.

What do you think is a safe but agressive amount of boost for this car? I should have my MBC in a couple days.

[phantomrt]

You can't really go over 14.7 PSI of boost because that is where the MAP sensor maxes out. Once you reach that, you seek "boost cutout". You can fool the computer into not seeing the cutout, but the extra fuel needed for more boost will not be added automatically. Thats when you need to get a re-calibrated computer or come up with some creative ways to add the extra gas to the mix.

[KillerK-Car]

a vacuum block also works nicely when redoing vac/boost lines