Only getting 2psi of boost on 84 stock laser xe

[91shelby]

For some reason i can only pull 2psi of boost at wot on my stock 84 laser Xe T1. anyideas? there doesnt seem to be a vacuum leak

[midnighttoker]

have you checked your hoses,waste gate and arm?

[91shelby]

yes and wastegate arm is attached and vacuum line looks good, the car has good power but wont full boost.

[midnighttoker]

did you pop the arm off and wiggle the SV.they sometimes get stuck

[91shelby]

yes and swingvalve is good

[midnighttoker]

did you try and un-hook the vac line and drive it?

[91shelby]

not yet but will give it a shot tomorrow

[86TSiGuy]

I just went through this with my 87' T1, it would make about 2psi reliably and maybe 6 under wot but then the 6 would bleed back to 2 rapidly. Banged my head off the wall for a couple days, it was crack in the exhaust manifold facing the block.
Just my 2 c.

[91shelby]

thanks for the idea :) though the thing is even at WOT it will only go to maybe 2psi, wont go past it,

[86TSiGuy]

good news is it's an easy system to narrow down, bad news is 50% of the culprits require you to pull the head.

If you haven't already;
Inspect turbo for signs of fouling, to eliminate turbo.
Inspect all hoses under pressure including vac lines to eliminate a boost leak issue.
Inspect manifold for leaks (both between manifold and head, manifold and turbo, as well as from the manifold itself) to eliminate lack of exhaust pressure.
Connect the wastegate can directly to manifold with a trusted vac line and confirm vac routing then drive to eliminate a vac line issue.
Then as someone suggested to me disconnect the wastegate actuator and wire it closed and drive "carefully" to eliminate a swingvalve issue.

If you get to the bottom of the list without finding the cause then you probably need to do a leak-down because the only thing left is blown headgasket and/or cracked head.