I just picked up an 84 244 turbo. I bought it for a daily driver so i can spend more time with my project car off the road. Since i got it the car as been slow (bout a week ago)and i don't mean not fast slow i mean scary to pull out on the highway cause it's gonna take a while b4 i even get it up to 60mph. The boost gauge barely goes into the yellow. I don't know much about turbos but i've gone through what i feel to be obvious things. I checked all the intercooler and turbo hoses for holes. I've taken the turbo hoses off and spun the turbo with no side to side movement to worry about so that rules out it being seized. I've pulled the test plug out of the manifold thinking maybe the cat was clogged and that would help a little bit but aside from getting pressue quicker it didn't make anymore pressure. I've gone through all the vacuume hoses some are a little mushy and should be replaced but i want to fix the big problem first. The wasegate on the turbo moves by hand. (how can i tell if it's closing all the way) I've also pluged the hose comming off the wastgate and no extra pressure. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I'm at a stand still. Sorry about the book but i didn't want to leave anything out. Well thanks in advance

My '82 245t did that twice.

First time, when I bought it, I couldn't get boost. Hell, I couldn't get over 20 mph.

The cat was plugged SOLID. The engine idled fine, but not much more.

When I removed the 1" plug in the pipe, just before the cat, I was able to get about 30 mph (but very noisy).

Second time was when the bolts on the wastegate actuator loosened and the wastegate flopped open....just as the others described.

However, in that case, I was still able to drive the car normally on the highway, but it had no boost so the gauge never showed boost and the engine had very little power. Nonetheless, 75 mph was still accessible.

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Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

WEll think i found the problem i thought for sure it was wastegate cause the car runs fine and i can get to 75-80mph eventually so i was going to take the turbo off. I dropped the cat and for the hell of it i started it. took it down the road and the car was FUN got full boost tires broke loose. So i'm hooking up a "diagnostic test pipe" tomorrow and bolting the exhaust back on just to make sure. THe cat must just be starting to clog allowing some flow. WEll thanks for all the great advice.

Could be that the wastegate is jammed open, or possiblly broken internally. Even if there were leaks in the system, there would still be some boost beacuse the turbo would just keep adding pressure until the wastegate backed it off. Even some crude boost adustment methods involve bleeding of boost in order to "trick" the wastegate into thinking the boost level is lower than it actually is. It sucks to deal with, but you need to make sure the wastegate itself (in the exhaust) moves as it is supposed to when not connected and the engine is not running. If it feels jammed or struggles to move, this would be your likely problem.

Just seems hard for me to believe it could be anything other than a wastegate problem, otherwise you would at least get boost, even if there were leaks in the system. The amount of boost you are getting (barely any) seems possible even with the wastegate broken\open under full load contitions.

Good luck,

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Zack Silver 83' 242Ti (218k)

No boost, so the wastegate is open, there is a hole in the plumbing or the turbo is not producing pressure. Rule out the first two, then pull the intake hose off the turbo and feel for spin (you want a lot of smooth spin) and wobble (undesirable).
Sometimes the wastegate actuator mounts are loose and the thing cocks back and holds the wastegate open. Holes in tubing are common too, but you might need a new turbo as a last resort.

the turbo does spin freely with no wobble. (can that rule the turbo out or is there still a chance?) If i disconect the waste gate piston off and still no boost that can rule that out also right? (havn't done that yet)

Well, you do need the actuator to pull the gate closed again, so rod off gate open could sill be the problem. The wastegate lever needs to go toward the front of the car to close. Sounds like the turbo might be OK so keep trying the cheaper fixes. Holes out of sight along the bottom of hoses and tubes are notorious.

WEll i just wrapped all the hoses in duct tape thinking that would help build up pressure if there was a leak issue with no results....Tomorrow i'm gonna just unbolt the cat and see where i stand. Now as far as the waste gate goes what can i do to find if it's closing all the way? If i play with the adjuster which way would pull it closed? thanks

B4 i go nuts i added a picture to show were my boost gauge is at around 4000 rpm I THINK it should be more but maybe i'm wrong and it's another problem i'm having the red line is approx. and maybe a lil more but not much if any. thanks again

You can use the vacuum portion of your TURBO gauge to test for a exhuast restriction.

Get the engine totally warm and observe the vacuum reading at idle, now bring the rpm's up to 2000 and hold it there.

If the vacuum reading decreases at 2000 rpm's (that would be moving upward toward the yellow) this would indicate an exhuast restriction.

Staying the same or an increase (moving downward) would be O.K.
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Bruce S. near D.C.

well i tried this a couple different ways. If i left it in park and slowly hit the throttle it stayed the same as at idle. IF i did it in park and hit the throttle a little more aggresivly it would go a little bit in the yellow but than come down to where it started from at 2000rpm. than i did it with a load on it (powerbraking) and than it went into the yellow and stayed. I'm assuming you meant to do it the first way (gradually with no load) so is it safe to assume the cat is ok? tomorrow i start to mess with the wastgate adjustment i'm a little nervous any advice? Like what to do? do i just loosen or tighten the nut? I do work at a volvo parts department but i'm on vacation this week and most of my techs don't remember about this car...lol they gave me the basics to look for if i cna't figure it out i'll give it to one of them when i go back to work but i'd like to get it taken care of b4 that thanks

Yes, no load. I got that tip from a local (auto repair) radio guru.

When I tried it on my own car the vacuum increased. But he says the same or an increase is O.K.

He also said it should have at least 18 inches of vacuum at idle, I've traded my stock gauge for ones thats graduated, so that wasn't a problem.

Have you checked the intercooler itself for cracks or leaks?
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Bruce S. near D.C.

well i've scanned it but i havn't vacuume tested it. I blew into the hose at the intake and my brother held the hose where the air filter is and felt the air so i'm assuming the intercooler is pretty tight but i could be wrong