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Turbo whine/squeal/squeak and decreased acceleration

9K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Ruso 
#1 ·
Hey tuners,
I'm getting a whine/ squeal and decreased pull/acceleration when the turbo is engaged around 3,000 rpm when I drive it hard. It does not happen all the time but It happens in every gear and i feel like it's worse when it's cold out but that could just be coincidence. No other problems noticed that I would associate with the condition. I did recently put a new K&N engine air filter in (not sure if that has any impact). Any thoughts on a diagnosis? See and hear in the video here: https://youtu.be/NK5YKo2kwWI
Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Boost leak like a mofo!!! Check your turbo inlet, turbo outlet, TB coupler. Any leaks before the turbo but AFTER the MAF is bad news bears and you should fix it before you drive much more, or you can keep going and detonate your engine.

You probably just forgot to connect a vacuum line or tighten a coupler enough. Sounds like it's leaking from a rubber hose or silicon coupler.
 
#3 ·
That's a very familiar sound. I battled that specific boost leak quite a few times especially after Stage 2 boost levels.

My money and full confidence is on the intercooler outlet to throttle body silicone connector. For some reason Subaru has decided to use a harder silicone hose with little softer silicone "skirts" (I don't know what else to call them) on the ends where it clamps down. The softer silicone simply slips from under the clamping force causing a leak. This is why the leak sounds like pulling a balloon neck apart and letting some air out.

The only thing that solved this for me was eventually removing the softer silicone skirts and just clamping down the harder silicone hose... but my setup is quite different from stock now (I just happened to get lucky to use the same coupler for my WAIC unit)... I also run around 20 psi of boost.

Anyway:
1). remove the two bolts that connect the intercooler to the turbo on the passenger side
2). Remove the bolts on the metal bracket that hold the intercooler up on the driver side
3). Using a long screw driver, or better yet a 1/4" ratchet with a long extension and I believe an 8mm socket to uncrew the silicone hose from the intercooler outlet and pop that bad boy off.
4). Completely remove the hose (keep track of which way it's facing and which end is which so you can put it back how you found it
5). Wipe or wash the hose inside and out, it will have some oil in it.
6). Wipe intercooler outlet AND throttle body with rubbing alcohol to degrease it from any oil.
7). Wipe both ends of the hose down with rubbing alcohol to degrease the little silicone skirts (or better yet, rip them off.... and throw them away, or get an aftermarket one).

If you want a peace of mind, ORileys has similar but much beefier hose clamps (they are located out back, you have to ask an employee to get them for you). They work much better.

Reassemble and tighten the hose clamps as much as you can without breaking them.

Here's an aftermarket part:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MISHIMOTO-T...ash=item41958ac676:g:1~8AAOSw14xWHtR6&vxp=mtr

By the way, here's a pic of what the wonderful silicone "skirts" do sometimes... I hate this part.
Hand Finger
 
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