ALDA Disconnected, when i got my car it took forever to get moving and had no power, i searched the site and decided to adjust the adla screw, apparently the screw was maxed out already so i just unscrewed the whole alda and sat it there disconnected, the car runs great now but smokes a little sitting in traffic, gas mileage is still 22 city and 24 highway at 85 mph (3800 rpms) I was just wondering if this can cause any damage, it's been like this for about 10,000 miles and seems fine. 0-60 is about 16-17 seconds

Did you ever try cleaning the crossover line at the intake manifold?

yes i checked the line and it was free of debris

wonder what kind of car it is?

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Jim

Dunno if your 0-60 is right, may be slower for the SDs than the Ds. I know my car should do it in 12.
You need to look at the switchover valve at the firewall and/or the boost pressure sensor on top of the intake manifold before you go disconnecting things like the ALDA. The ALDA is there for a reason, why go messing with it like that? Why not fix it? You are not getting proper function from it that way, maybe some other members can tell you if you are hurting it or not.

Back the ALDA screw in a little, bypass the switchover valve at the firewall, and see what happens. It would be best to have a boost guage T'ed into the line somewhere to see if your ALDA is getting a pressure signal. Your turbo may be boosting but your injection pump doesn't know because your switchover valve and/or your boost pressure sensor isn't working.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

As long as there is no leak or obstruction, the engine will run fine if the switchover valve and boost pressure sensor do not work. But you won't have the overboost protection that they are intended to provide.

That's right. In my case the switchover valve nipples were rusted and thereby plugged. Voltmeter showed a dead manifold pressure sensor and dead switchover valve. I'm guessing the valve receives an electrical signal from the intake manifold sensor and closes if the pressure in the intake exceeds something like 15.9 psi. The number is from a diagram Engatwork gave me when he helped me test my car which felt like it was dragging a boat anchor uphill. The valve then cuts all boost signal to the ALDA which brings down fuel enrichment thus preventing the pistons from getting damaged, etc. I suppose the only way it could fail per se is if an overboost situation occurred and it closed and then stuck, which would probably be very rare. If it were only the overboost sensor then no electrical signal would be sent to the switchover valve in an overboost situation and it would never close. All of this would only occur if the wastegate wasn't wasting any boost.
On our test, we disengaged the wastegate and bypassed the switchover valve to see if the turbo was working. The boost guage went to 16psi. Dangerous I know but needless to say I learned a few things that day and was able to fix the problem correctly and now the car runs great even though it underboosts at 8psi. Need to adjust that wastegate when I can find the time.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

My '82 300D performed like a dog for the first ten years that I owned it. And, not knowing any better, I just thought thats the way diesels were supposed to be. Then I read about the necessity of keeping the crossover line clean. Mine was gunked up to the point of being completely blocked. The performance gain from cleaning the fitting and line was incredible. That, along with a slight ALDA adjustment, turned the dog into a tire squealer. Now I can actually pull out into traffic without being run over!!!