603 Turbo not Working- Vacuum Disconnect?
 

My brother just picked up a lovely 87 300sdl with 115k. It is rather sluggish because the turbo isn't engaging- no whine, no power as the rpms go higher.

I read about cleaning out the soot from the boost line to the pressure switch/alda but when I looked at the engine I discovered some differences from the 617 I had read about. Is there a similar soot build-up problem with this engine? What else should I look at?

This car did get a new turbo 10 years ago after the recall.

I have attached a photo in which there is a loose vacuum hose that isn't connected to anything. What should it be connected to and is this the problem?

Congrats to the new owner, that's certainly a low mileage car! Pics, please - when you get it running like it should!
I doubt that vac line you are showing is causing the turbo to not run, the pic is too dark to tell where it came from though. There is a line thar runs straight from a small nipple on the intake manifold over to the switchover valve and eventually supplys boost to the ALDA. That needs to be in place or it won't run well.
The carbon buildup in the ALDA line is not as bad on these engines, for one thing because the way the manifold is situated way over to the other side from the turbo, most of the crud collects in the crossover pipe.
There's a lot of vac lines on this engine, esp on the left side! The ones around the EGR are better plugged for testing purposes :rolleyes:
My 603 didn't run well at all because the turbo wastegate flapper was clogged partially open. Removing it and a good clean out with a screwdriver, plenty of elbow grease and some liquid wrench (WD40 would also probably have worked) and the car ran like a scalded rabbit :)
A wastegate partially stuck open will dump the boost as if the turbo isn't working when in actuality it is. If the turbo bearings are loose either radially or axially, then its time for a rebuild.
Does yours still have the trap (football shaped) topside, on the turbo outlet?
If so these can get plugged up so bad the car will not even run and before that the car will run very poorly. The trap oxidizer was a lousy idea. The replacement is a Cat oxidizer under the car and this is a lot more reliable but these have also been known to get plugged up after lots of slow around town driving.

The 603 engines need frequent Italian tune ups (ie. run the engine WOT as far as you can without getting a speeding ticket!)

updated picture
 

Thanks for that. I have attached another picture in which I drew in where the hose goes.

I will check for the football.

I have plugged the EGR with a bb.

Where do I find the wastegate?

How do I find out if the head is the #14 that I have heard about?

You appear to have the hose that goes to the bottom of the overboost protection valve.........in your hand.:eek:

This is what gives you the fuel enrichment. It needs to be connected to the intake manifold. The port is right in front of you when you lean over the left fender. Once this is connected, the vehicle will change its entire performance characteristics.

Don't even bother with the wastegate just yet.

If the engine is original, the head will be the #14 head. The number is cast into the left side of the head, just below the crossover pipe. You'll need a mirror to read it. The second to last group of two numbers represents the casting number. It will almost surely be "14".

Not much change
 

So, I saw what you meant and where to connect the line. Done, but no change from the turbo, still no whine. All the vacuum connectors should be replaced it looks like...they are all cracked and dry.

Is the wastegate the next step?

Nope.

You won't hear a whine from the turbo.......even if it's working perfectly.

The question is how much boost you have. It's time to get a boost gauge and hook it up in a "T" to the other line from the overboost valve. The line goes from the top of the valve over to the "ALDA". It will tell you everything we need to know.

Any 0-60 time with it?

That overboost solenoid plugs up easily too on the 603.

Be sure the manifold vac line runs to the lower of that solenoid and the upper to the ALDA on the IP.

Try a 0-60
 

Will,

On my '87 that line plugged up - the 0-60 times were 19-20 seconds. Connect that line to a good manifold boost source - directly from manifold to alda to test, and my 0-60 went to like 12 seconds. You may want to plumb in a cheap boost gauge to show you are getting some pressure to the Alda.

Brian is right, you will not hear the turbo.

Chuck

Blow down the line from the manifold -- the entire system must hold pressure. The boost line goes from about the center of the manifold (next to the pressure switch) to the overboost solenoid, then to the ALDA, where there is a "y" fitting, and hence to the transmission control box (looks like a blue car horn) up on the fender. All connection on the boost line have tiny little screw clamps, else they will blow off eventually.

If the line doesn't hold, check for flow out the overboost protection solenoid -- it air comes out the vent, it's busted and you need a new one. You can temporarily bypass it, but I'd not run long that way.

When you get boost in the line from the turbo, it causes the IP to inject more fuel -- if there are leaks, not extra fuel!

Peter

What is a good pressure reading at the ALDA under full engine load at 3000 RPM?

P E H

Spec on a non-CA car would be 11-12psi...same as the boost.

Where do I get replacement line?
 

Ummm.....You know the line that runs from the "y" over to the solenoid? on the fender wall? That thing sure it brittle! :( Yep, when the line from the top of the ALDA popped free from the tube it goes over I snapped the clear tube with the blue line.

Now it is disconnected from the ALDA and the two things that are at the other end of the Y. (Transmission blue thing and the small black box that could be a very small solenoid.)

The funny thing is that it did not change how the car runs. No power.

-Jim

Fixed it!!
 

Man, the history and tribal knowledge on this site is crazy! The injector cleaner I would have thought of, but the rest of the fixes were way past what I would have figured out.

I patched the broken line with a piece of vacuum line and a couple of hose clamps. (See the post above.)

The info from some of the other threads showed me where everything was.

Yesterday I changed the air cleaner.

Today I took out the overboost protection solenoid/relay. It was plugged solid. I cleaned it out with brake cleaner and reattached it to the firewall.

I cleaned out the barb fitting on the intake manifold. It was plugged solid. I cleaned it out with brake cleaner also.

I ran a hose directly from the intake manifold to the ALDA. I ran it around the parking lot a few times and didn't notice anything.

I took out the main fuel filter, then filled the new one with SeaFoam injector cleaner and installed it. The rest of the can went into the fuel tank.

It still was only running 25 second 0-60's for the first few runs. On about the 4th or 5th run I noticed that I was getting close to 60, it was no where near 25 seconds, and there was a HUGE cloud of black smoke behind me! After about 3 more runs I was down to 10-12 second 0-60's.

I think that the injectors were dirty and the ALDA was stuck from not being used for so long. Between it poping free and the injector cleaner life is good!!!

The boost doesn't really start kicking in until 3000 rpm. I'm going to run it for a week or so and see if it continues to improve. After that I tap the keg on the top of the ALDA. The plastic cap is still intact.

I'll change the clear prefilter tomorrow. It looks clean, but I've changed everything else so I might as well change it also.

I think I'll take the old owner for a spin in his old slow as heck car. (I've had it for less than a week! :sneaky: )

I was so happy with it working I had to come back and edit this to mention a new problem. When I turned the key off the rpms went down but the car did not die. I'll take a look where I was working and see if I can find a loose vacuum line. I must have bumped one loose.

-Jim

(Now for a few key words so that people searching can find this easier. 300D 300DT 1987 ALDA Overboost protection relay solenoid over boost banjo bolt slug no power dog no turbo no boost piece of junk)