HOW TO....Helper Spring Options

[_Jim_]

This is a HOW TO on adding a helper spring to your Internally wastegated setup:

Hook your Boost controller up to an Air compressor set to 8psi, and adjust it until air passes though the other port. You boost controller is now set for 8psi......THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!

You will need to (at least I did) remove the turbo from the car to add the helper spring.

With the turbo off the car, hook up an air compressor set to 9-10psi to the wastegate port and note how far the wastegate flapper travels. Try it a few times and make your self familiar with the distance traveled.

Now, turn your compressor up to 14psi and put the air supply back into the wastegate port, and note how far the wastegate flapper travels this time. Again, try this a few times and make yourself familiar with how far the wastegate flapper travels at this pressure. At 14psi, your wastegate should be almost, if not totally open.

Now its time to start setting up for the Helper Spring mod.

First you need to drill a 1/8" hole in the bottom lip of the wastegate actuator, and another 1/8 hole near the bottom of the wastegate actuator rod as seen below. My setup measures a total of 6 3/4" hole to hole.



Next, you now need to buy a spring that is long enough to hook on each of the two holes that you just drilled. You want to buy a spring that is moderately stiff. The Spring that I chose is shown above. Its actual "spring section" (not including hooks) measure about 3 1/4" long and 1/2" wide. The hooks were not exactly 6 3/4" apart, but this is not a problem, as you are going to change this later to get the appropriate load on the wastegate actuator rod.

Actual overall length of the spring you buy will vary , so I will just use 5" as an example. (See Below)

So the overall length of the spring is 5", and we need 6 3/4", so straighten out the hook ends as pictured in "STEP 2"

Then rebend the hooks to the distance of the two new holes you drilled as pictured in "STEP 3"....in this case, we rebend them to 6 3/4"

Install the new Helper Spring into the two hole you drilled in the wastegate actuator and the actuator rod.




Now that the helper spring is installed onto the wastegate actuator and actuator rod, it is time to start adjusting tension/load.

Hook the air compressor back up to the wastegate port, and give it 14psi of air. Note the distance that the flapper moves compared to the original tests done earlier. If the distance traveled of the flapper door is the same as earlier when you applied 14psi, you need to "tighten" the Spring, which will add more load on the actuator rod.

You can "tighten" the spring without actually having to removing the spring. Take a pair of pliers, and grab the side of the hook that comes through the holes that you drilled. twist the pliers away from the hole, and you will see the spring start to open. You need to make SMALL adjustments. Once you have stretched the spring, and "bent" the hook enough that the spring stays in its new location, you need to try testing the flapper movement again with your air compressor. ***If you added to much load, and you wastegate flapper doesn't move....remove the spring and start over with "STEP 2" from the above example.***

If the flapper door travels the same distance at 14psi with the new Helper Spring, that it did earlier with no helper spring at 9psi, YOUR ALMOST DONE. If not, you need too go back and add more tension/load by tightening the spring as you had done earlier.

Now that the flapper door travels the same distance at 14psi as it did at 9 psi, its good safety to see at what psi the flapper door opens fully (use the distance traveled earlier at 14psi without the helper spring to gauge this). As long as the flapper door has full movement below 25psi, YOU ARE DONE.

Reinstall the turbo, and your boost controller THAT HAS BEEN TURNED DOWN TO 8 PSI, and go for ride. Even tho your boost controller WAS set for 8psi, its still "sending air" to the wastegate actuator to open, BUT the wastegate will not allow it to open until 14-16psi due to the Helper Spring.

I recommend doing the first pull on the highway in 4th or 5th gear from a roll of 50mph, as this will supply plenty of load to get your turbo spooling, but you are moving slow enough not to have to worry about the road AS MUCH.

WATCH YOUR BOOST GAUGE. Make sure that you are still capable of holding boost. if you are capable of holding a boost pressure that you feel comfortable with (my minimum boost setting raised from 10psi....to 16psi), feel free to turn up the boost controller to your desired PSI, and enjoy.