VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner

Is my car tuned?

1K views 20 replies 6 participants last post by  hrghm 
#1 ·
Im the second owner of my 337 and i wonder if my car is already tuned. I talked to the first owner and he mentioned something about messing with boost and stuff. The car is completely stock except a BOV and a kn air filter.. Is there any way i can check to see if my car is tuned or not?? HELP
 
#2 ·
The best way to tell would be to monitor the turbo PSI with a gauge. They are pretty cheap and easy to hook up. All you would be looking for is if you are making more than 11psi. If you're in the range of 15-25 psi then it is likely that it is chipped.
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys. I am dissappointed that he put a BOV on it instad of a dv but its no biggy. I currently have a small crack in my vaccumm hose so im gonna fix that in a couple of days. Can the crack in the vaccumm mean i have a boost leak!? The car spools up and tends to have a lot of boost so im hoping that fixing it will increase my boost even more (if thats even possible). Im ordering a boost gauge after i get a new vaccumm hose installed so i know my exact boost. Sorry if i sound stupid im a noob at this stuff. Just trying to get all my questions answered before I start messing with it some more.
 
#7 ·
With turbo'd cars, when you're not in boost, or not building air pressure from the turbocharger, then you are in vacuum. On the boost gauge you'll be getting it *should* have the vacuum read in measurements of "HG", and the boost will just read in PSI. So anyways, once the turbocharger starters building pressure, the amount of vacuum, or negative pressure (HG), decreases while the amount of positive pressure (PSI) increases. So anytime, especially with turbocharged cars, you have a vacuum leak (or a boost leak, because they are one in the same) you are seeing a loss in power. Sometimes it can be a huge loss in power and the car won't run, and sometimes it could be a pinhole leak and the car will seem fine. In either case it is best to immediately fix it.

If you post a picture of exactly what hose it is we can tell you how serious or important it is.
 
#19 ·
I have that OEM PCV hose for sale if you're interested. (25 shipped)

Also, can you get us a non-insta-lamed picture of that engine bay (with more of what's to the right in the shot). We can probably tell you a lot more about it. It looks like something is deleted off the Turbo Inlet Pipe (TIP) with that silver plug clamped in. I don't have a 1.8T anymore so I can't go out to the garage to compare.

A catch can is a good idea but it will require some knowledge of the PCV system in general. Check out the FAQs in the MK4 forum and they have a PCV diagram somewhere.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top