Hello,

Where is the vacuum hose located and how would I know if it is leaking and if it is blocked? Sorry for the n00b question!

Would any one have pics/links to where it is located or how to service it? What is the T pipe (?) thingy that could get obstructed? Where's it at?

I am a self learning mechanic - my manuals and texts are from the net and from experienced doods like yoos

Any information would be great, so I can pass on the knowledge to future generations, Miyagi-san...

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Soon to be driving a S204...

Which vacume hose ? Heaps on them......

how do u know its leaking.. whats the symtoms

I can hear a funny hissing noise from front bottom end of tmic, near r/h side of throttle body? I can post a pic and show and tell, but how would I post it?
The noise sort of sounds like a kettle that has just boiled but more of a whispering level... sorry for the vague description, dunno how else to explain it.
No power in 5th gear - it takes forever for the turbo to kick and revs to shoot up and that is odd. I have to floor it pedal to the metal style, 4500+ later and turbo spools. Usually it spools straight away. Now I have to either keep the revs up in 4th, or floor 5th gear (which I never had to do before) and wait for turbo to kick in... sigh!

Help...!

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Soon to be driving a S204...

Could also be a Split in you y pipe from intercooler its self

take intercoooler off and check that pipe being a stock one its that hard plastic and quite often they can get a split in them

Ok, will do! Will post findings later.

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Soon to be driving a S204...

Can it be the boost solenoid, t piece or wastegate?

Am I asking too many questions???

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Soon to be driving a S204...

Could be ... could be a lot of things a matter of checking each thing till u narrow it down..

Ok, I had a look at my tmic on Friday (wowsers, quite small - the tmic I mean!) Instead of the plastic or silicon y-pipe it had the steel y-pipe? (does that make sense?) Anyway looked for any worn out hoses etc and found nothing. I changed my throttle body hose from tmic to throttle body since my old one was bloated. I changed my BOV gasket that was rooted. My turbosmart veeport 2 was cleaned and lubed. However when I read the maintainence manual it stated that the spring can be no longer tha 155mm. My spring was over that by a cm or two. To fix this problem, I Macgyver'ed a plan. I used 3x 20 cents to act as a spacer! 20 cents fits really nicely into the groove for the spring! A 60 Cent fix!

Same problem though, lack of bottom end in 5th, although engine response in 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th heaps better, noticable and smooth.

Today I changed my sparkplugs. My old ones were looking tired and had a rating of '8' the iridiums I put in are '6' I think.

Everything was going smoothly until I had to take out the sparkplug closer to the battery. I was squeezing my fat hand and couldn't reach. No choice but to take
battery out. Job was so much easier.

Being a noob/1st timer/virgin etc took me over an hour.

Took it for a spin and noticed that engine response was HEAPS better! Power came on smooth as... and wait for it... my 5th gear was back. YEAH BABY! So no more overtaking issues going up hill in 5th. That sound of the turbo spooling... *drools*

Anyway, I did a heap of things, so what could I of have done to fix my 5th gear bottom end???

Below is a list of things that I had rectified;

1) replaced throttle body hose from tmic
2) replaced BOV gasket
3) Spring tension on BOV (60cent fix) and serviced/lubed
4) Changed sparkplugs (iridium)
5) Disconnected battery (can this reset my ECU?)


Anyway I am happy as can be! Please feel free to comment

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Soon to be driving a S204...

1 + 2 + 3) I don't think it would be these 3. If there was a problem there, your power problem would be evident in every gear, not just 5th. IMHO, of course.

4) '8' plugs on a stock-ish car would be quite an overkill in my opinion. I used to run '7' plugs, and even then I was advised that it was quite unnecessary - I just put them in anyway cos I'd already bought them. Also make sure your plugs are gapped to suit the kinda boost levels you're running.

5) Lots of people say they have felt a difference after disconnecting the battery, thus concluding that the ECU has been reset. However, the proper procedure for resetting the ECU (on a 99/00) includes connecting the green plugs behind the steering column, and pumping the pedals in a specific order (I can't remember what it was). So personally, I don't think disconnecting the battery will work, unless it's disconnected for like a year or something (I read somewhere that the capacitors on the ECU board hold their charge for ages even after the battery has been disconnected). Again, IMHO.

Disclaimer: IMHO and to the best of my knowledge only, no responsibility taken for incorrect information.