Re: 5KCSTQ springs

[ti@bazooka.amb.org (Ti Kan)]

Hi all,

I finally found the time to install the turbo wastegate spring from
Charlie Smith on my '84 5000S Turbo.  It was an easy swap, and a
perfect fit too.  As Charlie said, the car now easily reaches
1.5 bar on the dash readout, and pushing much beyond that causes the
fuel pump cutoff to activate.  I used to get about 1.3 bar,
occasionally 1.4 bar max before this mod.

The car feels like a different beast under boost now.  Whereas
it used to feel somewhat lazy it now possess a sense of urgency
to its acceleration.  It even makes more satisfying sounds on
full throttle.

The fuel pump cutoff is really not too objectionable, really;
and quite a bit less dramatic than I had imagined it to be.
It feels like a brief hiccup, for lack of better words.

I have elected not to ground out the ECU fuel pump connection
for the time being, as it provides protection against overboost.
I know that I can get more out of this spring by defeating the
fuel pump cutoff, but the risk of engine damage worries me a bit.
If anyone finds a way to do this elegantly, such as raising the
ECU's cutoff limit without affecting the accuracy of the boost
readout on the dash... let me know!  (I know, pay Ned Ritchie
the $$$$ and he would probably be able to do this for me,
but I would rather find a cheaper alternative.  After all,
I have only invested $15 on this so far :-)).

My stock wastegate spring is visually made of thinner gauge
wire, but is longer than the Charlie Smith special spring when
in uncompressed state.  It also has blotches of green paint 
on the coils (which I guess is some sort of color coding that
Audi uses to identify the stiffness rating of the spring?).
Since my car is an '84 and may be somewhat different than the
later cars, I am curious what color code is your stock spring?

I have to say that this is the most-horsepower-for-the-buck
I had ever spent upgrading a car.

If you have installed a Charlie Smith spring in your car, I'd
love to hear about your experiences.

Regards,

-Ti
-- 
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