Re: 5KCSTQ springs

[tblank@teleport.com (Ted Blank / Webworks)]

>
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
>-- 
>    ///  Ti Kan                Windows 95 < Macintosh 89 < UNIX 70
>   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
>  ///    Internet: ti@amb.org
> //////  UUCP:     ...!uunet!bazooka!ti
>///      URL:      ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/tk/tkan/www/tikan/tikan.html
>
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________

I don't have Charlie's spring, but I have just developed the 1.5 boost cutoff, 
after having the exhaust manifold replaced.  I agree that the car is much
more agressive and responsive (until it hits 1.5bar on dash readout).

I find the cutoff to be a severe jolt and very annoying.  But more troubling
is that I am being forced to shift too early and watch the dash readout more
than I am watching the road.

Is it possible to get around this cutoff problem without        
        a) blowing up the engine
        b) loosing the new found power

Thanks,

Ted
'87 5K CSTQ