My Father and Step mother were the previous owners of my '88 TC. My father had a mechanic change the cam to a roller setup and later I found out he also modified the car to create more boost. He also turned the boost alarm off.
I took ownership of the car last January and got it running again. Stuck fuel injectors and other odds n ends to get it running fairly well. I replaced vacuum lines that were dry rotted, etc.
I wanted to adjust the turbo pressure so I purchased a Gilles Valve from all the recommendations I have read. This is when I found out the someone had mickey moused the turbo setup. Right now I have the no spring or ball in the valve and it produces 18 psig boost. I have checked for a vacuum leak and have not found any (Not that there isn't any, but I have not found any). I placed a vacuum gauge on it in the summer and the vacuum sits between 14 & 15 psi depending on the idle. The idle does vary sometimes as if a module is adjusting the rpm.
The idle does hang sometimes when I push the clutch in and other times it does not. I have not figured out what causes this.
It appears I my commuter car may be taking its last breathe and until I find a replacement the Thunderbird may have to fill the slot for a time. At this point in time with the turbo set the way it is the car is a handful in the rain. It hits like a '70s era 2 stroke dirt bike. All off or on in the power band. I would like to turn the boost down.
I hate the thought of exposing the car to this salt brine they put on the roads, but......
How are things connected currently? Any pics of the waste gate/ BC valve hoses?
14-15 inHg vacuum at idle is kind of low, but that also might depend on what cam was installed?
http://www.boostvalve.com/ford.html
That is exactly how it is connected. I wish I found that link when putting it in. Thanks!
I will take pictures and post. I did get good news on my commuter has some last gasps in it so that should buy me a month or so.
Unfortunately I didn't get the car out of her winter slumber and into the garage this weekend. At this point it will need to wait until after Christmas to move.
The last time I worked on the car I did check the actuator on the gate by applying pressure on the vacuum line to it. I didn't feel any loss although it wasn't very scientific using my mouth.