howling noise

[ajt86]

Hey guys, i finally started driving my 87GN and now i have 2 problems. i have an audible knock- but i think it may be coming from when the previouse owner installed the convertor because it goes away and comes back- but now when i hit WOT and then let off- even slowly there is a howling noise coming from the engine bay- im new to the turbo world- can anyone help, thanks!

[ajt86]

well the knock is taken care of- anyone know what the howling could be? is it just from the turbo spooling up?

[Keller]

Depends. Could be a leak under boost. Or may just be a normal sound.

Try checking all your intercooler hose clamps and hoses for leaks. Note that they may only leak under high pressure. These things can be hard to diagnose...

[ajt86]

hey guys a guy one turbobuick.com diagnosed it- he said its the compressor surge- and having the 9" K&N filter makes it loud- he even showed me a video of another car doing it- everythings running great now

[87we41087]

About that compressor stall/surge, i know thats not a good thing for the turbo and causes damage and wear after a while. A blow off valve i believe is what gets rid of this. Why have i NEVER seen a BOV installed on a TR? Does anyone know? I would like to get rid of the stalling and prolong the life of my turbo. Thanks.

[Keller]

1) If your car is properly adjusted, it won't stall

2) You shouldn't let off abruptly after being at WOT

3) I've never heard of anyone's turbo being trashed by compressor surge (which shouldn't happen if you're treating your car properly, anyway); even after LOTS of miles. One local car went hundreds of thousands of miles (not 100000 miles, more like 300000 or 400000) on the original motor and turbo before anything needed attention. And it wasn't the turbo.

Most of the Brand X cars get BOV's because they 'sound cool' (external venting) or because they reroute the boost pressure to keep up compressor velocity in some applications. TRs just seem to do OK without. Some have used them, but most don't use them.