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Who wants some free HP?

27K views 110 replies 33 participants last post by  Gina@Tork 
#1 ·
#3 ·
The Turbo is made by borg warner, and this issue has been seen on other platforms.

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#5 ·
60,000 miles? We just adjusted one on a 2014 that ha 39,000 miles and it picked up 22 - 28 WHP in the top end. Customer was very happy with the results.

Hope that helps.
 
#8 ·
Seems simple enough, and the price is right, but I'll wait for a bit bigger sample size before jumping on board. My car is pretty new anyways, so the benefit should be minimal.

I can't help but wonder about a blanket recommendation to use the maximum position. Could that cause problems on newer cars? If not, then why isn't that the default position? Why allow adjustments at all? Just playing devil's advocate here. The "boost hack" was a popular low-cost miracle procedure for a while too, after all.
 
#11 ·
Actually, we are starting to see the WGA arms adjusted more on the newer cars. So, we look at a 2013, and then look at a 2016, and its drastically different in where they are adjusted.

I don't know if I would run out and say... adjust your WGA arm on your brand new 2,000 mile car. But, if you have one that is a year or two old, and want to see if it adds a little power... this would be the fix you are looking for.
 
#9 ·
THANKS Dr. John - for sharing this with us!
 
#16 ·
To check it you would have to mark the current position of the WGA nut, the turn the nut preload off the WGA arm. Or, you could pry the arm over to see when the flapper makes contact and releases from the inside of the turbo, but you would have to remove the downpipe to verify. The best way, would be to loosen the nut until you have slack in the system. If I am correct factory is 4-6mm and this is bumping it to 8-10mm depending how much additional thread you have on the end of the arm.
 
#14 ·
I'm going to try this. I find it funny though because I brought this up in my tune thread last month. I wondered if adjusting the arm enough to take up any slack that may be allowing the WG to crack open would help would possible leaking. I was flamed by everyone who stated adjusting the WG will blow up your engine. Now it seems my thoughts were correct. Thanks for testing this.
 
#19 ·
Hey now, I didn't ;)
 
#15 ·
any new aftermarket WGA yet? :]
 
#21 ·
I do not think this is a mod meant for every car. This is something only beneficial for those that it needs to be done on. Knowing if this needs to be done or not is not easy to determine by a novice or average joe.

Doing this can cause boost spikes and increased boost pressures if adjusted incorrectly before the ecu can correct it. This can make for potentially dangerous scenarios.

@TorkMe: Do you have any before/after boost curves when doing this mod?
 
#22 · (Edited)
This is my thought on that.
The WG is controlled by the ECU first. It's not like the ECU only kicks in after it see's a problem. If the ECU is controlling it then the ECU will only open and close the WG based on the boost and load levels it's seeing. The only way I could see a boost spike happening is if you did some other hack to fool the ECU into thinking boost is lower than it is.

The only way I could see a problem happening is if you adjusted in one direction so much that the WGA couldn't open the WG enough to lower boost. As long as there's enough mechanical range for the WGA to fully open or close the WG it shouldn't matter how you adjust because the ECU will just keep opening the WG till it see's it's desired value.

I know in spring controlled WG's of old you could adjust to raise boost.

Now where it can help is if you have a WG that in it's idle state has some play (or not enough tension) and its allowing the exhaust to leak past it.

I posted a video before that showed some testing that was done to find what that chatter sound is as you apply throttle. Some call it the rattlesnake. They showed that as you apply throttle there's a point where the WG is not being opened but the exhaust pushes the flap open just enough to where the exhaust flow causes the WG to flutter. As they increased throttle the ECU starts opening the WG and the flutter goes away because the arm is controlling it now.

Watch this video on a Genesis and pay attention to how the WG Arm moves open just a hair at the same time you hear the flutter.
 
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#23 · (Edited)
This is a spring operated (~11 psi)WG controlled by the ECU/WGA solenoid. When you adjust the arm with more tension than is needed then spring tension is raised. Due to the extra tension in these cases the ECU has to use a different duty cycle than before adjustment was made to meet same psi levels. This adjustment time can cause boost increase at the manifold. Also, as you mentioned, if adjusted too much it may not be able to open sufficiently which could cause boost pressure rise as well.

Knowing how to set correctly without possible issues is beyond what the avg Joe or forum member should be taking on.
 
#25 ·
I did mine today. Took me 1.5 hours. Prepare to remove the hotpipe! I also have a 4-point brace, but it really wasn't in the way. I don't have pics as they would've been difficult to take at the angle I was at.

Initially, the nut on the passenger side had like 2/3 threads showing. Afterwards, no threads showing. I used a deep socket 10mm with a short ratchet on the driver side nut and a 4 inch long 10mm wrench on the passenger side nut. I used long needle nose pliers to grab onto the metal rod. The pliers are probably a foot long or better.

I did several WOT pulls afterwards and did notice a good bit more power - even at half throttle!

FYI - mine is a 2014 with 35000 miles
 
#26 ·
Did you access this from under the car with it on jacks? Also, did you have to remove the heat shield or any other prep? I have the ORHP so may not be an issue but easy enough to remove

One more, are you tuned?
 
#28 ·
I finished the adjustment and yes, you need to remove the HP. This worked out for me since I've been wanting to adjust the angle of my ORHP anyway. I got a small needle nose vice grip to clamp on the right end of the arm. A 10mm ratchet wrench worked well because it was thin and had an open end wrench on the other end. That bracket between the trans and the manifold look like they're in the way, and they are, but you can work around it. I use the ratchet end to loosen the drivers side nut and then turned the other nut until I saw no more thread. On my 2016 the nut is already pretty far over so there was maybe 1/8 to a 1/4" of adjustment max. You can see how much it moved by looking at the white thread lock on the drivers side threads. The spot where the white stops is how far it moved,
I'll test drive a little later after a shower.

Tool Metalworking hand tool Ratchet Hand tool

Auto part Fuel line Automotive engine part Engine Carburetor
Auto part Engine Fuel line Automotive engine part Pipe
 
#29 · (Edited)
I tried to do this adjustment this morning and spent about 45 minutes to loosen the driver side nut and gave up. It wouldn't budge at all. I took it as a sign that my 2013 with 42k miles didnt need the adjustment yet. How tight should this nut be and is there a way to try to have the dealership do this under warranty

Edit: I removed the IC resonator delete pipe and the flex tube it is attached to before trying this. Also tried every angle with 3 different types of 10 mm wrenches.
 
#30 ·
How long are your wrenches? You might need longer ones for leverage. Also, what was the position of the WG? (i.e. is there room to adjust?)
 
#32 ·
The wrenches range from 5-7 inches. I am getting a bit of the "rattlesnake" sound in the range of about. There are 3 2.2k to 3.9k rpm. Torque pro shows a not so smooth boost curve (cant find my screenshot) in that range as well. Was gonna start by adjusting by 1 thread and go from there. There are 3-4 threads on the passenger side, and plenty of room on the driver
 
#33 · (Edited)
Ok, took it for a test drive....

WOW! I'm tickled right now because this verified what I thought was happening. The flutter, rattlesnake, whatever your name for it is, is gone.

I rolled into throttle and usually about mid throttle when I'm getting close to full I would get that flutter sound and hesitation. This is usually right before the point when you hear the intake change from the vacuum sound to the smooth hiss of of power. The flutter and hesitation are now gone. This proves to me, and based on the video I saw from the Genesis, that the flutter is the WG pushing open from the exhaust pressure and flapping. As you add throttle the ECU eventually starts opening the WG so now it has control but in that small period before that is where you get the flutter. It's gone.

Power comes on steady and strong with hardly any hesitation compared to before. Boost level are the same so no change there. I won't say power has increased but it gives the feeling it did because that no mans zone when I would normally have that hesitation is gone.

I would say by the feeling of the revised tune and this adjustment to the WGA that my HP now is pretty close to 220 if not a little higher. Most of what you feel on the butt dyno is torque so I'm sure that went up as well. I would love to get her tested now.
 
#35 ·
Im at 25k with a 2013, i think i would benefit from this. i did get the rattlesnake only on my tuned ecu due to more boost. thanks for the feedback
 
#34 ·
How many miles do you havever Leesrt? I'm at 16k and not are if I need to do it or not
 
#38 ·
Almost 14k
 
#41 ·
I would let it break in for at least a few oil changes.
 
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#42 ·
Take a look at the spacing on the control arm for the actuator, that's the tell.

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#43 ·
My VT now at 17.5k miles and I'm thinking of trying this method. Do you think I will any gain :) ?
 
#44 ·
I don't consider this a gain adjustment. I look at it as a "prevent loss" adjustment. I know the title says free HP but in reality the adjustment is making up for lost HP the sloppy or lose WG was causing.
 
#48 ·
I would like to see the factory position for the different years. I can tell you on the 16 it's pretty far over. You can see in my pic that there wasn't much adjustment but if your just trying to pick up slack or increase tension not much is needed. If I had a lot of room I would do this incrementally and test after each adjustment.
 
#49 ·
It would be nice to know the WGA tension on a new car that way the correct tension could be maintained as part of a scheduled maintenance. That is, of course, if it is set correctly from the factory.....

Guess I'll have to start testing various cars and turbos to see how much they vary at oem settings and at various WGA arm positions. I'll report back.....

But by no means is this a new thing to give you more power. It is more of a "normal maintenance" item to check in order to maintain same power/psi or a mod to gain power/psi.

It has been around since the beginging of when the internal wastegate turbo was made.....
 
#50 ·
So I'm gonna echo what Leesrt said, after the adjustment on my 2016 i definitelly noticed a bit of a kick innthe butt dyno. I pulled a little harder than normal and no audible hissing. However i dont thonk i torqued down my hotpipe somewhere because I got a small high-pitched sound as i smashed the throttle so we'll have to get back down there. I had to have the wife help me hold down the control arm as my needle nose pliers (only thing that fit in there) weren't doing the trick with me torqing the driver sode nut down.

Lets hope nothing blows up yay!!!

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#51 ·
Wife that helps you work on your car = Winner!!!
 
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