So its gotta be an internal leak then...gotcha. I'll post back when I get the little mother f'er off. Hopefully I won't get fagged up the ass and thats all that's wrong with it is a $50 wastegate!

you have a tune for this k04 right? Or at least a k03 chip? An external leak of stock 8-10psi wouldn't be as audible and would be much easier to lose before the manifold compared to a ~18-20 psi k04 or k03 tune.

I have a Turbosmart Tee MBC and the cincy diode mod. I push around 16psi depending on how hot it is.

If you by chance have the turbo smart tee knock off, as advertised in the cincy diode mod thread, it is a piece of shit. Diodes also wear out. If you find that either one of those things are the result of your issues after you take out the turbo (you shouldn't) I take no responsibility for the wasted labor time :)

How do I know if I have the knockoff?

It wouldn't look exactly like this
http://www.turbosmartonline.com/images/1035.jpg

Pshew...I'm good. It's the real deal. I have a 24 hour duty tomorrow (army stuff) but I'll have the turbo out on friday and post back. BTW, thanks a million for all the help. I owe ya!

I AM FUCKING LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I was driving home today from work. I was at a stop light, when to go and BAM...I had boost. I had it all the way home. I pulled my car into the drive way, turned the car off. I came back out, turned it on and then nothing....no more boost. I am so confused...

Hmmm. I'm onto something else here. Can't believe I didn't see it before.... That P0011 cam code could have to do with a bad cam chain tensioner. 2001 engines have a solenoid for the cam adjuster (vvt). If the cam chain tension was lose (due to a bad tensioner), it could cause the vvt "solenoid" to register that code.... and maybe limp with 0 or little boost, I guess. You mentioned a clicking/ticking that goes away when you rev the engine.... The description of the noise and this fault make me real confident that your cam chain tensioner is at least 1 big problem.

A timing issue would certainly cause the ecu to want to retard timing and boost ie. limp.

Maybe it's a good thing you didn't remove the turbo. But in my experience even limp mode produced some boost, never exactly 0.

I have the cincy diode mod...I thought that meant that my car couldnt go into limp. Here's something else. On my boost gauge, at zero psi, there is a box http://www.slickcar.com/products/4303.jpg The needle actually comes to just before the box, like right on the line. I've noticed that when I actually floor it that the needle some move into the box ever so slightly...so I know that the needle is moving some. So What should be my next course of action. Should I remove the turbo and still examine the wastegate?