I really am having a hard time with my 98 a4 1.8t.....i thought for sometime that i wasnt running full throttle, but now that i took it somewhere people are telling me im not running full boost or no boost at all.....do you know anything else that i can check, that would make my car feel under powered? and do you know where i can get a good turbo at? could this be my wastegate staying open or what?

 

A shop has told you that the boost is low or none? Then the boost controls need to be checked. That is, the wastegate, could be staying open, there could be a problem with the boost pressure control solenoid, etc. The turbo could be faulty.

 

How would i check the boost? i did a boost leak test and i didnt have any......do you think it could be my wastegate?

 

Check boost pressure by inserting a 3/16" tee fitting in the hose to the top of the DV, with a vacuum hose long enough to reach inside the car. Attatch a 0-30 psi pressure gage on that hose, then have a helper note the boost pressure reading while you test drive the car. Should develop at least 8 psi maximum load. It's possible the wastegate has a leak, you need to check each boost related control device, in turn, until the cause is found.

 

thats what i was thinking.....i really need to get this fixed.....it feels underpowered and i hate it, and im going in this week to see what is really the problem. Hope i can get this fixed soon.

 

If you don't already have a shop manual, I recommend you get access to the online ebahn web version from Bentley. You can get a 30 day subscription, or more. Included with that is a lot of "how things work' references that will be helpful to find and fix the problem.