Turbo Technics S280

[TyphoonFiST]

All Turbos that come with internal/external wastegates upgraded or not should come preloaded with what works best for that vehicle.It would be a great selling point also*

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[Dpro]

I have to adjust the preload on my wga, best to do it from about or below?

Above its not hard . You just need a air compressor to push the arm out to reattach it the the wastegate door shaft. I used a portable tire inflator that came with a noozle end that i attached a piece of hose to that I put on the wastegate nipple. Oh use a rubber to hold the wastegate door closed you don’t want it flopping down on the downpipe.
I posted a little thread about it as well as in my build thread. You just have to remove the cowl crossover pipe and upper exhaust manifold heat shield then everything is nice and exposed pretty easy to get too.

 

[MagnetiseST]

All Turbos that come with internal/external wastegates upgraded or not should come preloaded with what works best for that vehicle.It would be a great selling point also*

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If you leave the stock S280 actuator alone, the preload is fine

All this insistence upon the upgraded actuator is nonsense.

 

[dhminer]

I have to adjust the preload on my wga, best to do it from about or below?

Go in from below. Don’t have to remove anything to get to it. Took me about 15 min and hardest part is getting that damn circlip back on.

 

[dhminer]

If you leave the stock S280 actuator alone, the preload is fine

All this insistence upon the upgraded actuator is nonsense.

It’s salesmanship. Get told the factory actuator won’t hold boost. Duh I’ll buy the upgrade.

I was told by one tuner the ATP actuator on the 2860 won’t hold 24 psi. It held 28 psi with improper pre load and still only 85% WGDC. Hmmmm

 

[MagnetiseST]

It’s salesmanship. Get told the factory actuator won’t hold boost. Duh I’ll buy the upgrade.

I was told by one tuner the ATP actuator on the 2860 won’t hold 24 psi. It held 28 psi with improper pre load and still only 85% WGDC. Hmmmm

I agree, I had 0 problems with mine on the stock actuator. There was plenty of WGDC to make more boost and hold more to redline but the car was out of fuel. I mean I'm 99% sure that you void any kind of warranty that TT offers on these S280s when you change the actuator out (which would apply to our track car lol). Maybe Ron knows better? Since none but these two units have ever failed it will be interesting to see how this is handled.

 

[dhminer]

I agree, I had 0 problems with mine on the stock actuator. There was plenty of WGDC to make more boost and hold more to redline but the car was out of fuel. I mean I'm 99% sure that you void any kind of warranty that TT offers on these S280s when you change the actuator out (which would apply to our track car lol). Maybe Ron knows better? Since none but these two units have ever failed it will be interesting to see how this is handled.

Highly likely. I’ve been looking around for GTX failures on here but I haven’t found any. Will update my build thread for anyone interested as I progress tuning the s280 and ultimately deciding which turbo stays and which goes in the for sale section.

 

[Melow]

If you leave the stock S280 actuator alone, the preload is fine

All this insistence upon the upgraded actuator is nonsense.

I wish I had known that before I ordered the kit with the "upgraded" Wastegate. with all the problems I'm having getting consistant boost with the TS , I'll be going to the stock and wasting the extra 300 I spent on the "better" one. OK, it was more like 200, but still a waste of money if I can't get it to work right.

 

[AzNightmare]

It’s salesmanship. Get told the factory actuator won’t hold boost. Duh I’ll buy the upgrade.

I was told by one tuner the ATP actuator on the 2860 won’t hold 24 psi. It held 28 psi with improper pre load and still only 85% WGDC. Hmmmm

That's the kind of thing I was trying to get at before I made my purchases. It's a slippery slope and it's easy to tack on "one more thing, might as well. What's another couple hundred bucks?"

I bought the upgraded WGA cause I was convinced it was a must and pretty much everyone else said it was required. But I'm reusing the stock BPV just because I really didn't want to spend any more if it wasn't necessary. My tuner said he didn't see the need to upgrade the BPV so that gave me peace of mind. (I didn't get a chance to ask him about the upgraded WGA, but something tells me he probably would have told me to just use the one included, lol).

Everyone's free to spend their money however it makes them feel comfortable for their build, but I think we need to be careful of what's just being parroted around either by misinformation or just sold by salesmanship without empirical data. Because of various power goals, I think information of optimal set ups can also get blended in together under the same umbrella unintentionally.

 

[Dpro]

That's the kind of thing I was trying to get at before I made my purchases. It's a slippery slope and it's easy to tack on "one more thing, might as well. What's another couple hundred bucks?"

I bought the upgraded WGA cause I was convinced it was a must and pretty much everyone else said it was required. But I'm reusing the stock BPV just because I really didn't want to spend any more if it wasn't necessary. My tuner said he didn't see the need to upgrade the BPV so that gave me peace of mind. (I didn't get a chance to ask him about the upgraded WGA, but something tells me he probably would have told me to just use the one included, lol).

Everyone's free to spend their money however it makes them feel comfortable for their build, but I think we need to be careful of what's just being parroted around either by misinformation or just sold by salesmanship without empirical data. Because of various power goals, I think information of optimal set ups can also get blended in together under the same umbrella unintentionally.

stock BPV is kinda of a tossup. Some people have it fail under higher boost as it lets off. Some don’t .You mentioned you were having boost drop issues at higher rpm it could be your BPV. Its made of plastic. I actually got the TS EM blowoff Valve and am quite happy with it.
If someone is having boost issues besides like I would look at the stock BPV its not the greatest.

I would change that out before swapping out the wastegate. The TS wastegate is not known for not holding boost so I would not automatically assume that is the problem .

 

[Melow]

So I put the stock Actuator back on with the factory preload that TT set when they shipped it. Went out to do some pulls and it won't go over 8lbs of boost. I'm about done with this 2000.00 paperweight. My car ran better and faster with the stock turbo, and while it ran fantastic with the TS wastegate on and the base tune, it wasn't stable enough to get a updated tune. All I did was swap out the TS for the stock that came on the S280. I'm so frustrated.

 

[subzerospeed]

So I put the stock Actuator back on with the factory preload that TT set when they shipped it. Went out to do some pulls and it won't go over 8lbs of boost. I'm about done with this 2000.00 paperweight. My car ran better and faster with the stock turbo, and while it ran fantastic with the TS wastegate on and the base tune, it wasn't stable enough to get a updated tune. All I did was swap out the TS for the stock that came on the S280. I'm so frustrated.

It sounds frustrating but dont give up. Theres PLENTY more success stories than failures, and if youve done the install yourself then your already miles ahead of others who pay someone to do it for them. Take a breath, be thankful you could do it yourself and then get back under it and confirm piping is lined up properly and such. As far as ive been able to tell, installing myself, its a process that usually takes more than one trip under the car to confirm its squared away. You’ll get there, and when you do the finished revision will be that much sweeter. Goodluck

 

[Dpro]

It sounds frustrating but dont give up. Theres PLENTY more success stories than failures, and if youve done the install yourself then your already miles ahead of others who pay someone to do it for them. Take a breath, be thankful you could do it yourself and then get back under it and confirm piping is lined up properly and such. As far as ive been able to tell, installing myself, its a process that usually takes more than one trip under the car to confirm its squared away. You’ll get there, and when you do the finished revision will be that much sweeter. Goodluck

What he does not realize is his base tune was for the TS 14ps wastegate of course the Tune will run worse when he puts the wastegate on that was not preloaded for the tune.

Man I just have to say this it seems this guys are trying to shoot bullets in the dark. He should never have taken the TS wastegate off thinking its the problem same with the other guy.
TS wastegate’s have an incredible track record and as far as I know have never been responsible for boost lose or tune issues beyond not having the proper pre load which I actually went through when I changed tuners.

Indeed this Turbo is far from a paperweight and if someone cannot get it to run perhaps they should take it to a shop that knows what they are doing.
HiJinx actually had his car hauled from Georgia to Tuneplus just so Adam could work on it and tune it in shop. Why, ask HiJinx but I would be willing to bet it was because he wanted it right and did not want to mess around.
Its time some of these people just accepted they might have tackled a bigger job than they were expecting, though like you said they have done over half the battle just by installing themselves. Though I will say my first tuner had to do a smoke test when they first installed everything due to a boost leak . Have any of these guys had a shop do a smoke test it would let them know a lot of what is happening fast.
Though I would not go blaming the Turbo or the Wastegate for something that obviously has its origins on other places because both items have a stellar record in the reliability department.

 

[subzerospeed]

What he does not realize is his base tune was for the TS 14ps wastegate of course the Tune will run worse when he puts the wastegate on that was not preloaded for the tune.

Man I just have to say this it seems this guys are trying to shoot bullets in the dark. He should never have taken the TS wastegate off thinking its the problem same with the other guy.
TS wastegate’s have an incredible track record and as far as I know have never been responsible for boost lose or tune issues beyond not having the proper pre load which I actually went through when I changed tuners.

Indeed this Turbo is far from a paperweight and if someone cannot get it to run perhaps they should take it to a shop that knows what they are doing.
HiJinx actually had his car hauled from Georgia to Tuneplus just so Adam could work on it and tune it in shop. Why, ask HiJinx but I would be willing to bet it was because he wanted it right and did not want to mess around.
Its time some of these people just accepted they might have tackled a bigger job than they were expecting, though like you said they have done over half the battle just by installing themselves. Though I will say my first tuner had to do a smoke test when they first installed everything due to a boost leak . Have any of these guys had a shop do a smoke test it would let them know a lot of what is happening fast.
Though I would not go blaming the Turbo or the Wastegate for something that obviously has its origins on other places because both items have a stellar record in the reliability department.

Yup exactly. I did my own work and had to pay for a smoke test and get under the car again as my first time doing a turbo swap didnt go “as planned”.
And yeah, turbosmart WG’s are not the issue; its either the routing of the plumbing or something else. Moral of the story, if you’ve never done the job, no matter how good you think you are at mechanically-inclined work, if you havent done it before dont be depressed when it does just swap in and work. Its a process, try to enjoy it. Ffs its the dam reason we all do this stuff, for fun and enjoyment. Try not to lose sight of that

 

[Melow]

What he does not realize is his base tune was for the TS 14ps wastegate of course the Tune will run worse when he puts the wastegate on that was not preloaded for the tune.

Man I just have to say this it seems this guys are trying to shoot bullets in the dark. He should never have taken the TS wastegate off thinking its the problem same with the other guy.
TS wastegate’s have an incredible track record and as far as I know have never been responsible for boost lose or tune issues beyond not having the proper pre load which I actually went through when I changed tuners.

Indeed this Turbo is far from a paperweight and if someone cannot get it to run perhaps they should take it to a shop that knows what they are doing.
HiJinx actually had his car hauled from Georgia to Tuneplus just so Adam could work on it and tune it in shop. Why, ask HiJinx but I would be willing to bet it was because he wanted it right and did not want to mess around.
Its time some of these people just accepted they might have tackled a bigger job than they were expecting, though like you said they have done over half the battle just by installing themselves. Though I will say my first tuner had to do a smoke test when they first installed everything due to a boost leak . Have any of these guys had a shop do a smoke test it would let them know a lot of what is happening fast.
Though I would not go blaming the Turbo or the Wastegate for something that obviously has its origins on other places because both items have a stellar record in the reliability department.

I was told by my tuner to try the stock wastegate, I would think the TS was better, but I don't know what he's looking for in the datalog. As for being in over my head, thats a two-sided coin. While this is the first car I've ever owned with a turbo, so this is all new to me as far as all the extra stuff involved with turbo engines. However, I've torn down complete engines and rebuilt them, 4 actually over the years in various vehicles. So i'm not new to engines and how they work, but I have no experience with turbos. I don't feel like I shouldn't have the confidence in my abilities to work on one, and yet this thing is a PITA. I've checked for boost leaks, replaced the BOV just in case that was bad, all new gaskets and hose clamps, went over the whole intercooler looking for stone damage or possible cracks that might leak, adjusted the Wastegate from 3mm to 2mm in case I was over pre-loaded. I have not had a smoke test done yet, but at this point, I don't really know what else to try. Maybe taking it to a shop would be best for me since I'm not having any luck. I just don't understand how with the stock turbo i was running e30 and had zero issues, all I did was pull out the old turbo and put in the new. Nothing else changed, how could all these possible problems just happen out of the blue? That's why I'm blaming the turbo or the wastegate, thats all thats new ( other than clamps , gaskets, and BOV) I obviously understand this is my shortcomings and probably not the products, I'm just frustrated at this point.

 

[Melow]

Yup exactly. I did my own work and had to pay for a smoke test and get under the car again as my first time doing a turbo swap didnt go “as planned”.
And yeah, turbosmart WG’s are not the issue; its either the routing of the plumbing or something else. Moral of the story, if you’ve never done the job, no matter how good you think you are at mechanically-inclined work, if you havent done it before dont be depressed when it does just swap in and work. Its a process, try to enjoy it. Ffs its the dam reason we all do this stuff, for fun and enjoyment. Try not to lose sight of that

I was typing my other reply when you added this, but you just described me. I feel like I should know how to do this based on past experience, but apparently, I don't.

 

[AzNightmare]

You mentioned you were having boost drop issues at higher rpm it could be your BPV.

That wasn't me. Unless that was a general "you".

I just came from a stock turbo. It always dropped boost at higher rpm.

 

[subzerospeed]

I was typing my other reply when you added this, but you just described me. I feel like I should know how to do this based on past experience, but apparently, I don't.

Id consider a smoke test. Sometimes the shop will offer to fix the leak for shop rate, which if its in a tough position, might be worth the money! I fought against a smoke test but in the end it was worth me trying to find the dam small boost leak. It was inbetween the ts wastegate and the cheap cast bov adapter from the TT kit

 

[AzNightmare]

Reading some of these horror stories, I'm glad I just took mine to a shop, and enjoyed the couple days it took for the shop to get the work done.
I don't have a lot of experience in cars though I'll admit. I've pretty much done all the mods myself up to this point, but the turbo swap seemed too risky. I don't think this mod in particular is a good one to "learn on the go". The part is too expensive, and if a problem occurred, then I can at least eliminate installer error (assuming the shop knows what they're doing).

If you can get this turbo to work, it's amazing. That's all I can say. Get a pro to work on it so you can relax and enjoy your day and know it'll come out right.
I'm still on base tune and the car already feels so much faster. It's actually kind of scary when you push it hard cause of how much power there is in such a light vehicle. I'm totally not used to this.

 

[Dpro]

That wasn't me. Unless that was a general "you".

I just came from a stock turbo. It always dropped boost at higher rpm.

ya that was actually another person that p.m.d me. I edited it for clarity did not mean to call you out on that .