G60 Boost Pressure Testing

I have come to the point of a G60's life where the owner goes into a panic that the G60 is not producing full boost. Before spending lots of $$ on G60 rebuilding, I have decided to check the obvious, that many people seem to ignore. The obvious is the intercooler piping.

As some may know already, the stock plastic pipes deteriorate when they hit about 5-6 years old. The replacement should be metal Eurosport IC tubes. However, leaks may still exist in a form of a leak around a clamp, a crack in the intercooler housing, missing potentiometer O-rings or holes in the flexible piping.

After a weekend of experimenting I have created a kit to test the IC piping. Contrary to some reports, running your engine and looking for leaks will not work. It is too noisy and too windy (from the fans). What I have done is create caps to plug the ends of the IC piping just after the supercharger and before the throttle body. I pump up the pressure in the system using a bicycle pump and then look for leaks. After testing about 5 G60, all of them had a boost leak!

Seeing that these plugs would be useful to other G60 owners, I decided to build and sell them for basically my cost to make them. This is basically to save some people time looking for the parts that work. They were really hard to find (at least in my city) and after building about 5 kits, I could not find any more parts. I have found a supplier now where I can get as many of the parts as I need to build the kits.

So, if you want one that is ready to go, send me an e-mail to gajewski@ug.cs.dal.ca. They are $20 + $4 for postage.

If you are one of these people that think everything is a rip off and the assembled caps are not worth $20 to you, I'll help and tell you how to build them yourself. Please note that you don't have to spend time figuring out how to build the kits (research) anymore, which is a big time saver. It is always easy to say I can do it for cheaper after someone tells you how to do something and the initial effort is not seen or appreciated.

Buy some PVC caps (2") and cap ends (the ones with the gasket). They should run you about $4-$6. Then go out and buy a valve stem, similar to what is in a typical steel rim ($2). Get some gasket sealer as well ($3). Now drill hole in one of the caps the size of the valve stem. Apply the sealer to the hole and push the valve stem though. Apply the gasket sealer on the threads of the cap ends and screw the caps to the cap ends. By the time you go to the store, come back, build the kits, an hour or more will have passed.

You can now attach the cap ends to your boost piping and pressurize the system. You do not need to pump it to 17psi, 2 psi will do. If you have a leak, you will hear it (look for it) and no matter how hard you pump and how small the leak is, you will never get to pressurize the system.

NOTE: These caps end do not have lip. This means that if the clamps are not tight enough, and you use too much pressure, the cap ends will fly off! Under 17 psi, the projectiles can cause injury and damage. MAKE SURE NO ONE IS IN THE PATH OF THE PROJECTILE CAPS WHEN PRESSURIZING THE SYSTEM.

Disclaimer: I will not be personaly or in any other way responsible for injury or damage resulting from using the kits or above instructions. Use at your own discretion and risk.

By Andrew Gajewski