BOV audibility questions....yes, I searched.

I have a blow off valve on my current configuration in my 88 TC 5spd, but I hear absolutely no audible confirmation that it is functioning. I have ridden in cars with blow off valves, and I have watched numerous videos where I could hear the BOV, but my car just doesn't make the sound of blowing off the excess air. I looked for a brand name on the valve so I could give you guys more info, but no luck. While searching ebay, I found the valve, here it is...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GOLF-JETTA-VW-1-8T-TURBO-BLOW-OFF-VALVE-TWIN-PISTON_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4a9c805908QQitemZ320453237000QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAcces sories

I apologize if this breaks the rules for posting, but I just don't have another way to show you what I've got.

The valve doesn't have any adjustability that I can find. I can see the valve movement when the car is started...it lifts, but I don't know what that means. I have it hooked up correctly as it is the only way it can be hooked up. The ebay page says it's a dual piston, but in my research, these are still supposed to make the whoosh sound between gears. I'm open to ideas. Here is how I have it hooked up on my engine...

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss302...v09010.jpg

Thanks!

is this one those fancy ones designed to work with the air meter, or does it still run funny between shifts? are you still making consistent boost? or does it leak some? valve could just be stuck open. ive seen that before. generally they have to be adjusted per setup as well. if there is no adjustment on it that may be another problem.

Could be that spring tension is too high to overcome vacuum between shifts.

Might not be "blowing off".

The only way to verify would be to install a lower pressure spring and see what happens, or to run it on a dyno, and see if the valve opens between shifts.

-n8-

The spring is stiff as hell. I did a search over at turboford and found out that this valve is just like the forge valve in that it has two springs inside it. One is for low boost (5-12)and the other is for high boost (13-25). They said to take the valve apart and take out the smaller spring to see if that would help. I took it apart and took out the smaller spring, but the bigger spring was so freaking stiff that it was pretty difficult to get the thing back together with just the one spring. They also suggested to cut down the big spring and stretch it to make it weaker if it still wasn't releasing the boost pressure. I am hesitant to do this because I don't want to ruin the thing, and quite frankly, I don't know that I have a tool that would cut that heavy duty spring in there.
As for how the car runs, it runs fine. I know the valve is moving because it lifts at idle, and when i rev the car with the hood open and looking at the valve, I can see the valve moving. I'll try to get a video to show what I'm talking about, but tomorrow is a busy day, so it will probably be friday before I can post anything.

Ok, couldn't sleep, so I went out and made the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2TLqatVRaU

Sorry for the clarity, but I was holding a flashlight with my mouth while I held the camera in one hand and revved with the other. You can see the valve working, so it's not stuck. I put the little spring back in because it made the car run worse without it. Without the little spring, the little puck on the hole that gets attached to the intake just slides around and creates a leak (I would guess). The little spring keeps the puck in place. I stomped the crap out of the big spring hoping to weaken it a little, and it seemed like the valve went back together easier this time, but I haven't had a chance to drive it for results of the blow off.

That looks like it is doing what it should...

The bigger piston is clearly moving in the bore, but there's no way to see if the smaller one will back off properly until its boosted, right?

Would it be possible to only run the smaller spring, since it is ultimately what controls the valve opening?

I've always run a DSM bov with a brass check-valve on the dump side when it was open to atmosphere- and anything over 10psi boost had the classic PPPPSSHHHT sound.

Keep plugging- it'll work somehow!
-n8-