Strong05

As far as I know my truck has had low boost since the day I bought it. But I have only come to know this once I installed a quad recon. The best the truck has ever seen is a spike of 17 psi and it usually stabilizes at 14 psi. So I finally made a leak tester and found several leaks. My question is, the clamps on the inter cooler boots are pretty badly rusted (pics below) should I replace them or just replace the nuts that are rusted out and put them back on? If you think I should replace them please let me know what brand and what web site I should purchase them through (preferrable something affordable as the truck is pretty stock and I plan on keeping it that way)!

I also pressurized the system up to 20 psi and the waste gate didn't budge... So I'm assuming that it is frozen, especially because the truck has 119k miles and hasn't seen over 17 psi for who knows how long. I have seen several posts on these being stuck, but other then spraying penetrating oil on the actuator I'm not real sure how to get it unstuck. Could someone enlighten me as to the best method of getting the waste gate unstuck?






Thanks in advance everyone for all the help!

Brad

JasonblkZ06

The clamps are so inexpensive that it would not make sense to not replace them. Napa, McMaster Carr sell them, so either of those places are a good start. You can also get them on ebay. what is the ID of the larger size of that coupler?

Strong05

I called every parts store in town (Napa, autozone, Kragen, Pep boys and even the local race shop) and no one carries them. The only place I didn't call was the dealer. I wouldn't think it would be a good idea to replace these with just any old clamp, I would prefer to replace them with a factory style or better type clamp.

There are 3 numbers on the larger clamp: 448, 52027814, and 25423D

digbog

I looked into replacing all the boots and most of the kits I looked at came with new clamps. Are you replacing the boots?

JasonblkZ06

Napa has to special order them, McMasterCarr sells them. Check on ebay too. We used to get them from NAPA all of the time, but had to call and special order them. They were cheapest from NAPA and McMasterCarr.
OP, was wanting to know the ID of the larger side of your coupler in your picture. (The side that goes into the intercooler.) I have been meaning to measure it myself. Is it 3.5, 3.75, 4"?

As far as getting the correct sized clamp, measure OD of the hose and get the one that is in the range with the size on the higher end since it will shrink some as you tighten.

Strong05

If I find any leaks in my existing boots then I will probably get a new set. Otherwise I would like to spend as little as possible to get it on the road safely. I just ran to the hardware store and picked up some new stop nuts so I'm gonna see if that will work for now.

Strong05

The larger hose end going to the intercooler is 4".

Strong05

Ok, so I got the leaks sorted out (or at least down to a drizzle) with new stop nuts for the clamps. But while I had the system under pressure I checked the regulator gauge psi and compared it with what my quad recon says and it is consistently 6 psi lower. Which would also explain why my boost stabilizes at 14 psi instead of 20 while driving (the waste-gate actuator actually works). So my question now is: is it my quad recon displaying incorrectly or the air pressure regulator, or the MAP sensor?

Thanks again everyone for the feed back!

Brad