I got the AEM boost gauge. It's T'd into the line my BOV is on, and BOV works fine, aso I know it's not leaking and is getting vacuum. The only problem is that it just stays at 22...at idle it stays at 22 and when i give it gas and the turbo starts to spool it bounces around and stuff...any suggestions?

 

The 22 you are seeing indicates vacuum 22 inches of vacuum. Your gauge is working fine. Btw, 21-22 is a pretty good rough-indicator that your stock engine is probably in good working order.

 

x2

if you need to, think of it as -22... when you accelerate, it becomes more positive (from -22, to -18, to -12, and so on). Once it goes above 0, you are out of the negative (vacuum state) and into the positive (boost state). Mine is around 24-22 vacuum at idle as well.

 

ok, i see now.

 

I understand what your saying..but I just went and checked it out and it stays there when I'm hitting boost too. like if I rev the car up all the way for a sec or two and then let off...no boost on the gauge...

 

try hooking an air pump to the supplied vacuum line for the boost gauge. Also did you check the line to see if there is any debris or clogs in the line. Does the car feel like its in boost at all even though the gauge reads in vacuum when ur on it?

 

your not gonna get a good reading when ur in idle and revving the car up. There is no load on the car so its hard to spool the turbo and make any boost. Does the gauge drop from -22Hg at all no matter if ur in nuetral revving or even driving around?

 

ok...that has to be what it is then...if i gas it really quick it will make a little bit of boost. But when I get on it slowly it hardly moves..I understand...damn I'm dumb.

 

What your seeing is -22 (negative) which is vacuum. I gotta rev all the way to redline to show any boost when I'm not in gear.
go drive around in second or third gear and then floor it. You should see the negative numbers go down from -22 to -10 and then -9.9 down to 0. Then at 3K or whatever RPM it will start to climb upwards from 1.1 on...this is also when you will see the green "tick" mark on the left of the gauge appear. Only then are you in boost, and if you only have a 8.3psi spring, it will only climb to 8.3psi.
Does that make sense?