Where should I tap for boost?

Torque!

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Location
Boston, Massachusettes, USA
TDI
2001 MK4 Jetta TDI - 196K
I am planning to install my new Autometer gauge soon.
One question:
Where did you tap for Boost?

There is more than one place I can do this and I am curious where other members decided to take their readings.


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2001 Silver Jetta TDI GLS Auto
Cold Weather, Leather, Sunroof
(RIP 76' 330K Toyota Corona)
 

GeWilli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
lost to new england
TDI
none in the fleet (99.5 Golf RIP, 96 B4V sold)
we all tap Ric Woodruf and Turbo Steve for boost


Skypup put his in the flexible hose just before the EGR. Used silocone glue I think to seal it and hold it in place. A trust Swiss army knife awl punch made the hole i believe.

The closer to the intake the more informative I think it is supposed to be . . .
 

Torque!

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Location
Boston, Massachusettes, USA
TDI
2001 MK4 Jetta TDI - 196K
LOL!

Silcone? The end hose had two possible brass fittings. I was thinking of looking through the Home center plumbing section for a better solution. Something that has a fitting and clamps over the hose.

You did answer my question about location. Closer to the intake would be better than closer to the turbo. I think there were prior posting about the pressure drop across the IC.


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2001 Silver Jetta TDI GLS Auto
Cold Weather, Leather, Sunroof
(RIP 76' 330K Toyota Corona)
 

Karl Roenick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 22, 1999
Location
Clifton Park, NY, US
I did it sp's way too. i figured at the time that if i screwed up i could always do something else. i think people just drill a hole and thread a brass compression fitting in there. i don't think it blows off for them. mine has also been fine with the lol glue and presents no impediment to air flow that a fitting would, small though it may be.
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
The best way to accomplish this is to remove the hard plastic intercooler hose right before the rubber intake hose that I tapped into. You can then drill and tap that hard plastic tube and install your Autometer brass fitting device in there.

I only installed it this way as seen above to be as close to the intake manifold as possible to measure real usable boost, however I was worried about excess wave pressures screwing up the gauge readings and/or the boost pressure not being read properly and if I screwed up somehow, all I had to do was replace the rubber hose instead of some more expensive intercooler fitting. I was planning on installing the brass fitting permanently as mentioned above, however, my original simple short and sweet method works just fine, so I have never changed it.
 

Torque!

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Location
Boston, Massachusettes, USA
TDI
2001 MK4 Jetta TDI - 196K
I like this better. I'm sure the surface area is not large enough for it to work its way loose but if I tap the plastic it will be sure to stay put. There shouln't be any change in pressure between these two points mentioned.
SkyPup, What pod did you use for the gauge? I ordered one for the Civic and will try to see if I can modify to fit well. If not I may downgrade to the 2 1/16" gauge so I can use the available pillar mount.

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2001 Silver Jetta TDI GLS Auto
Cold Weather, Leather, Sunroof
(RIP 76' 330K Toyota Corona)
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
When I did this, there were no commerical boost gauge mounts available for the A4's, so I ordered a single A3 pillar gauge from Neuspeed and then customized it with a hot knife to install the much larger Autometer Liquid Oil filled Boost gauge. Worked fine for me then and still continues to do so.
 

Torque!

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Location
Boston, Massachusettes, USA
TDI
2001 MK4 Jetta TDI - 196K
Cool. I didn't think the housing would be big enough. I'll look at this and perhaps send the 2 5/8" Civic pod back.

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2001 Silver Jetta TDI GLS Auto
Cold Weather, Leather, Sunroof
(RIP 76' 330K Toyota Corona)
 

PcolaTDI

Active member
Joined
May 27, 2001
Location
Atlanta, GA
talk about bringing up an ancient post. skypup, just wondering where you ran the boost line through the firewall. i'm installing a boost gauge on my '01 golf tomorrow, would it be best to run it through the same place you did? thanks alot
 

Torque!

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2000
Location
Boston, Massachusettes, USA
TDI
2001 MK4 Jetta TDI - 196K
I'll answer! Man this is an old post...

Most people have been running the feeds throught the firewall in the driver side dead center just above the pedals. Here you will find a large wire bundle that passes through. You can attach items to a coat hanger and carefully push it through into the engine compartment. In the engine bay you will be able to find the piece sticking out just left of the driver strut mount and about a foot down from the cowl. On golfs you may need to remove some whatzit that is hanging on a bracket in above this location. (I am unsure what the thing is but it is only on golfs). Back on the inside I just ran the feed up to the a-pillar behind the dash.
 

Vroom

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2000
Location
Windsor, Ontario
TDI
mrrobmora
I just ran my boost line through the firewall on the weekend... I tried using the bundle of wire that goes through over the brake & clutch but it was a PITA, and once I got through, I saw that the whole bundle was wrapped in tape inside the engine bay. I didn't want to start unwrapping, and I couldn't get it through on the outside of the tape, so I just used another route... an empty grommet about 4 inches above the accelerator. It's visible from the engine bay as well if you know where to look. If you use this one, make sure you poke it through from the engine bay so you don't lose it somewhere.
 

Kenbob

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2000
Location
God's country (Texas)
TDI
2010 Audi TDI
Guys, sorry I didn't read this post earlier or I could have saved some installation grief. The absolute best place to run the boost sense line is through the opening in the firewall about 6 inches above the wiring bundle most have been using. There's a rubber plug stuck in the hole. All you do is remove the plug, poke a hole in it, slide the plug over the boost sense line, and reinstall the plug. If I had a digital camera, I'd take a picture. From under the hood, you can see the plug to the left of the brake booster. I'll try to look and make a more detailed description.

I learned this the hard way after fighting to go through the wiring bundle area. I remembered reading about an opening in the firewall and voila, der it were.

I tapped into the rubber hose at the outside elbow. I drilled a hole undersized and threaded the brass fitting in with silicone. First time I hit 26 psi, it did an impression of Captain Ahab sighting Moby Dick: "Thar she blows!". Pretty impressive acoustical signature. I reinstalled with safety wire around it for reinforcement and haven't seen any cetaceans since.
 

danix

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2000
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
None now. Former: 2011 335d, 2010 Jetta TDI, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon. 99.5 Jetta TDI, 98 NB TDI, 3 different black 96 Passat TDI wagons.
If I read this right, you blew the threaded fitting out of the intercooler hose? That's not good. I'm worried about tapping this tube. Perhaps we could make some kind of adapter post-intercooler tube and pre-hose?
I'll check it out.
 

Kenbob

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2000
Location
God's country (Texas)
TDI
2010 Audi TDI
Not out of the intercooler hose, but the rubber elbow that goes from the hard plastic upper intercooler pipe to the intake manifold. Basically the same place Skypup mounted his. I guess the difference was the silicone sealant, as opposed to the goop he used. Safety wire solved the problem.
 

Robber

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 1999
Location
Searcy, AR, USA
TDI
Did own 99 Golf IV, Upsolute Chip and opened intake
I tapped a hole on top and into the plastic housing just before the hose going into the intake manifold. If you look at the above picture mine would be just to the right of the green cap by the water coolant overflow on the flat spot of the plastic housing. Had to be careful when tapping so I didn't screw up the plastic. However, it was pretty thick and I used a brass quick connect fitting for the boost hose. Works really well and I can quick disconnect the hose real easily.
 
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