Another Boost Issue Question.... I cant find answer for!

I have a problem i'm trying to figure out since I have owned this vehicle for about a year now, either its normal for these cars or not, and would like some feedback please!

I have a 02 ALH with .216 nozzles, malone stage 3, clutch/flywheel upgrade, 2.5" turbo back exhaust with a "high flow" cat and straight through muffler, stage 3 malone tune. It was stock when I got it, so all these upgrades are my own. I still have my egr.

I would also like to point out that I have replaced all my vaccum lines, the n75, replaced my turbo with another gt1749v cause the one that was in the car was pooched. actuator came with it, I only recently readjusted it, I lengthened it to hopefully aid this issue I have but its the same regardless and i lost 3 pounds on the high end, no matter. I cleaned my maf and my map sensors and looked via VagCom and they responded fine. I have cleaned everything, and looked everywhere. Now the ONLY thing I havnt done is reseal the inside of my vacuum pump that used to seep oil through that seal that the nipple sits inside, I rtv'd it and it responded better for a bit, but went back to the same old ish.

At the moment of acceleration at any speed or gear, I get this initial lag, for a good second or 2. Feels like the car is bottling up power and something "aka waste-gate im guessing" Opens and the car really gets going. I have a boost gauge and it shows me a good spike no matter if i'm lightly throttling it. From what I understand this is when the turbo builds boost before the vanes open up. But during this "boost build" Feels like I'm receiving none.

So, lightly accelerating, i use to get 10 pounds then fly back down to the requested 3-5, since actuator adjustment it now goes to 5 pounds and settles at 1-2. It is less noticeable under very light driving, but as soon as you need some nuts to get going, especially uphill (it takes a good 3-4 seconds to settle and take off then).

Under heavy throttle, I spike to a good 20 pounds, then dip down to 15 then hold at 18. but its a very annoying torque spike that I cant just gentle get into, its very sudden, now before people say that I'm running an aggressive tune, Sure, But I should still be able to ease into it without driving like a turtle. My 1.8t never did this, Sure there was a little bit of lag but not on the scale of this.

This is very annoying to me because even with moderate city driving, the after effect of it is torque spike and then you have to let off, then you have to get on it a bit again only to come back to square one of this boost building situation. Its even more annoying when you have to go through the 1-3 gears and the guy behind you is accelerating only to have put on his brakes cause im now decelerating from this good 2-3 second lag, and then he gets a puff of black smoke cause now I feel obliged to push the car a little more to get it going.

Under WOT and in between gear shifts, this happens as well BUT, Less lag in between. depends on how high you get into the rpm's before shift.
This also can happen if you are just normal driving, then push it, then normal driving again. It'll spike, I hear its normal, but is it actually like, THAT normal?

EDIT: During these boost spikes is the lag i'm receiving, after it settles it takes off.

Please Help. Any questions ask ahead.
Thanks!

On the actuator, you've made adjustments but I don't get the feeling that you've done them correctly. Sounds like the rod is too short.

Why did you clean the MAF? Reason I'm asking is that unless you knew there was an issue with it there's no point; also, cleaning a MAF is NOT a good idea (usually can only make things worse).

No idea whether this is a new turbo or a used one. How many miles are on it?

What's the state of your intake? Clean?

What vacuum are you pulling from your vacuum pump?

BTW - Stage 3 isn't really all that aggressive of a tune.

Do the VNT vanes actuate smoothly without hanging up anywhere?

@UhOh

It does sound like the rod is too short, cause i'm getting an excess of exhaust manifold pressure but i'm at a point where I lost 3-4 psi up under WOT, and my turbo doesn't whistle at idle anymore. I'll try to adjust it more today and readjust it back if it doesn't help. but seems like that isn't my issue.

I Cleaned it in hope of it fixing my problem, MAF still works the same, so i'm safe, for now....
EDIT: Also cause there was oil residue there from the old turbo seeping oil into it.

Turbo was new when I installed it, Its not a garret, its a rotomaster, I got it for super cheap via work cause we had one lying around. This issue i'm having was present on the old turbo too. It would limp mode because of how high it spiked.

I checked my intake when I installed the turbo, and it was absolutely fine.

I have not checked if im running the 24 vacuum its supposed to at idle.

I know its not that aggressive, I've just had people say how aggressive it is on the turbo so I thought i'd say before hand cause i've had enough of that noise.

@bbarbulo
EDIT: The vnt vanes feel via lever, is absolutely fine and smooth.

Thanks for the input, keep it coming, hopefully I iron this problem out so other that get trapped in the same box i am so others get a clear answer.

I also would like to ask this question while i'm at it. Why in every video and one one other tdi I have driven you get that vane's shutting and air rushing through the exhaust noise. Everyone knows what im talking about. I only heard this when I first got the car and it had a crack in the flex pipe, On the old turbo I may add. But i have never heard it after that, I have gone through straight pipes, to running open dump cause a weld broke from not using filler on the 90. Anyway.

Why is this noise not present anymore? Is there a particular reason? Vanes not shutting instantly?

Update:
I have adjusted the rod even longer, and while it seems like its better down low, i still feel this initial lag. i think its only cause im holding off the boost, and now i dont have much power up top at 5-7psi less then the 18pounds its supposed to be pulling.

Also, As @bbarbulo has asked me, I checked again, and seems like it catches at first, it takes a little bit of pressure to start it moving, but freely the rest of the way, could this catch be the reason my turbo is doing this? Maybe my arm has been to long to start with which is why the vanes arnt opening fast enough for the turbo to pull more air through?

Search for threads on dealing with possible sticking vanes. The actuator rod must move freely, as well as the vanes themselves: if there's any sticking then you have to figure out what's to blame- popping off the rod will allow you to checked both, independently.

A short actuator rod will have things jumping all over on you, like what you're getting. As you now note, it's possible that having it adjusted long from the start caused all of this.

I would be suspect of any turbo that's not one of the standard ones (Garrett, Borg Warner or Mahle). It's really just not worth using something else because erratic turbos are, as you're finding out, a pain in the butt. Not sure if you can find the right specs on adjusting this turbo or not, but you're going to have to try (need a baseline to work off of): you an spend a bunch of time fiddling around to find the right adjustment, but it might take you a while.

Still need to verify that you're getting ample vacuum pull from the pump (and then through the N75).

It sounds like the actuator rod is adjusted too short to me. You need a Mity-Vac to properly adjust the actuator. The actuator being adjusted incorrectly can lead to a number of odd problems that can be a bear to diagnose. The actuator should start moving at 3.5-5 in.HG vac and be at full travel at 18 in.Hg vac