help, my turbo might be blown.

i suspect my turbo might be blown. i have a st185 with a recently installed ct20b. after a number of other things breaking down and being replaced i started experiencing boost weirdness. we've been through cooling, electrical, and overheating issues in the last month. fortunately the car no longer overheats, (an issue with the radiator fans) but the turbo no longer seems to work either.
when i start the car the boost gauge reads between one tick below neutral and neutral. it used to stay at full vacuum until used. if pushed hard or faced with a hill climb the gauge occasionally moves up to a little over neutral, and then back down to the previous level.
i don't know what to make of this, but the car is pretty sluggish on the top end. the boost gauge has always been pretty unresponsive but i've never seen anything like this before.
oh, and another bit of weirdness since this started... the car starts up with a high idle, at about 2k. other than all that, the car's running pretty good.
:doh:
anyway, if anyone has seen any of this before i'd really like some input. i'm really really hoping its not a blown turbo, and just some wire crossed somewhere. so if anyone knows which magic wire might need fixing please let me know.

My gauge looked like that when i unlpugged the vacuum line to the turbo pressure sensor. Might want to check that.

yeah I wiould check vaccum lines and see if posibly the wastegate is stuck open

we took off the air filter and started digging around. all the hoses seem intact and the turbine still seems to spin. my friend seems to think the wastegate actuator rod is stuck since we can't slide it manually... but when i examined the one on the old turbo it didn't move either... still not sure what to make of it... but at least it seems the turbo is still intact for now. :shrug:

I say a good way to start is get an aftermarket boost gauge. It'll help tell you what's really going on. If you already have one and that's what you're using, sorry for my ignorance!

Bryan

my old alltrac had one but this one doesn't... much better response on the aftermarket one... but anyway. i think it might have something to do with a thermostat somewhere... the temp controller on the a/c has been wigging out and the cold starter both started acting up ever since the turbo went down.

when i have the money i may just bite the bullet and head down to the dealership for an estimate/diag.

sounds like you have a serious vacuum leak. there is a shit load of vacuum lines under the intake manifold. flashlight and a mirror. i would bet that this is your problem due to the high idle. the wastegate being stuck won't affect your idle.