Forge Bypass Valve - Red Grease

[GL-1970]

I have had the Forge Bypass valve and CP-E CAI for a couple of months now, all smiles.

Lately, the Forge valve is hissing a bit during acceleration or when under load which leads me to wonder if it's leaking. I took it off and there's a good deal of red grease in the exit nozzle. All around the inner o-rings are black streaks in the red grease. The cylinder itself moves OK, no grit or scoring. It seals up OK at low boost I believe. It came with the yellow spring, no spacer - and worked well enough there.

Should I degrease the valve, and reapply new grease. If so, which kind.
Is there any worry about the red grease that has already gone into the turbo?
Is the valve supposed to have this degree of grease leakage?

 

[dirtyhat]

Have you considered going with the Blue spring instead of the yellow? I know that many people on the forums have tried both and the consensus is that the blue is the way to go. I have been using the Forge Motorsport BOV and blue spring for about 2 months now with no of leaking (that I know of).

 

[GL-1970]

Have you considered going with the Blue spring instead of the yellow? I know that many people on the forums have tried both and the consensus is that the blue is the way to go. I have been using the Forge Motorsport BOV and blue spring for about 2 months now with no of leaking (that I know of).

Yes, I could give the blue spring a try. I found some Forge tips - recommend Mobil 1 high temp grease, and give some leak test advice.
http://www.forgemotorsport.co.uk/valve_service.pdf

I'll clean it up and wait and see what the guys from Forge can recommend.. Still wondering if so much grease is normal. Could it be the o-ring seals aren't tight enough?

 

[patty AT forge]

The "pen-test" in the PDF should show if the seals are leaking or not.

It looks to me as if whoever assembled that valve was a little over zealous with the grease... there should be a light coating on the piston, any more than that and it will ooze out like what is shown in your first picture.

No worries about the turbo, the grease will be blown away from the compressor.

Just clean and re-lube according to the PDF and you should be good to go, it might also be as good idea to give the Blue spring a try as that is what most people seem to have the best results with.

 

[SuperStretch18]

Hi Patty,

How often should the valve be serviced like this?

Thanks for chiming in when questions come up!

 

[patty AT forge]

Depends on conditions where you live mainly and how many miles you put on the car in a given amount of time. I usually recommend that you perform the pen test every other oil change in harsh conditions, or once a year in temperate climates and re-lube when needed. Which would be when the valve leaks down during the pen test or when there is an obvious lack of lubrication.

That being said there are people that have run the valves for years without a single service and the unit still performs flawlessly. Periodic testing and servicing ensures that the valve will last as long as the car.

 

[SuperStretch18]

Better safe than sorry! Thanks again for the info!

 

[GL-1970]

Thanks to Patty @ Forge. I also heard from Mike with the following email:

In no way, shape, or form is such a new valve going to have any issues regarding the o-rings. As I mentioned, everything appears normal based on your photos, aside from a marginally excessive amount of grease.

If the valve holds vacuum when performing a manual test off of the car, the o-rings are sealing perfectly fine. It would be pointless to replace them until such a time that the valve physically fails a manual vacuum test.

For the valve to then be leaking under load when installed on the car, however, will typically indicate improper tuning of the valve via the included springs. I would suggest trying to tune the valve using the included springs and washers/shims, and see how that affects the response of the valve. My understanding is that many Mazaspeed/CX-7 owners are working with the yellow spring, while others prefer the valve response when using the blue.
Kind Regards,

Mike Lombardi

Forge Motorsport US Inc.

Nice to have quick customer response from Forge. I'll clean up the bypass valve, regrease with Mobil 1 high temp grease and try the blue spring or yellow with spacer