I have a blowthrough a12 and an annoying issue that I have not been able to find any answers to by searching on here and on google etc. the keywords I have tried just brings up unrelated information, so I am hoping someone may have some experience with the following:
I am getting FUEL in my MANIFOLD VACUUM line that feeds to my boost gauge, BOV and Distributor.

I used the factory port on the manifold and have a 90 degree fitting pointing upwards (was originally straight out, but swapped it to try). It tees to my BOV and Dizzy and tees again from dizzy to boost gauge inside car. I would not be surprised to see small amounts of fuel in there as the vapour would condense when not running. However after 30 mins or so of driving, there is a solid 20cm or so of petrol pooled in the line at the boost gauge (using transparent vacuum line). I can unplug the gauge and drain the petrol out. It comes out in a stream. It is a lot lol. It is dark brown/yellow in colour.
What am I doing wrong!? I'm pretty sure it's not right.

Fuel pressure regulator is on seperate line - so it's not the fuel pressure regulator leaking.
Still playing with jetting for tune but could it just be from dumping too much fuel into manifold?
My BOV was full of petrol when I took it off too... I'm guessing the dizzy is he same.
Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated. When I google I just get stuff about fuel pressure regulators and manifold vacuum.
Cheers!

Tested the gauge with a resistor between the sensor wire and ground.
20 ohm:



and with 100 ohm:



At least it was only pretending to overheat I guess.

Not sure where to go from here. Is there a way to calibrate or change the gauge?

What is the "too hot" range for engine? 95c?

I have got a temp gun DD, and did check head temp at one point, but wasn't sure what I should expect to see/how accurate it was reading on the metal. It's been pretty handy to have, good suggestion!

Thanks for your input guys.
Just to clarify: I have had a larger shiny radiator for a long time, onto my 3rd $150 eBay one. Used to sit on 1/2 way line all day and maybe creep up a little on warmer days. At some stage (can't remember when or why, maybe slowly over time) it began to run at over 1/2 way line and I think it has progressively gotten worse. Makes me think water pump or sensor/gauge.
Have the eBay silicon lower hose
New water pump on its way
New sensor on its way. Pump will go in this weekend, may test with old sensor if new one hasn't arrived.

Testing temp gauge with 20ohm and 100ohm resistors tonight to verify the gauge is accurate. Will report back with results!

Thanks for the clarification dd.

Pulled the sensor and heated in a pot of water. Getting readings of 130 ohm at 50c and 50 ohm at 82c. Wouldn't higher resistance readings would cause the gauge to read lower not higher?
Will replace for peace of mind but now I think I am more confused.

Can anyone tell me... if you measure the voltage from the temperature sender wire to ground, do you read a steady voltage with key ON?
I get 10v for 5-10 seconds after turning key to ON, and then it will rapidly change between 10 and 2-3v. Is this normal? The internal regulator regulating? Should it be 11-12v? I need to rule out my temperature gauge/sender as I have replaced everything except water pump which is on its way.

If you care, some more info:
I have recently installed a blow through turbo that is plumbed in parallel to the heater core (teed off at heater outlet, teed into heater return line).
Before turbo car used to idle slightly above half way (although it has seemed to progressively become warmer over the years. A timing bump at one stage helped it drop a little). Now it is reading 3/4 or more and rises quickly to H line when driving/cruising off boost. Radiator is a brand new aluminium 3 row. Replaced thermostat with new 82 Celsius fail-safe (old one was fine though). Block has been water flushed.

Running 6-7 PSI and have timing set at 10 initial + 15 mechanical by ~3k RPM + ~15 manifold vacuum adv. When I first installed the turbo I had 5 initial + 15 mechanical and no vacuum and it seemed to run cooler and didn't get to the H. One short drive it did, popped the cap with it running still and didn't see any flow. Heater hoses felt empty, think that time it was an air lock as I checked after idling the next day and it was flowing again. After that I added the vacuum advance giving 26 degrees advance at idle and made no difference to when it was running 5-10, if anything it seems to run warmer.
I Am still in the process of tuning but AFR mixtures are relatively good already but haven't been brave enough to drive it far with it running so warm.

Problem seems to be getting worse gradually so I now suspect water pump. Removed it today and its pretty lumpy but still in one piece and spinning. The last few checks of the flow across the radiator seemed slow though. Have a replacement on the way.
I am hoping that will fix it.
Otherwise I am thinking maybe lower radiator hose is sucking closed a bit. Or I have failed with the set up and it is just circulating hot coolant through the turbo over and over and reducing the flow through the radiator? Maybe blown a HG already?
Does your turbo engine run warmer than it did stock (just cruising, idle etc.)?

I am in the process of adding a wizzer to my a12. Only have the fuel left to plumb. I purchased a Holley Mighty Mite 12-429 which is a claimed 12-15psi 50gph for around $100 price point. Should do the job for a low pressure carb with 7 or so pounds of boost. (Blow through Weber 32/36)

I had a very similar problem. Perhaps the starter is dirty and clogged up. My solenoid was doing the same temperamental no click but worked 100% off the car. Starter tested fine off the car, but after fitting it the problem was still there. Bench testing the motor, it failed once so that's when I cleaned it, haven't had the problem since.

Thanks again for confirming. I will try and source a new one.

It seemed strange that the spinning started after electrical problems/me messing with it. It hasn't done it before I took it apart and it seemed very bad right away so I worried it was something I'd done to it.

Thanks DD that's what I was hoping to hear but not at the same time.

Yeah when I hold the key it just keeps spinning so that's why I was only doing it momentarily as I heard it is bad to run it unloaded. plus I was trying to show it working randomly. I also did a continuous test during one of the times it caught the engine with the ignition disconnected. After 10 or so seconds of cranking it started spinning. It feels like it may turn back a touch but it is hard to tell, I will check again. The video is quiet but you can turn your sound up if possible as the engine is the loudest noise.

Yeah the solenoid wasn't firing at the tyre shop due to dirty connections on the solenoid and a loose - battery connection I believe. It works fine now, every time.

So a bad bendix drive can sometimes work? but will fail totally eventually yeah? Maybe de-greasing it was a bad idea

I'm having trouble with my starter and am about out of ideas on troubleshooting. So I am looking for suggestions to try, or some input on this matter.

I will try to keep it brief (edit: it aint, sorry!), I made a video also to show the problem:

Video ( https://youtu.be/F4QHG0LGwRY )

A little bit of back story, not that relevant so please skip it if you cbf to read.
Drove my car to old mate Bob Jane on the weekend to get a wheel alignment done after installing new coilovers, camber adjusters and tie rod ends.
It started fine, drove like #OOPS# (toe was wack, it was pissing down and sketchy as.) but I made it there and parked, switched it off.
Mr alignment comes out and asks me how do I start my car?. Didn't know why he was having trouble until I went out to take a look. A younger bloke was poking around under the dash and near the heater hoses looking for a kill switch. (not relevant to problem but noticed later that it had sprung a leak at the heater core and heater cock, so I think he might have been a bit rough under there. fker!)
Told him there wasn't a switch and gave it a try my self. Not even a click from the solenoid. We tried the short-the-switch-terminal trick and the roll-her-back-and-forth-in-gear trick but couldn't get a peep from her. we roll started it and did the alignment (amazingly good to drive now) and then tried starting it to get it out of the shop. Got a couple clicks from the solenoid but she wouldn't fire up. Anyway, got her home and started head scratching.

Things I have done/tried:
New fan belt (needed doing)
New + battery terminal and lead (also needed doing)
Cleaned all connections relating to issue. Battery leads, ground points, solenoid posts and clamps.
Bypassed ignition switch by directly powering the solenoid switch from the battery with a short lead.
Bench tested motor and solenoid individually. Solenoid fine but nothing from the motor. Checked the bendix drive/clutch - spins freely one way, and will lock against the shaft and turn with the shaft the opposite way.
Disassembled motor completely and cleaned, which it very much needed doing - Was the cause of the motor not turning.
Reassembled correctly
Reinstalled correctly (I believe, 2 bolts and didn't see any shims, too easy)

So the problem now is shown in the video. Only some times it will turn the engine over, the rest of the time it sounds like it is engaging the flywheel but free-spinning? You can hear it grind once in the video when I try to start it again while the starter is still spinning, so the solenoid is firing and moving the pinion gear forward to the flywheel.

So further tests have been:

Removed it again. Bench tested ok every time. Solenoid firing hard and fast and the motor itself is spinning fast and every time.
Re-checked one way clutch. Again seems okay. There is no play in the shaft but a very tiny bit of play on the pinion gear which i assume is just the clutch mechanism.
Inspected flywheel for missing teeth and for good measure turned the engine over by hand to move the flywheel.
Re-installed, still being strange.

I'm suspecting the bendix drive or clutch whatever you call it is slipping, but perhaps one part in it still has enough life to line up occasionally and engage the pinion gear? Should I attempt to load it during a bench test by jamming it and seeing if it slips? I read that someone held the gear while testing the motor and determined it was a bad clutch due to him being able to hold the gear in place. Seems a bit dodge to me though.

The tech-wiki is great but limited on this subject, and so is google. But I am keen to learn more and try to fix or repair/replace parts myself. So any input would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!