after changing out of 3rd pretty hard my ca18det daily driver ute doesnt make boost over 2-3 psi and any revs over 3000 rpm sound like a v dub or wrx what should i be looking for blown head gasket? blown turbo? colapsed cat?
boost leak? any ideas and thoughts would be appreciated cheers wayne

any change in idle?, or starting?

idle and starting is the same as usual

Blown intercooler piping or hoses is my bet. I have had this happen to me a few times. Did it make a loud pop noise when it happened? The noise it makes over 3000 dosnt sound good though good luck

Check the intercooler and vacuum hoses. Also check the coilpacks.
Matty

Check what the others have said first, but when a 4 cylinder motor starts to sound like a wrx or boxer motor it means you have dropped a cylinder. Pull the plugs off each injector one at a time at idle and wait till you find the one that doesn't reduce the idle when you pull it off then work out why it's not firing.

This is 1200 post other half my c18 i had in my bluebird when that happed i did the same big change but into second mine jumped a tooth on the timming belt it was running the same not saying thats the prob. but somthing to look at also could be a dead injector

maybe a blown i/c pipe, but wont rev very high without the pipe, also check your exhaust-turbo gasket mine comes loose from time to time could be a start... id say check cooler pipes first.

no loud popping noises when it happened.I dont have an intercooler but checked the hoses from turbo to throttle body and they are all good as well as the vac hoses, the turbo gasket went on me a month ago so thats also good a mate of mine was saying that the head gasket has gone between 2 cylinders hence the wrx sound? is there anything else i should check before taking the head off??? cheers for your help guys

Are you using the factory coil packs ? My old EXA had a similar problem description and was finally diagnosed as 2 of my coil packs were breaking down above a certain RPM. Best of luck.