After researching here a little I pulled the vacuum line off between the bcs and bca and I got all my boost back (from 3 back to 10). So I ordered a new bcs from gmpartsdirect put it on went for a cruise and had the same problem (back to 3-4psi). All the vacuum lines appear to be in good shape. My question I guess is how to test the BCA. If it is removed and the rod moves fully up and down does that mean its good? I imagine there is more to testing it than that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

If moving the vacuum line restored your boost then the BCA should be good.

Check the wiring to the BCS to ensure you have good connections.

I concur. Any time the bypass restores boost, the actuator MUST be good. You have either a wiring problem or a vacuum leak. Vac leaks can be found at idle with intake or carb cleaner. Carefully spray each connection while idling. If there'* a leak, it'll suck it in and change the idle a bit.

Thanks for the ideas guys. Now that spring is here I haven't been around much to play around with the car....Was going to try to carb cleaner trick, I'll get back to ya if I find the problem. Good news that BCA should be good though Thanks again for the response.

Well guys finally had a chance to work on the car a little. I checked all the vacuum lines with carb cleaner and I noticed no difference in idle. I did however replace a few lines that were lightly cracked. I also checked the electrical connections all appear well and i cleaned em with contact cleaner just to make sure. I still cant get my boost back. My SES light isnt on but i did have autozone clear the code for my O2 sensor after my cat was gutted. Could this possibly have anything to do with it?? It worked just fine for a couple of years after gutting the cat. Just trying to think of something that could be causing it. Any ideas or suggestions would be great, I'm planning on selling the car soon and would really like to have this problem taken care of. By the way I didn't use an electrical tester on the connections but will be this weekend.

Good idea. Try testing the resistance between the two connections on both the new and old BCS. When my BCS stopped working I couldn't even get the reading. On my new one I got something...but I don't remember what it should be. Mr. Wren can fill you in on that value. Perhaps the new BCS was f'd from the factory...

Alright had a chance to check the car out somemore. I have a couple of questions for you guys. First should there be a hot wire going to the bcs? Neither wire is hot. Second i tested the resistance and I don't know what the actual number was but with the tester on ohms the needle moved maybe a quarter of the way up. Is that normal or should I have total continuity between the posts on the bcs? I didn't have the old one to compare to the new one, but I'm beginning to think eiher both are fine and something else is causing this or both are bad. I wont have a chance to work on it again until the weekend since the car isn't my daily driver and is being stored 150 miles from my house at my dad'* shop. Any other ideas or suggestions would be great, thanks for the help so far guys.

With each multimeter being different, please redo the ohm test and let us know the actual resistance you saw between the two leads. I have one here I can test and I know recently I read another thread whree I think NERV tested one.

I won't have a chance to test again until this weekend or maybe even next. Sorry I dont have the actual number for you guys, it'* just a typical $30 dollar tester nothin extravagent. Seems to me if it is bad you'd get nothing or full continuity could be wrong though. Also should a wire going to bcs be hot? Thanks for the response.