Chrysler Repair: 1985 LeBarron Turbo Not Working, diagnostic capability, lebarron

Question
I inherited a 1985 LeBaron 4-cyl with turbo.  The car set over a winter in a garage and was not drive for six months.  When family members went to pull the car out the next year, the car could not be shifted into reverse.  The local shop in that small town found that the cooling system had leaked on the transmission shifting linkage.  It was "repaired" and the car given to me.  I immediately noticed that the turbo was not engaging.  I can hear the turbo whine at highway speeds, but never get any boost.  The car drives fine with the except it has no acceleration  The car can not be shifted into 1st gear on the column and if the gas peddle is pushed clear to the floor or cruise control causes the car to downshift on a steep hill the car kicks out of gear.  I feel pretty confident that the out-of-state garage that "repaired" the linkage messed something up.  Is it possible that the linkage is also causing the turbo not to engage?

Answer
Hi Greg,
It is always difficult when you acquire a car with problems and no detailed history as to what was done by those who tried to repair it and how it had operated in the recent past. I don't have personal experience with turbos not having owned a turbo engine. However, it too is mediated by the engine controller which has a self-diagnostic capability. So in terms of performance I would advise that you do a code readout of your engine controller for the existence of any fault codes it may have recorded.
Use the ignition switch: turn the key: "on-off-on-off-on and leave it on" accomplishing this switching in an elapsed time of 5 econds or less. Then watch the power loss light on the dash which will be "on" to begin to flash, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause and keep track of those. Then group them in pairs as they came out to form two digit numbers. The last two group of flashes will be 5 in each which is the number 55, the code for "end of readout". Then for the meaning of the other codes go to: www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html  
Write back with the results and we can discuss what to do in response.
The trans may be giving you problems because of the gear shift cable adjustment and perhaps some missing or worn grommets. You will note that there should be a grommet at the transmission where the cable attaches to the shift lever on the trans. If that is missing or works badly you should get a new grommet. A similar grommet is at the shift handle in the cabin but it probably is in better condition. To then adjust the cable, which may improve the jumping out of gear problem, you put the shift lever in the cabin to Park, then loosen the cable sheath clamp on the other end at the trans bracket, then by hand move the shift lever attached to the cable end by hand to the Park position detent, then clamp the cable sheath bolt at that position. Make sure the engine starter will work when the cabin lever is in Park and Neutral only. That would be my suggestions for now.
I doubt that the turbo issue has to do with the coolant leak since it is not located where the leak was, probably.
Please let me know what you learn.
Roland