Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

hey guys I have been having all kinds of problems with my turbo's internal wastegate. The turbo is a tdo4l-13g i believe. Its the turbo from a stock wrx. The way the turbo must be clocked to work on a honda the stock wastegate actuator bolt locations cannot be used. If you do use any you can just use one bolt. I cannot get mine set right. The only way i have been able to get it mounted very well is with zipties. It seems that i will either boost nothing, 6-7 psi, or it will boost like 15psi or more. I know when it boosts only 6-7psi or no boost then the wastegate is being stuck open prematurly. I know this because when It was at 6-7psi i removed the vacuum line from the actuator and it still only boosted 6-7psi...so basically the actuator wasn't regulating ----..it was just sitting there in a position that would only allow me to boost that much because of the wastegate being cracked open prematurly. I'm almost to the conclusion that the actuator is just broken because it seems that whenever i do get it mounted so it should work it won't even regulate the boost. The boost will just keep rising. So my question is...who else is running this same turbo and how do you have the actuator mounted?

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

somebody has gotta have this setup.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

Take the vacuum line from the compressor off and hook it up to an air line and push some air through it. If you have a pressure regulator that is accurate at low pressure like 0-20 psi, hook that up inline so you can see what pressure it's opening up at. Obviously, check for any mechanical obstructions that might occur at this point. I'd also check your swingvalve assembly to make sure it opens and closes easily. If not, hit it with some PB Blaster and then some white silicon grease.

If you can get any pics of the actuator, that might help if we can see them.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

yea i don't have anything to push air into it and check the psi. I wish I did. As far as i can tell the swingvalve works fine as well. I would get you guys some pics, but i dont have a digi cam. If anybody else is using this same turbo then let me know how you mounted this actuator. If I cant get this thing to work correctly i'm just gonna trash this turbo and get a t25 or something >:(.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

How about a bike pump?

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

I used a portable air tank when I tested all of my wg actuators. Any form of compressed air will work. Hell, if you have to, take it to a gas station and use one of the tire fill deals. You'll need an old tire valve or someway to push the nozzle in though.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

I have my mine mounted in the stock position. My compressor is mounted facing the front and I test fitted it and it fits fine but I also don't have A/C. All I did was rotate the center section pretty much.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

sounds like you need to trash it...tell you what, i'll throw it away for you.

seriously though, mount the actuator using the holes and hopefully the wg actuator arm will at least follow a path that is parallel to the original path before it was clocked. then, using a piece of angle iron (L-bracket) to attach the actuator arm to the wg arm. i just used the nut and the threaded eyeletted piece to bolt the angle iron to the actuator arm and then twisted the other end of the angle iron 90* and enlarged the hole so that it would attach to the wg arm using the c-clip.

it sounds like the problem you are having is that the actuator is flexing because it's not solidly mounted and causing your boost to jump or the boost is overpowering it and causing it to flex when the boost is low. basically your mounting sucks.

if the first suggestion doesn't work then just make an adapter plate with some sheet stock and drill holes to mount to the existing mounting points on the compressor and the actuator extended out.

good luck.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

I thought it could not be clocked this way because of the feed and return lines. Do you have pics?