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?

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

the problem with this is that one of my stock mounting holes has stripped threads and it won't mount there. I've tried to fool around with the actuator enough that i could get the arm as parallel as possible with the way i'm mounting it for now. I finally got it to boost a pretty steady 10psi, but it spools so slow and doesn't get there until after vtec engagement.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

Um, retap the thread or heli-coil that bitch?

Can we get a picture to better answer questions?

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

i don't have a digi cam :(. Scttydb411 has a pic of the turbo on his webpage though. Its mounted like he said by lengthening the arm. http://hometown.aol.com/scttydb411/hmtproject.html

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

Here's some pics (haha my buddy decided he would engrave latino heat onto my turbo when my back was turned even though I'm asian...inside joke I guess :P)

http://www3.telus.net/hchea/103_0355.JPG

http://www3.telus.net/hchea/103_0356.JPG

http://www3.telus.net/hchea/103_0357.JPG

http://www3.telus.net/hchea/103_0358.JPG

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

damn so how do you clock this turbo like that then? I've never tried it before. Scttydb411 how come you didn't clock yours like this? Is it just because it wouldn't fit with ac in there?

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

On the compressor side you need to remove the snap ring then rotate(You will need a huge set of snap ring pliers to do this).On the exhaust side just remover the clamp them dremel smooth the nipple on the exhaust housing that prevents it from rotating.I would clock the compressor side first so you know much the exhaust needs to turn.In the end you pretty much just ended up rotating the center section.I don't know if any of that made any sense. :P

Thos way only works if you don't have A/C cause of the way it aims.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

yea i don't have ac. I wish I had known about this before I got all new charge pipes welded up :(.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

w/o clocking it the compresor outlet is 90* rotated from the turbine inlet and the oil feed is not pointing up either. i rotated the center and then rotated the compressor outlet to point straight up. the whole turbo is mounted on the manifold in a twisted fashion to clear the a/c. i had the compressor point straight up for the extra room to clear the a/c, but after installing it, it appears that it may have cleared if i pointed it down too. however, i might have had even more issues with the actuator, but i probably could've ghetto fab'ed it to work as well like i did.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

yea i'd like to have mine clocked so it is pointing down. Do you have any idea where I could get a new wastegate actuator? I called subaru and the dude had no idea what the hell I was talking about and he said he saw some solenoid near the shock tower that may be it and set it cost like 348 bucks or something! I looked at my friend's wrx though and the actuator and turbo weren't near the shock tower so i think he was talking about something else.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

that's probably the boost solinoid/boost controller to up the boost.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

yea i think so too. That guy at the parts department didn't have any idea what a wastegate actuator is.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

i used an IHI frm a Legacy, its pretty much the same as the WRX ones. i had to rotate the center section too...
and couldnt use the stock actuator mouting points. i positioned the actuator in such a place so tht the arm was straight n didnt rub with the dashpot. i could line up one of the holes on the bracket with the comp. housing bolt. so i just spot welded the other side.
have some pics,but its kinda hard to see wht i mentioned.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

your pics don't work for me :(. I finally got a couple pics of mine guys. I'll try to post them up later. My image hosting site isn't working right now.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...MXk1NDE%3D.jpg
heres a couple pics of mine. As you can see the actuator is wedged up against the ac compressor bracket which also makes things tricky.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

im using that turbo on my d16, using a hf mani. its clocked so that the charge is pointed towards the front of the car. and the wastegate sits like a 1/4" from the block. best way to do it is take the turbo apart and put together without the snap ring, put it one the car and try to adjust it so it clears, but you can only move it about a half inch either way or the bolt holes dont line up. i was able to move it enough for it to work.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

can you post a pic of it all hooked up to your car? I'd like to see how the charge pipes were ran and where the actuator sits.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

sorry, no way of taking pics. i'm using a dsm sidemount right now, its sitting next to the radiator(no ac). so the turbo goes straight into the intercooler, this is temporary until i get a fmic. by the wa the oil inlet is right on top where it should be.

Re:Help! Stupid wrx turbo wastegate actuator
 

haha damn i guess thats an easy way to run intercooler piping.