I got an S4 that ain't putting any boost out, well maybe a little, it barely pushes above 0 on the stock boost gauge at WOT. So I was talking to a guy at a shop and he said that most likely that the wastegate actuator is burnt out. He gave me a replacement that he said should work and has a 8lb spring. Well I tried to get at it a few days later to inspect the original and maybe replace it with the new one. Well the original one looks cooked, it has the same oxidized colorization tht you would find on the front cat plus, the endbell looks pushed in like it collapsed or something. I'd show pics but I can't figure out how to attach images, it never works for me.



So I decided I wanted to go ahead and put the new one in. But 20 minutes into the operation, I was stumped, too many Items in the way in order to remove the heat shield. So I was wondering if some of you guys could help me out here. I am wondering how about to go this procedure. it looks as if I have to go under the vehicle to get to the third bolt holding the heat shield and have access to the c-clip that is retaining the actuator rod. Does this require removing the Turbo assembly itself??



Any feedback is much appreciated



Greg

 

youll probably have to take the turbo off, there isnt much room to work with it on. grab the actuator rod and see how easily it moves, it ought to offer a fair amount of resistance.

 

I figured as much, all day affair eh! Fubar, oh well. Do I have to replace the gaskets on the turbo once I try to reinstall the turbo assembly. The engine was rebuilt about 1300 miles ago when I bought the car, so I am wondering if they are the kind of gasket that can be reused or do I have to replace them everytime the seal is broken. Otherwise it will be a while before I can do that



Other than that I check the actuator, see if it holds up.



Thanks

 

if they only have 1300 miles on em they should be fine, they are pretty tough



mike

 

the engine itself has 1300 miles on it, the turbo is original with 163000 miles on it, previous owner didn't care to spend the 500 dollars to get the turbo rebuilt. remarkably the turbo itself works fine no real play spins nicely. just that wastegate actuator looks like somone torched it.



If I find out how to post images here on this forum, I'll put a pic of it here on this thread and see what you guys think. tommorrow I am gonna do what evilt2 said and check if I can move the actuator by hand. if it feels normal than I guess I'll have to check the vac hoses, my first visual inspection was okay with the vac lines but I'll be more thorough this time.