While replacing my radiator and hoses last week, I noticed some oil dripping out of the bottom of the W/G actuator. My guess now is that it is bad, and this is the culprit to THIS problem (do they ever end?). How difficult will it be for me to swap out my actuator? I am NS, So I only have one on there... they both look the same, can I just swap the one that was taken off?

 

The two actuators are incompatible unless you feel like welding a different arm on one.

Oil dripping is certainly evidence that it's leaking. You should be able to get a replacement for just a few bucks. It's easy to change out.

 

I had the same problem a while ago when I went non. It was a faulty actuator. G

 

A-Rod, I'll try to find my old twins and see if I have one on them

 

Oil dripping out of it is just evidence that your turbos are blowing oil through the compressor housings, which means they are on their way out. The hole was put there in the actuator by the factory with this eventuality in mind, and it does not indicate a failed part. You'll also find oil in your intercooler piping and intercooler, throttlebody, etc. Generally this oil seeps out over time and makes a mess in the engine bay...a turbo swap or rebuild is the only way to fix it.

To test the actuator, get a mityvac or an air compressor with a regulator and slowly apply air pressure. It is nice if you have a gauge you can tee in and see when you reach 7-8psi. When this happens the rod should be moving/open. If this happens then there is no problem with the actuator. FWIW, I have never seen a bad wastegate actuator on any FC or FD.

There is a pill/restrictor in the hose between your turbo compressor and wastegate actuator. Try removing it and then seeing what effect this has..it will help the wastegate respond faster.

Also, unplug the wastegate solenoid, which removes any computer intervention and allows the wastegate to respond sooner and faster. At a minimum these should reduce your creep issues, though they will also remove some of the boost response.

IF you run a PFC you might check to see what your boost levels are set at, and try to lower them (with the WG solenoid plugged in) to see what happens. The WG solenoid basically acts as a factory electronic boost control solenoid, with the PFC being the controller.

 

^That's discouraging, this is like the 3rd set of twins I've bought in 10,000 miles.

I tried capping the actuator (post #11), but that had little to no effect. I'll try to remove the pill and see what happens. I just don't want to waste my money on an expensive EBC if the controller isn't the problem.

 

In general, EBC's only raise boost, they cannot lower it and they cannot overcome the restriction of an insufficient stock wastegate. Assuming your creep/spike is a result of your current hardware, an EBC would make no difference. Very rarely an EBC does aid in increasing response of the wastegate slightly.

Again, via your wastegate solenoid, your PFC already functions as an EBC, using the boost settings on the commander.

 

Bnr!

 

when i did the poor man's non-seq. i accidentally wired the precontrol door open instead of the actuator door. i had the SAME EXACT problem. my boost would shoot up to 20 psi and i had no control over it because the exhaust was always going to the sec. turbo. if you still have your pre-control check to make sure you put it back together right, and that your pre-control is not hooked up to the lines backwards.

also, in order to control the boost with ur PFC, make sure the restrictor pill (or a homemade restrictor like a needle valve) is in place. that has nothing to do with this tho. without the restrictor u cant get over 7psi.

 

Just a thought:

Is there a way to apply an external check valve that is set to say 18 PSI somewhere on the piping?

This way if there were ever to be a pressure spike it would simply trip the check valve and dump open to atmosphere.

that idea just kinda popped into my mind, so feel free to tell me if its a stupid idea, but it seems to me that might be a nice fall back feature to have in the event of a boost spike.

 

A lot of people have mentioned that they have problems using the PFC as a sole boost controller. Having a ported w/g, I don't think I should be experiencing as much "creep" as I am. I'm at a loss as to what I should do to alleviate this problem... I keep using different methods to test it, but nothing seems to pinpoint my "problem".

 

unplug the WG solenoid and you take the computer/pfc control out of the loop entirely. It should drop boost at least 3psi across the board in theory, but if you are having creep then you may still get some on top end. Often giving the WG a head start (that 3psi) is enough to control it.

Again you can also experiment with the pill in the line as well. You can remove it entirely or go to a larger pill (aka nitrous jet).

 

I fail to see how this is possible. The wastegate actuator is opened by pressurized air from the compressor, so the oil would get into the actuator that way. What's not normal is for the oily air to get out of the actuator and drip thru the little drain hole on the ambient side of the actuator - for this to happen it would be leaking. And leaking would certainly cause the symptoms we're seeing.

Dave

 

So it could possibly be a combination of both?

Great!

 

You should have removed the pills immediately when you installed the exhaust. If it is a manual car and has the pills removed and the wastegate ported you should get no creep really at all unless teh wastegate isnt working.

 

A little oil in the intake is not a big deal. Until you see a bunch of smoke out the back under boost, it's not going to cause much trouble.

A leaking wg actuator is a big deal. Replace the actuator. I just threw out a couple last month, otherwise I'd send you one for free just to end this problem.

 

The shop that put on my exhaust did my NS conversion at the same time. During the NS conversion, the w/g was ported. I was told that the reason I am seeing "creep" was because of too much exhaust flow, but I am running a more restrictive exhaust than some people with the same setup (RB Duals). That's why I haven't really said/done anything about it, but I just DO NOT believe that too much exhaust flow was the problem.

I'll search for links to remove the pills, the turbos are pretty accesible, so I'm hoping it won't be too difficult... Thanks!

 

The actuators are actually set up to leak a very slight amount...If you simply apply 8psi of pressure and stop, the actuators will bleed themselves closed slowly as the air escapes. You have to keep applying more and more pressure to keep them open. It is through this vent that oil could drain out and drip. I imagine that the possibility of oil accumulation over time is the very reason why they are designed this way, if they were absolutely airtight then they would eventually get broken down from oil sitting inside the rubber diaphragm.

 

Your idea is plausible, but when I tested my actuators once upon a time I remembered nothing like that.

So I went into my garage just 10min ago and tested a wg actuator I have on my spare set of turbos. It holds 5, 10, 15psi rock solid.

I can't see how a very tiny orifice would do anything to prevent oil from sitting on the actuator bellows. Puddle or film, it would still be on the rubber, working in conjunction with heat to degrade the rubber.

Dave

 

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Look on the bottom of each actuator and tell me what you see. You will see a small vent hole there. Please explain why that would be there, if things were not as I describe above?

 

It's on the unsealed side of the actuator, so that water that gets in thru the hole where the rod enters can drain. That's what I expect that hole does.

The hole is as large as a boost pill hole - if you put 10psi on that hole the air would drain out almost instantly.

 

Wouldn't the plunger moving in a sealed actuator create vacuum? I always thought those holes were there to prevent vacuum from forming and allow the plunger to move much easier.

 

The actuator is not sealed on the back side...when the rod moves, air moves in and out with it.

IF the hole went to the BACK side of the diaphragm, then the OP would not have seen oil draining from it, would he?

 

When you apply pressure to the actuator the rod extends. One the two I have, the pressure stays solid and there is nothing leaking out anywhere. To do this test you need a tee fitting so that the vacuum pump is applying the pressure to both nipples of the actuator.

That hole is on the unpressurized side (rod side) of the actuator diaphragm. I believe it's there to drain whatever (water) manages to get into that side of the actuator so that it doesn't collect and rust thru.