Really loud exhaust, looks like something fell off.

murdermitten · Post by **murdermitten** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:09 pm

Hi guys-

So this weekend I did about 300 miles on a trip to the Oregon coast and back, and 3/4 of the way through the exhaust became very loud. I looked under the car and saw the actual wastegate and was like "this seems off"

Looking through some posts (I believe this photo is from Growlerbeanz) I realized that it looks like the metal cap/lid part of the turbo is missing!

: 20160408_165249.jpg (75.79 KiB) Viewed 5973 times

The wastegate actuator may be stuck, as the lever is hard to move, but this is obviously a bigger problem:

: IMG_0161.JPG (59.95 KiB) Viewed 5973 times

So, what do you guys think? Should I just have a shop weld a cap or piece of sheet metal on there? Any thoughts on the actuator?

Thanks again for taking a look!

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 8:11 pm

Yeah, that's a thing that happens, but do you think I can find any links showing how to repair it? No. Most turbos have that cap welded on (like in my photo), but some are just pressed in. I forget- did you buy a new turbo a while back, or is this original?

You'll need to remove the exhaust housing (doable without removing the whole turbo, if you're lucky), install a new plug (thick steel rather than sheet metal) and have it welded by someone who knows how to treat cast steel. (Or, if you're dodgy like me, pre heat the shit out of it, weld it up with high-nickel rod, and see how it goes).

Not sure about the actuator being stuck. It may be that without the cap the wastegate valve can open further than usual, and has become jammed at the end of its travel. If you tap on the valve directly (through the missing cap hole) does it close ok?

murdermitten · Post by **murdermitten** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 11:06 pm

Hey Growlerbearnz (been spelling it "beanz" this whole time. You'd think I would have figured that out by now...sorry!)-

Good memory, I did buy a new turbo...and since it was a dodgy eBay turbo (see photo attached) I bought a $29.00 1 year warranty. Should be reimbursed the full purchase price.

That said, the fix seems easy enough that I will not put that money towards buying a new turbo, and will probably contact either my mechanic or an exhaust shop to get the work done promptly.

Wondering a few things before proceeding:

-The cover looked tack-welded, thinking this is not to be cheap, but rather that the cover/plug does not need to be fully welded up, right?
-How thick was your "thick" steel plug? Is it just a piece of sheet metal?

Thanks again, this thing probably only runs because of your help!

Eric

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:17 am

Those tack welds do look a bit weak. Standard welds are about 10mm long, but the repair I've seen was welded all the way around. I think the factory cover is pressed or heat shrunk into place, so to get the same kind of seal you'd want to weld the whole way around anyway.

I would use metal at least 3mm thick. The closer in thickness it is to the housing the less stress it'll put on the welds when it gets hot.

murdermitten · Post by **murdermitten** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:26 pm

I'm really needing it fixed, even if only temporarily, before Friday. We had some unexpected snow, forcing many local shops to close down.

Took it to my roommates Land Cruiser mechanic and explained the basics. They're going to tack weld a piece of 1/4 inch (6.35MM) sheet metal over the current opening.

We talked it over and they're going to weld it to the outside, rather than try to cut a flush-fitting cap to press in and weld. If I have additional issues I'll take it to the exhaust shop I had in mind originally, have them cut the sheet metal off and do a proper pressed in cap, or at the least fully weld the cap on.

Hopefully it does not leak too much and keeps the noise down!

Looking at the actual wastegate valve I can push and move it a bit, so I do not think it's seized up. That said, it's in the "open" position as shown in my original photo when the car is off, so without a boost gauge I'm unsure if I'm actually getting the right amount of boost. Any thoughts?

Eric

murdermitten · Post by **murdermitten** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:26 pm

And here we have it. Seems quiet, looks heavy duty (though not nickel welds).

Hope it lasts a bit.

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:34 am

murdermitten wrote:That said, it's in the "open" position as shown in my original photo when the car is off, so without a boost gauge I'm unsure if I'm actually getting the right amount of boost.

In your picture the wastegate lever is siting open when it should be tightly closed when the engine's off.

The actuator should only open the wastegate when there's 10psi(or so) of boost. Other than that the actuator's internal spring should hold the wastegate firmly closed. It should be tight closed with the engine off, and it should take quite a bit of force pulling down on the rod to open it. On mine I can open it by hand by hanging off the rod, but it's not comfortable and I can't hold it open for long.

It sounds like your wastegate actuator has failed in the open position, or the actuator rod is way too long.

Some TD04 turbos are designed for a wastegate actuator that's mounted above (pulling/pushing vertically, lever from 9-6 o'clock) like ours, some are designed for an actuator that's mounted forwards of the turbo (operating horizontally, lever moving from 11 to 1 o'clock ). It doesn't look like that's your problem though, as the wastegate lever appears to be in the correct position relative to the wastegate flap itself.

murdermitten · Post by **murdermitten** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:32 pm

Thats what I suspected- basically I'm never generating enough boost, because the wastegate is half open. Making a slow car even slower :)

The Mitsubishi actuator is incredibly expensive, and some on eBay are more affordable. The question is, the placement of the hinge on my eBay turbocharger are pretty much the same as the factory one?

In short, my question is that If I'm buying a stock wastgate actuator, is the arm length going to work with this turbo?

Thanks,

Eric

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 9:50 pm

It occurs to me I have my old engine just siting there. Photos!

Closed position, wastegate lever held up quite firmly by the actuator's spring tension:

: Closed.JPG (110.97 KiB) Viewed 5858 times

Open position, being pushed open by me. It took enough force that it was a little painful:

: open.JPG (106.99 KiB) Viewed 5858 times

Actuating rod length 210mm from underside of actuator can to pivot pin (the tape measure slipped a bit while I was juggling tape and camera):

: Length210.JPG (127.87 KiB) Viewed 5858 times

....and it looks like my earlier post was completely wrong. Memory fail. I'm going to edit it so it doesn't mislead anyone else in future.

If your actuator still works there's no point replacing it. Try pulling the rod out of the actuator- if you're fighting spring pressure, it's probably good. Now apply 10psi to the actuator can's port, the rod should be pushed out.

If the actuator's good you just need to shorten the rod. Mine has a threaded portion and some don't, but there's no reason why you couldn't just bend a kink in the rod to make it shorter.

takeuchi · Post by **takeuchi** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 12:30 pm

Once I installed a boost gauge I discovered my waste gate was stuck open. I did not have any adjusting mechanism so I just took some vice grips and made then bends a bit sharper to shorten the rod. Instantly better performance ha.

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murdermitten · Post by **murdermitten** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 1:39 pm

Hi guys-

So I had a brand new actuator put on. Problem is that I cannot ensure that the vehicle is making boost. I can't audibly hear the wastegate opening/closing, and I don't necessarily feel that it's making any additional power.

The only thing I can think of what to do is borrow my friend's Go-Pro to mount it in a place to get footage of the actuator motion while driving. I've also purchased an Auber gauge to measure boost, which I will make a separate thread for.