Wastegate Adjustment

[EvolutionArmory]

I think i might try this after i check for leaks. When I was JHM stage 1 I was hitting 20-21psi now i can barely hit 16psi in 3rd gear. I don't have any codes and i'm running the GFB DV upgrade and i'm now JHM stage 2. I have a upgraded HPFP also that was required with the stage 2 program.

I think you replaced your turbo since you wrote this but I’ll write this for other people to read in the future.

Don’t just start adding springs. You have to check wastegate crack pressure by pressurizing the wastegate and seeing where it cracks. If you have a wastegate that rattles, if you can rebuild the turbo, that’s what you need to do. If you can’t replace the flap door mechanism by itself, you need a new turbocharger.

Your logs will tell you if your wastegate needs adjusting or if your turbocharger needs replacing. Your boost logs will be off and your N75 duty cycle will be high.

Also, there is no one set wastegate crack pressure. Especially when you add an aftermarket turbo. Your wastegate can be set to one specification by its manufacturer but if your tune is only dictating a certain amount of boost or writes their tune for a different crack pressure, you can run into some running issues.

Here’s an example. JHM says their K04R is suppose to crack at 10 PSI. My GIAC tune writes their K04 tune to behave like a K04-064 which cracks at like 7-8 PSI. My K04R cracked at only 6 PSI. so I adjusted it to 8. The car boosts like its suppose to.

This was adjusted to fix a mistake made during assembly, not because the turbo was faulty. Over adjusting a wastegate to over compensate for a faulty part isn’t a good solution.

Do boost logs and graph actual VS specified. It should look like this.


These little dips in the middle could just be the N75 adjusting or I might need to make crack pressure a little higher. My duty cycle is 60% at redline so the wastegate is probably adjusted to the correct range within reason or might need another half psi- 1 psi adjustment.

Don’t just adjust your wastegate without having the right data. Your wastegate could be set right already and your tune could just be weak.

This thread really only applies to OEM K03’s that have faulty wastegates. This thread is a band aid fix for people who don’t want to replace or rebuild their turbochargers and shouldn’t be needed on a perfectly good working turbocharger. I don’t mean that in a mean way. People gotta do what they gotta do sometimes. 😀

By adjusting your wastegate outside of its spec or adding helper springs, you’re basically just trying to mask a faulty part. If anyone follows the advice here, it shouldn’t be used as a permanent solution. Only a way to get by until you can repair or replace your turbocharger. If your turbo made the right amount of boost before and doesn’t now, the wastegate didn’t cause this because it became misadjusted. It’s doing it because its faulty.

[jimrobbington]

I think you replaced your turbo since you wrote this but I’ll write this for other people to read in the future.

Don’t just start adding springs. You have to check wastegate crack pressure by pressurizing the wastegate and seeing where it cracks. If you have a wastegate that rattles, if you can rebuild the turbo, that’s what you need to do. If you can’t replace the flap door mechanism by itself, you need a new turbocharger.

Your logs will tell you if your wastegate needs adjusting or if your turbocharger needs replacing. Your boost logs will be off and your N75 duty cycle will be high.

Also, there is no one set wastegate crack pressure. Especially when you add an aftermarket turbo. Your wastegate can be set to one specification by its manufacturer but if your tune is only dictating a certain amount of boost or writes their tune for a different crack pressure, you can run into some running issues.

Here’s an example. JHM says their K04R is suppose to crack at 10 PSI. My GIAC tune writes their K04 tune to behave like a K04-064 which cracks at like 7-8 PSI. My K04R cracked at only 6 PSI. so I adjusted it to 8. The car boosts like its suppose to.

This was adjusted to fix a mistake made during assembly, not because the turbo was faulty. Over adjusting a wastegate to over compensate for a faulty part isn’t a good solution.

Do boost logs and graph actual VS specified. It should look like this.


These little dips in the middle could just be the N75 adjusting or I might need to make crack pressure a little higher. My duty cycle is 60% at redline so the wastegate is probably adjusted to the correct range within reason or might need another half psi- 1 psi adjustment.

Don’t just adjust your wastegate without having the right data. Your wastegate could be set right already and your tune could just be weak.

This thread really only applies to OEM K03’s that have faulty wastegates. This thread is a band aid fix for people who don’t want to replace or rebuild their turbochargers and shouldn’t be needed on a perfectly good working turbocharger. I don’t mean that in a mean way. People gotta do what they gotta do sometimes.

By adjusting your wastegate outside of its spec or adding helper springs, you’re basically just trying to mask a faulty part. If anyone follows the advice here, it shouldn’t be used as a permanent solution. Only a way to get by until you can repair or replace your turbocharger. If your turbo made the right amount of boost before and doesn’t now, the wastegate didn’t cause this because it became misadjusted. It’s doing it because its faulty.

Great post! For me, this was a "fix" for an aging turbo being pushed by tuning. I had 150k miles on the original turbo when I sold the car and it was still running strong, it just needed a little help to hold all that boost I was sending it.

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[hypermoto]

I have an underboost issue on a B7 A4 2.0T, and called a local shop about trying the wastegate adjustment before replacing the turbo. He said that this adjustment is for the B8 era vehicles, and doesn't work on B7. He said 95% of time its usually cracks in the manifold/wastegate flap area, and this won't help. Is he full of BS, or is this true?

[jimrobbington]

I have an underboost issue on a B7 A4 2.0T, and called a local shop about trying the wastegate adjustment before replacing the turbo. He said that this adjustment is for the B8 era vehicles, and doesn't work on B7. He said 95% of time its usually cracks in the manifold/wastegate flap area, and this won't help. Is he full of BS, or is this true?

Lol full of shit, but I'm certain you'd have a hard time talking any shop into doing this kind of work. I did this on my 05.5 A4

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[EvolutionArmory]

Actually, I’d have to agree with that shop for the same reason I stated before. Cranking down your wastegate to try to mask a deficiency in the part isn’t something I’d want to get into if I owned a shop. Stock turbos should be set to what they should be set to. If you have a wastegate that is breaking or broken, cranking down your wastegate rod is just a band aid.

I wouldn’t want to put my name on that “repair” if it were my shop.

They aren’t bullshittng you. If you have a turbo that is so broken that you’re getting an underboost code, you need a new turbo or find someone who can rebuild your housing and fix the wastegate door.

What is wrong with what he said is that this is a B8 mod. That’s wrong. IHI wastegates aren’t adjustable.

[vvenom800tt]

I have an underboost issue on a B7 A4 2.0T, and called a local shop about trying the wastegate adjustment before replacing the turbo. He said that this adjustment is for the B8 era vehicles, and doesn't work on B7. He said 95% of time its usually cracks in the manifold/wastegate flap area, and this won't help. Is he full of BS, or is this true?

B8 IHI turbos do NOT have an adjustable wastegate arm.

The B7 BW turbos DO have an adjustable wastegate arm

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[EvolutionArmory]

For anyone reading this, I just found this flapper repair kit on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-0T-VW-Aud...4383.l4275.c10

[Jeevan]

damn, this actually helped me. A couple of tips to add:

after removing the clip, the locking nut was little tight, I used engine degreaser spray to dissolve the thread locker. this help me to move 10mm locking nut for about 5 to 6 turns with wrench.
I threw away the clip as I didnt feel the need of it anymore.
I was worried about not having air compressor to release the tension on the arm but the long needle nose pliers really did help me here. I didnt use any air at all. Turned about 6 turns( took long time as plier would only be able to turn about 1/8th every attempt.
Be patient and get rewarded.
cleared the the dreaded P0299 code and drove about 200 miles in 2 days. the code never came back.

[Jeevan]

I own a B7. I have adjusted it couple of days ago with no issues.

[EvolutionArmory]

With no issues....yet. 😀

[Jeevan]

Those people who are still wondering if this fix worked and for how long.

1 year ago, I tightened the waste game arm and since then I drove exactly 18k miles. P0299 never came back. Yes, I did try revving upto 6k rpm multiple times while driving uphill to see if it nukes it self but gladly it didnt.

I am grateful to Jim. This bought me a lot of time.

Note:

end of the day, your turbo will not be 100 percent efficient like new. It may be about 80 - 90% efficient if you caught this code P0299 code early and it didn't destroy your wastegate door with burrs(caused by door flapping) on the housing, bushings on the Turbo.

[jimrobbington]

Glad to see this old thread still being used!

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[PrestonYoungsly]

rebuilding my k03 atm, does anyone have the correct wastegate pressure specs for a k03? I know canadian mentioned that he set them to 3psi crack, but what pressure full open? I see the recommendations for a k04 are 4-5psi crack, 10psi full open, but cant find too much solid evidence on the k03.

[EvolutionArmory]

K03 is about 5 PSI.


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[Jayz691]

K03 is about 5 PSI.


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Is that crack pressure? Cuz I'll be pulling mine in the next week or so, to try and bandage it up a little. Think I have wastegate play, cuz not hitting requested boost, and n75 duty % is 100% when its falling short. Just need a temp fix till I save up for a k04(or hybrid) and injectors, prob spring time..

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[EvolutionArmory]

Yes. Crack pressure on a K03 is about 5 PSI.


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[Jayz691]

Yes. Crack pressure on a K03 is about 5 PSI.


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Ok, so thats for stock. Would it be easier on the n75 if I set it slightly higher? Since its set at 5 for 11-12psi. What about if running 21-23? Would it help to set higher, like 7-8?

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[EvolutionArmory]

In theory, yes. If you’re running a stage 1-2 tune and you’re having issues holding boost at high RPM’s you could probably benefit from raising it a PSI or 2.

Here’s the catch. The K03 runs out of breath up top because it’s tiny so you might not hit high boost up top no matter what you do.


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[Jayz691]

I know, it holds 18-19 up high, but not expecting it to hold 23 to redline. Just figured while I have it off, may help to set a few lbs higher, thats all. Its only temp, till I get a k04 setup. Just not hitting max boost cuz of wastegate play, and n75 is running 100% trying to get it there. Just gonna tweak it a little for now, so I can get a good log sent to tuner, for final revision(if needed).

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[EvolutionArmory]

Logging boost and N75 duty cycle is what you need to do. If your logs show that your duty cycle is at 95% real early trying to make midrange boost, you could try upping the crack pressure a couple PSI. I wouldn’t go above a couple PSI over stock because the K03 is going to have a hard time making high boost up top regardless.

Adjusting crack pressure to help a broken turbo make boost is the wrong thing to do but adjusting it to help it run more efficiently when your turbo isn’t broken is another story.


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[Jayz691]

Logging boost and N75 duty cycle is what you need to do. If your logs show that your duty cycle is at 95% real early trying to make midrange boost, you could try upping the crack pressure a couple PSI. I wouldn’t go above a couple PSI over stock because the K03 is going to have a hard time making high boost up top regardless.

Adjusting crack pressure to help a broken turbo make boost is the wrong thing to do but adjusting it to help it run more efficiently when your turbo isn’t broken is another story.


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I already have logs I can look at. I know when its trying to hit 2530mbar(max) on a pull its coming up short, and maxing n75. Thats why I was wondering. I know its not going to "fix" it, just hold me over. Basically just want it to seal(hopefully), to help a little till spring. Don't think I'm gonna be able to do my k04 yet this year. Gonna need to wait. So just thought if I'm adding a little preload, maybe bump the crack pressure up a bit to help. Since 5psi is set to run stock(12-13peak). Thats all, its just a temp bandaid. I'm well aware, lol. While om pulling it, might as well make it good as I can. But won't really know till its off.

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[dmerk2]

Just to be clear, trying this adjustment doesn't require any major component removal, correct? Meaning, I should be able to access everything from the bottom of the car?

[Jeevan]

Just to be clear, trying this adjustment doesn't require any major component removal, correct? Meaning, I should be able to access everything from the bottom of the car?

You only need to remove the underbody belly pan then, you will get an idea about what to do(look at my previous comment that mentioned few tips)

This will only be helpful if your wastegate housing/door is not cracked, warped and the play is very minimal. To check it, remove pre cat oxygen sensor and use a boroscope to see if the waste gate is not wide open with ton of play(only works if the wastegate door rattles less than 1 or 2 millimeters. To test it properly start the car while the boroscope is inside the cat aiming at the door, run it for 2-3 secs watch how much the waste gate rattles. It's best if you have 2 people to perform this). You can't fix a loose vagina that gave birth recently can you?

For more details watch humble mechanics video https://youtu.be/7fk6cSDE3hE
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[Jayz691]

Just to be clear, trying this adjustment doesn't require any major component removal, correct? Meaning, I should be able to access everything from the bottom of the car?

I did it from the top. Its tight, and a PITA. Just gotta get the little metal reatiner off the adjuster. I initially did mine when Turbo was off, but readjusted after I put it back on. Just need to remove the heat shield on the head, and a long, curved needle nose helps a lot. And a 10mm wrench to loosen the jam nut. I lost the retaining clip, so used a little blue loctite on the nut.

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[vvenom800tt]

I did it from the top. Its tight, and a PITA. Just gotta get the little metal reatiner off the adjuster. I initially did mine when Turbo was off, but readjusted after I put it back on. Just need to remove the heat shield on the head, and a long, curved needle nose helps a lot. And a 10mm wrench to loosen the jam nut. I lost the retaining clip, so used a little blue loctite on the nut.

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I just did mine from the top today. Not too bad, just very small turning radius on the pliers. Removed the airbox for room to fit my pliers onto the rod.

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[Buck1981]

This saved me so much time and effort. I had a P0299 code and tried replacing the DV Valve, PCV, N75, boost sensor and MAP sensors and couldn't get rid of the code. I was able to access the adjustment nut easier from the bottom and just tightened the nut 2 full turns and it cleared the code. I did notice that there is a small dimple on my actuator adjustment nut that I was able to reference to figure how many turns I was able to make. The one piece of information I could not find was which way to turn the nut. In my case I had P0299 (underboost) so I had to turn mine clockwise to make the rod shorter to make the wastegate tighter and increase boost.

[jimrobbington]

This saved me so much time and effort. I had a P0299 code and tried replacing the DV Valve, PCV, N75, boost sensor and MAP sensors and couldn't get rid of the code. I was able to access the adjustment nut easier from the bottom and just tightened the nut 2 full turns and it cleared the code. I did notice that there is a small dimple on my actuator adjustment nut that I was able to reference to figure how many turns I was able to make. The one piece of information I could not find was which way to turn the nut. In my case I had P0299 (underboost) so I had to turn mine clockwise to make the rod shorter to make the wastegate tighter and increase boost.

Great to hear this thread is still helping after 11 years!

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[2stroke]

What is meant in detail by 'cranking pressure' ?

I have 2 pieces of K03-029 lying on the bench and I want to check if the actuator and waste gate works as it should and if it opens as it should, etc.


At what pressure should the actuator arm start moving ?

At what pressure should the waste gate plate be 100% completely open ?

Should the arm always be connected to the waste gate when checking etc ?

Anyone who can contribute with some instructions how to measure and so on ?

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I have measured with my limited resources and has had the actuator arm connected together with the waste gate plate.

When I very slowly and carefully start to pressurize the actuator, the actuator-arm starts to move slowly already at ~1 psi and the waste gate is 100% fully open at ~6 psi.