What is an Electronic Actuator for a Turbo Wastegate

Many cars, trucks and SUVs on the market today are going with more fuel efficient small engines. There are many theories of how to make these motors more efficient, some use a supercharger and others use a turbocharger. With a turbo come many different options of how to control the boost levels and what the most efficient boost levels will be for the vehicle.

The wastegate is the unit on the turbo which reacts to the boost levels and releases excess pressure to control the amount of pressure or PSI (pounds per square inch) also referred to as “boost”. When the boost levels hit a certain point the spring on the manual actuator is over powered and the wastegate door opens to the exhaust and the built up boost escapes the turbo system. An electronic wastegate is a unit that controls the wastegate door with a sensor which reads the boost and then opens the wastegate door electronically when the boost needs to be controlled.

Many times when a vehicle with a turbocharger is said to be faulty it is actually the actuator that has gone bad and needs to be replaced. Many a vehicle owner has ended up spending their hard earned money to buy a turbo only to find out it was not the issue. Many a person has had to spend time on the phone trying to get their money back for a $1000 part that they ended up not needing. The issue here is that most companies will not take a part back once it is installed…in fact none of them will. The other issue is most electronic actuators cannot be purchased alone and can only be acquired with the OEM new turbo unit. Just be sure that before you buy just the turbo to fix your vehicle that there is not another issue that will keep your car on the lift for a whole lot longer. 

How to Determine Issues with an Oxygen Sensor

Many car issues are easy to determine but others are more elusive. Issues with an O2 sensor or Air Fuel Ratio Sensor can be extremely difficult to determine. Many a time the ECU will determine that the car is having an issue but when it comes to o2 sensors that issue may not be where the ECU says it is. More like the issue is being detected where the O2 sensor is.

When there is an issue internally with an engine the sensors are the first place that will show the signs of the problem. The reason for this is simple, all of the gasses leaving the engine pass these sensors and if there is excess fuel or burnt off oil it will be deposited on the oxygen sensor causing failure.   A failure of the o2 sensor will require replacement of the unit but it will also require the other issues to be fixed before the sensor is installed. If the other issues are not taken care of the o2 sensor is going to fail again and most parts suppliers will not warranty a part with foreign debris build up on the unit. Many times the issue that are causing the failure of the sensor and much larger than the electrical system many involve the fuel system or oil being burned off in the motor. A good example, when a turbo is failing it may send a large amount of oil though the engine and the left over burnt oil has to go somewhere after the ignition in the cylinder. The oil travels through the down pipe where it hits the sensor and not only gives a bad reading but also cakes on destroying the unit as well. These are just a few of the issues that can cause debris build up on the sensor and it is recommended by almost everyone in the car industry to take you to be inspected by a mechanic before buying parts like an O2 sensor.