Wastegate Solenoid.. Bad in a Month ?`

[chambie]

Hello
I recently changed the wastegate solenoid, boost sensor, cdr valve, and today the Vacuum pump. I have 20+ " at the solenoid, but no more than 10" directly off the solenoid. The solenoid is only a month old. I assume it's bad already. Would a failing vacuum pump do damage to the solenoid ? My vacuum pump went bad this past weekend when i was pulling my horse trailer.
I'm starting to pull my hair out over this black smoke no power issue. Any help is certainly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lindsay

[a5150nut]

How are your vacuum lines? They tend to get very brittle and crack easily.

[chambie]

From what i can tell they are ok, i made a new one from the solenoid to the wastegate and it didn't make a difference. could the double connector for the solenoid be bad. I unplugged the electrical connection to the solenoid, the vacuum went to zero, plugged it back in and it went to 10 again.
If i can find somereplacement lines i'll get them and see if it helps.
Thanks for the info,
Lindsay

[stingthieves]

Appears you are dealing with the same bug I am - Low boost command to the solenoid. I have a new Charge Air temp sensor and Boost pressure sensor to test tomorrow.

And recently I was advised to lube the Wast gate solenoid just like an air tool.

[chambie]

Yea this is an aggravating problem. I will test the wastegate solenoid with a full 12 volts this am and see how it reacts. Maybe the ecm is giving it bad pulses

[Robyn]

Have you checked the map sensor?
If the map sensor is sending hinky numbers to the pcm it will command the WGS to open the wastegate and drop the manifold pressure.

Are you seeing any codes?

Can you hook the critter up to a scanner and look at some real time data.
Code numbers alone cant always be enough to tell the story.

Good luck

Robyn

[JohnC]

The MAP sensor isn't in the picture at idle. You should see a minimum of 14" vacuum at idle. First, make sure the vacuum lines don't leak. Second, make sure the vacuum pump is connected to the right port on the solenoid, which is the one with the restrictor (smaller hole).

Check the wastegate actuator for leakage.

Do not apply straight 12 volts to the solenoid. (actually, it already is. The PCM pulses the ground line.)

Put a dwell meter on the solenoid and see what it reads. IIRC, it should be about 70% at idle. Compare this with the duty cycle as read on a scanner.

[chambie]

The truck isn't throwing any codes. I have great pressure from the pump.
23"+ The lines are on the right ports. I can put my vacuum gauge on the wastegate valve side of the solenoid itself, and it will read 0, and not move for a very long time. It never goes above 10. I sprayed brake clean in the ports to try and flush out any debris that might be stuck in it. Didn't make a difference. I pulled every ground i could find and cleaned them all and retightened. 7 in all i think. I am out of ideas. John, I'm not quite sure what IIRC is. And i don't know much about scanners. I did buy one today at Auto Zone, An Actron Auto Scanner plus model # cp9180. Not sure it will do what you suggest.
Thanks everyone for your ideas,
Lindsay

[joescj5]

Is the new solenoid simply plugged up? When I just installed a new solenoid I was able to easily blow air through both ways (just using my lungs no sense in blowing stuff apart with compressed air)

Thats about the only suggestion I have for ya, good luck.

[Robyn]

If the Vacuum reading is good and there is no vacuum to speak of coming out to the wastegate actuator then it has to be a faulty WGS.

These little things are notorious for failure but usually not that soon.

Probably not a bad idea to try another one.
if you still have your receipt for the purchase you might take it back to the dealer and complain

Good luck

Robyn

[hayhauler69]

I found the wires leading to the WGS get brittle and break inside the insulation. Try wiggling the wires and see what the vaccumm reads.
Thought I had a bad solinoid but was just wires. G'luck!!

[bbtlr3]

I had the same issue as hayhauler69. I replaced the wiring to the solenoid and all was well.

[hayhauler69]

I took the connector apart, pried the tonque spice tangs apart with a small pair of needle nose pliers, pulled the short piece of bad wire out and shoved the newley striped back wire into connector and put all back together.
Was a little pain stacking but it worked fine after that.
I love my turbo whine:D

[JohnC]

If you've got 23" vacuum going into the solenoid and zero coming out, at idle, then the solenoid isn't working. Did you plug the gauge directly into the solenoid or did you "T" into the line? If you used a "T" fitting there still could be a massive leak on the actuator side of the solenoid.

By all means scheck the wiring to the solenoid. There have been many cases of breaks there.

When the solenoid is not energized you should be able to blow back from the outlet to the vent on the other end of the solenoid body. When it is energized you should be able to blow from the outlet to the inlet with no leakage to the vent.

When the valve is operating it will vibrate as it rapidly opens and closes. The percentage of time spent open controls the vacuum applied to the wastegate actuator.

Not sure how the plastics in the valve will react to the brake-clean...

You didn't say what year your truck is, but the earlier ones will not code for low boost, only high boost.

IIRC == If I Recall Correctly

[chambie]

Hey John,
I didn't use a "t" fitting. I put the hose from the gauge directly on the outlet port of the solenoid. It will sit at 0 for close to 3 minutes before it starts to register on the gauge, and won't go past 10. The voltage is good, and i can't make it faulter by wiggling the connector or wires. I ordered a new solenoid last nite, so we'll see what happens when that arrives. The truck is a 1997 with 110,000 miles on it. No egr stuff
Thanks,
Lindsay

[chambie]

Well ........... the new solenoid arrived, i put it on and the gauge read "0" heading to the wastegate for like 10 minutes at idle. I revved the trk up and the gauge took off. It went to 12 " and stayed there. Took the truck for a ride and it still blows alot of black smoke when you ask for power. I'm not sure what to look for from here. Do you guys think it's a PCM problem ? I honestly don't know what to do from here. Right now it doesn't make sense to me that it could be the wastegate valve or turbo, if i can't get the proper vacuum readings headed to the wastegate. Am i missing something ? I check the voltage on the connector and it is always stable at 11.84 V. I can't find any vacuum leaks. Any ideas ?
Thanks ,
Lindsay

[stingthieves]

Yes I have one - give up - just as I am after a YEAR of chasing low boost on the ECM controlled system.