New wastegate actuator.

[JimX]

The old one wasn't holding very well at 15psi, so I decided to buy a replacement. Garrett wanted $290 for their 16psi one, but it was not a direct fit on my turbo. I think GCG have a HKS one for $350, but I'm guessing that since my turbo is a Garrett, it too would have needed modification.

Thanks to fellow forum-goer Turbogtst, I bought one of his adjustable actuators, which he said was off a 2530. Of course it also needed modification to fit, but his price was good so I decided to get it.

Off I went to Hills Motorsports and asked them if they could do the necessary mods for me, and of course they could (did I even need to ask them? ) So I booked my car in for today and I went there this morning. They cut some of the old bracket off and welded up some new steel, and mounted the whole lot. I was in and out in a couple of hours.

For a total of $235, I now have an adjustable actuator installed capable of holding up to 20psi or so. This is a pretty good deal, considering that I could have easily paid $450 or more if I had bought one of the ones I mentioned above. And the Garrett one wasn't adjustable.

The new actuator got rid of all of the wastegate creep and therefore most of the dipping/surging, but some still remains due to my small dump pipe and exhaust housing outlet. This will be fixed in a few months for a few hundred bucks.

Attached is a pic of how it looks now.

[Lepperfish]

Good work, i got quoted 200 for the 12psi actuator from cgc adjustable to 20psi...

[Steve]

Good to hear you got is sorted.

slightly off subject, what size turbine housing are you using? on what turbo? and why do you think it is causing a boost spike?

[JimX]

I don't know most of the sizes, but Marcus at Hills said that the exhaust outlet was a little too small. His plan is to machine it out to 3" and fit a 3" dump pipe, which will be the same size as the rest of the system. The AR on the compressor is 0.6.