What does a wastegate solenoid do on Cummins?

The turbocharger wastegate solenoid is pulse width modulated by the PCM to allow fine-tuning of the turbo boost to more exactly meet engine operating conditions. The solenoid is a common failure point – symptoms of failure will include incorrect boost level and frequently code P0243 (WASTEGATE PRESSURE CONTROL PWM).

What is a wastegate solenoid?

Wastegate Solenoid Valve – An electromagnetic solenoid which controls the airflow from the wastegate actuator to the turbo inlet. This device is normally closed when no voltage is applied.

Where is the wastegate solenoid located?

The wastegate solenoid is located on the firewall side of the engine.

How do I know if my wastegate actuator is bad?

Symptoms of a Bad or Failing Wastegate Hose

Check Engine Light comes on.
Vehicle’s turbo does not produce boost during acceleration.
Oscillating turbo boost pressure.
Dramatic decrease in fuel economy.

What happens when a wastegate fails?

Dramatic decrease in fuel economy However, when the wastegate hose is broken, leaking or blocked, it will cause more raw fuel to be expelled from the exhaust system without being burned. This will result in a rapid loss in fuel and significantly reduced fuel economy.

Can you run a turbo without wastegate?

While in theory you could run a turbo system without a wastegate by carefully choosing a turbo that will only reach its maximum turbine speed and desired boost pressure at the engine’s max RPM, it’s really not practical in the real world.

What happens when wastegate goes bad?

When the wastegate is not relieving pressure on a consistent basis, it will commonly cause the boost pressure inside the turbo to oscillate rapidly. If your turbo boost drops quickly or rises quickly without the application of the throttle, it could be caused by a blockage in the wastegate or a broken wastegate hose.

What happens if a wastegate doesn’t open?

If it was stuck closed, you would spike most likely hard overboost. Stuck open you would be slow getting into boost(REALLY laggy) and you would run wastegate pressure.

What happens when turbo actuator fails?

If the electronic actuator has failed to open the nozzle ring assembly vanes under acceleration, the turbo will also fail to operate efficiently. If the vanes are set to a closed position, it can cause choking of the engine or overspeeding of the turbine.

Can you drive with a bad wastegate?

If you have faulty wastegate, than you shoud drive very-very moderatly until you change the faulty one. When only one turbo works fine, and the other does not, than the good one has to be work much harder (instead of the faulty one) to provide the given total boost required by the ECU.

What is the solenoid on a Cummins turbo?

Do you need a boost elbow for wastegate solenoid?

Leave the solenoid in and put the boost elbow in the boost reference line on the turbo, that is all you need. Once you uplug the solenoid you need a fooler int hat to stop codes. To maybe help clarify for me that I do not want any performance upgrades just thinking this would be a cheaper option than spending $250 on a new solenoid.

What causes low boost pressure on wastegate solenoid?

In most cases the solenoid will fail open allowing boost pressure to pass through the solenoid at all times and operate directly on the wastegate actuator limiting boost pressure to the spring setting. Symptoms of low boost pressure include low power and black smoke.

How does the WG actuator on a Cummins work?

The WG actuator is operated off of boost. It is spring loaded to somewhere around 25 psi and a rubber diaphram operates agianst the spring pressure with actual boost to open the WG and limit boost. The WG actuator is a PWM device that defaults to full boost to the actuator at any sign of failure, thats why crimping the hose got your boost back.