Wastegate Rattle (Replaced Diverter Valve)

[Ricks6845]

Hi Everyone,

2007 Audi A4 2.0T

I apologize if there is a thread for this that I've missed, but I have not found a good solution in the Audi forums. A few months back I got the wastegate rattle and loss of power upon deceleration that ended up being the diverter valve. I replaced it with the new OEM one at the dealership and the power was restored and everything seemed fine again. Here recently I'm getting a rattle/scraping (High speed marbles in a tin can) sound coming from what I believe is the wastegate at around 1500-2000 RPMS. I've taken it to the dealership where they tell me the turbo is performing as it should, but there is definitely a chattering sound. In researching I found that the VW guys have a similar problem where they are attaching a clip to the actuator rod to reduce or eliminate the sound. I've attached the part and information below - The post discusses 2008-2012, but seen a lot of 2007 2.0T VWs where they had the same issue and the solution worked.

Rattling Noises from Engine Compartment Area or Exhaust System" on 2008-2012 CCTA and CBFA engines. "Test drive the vehicle to duplicate and familiarize yourself with the noise. Noise can typically be duplicated by driving up a moderate incline, beginning at 35 mph in 4th gear (manual or automatic transmission) and accelerating through the RPM range of 1800-3000 RPM under moderate to heavy throttle. Obey all local traffic laws. " The explanation for the noise is "Because of exhaust gas pulsations the wastegate flap and actuator rod vibrate at the introduction of boost pressure."

The fix has been talked about in the past. Initially VW had techs put a small wheel weight on the actuator rod to determine if the noise was from there. At that point they started working on a fix, a handful of cars had a part installed by a QTM as it was not available to order. The fix worked and now it's out and readily available, it's a simple metal clip that goes on the waste gate rod part # 06J145220A


Has anyone had this with the 07 A4 2.0t? I feel like this may be the issue, but cant find anyone with A4's to confirm.



Thanks!

Ryan

[jcr223]

Ryan, I think the Clip you are talking about was issued only for the TSI's. I just had my turbo replaced due to a faulty wastegate. I was chipped - and my car could hit stock numbers fine even with a faulty waste-gate, however when in stage 1 could only spike 13-16 psi and would throw check engine light low boost controller code. Same code as a faulty diverter valve but I already replaced diverter valve and checked it to be fine. I also checked for boost leaks and had none. If you hear a chattering sound on decel with your right window down its your wastegate. Some people on this forum claim to have success by adjusting the waste gate themselves. I didn't feel comfortable with this, I swapped in a re-furb K03 and now continually hit 20-21. It's like a new car.

Goodluck

[Ricks6845]

Thanks! I appreciate it! I thought that there might be a difference since I hadn't seen anything related. :( I don't get any chatter or noise on Decel... just as I accelerate around those RPM ranges. I've also never thrown a code which seems odd - Maybe I'm just paranoid as it appears to work fine... just seems like a lot of noise out of the wastegate area at that speed. Also frustrating to be told its normal when the whole time I've owned my car I've never heard it.. I think I know my car sound!!

Thanks again!

[Rastboostin]

Reviving this, sorry. Ricks, did you ever get it figured out? I have the same thing going on with the "high speed marbles in a can" and it's driving me insane. I've noticed that if I go WOT, i'll boost okay, but if i do like a slower acceleration, there is like no boost and that rattle just is making me want to go crazy!! If it's just a clip that needs to be replaced, that sounds pretty small

[JDillon15]

I wonder if that part will work as a fix for the movement in the waste gate actuator... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAkkIEMm3UQ

[Rastboostin]

I met someone over the weekend who is a certified audi tech and was able to do a quick diagnosis for me. From what he's saying, it's a clip that holds part of the actuator rod that needs to be added to make it tighter and stop the rattle?? I'm no pro tech so I'm not sure, but he's going to check it out for me this week. He said worst case scenario, it's the wastegate inside the hotside of the turbo housing, but that doesnt typically happen.

I'll be sure to update it when/if it gets fixed!

[JDillon15]

I met someone over the weekend who is a certified audi tech and was able to do a quick diagnosis for me. From what he's saying, it's a clip that holds part of the actuator rod that needs to be added to make it tighter and stop the rattle?? I'm no pro tech so I'm not sure, but he's going to check it out for me this week. He said worst case scenario, it's the wastegate inside the hotside of the turbo housing, but that doesnt typically happen.

I'll be sure to update it when/if it gets fixed!

Any update on this?

[Rastboostin]

Yes, so I had my friend apply that to my actuator rod at the hinge. Basically, that part was never actually made for the B7 A4/MKV platform. They made those clips for the MK6s and B8 A4 2.0Ts. When he originally put that clip on, it was too loose, so it was still rattling. The clip was pretty solid actually for looking just like a piece of metal, so we couldnt even squeeze it with our hands.

What he ended up doing was putting the clip into a vice grip and pinching it closed so that it was tighter. He put the tightened clip on the hinge for the actuator rod and the rattle was gone! I had been driving on my stock tune for a while so I threw my 2+ tune back on and the difference was IMMEDIATE. No more rattling when revving, decelerating, engine breaking, etc. I also noticed immediately that the turbo was building boost much quicker at lower rpms, unlike before where you could just hear the boost just leaking out.

It was amazing.....for about a week. Then I noticed the rattle started to come back slowly up until now where it is back to about 70% to what it was. It's still quieter than before, but it's definitely there, and I've noticed the poor turbo spool at low rpms again. After talking to him, we think that the clip just must have gotten a bit loose again as it was not desigined to be as tight as we made it.

That being said, I just got a used stock K03 for 200 bucks which I'm just going to replace the one in my car with. After I pull it out, I'm going to investigate my bad turbo to see if it's possible to hand tighten something on the wastegate itself.

[Rastboostin]

Final Update:

Picked up the car last night with the replacement K03 installed. This basically fixed everything. Zero rattling and the throttle response is amazing again. I almost forgot that the car drove like this haha.

After looking closely at the one I replaced, the actuator rod can be wiggled quite easily which would explain all the issues. Funny enough as well, that clip I had on the actuator was gone, so it must have fallen off

Anyways, all is right in the world!