Electronic Wastegate Sound

[submitaweasel]

WTF are you talking about?

Based on the pictures, it appears that these arms are made with loose tolerances that wear as they are used with basically a pin in hole style connection. This was likely to prevent binding and allow for tolerances to tighten with thermal expansion.

If my assumption that these only move along 2 directional planes is incorrect, my idea would never work. I have not witnessed the actuation of the wastegate in person.

If we are talking movement that is in no more than 2 planar directions, a new connector arm could be designed and made to fit a set of small radial ceramic ball bearings (assuming they are available in the necessary size) and could hold a tight tolerance on either end eliminating any vibration and noise. Machining costs are still pretty volatile but based on similar parts I've had made I would guess the arm would be ~$150 to make and knowing ceramic bearings are expensive I am guessing those would run ~$45-$75/ea (2 total).

Or you could just ignore my thoughts and try that $4 spring. I would not try the spring method, personally.

I havent heard any rattling from my 1.5T so I have no inclination to try anything myself. I just stumbled upon this thread and fell down the internet rabbit hole and had an idea for improvement.

If somebody else is truly as annoyed by this as some of the posts I've seen, I am willing to invest some free time to help. I just want to be clear that it would involve rather expensive parts for just a little actuator arm. Again, this is all theoretical in my head at this point and if there is any movement in a third direction my long winded post is worth nothing.

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[TypeRD]

The wastegate rattle has been sensationalized. I was of the mind that my car didn't have this quirk, but after some testing, it's definitely present and most prominent when the two front windows are rolled down, radio off, and limited ambient noise. It's not this loud and annoying racket as described on the forums. IMHO it's faint and mechanical enough to chalk it up to noises inherent of an ICE. If anything it adds a little character or charm to the car in the way some cars have noisy valvetrain at idle. I also rarely, almost never, drive with my windows down and I'm usually listening to music or a podcast so this is really a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

SAME! I can hear it from inside the car with windows up and no music, but barely. I’m admittedly sensitive to rattles…if they’re loud and I can hear them over the stereo and other normal car sounds. But beyond that, I’m not sure what more people expect from a Civic with a stout power train and fat tires. We’re talking about something that is well within the category of Normal ICE Car Sounds. If you expect silence, buy a Phantom!

 

[cryptolime]

you can hear the wastegate over the humming/buzzing noise when you clutch in between 1st and 2nd gear?

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