I was picking up my boat from the boat mechanic today, and he also has a 7.3, I pop my hood, because we had some other chitter chatter about engine oil. he looked back at my turbo and saw that my wastegate nipple was broken and nothing was connected.

I've had this truck since 2018, I worked out some Gremlins, but for the most part it runs fairly good. The only thing I deal with now is just very light smoke under load, if I have my boat on the back or something. Anyways, when he saw that, he mentioned that that could be a possibility. My fear, is if I fix it I'm going to cause another problem. Right now the truck isn't broken . Lol.. but I really want to fix it the way it's supposed to be.

I know that this is a wastegate actuator, what are the hazards of just operating at the way it is? Again, I think there's a good chance I've done it for the last 3 years. I don't really know when this came off.

Can someone please post an oem wastegate actuator part number? Or a link there are several online, in the $20 range, but I'd like to get OEM..

I also need the 90° rubber part that connects to the hose and into the actuator nipple. that look like it kind of got a little tore up. In addition to a little bit of oil on it..

2003 4x4

Thanks for your help and insight!!

 

Leave it off. No need for the hose on the actuator. At least that’s a fairly common feeling around here. I haven’t had one for years. Took it off my dads as well.

The red line however needs plugged or it will cause a boost leak when the solenoid opens.

I would recommend removing directly from the spider and adding a small plug there since your red line boot is gone. Be sure to secure the plug with a small zip tie or it will blow off.

 

You can either cap the line and tighten the wastegate down or get another wastegate. I have one in the garage I took off my truck in 2018. It is in my metal recycling pile and is yours if you want it. It looks about the same as yours, maybe a bit better.

I am in GA and if you are still in FL, it shouldn't be much to get to you. If it were me, I would just do the mod though.

Let me know if I can help.

 

Let me explain a bit more. I went looking for a KC Turbo video where he describes how the wastegate actuator functions but couldn’t find it.

Anyhow the red line is used to allow the PCM to blow the wastegate open “early”. The actuator has a spring inside which will allow it to open based on exhaust pressure. The red line will apply boost pressure to the actuator causing it to open the gate based on the PCM command to the solenoid.

Here’s a video by KC Turbos showing a boost leak check. In the video they show a leak at the red line, then also show how they plug it at the Y. I never found the hose clamp to work well which is why I used a small zip tie.

 

Thanks sous.. I really appreciate that. I think I'm going to go ahead and do the mod though. It sounds like it is the preferred method. My question would be if I do the mod, I don't have a boost gauge, are there any hazards associated with that. I know that I have a Garrett turbo, which I believe is stock, I think it is able to receive up to 30 PSI of boost I believe? I don't want to put myself in some overboosting scenarios at the same time I'm pretty sure I've been running that truck like that for 3 years. I only tow a 4500 lb boat. And I normally am pretty easy on the gas..

when you say tighten down the wastegate, will I see something to tighten or is there another aftermarket mod part that I should get to do that??

 

I was thinking of you this morning as I was stepping over my metal recycle pile and saw the wastegate in there...

I would do the same as you are planning to. No harm associated with capping the red line and tightening down on the wastegate. It will increase your boost, but if your truck is not chipped/tuned you won't see much over 24 PSI, if it gets that high. The general rule of thumb is 40 PSI is maximum comfortable boost for a stock engine.

You may see a slight bump in power if your red line has been the source of a boost leak for 3 years. Cap it, tighten down on the wastegate and come back to us if you have any concerns or questions after that.

Cheapest and quickest solution is sometimes the right solution and you lucked out this time!

EDIT: Jason has a better idea, listen to him!

 

Thank racing.. very informative video. . Right now I clearly have a boost leak, because my red wire is not plugged... I wouldn't know it, but the truck seems to perform just fine. I feel like I have plenty of power. I guess it would require a bigger leak for it to be an issue..

I think I'm going to take Sous recommendation and plug the red wire, I think I'm just going to use a zip tie to zip it off and then I need to figure out how to tighten the wastegate.. Thanks for the info

 

Personally I wouldn’t bother tightening the gate in your situation. I would focus on cleaning up the potential boost leak points and run it.

Tightening the gate would give you more boost but I’ve found not all gates are adjustable and I ruined an actuator shaft trying that. So for your needs I’d just plug off the red line. Much easier too.

 

Red and green hoses aren’t necessary.

I prefer to put a vacuum cap on the 5-way intake plenum (aka ‘spider’) where the red hose connects, but you’ll have to put a small zip tie or something on there to keep it from blowing off. Then, put a screw or a bolt that fits snugly in the hole on intake hose for green line.

I also crank the adjuster all the way down on WG actuator. Stock injectors can’t really hurt the turbo. But, without a chip - you’ll never notice if was cranked down or not.

 

Thanks guys . I've elected to just do that.. I'm going to plug the spider.. I didn't have a plug so right now I just have the red wire zip tied. I'll plug it and forget about it.. right now the truck seems like it's full of power, and I get 17.5 mpg. And the other day I got 15.5 with my 4.4lb boat on the back.. nothing's broken, so I'm not gonna fix it.. just plug at the spider so I can get rid of the red wire.

so far this is by far the easiest fix I ran into. Thanks a lot for the information.

 

Well done!

You had a bit of a boost leak at the bare minimum with the red line open to the atmosphere. What you have done is commonly referred to as the red line mod. Normally this involved tightening down on the wastegate as well, but if you are good with it, we are good with it.

Years ago when I still had the OEM spider and removed the red/green lines, I dressed the spot up a bit with a 2"x2" IH hat pin as seen in the picture below.