Electronic Wastegate Sound

[Motpeds]

Hello All!

This week my wastegate started making the high-pitched sound that has plagued all fk8 and now fl5 owners.
Ive read virtually every thread on many forums on this so i understand its "normal" and there is no fix, but im curious if this is something that maybe can be fixed/reduced via tune?

Since its all ECU controlled, im curious if this is possible. Haven't seen any talk on this potential solution yet so thought id ask.

I used to love driving windows down to drown out any rattling noise I was getting inside, but now with the wastegate noise issue with the windows down, i have to pick my poison. lol

Thoughts?

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[LNF]

I have this same exact issue with my Integra. It drives me mad when driving through a parking structure and tunnel, each day. I tried to get the dealership to fix it, so they had me drive their technician around in both my car and the demo model. Both made the noise... they then told me it was a 'characteristic' of the car and could not be fixed.

I have tried greasing the wastegate arms, which seemed to have helped for awhile, but the sound is starting to come back. I was hoping this wouldn't be an issue when I finally get my ITS...

 

[Motpeds]

I have this same exact issue with my Integra. It drives me mad when driving through a parking structure and tunnel, each day. I tried to get the dealership to fix it, so they had me drive their technician around in both my car and the demo model. Both made the noise... they then told me it was a 'characteristic' of the car and could not be fixed.

I have tried greasing the wastegate arms, which seemed to have helped for awhile, but the sound is starting to come back. I was hoping this wouldn't be an issue when I finally get my ITS...

Would love to get some more more info on your greasing fix; its the first ive heard of this!

I have only been living with it a couple of days but it is so hard to ignore.

Does anyone have an explanation as to why it goes from no noise for a few hundred miles, to all of a sudden making the noise indefinitely?

 

[tezzasaurusrex]

Would love to get some more more info on your greasing fix; its the first ive heard of this!

I have only been living with it a couple of days but it is so hard to ignore.

Does anyone have an explanation as to why it goes from no noise for a few hundred miles, to all of a sudden making the noise indefinitely?

Likely it was making the noise the entire time - but your hearing wasn't attuned to it until a few hundred miles into driving.

All the K20C1 make this noise. Greasing is not an ideal remedy as the components involved get extremely hot (hot enough to evaporate any grease). Its not a big enough irritation for me to come up with a remedy - but I think lockwiring the wastegate arm in such a way that applies some spring tension to it would fix it. The key would be to ensure theres not too much tension as to hinder the articulation of the wastegate during its normal operation. As this might result in an overboost situation which could be dangerous for the motor.

 

[CTRifecta]

Really spoils driving with the windows down. What I do to remedy it, is touch the gas slightly to take it out of pure vacuum.

 

[LNF]

Would love to get some more more info on your greasing fix; its the first ive heard of this!

I have only been living with it a couple of days but it is so hard to ignore.

Does anyone have an explanation as to why it goes from no noise for a few hundred miles, to all of a sudden making the noise indefinitely?

Not my picture, but essentially I lubricated both ends of the arm. It lasted for a couple months, but like @tezzasaurusrex mentioned, it will evaporate.

My next mod is installing a PRL Turbo Blanket. I’m thinking that will put just enough pressure on the arms to dampen the rattle.

 

[@BlackCTR]

Your picture shows a clip holding the wastegate arm. The type r arm floats. Maybe Honda can make kit to hold the arm in place like the picture above for R owners, or maybe a spring kit like ford seems have done.

 

[Motpeds]

That spring idea is very interesting.
Would need to examine ours more to see if something like this is possible but off the bat something like that scares me. Anyone want to test this out? ?

Also liking the idea of greasing it up a bit on the side that isn't covered up by the heat shield as i noticed a lot of play there. I might try this this weekend.

@tezzasaurusrex , it definitely wasn't there from day 1. I was aware of the potential for this before i bought my FL5 and was always on the lookout. It popped up from one day to the next 100% which made me very curious as to what changed.

I'm already less bothered by it tbh, so that's good news.

 

[Rhorn]

Does anyone have an explanation as to why it goes from no noise for a few hundred miles, to all of a sudden making the noise indefinitely?

I saw people talking about it before I got mine and it was one of the first things I noticed

 

[tezzasaurusrex]

That spring idea is very interesting.
Would need to examine ours more to see if something like this is possible but off the bat something like that scares me. Anyone want to test this out? ?

Also liking the idea of greasing it up a bit on the side that isn't covered up by the heat shield as i noticed a lot of play there. I might try this this weekend.

@tezzasaurusrex , it definitely wasn't there from day 1. I was aware of the potential for this before i bought my FL5 and was always on the lookout. It popped up from one day to the next 100% which made me very curious as to what changed.

I'm already less bothered by it tbh, so that's good news.

Noises are a funny thing. 15 years working in the industry with many of those years spent as a tech carrying out diagnosis on vehicle noises and customer complaints I can say that its one of those things that carry a human element to it and that is your level of tolerability. There's also the tunnel vision aspect (but tunnel hearing in this sense) that once you hear it you can't unhear it and it ends up being all you hear ?

 

[cryptolime]

anyone try a thick/high temp lubricant grease and if it worked what type did you use?

 

[mbaapk]

Not heard this once on mine. No idea what you all are hearing.

 

[Clark_Kent]

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.

 

[submitaweasel]

Well I definitely wouldn't be following the ford forum posted above. Those springs are showed attached to the oil drain pipe. A noise is much less annoying than an oil drain wearing through over time.

Looking at these photos I'm seeing a common theme of bearingless connections. Cost savings measures? Heck yes! Corporate ftw! A true fix would be a high temp (cermaic) ball bearing on both ends of the rod. No bind and no play.

If anybody is truly annoyed enough by this to shell out, I could have a part machined and spec out a bearing but it would not be cheap. Off the top guess is about $300. I would need either an arm to measure or measurements and a gueniea pig (beta tester).

 

[mbaapk]

Well I definitely wouldn't be following the ford forum posted above. Those springs are showed attached to the oil drain pipe. A noise is much less annoying than an oil drain wearing through over time.

Looking at these photos I'm seeing a common theme of bearingless connections. Cost savings measures? Heck yes! Corporate ftw! A true fix would be a high temp (cermaic) ball bearing on both ends of the rod. No bind and no play.

If anybody is truly annoyed enough by this to shell out, I could have a part machined and spec out a bearing but it would not be cheap. Off the top guess is about $300. I would need either an arm to measure or measurements and a gueniea pig (beta tester).

WTF are you talking about?

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