[drewduckro]

I have a 2016 1.5L with a bad turbo. I am looking to replace it myself instead of paying the thousands of dollars at the dealership. I am only stuck on one part, the Wastegate Solenoid. Can anyone tell me if I need just the Turbocharger Wastegate solenoid, or if I need the regular turbocharger waste gate with mounting bracket, or if I need both? The price difference is $40 vs $123. I am unable to find much information about which one I need while looking on the internet.

 

[campb292]

I guess it depends on what the symptoms were. If the solenoid was bad, yes you have to replace it. If the turbo or wastegate was bad, that doesn't necessarily mean the wastegate regulator solenoid was bad. If you just want to replace it while doing the work you could probably just use the solenoid. The top one is nice - I match that part number and it appears to include the hoses.

I'm afraid I haven't read any reports of anyone experiencing a turbo failure on gen9 yet so there isn't a forum guide. You have purchased the service manual or a subscription to alldatadiy, Mitchell, or something else right? It's a somewhat complicated 6+ hour job since it is fed by oil and coolant. Good work taking this on. Let us know how it goes and the results. I'm also interested in what happened and/or what codes occured.

Edit: I did find a report of a dealer replacing a turbo but it ended up being a bad diagnosis of the P0299 ice issue.

 

[drewduckro]

I guess it depends on what the symptoms were. If the solenoid was bad, yes you have to replace it. If the turbo or wastegate was bad, that doesn't necessarily mean the wastegate regulator solenoid was bad. If you just want to replace it while doing the work you could probably just use the solenoid. The top one is nice - I match that part number and it appears to include the hoses.

I'm afraid I haven't read any reports of anyone experiencing a turbo failure on gen9 yet so there isn't a forum guide. You have purchased the service manual or a subscription to alldatadiy, Mitchell, or something else right? It's a somewhat complicated 6+ hour job since it is fed by oil and coolant. Good work taking this on. Let us know how it goes and the results. I'm also interested in what happened and/or what codes occured.

Edit: I did find a report of a dealer replacing a turbo but it ended up being a bad diagnosis of the P0299 ice issue.

Thank you! I have just started looking into doing it. My uncle has replaced the turbo on his WRX twice and is going to assist me with it. I have not bought those yet, but will look into what the best option would be. The error code I got from the diagnostic check is P0234, which is an overboot being detected. I think to be safe we might just replace both, or at least purchase both and return it if its not used.
I will update this post once we get the work done, hopefully it is a good experience!

 

[campb292]

I'm not there with your car to diagnose but the recent cold weather and the code trigger my senses. Bulletin of interest: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10204448-9999.pdf

 

[drewduckro]

I'm not there with your car to diagnose but the recent cold weather and the code trigger my senses. Bulletin of interest: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10204448-9999.pdf

Okay that sounds a lot better than the entire turbo being replaced. I know little about the actual turbo/engine of a car. I am trying to learn more so I can do more things myself. Where is this located on the turbocharger? Is it underneath?

 

[campb292]

I haven't been involved with turbos much as we haven't see them fail yet. I'm learning. Some pics of the turbocharger wastegate regulator solenoid valve below. Took me a minute to find a diagram already posted publicly.

 

[1.Malibu16]

We might be on to something here, I’m having a very similar issue now with my 16 lt. I got a po299 code yesterday and a po234 today, the exact opposite trouble codes confused me a little, assuming the po299 was more than likely the frozen charge air cooler issue. I drove it in the bitter cold back home from Denver earlier this week, the whole drive was well below zero for ambient temps. Temps get back into the 40-50s this weekend so I’m going to use that for a possible diagnosis. I was deeming the charge air cooler as the smoking gun until the overboost showed up. Maybe ice in the solenoid can cause both codes? This is this car’s 5th winter without a garage and has never had issue until now.

 

[drewduckro]

We might be on to something here, I’m having a very similar issue now with my 16 lt. I got a po299 code yesterday and a po234 today, the exact opposite trouble codes confused me a little, assuming the po299 was more than likely the frozen charge air cooler issue. I drove it in the bitter cold back home from Denver earlier this week, the whole drive was well below zero for ambient temps. Temps get back into the 40-50s this weekend so I’m going to use that for a possible diagnosis. I was deeming the charge air cooler as the smoking gun until the overboost showed up. Maybe ice in the solenoid can cause both codes? This is this car’s 5th winter without a garage and has never had issue until now.

I am sorry i haven’t updated this sooner.
After my dealership told me I needed a new turbo, I started looking into other options. Once Campb told me about the frozen solenoid I looked into that. Outside temperatures came up for the first time in a few days. Check engine light went away. So I had onstar run multiple diagnostic checks and I went to a few auto zones and no codes were showing. It’s driving like normal with no code. So give this idea a shot first! Luckily I didn’t want to pay $2500 at the moment my dealer told me it was the turbo. Hopefully this is the case for you too

 

[JJA]

I am sorry i haven’t updated this sooner.
After my dealership told me I needed a new turbo, I started looking into other options. Once Campb told me about the frozen solenoid I looked into that. Outside temperatures came up for the first time in a few days. Check engine light went away. So I had onstar run multiple diagnostic checks and I went to a few auto zones and no codes were showing. It’s driving like normal with no code. So give this idea a shot first! Luckily I didn’t want to pay $2500 at the moment my dealer told me it was the turbo. Hopefully this is the case for you too

The novelty/lack of knowledge of this issue causes misdiagnosis so a less expensive repair results in a $2500 replacement? Or dealerships/mechanics taking advantage of the situation?

 

[drewduckro]

The novelty/lack of knowledge of this issue causes misdiagnosis so a less expensive repair results in a $2500 replacement? Or dealerships/mechanics taking advantage of the situation?

My guess would be the first, lack of knowledge of the issue. The error code PO234 pulls an overboost, which they said was a bad turbo. When in reality it was a frozen wastegate solenoid valve

 

[repairman54]

I'll second that a warmer climate tech may not see a freezing weather problem.

 

[1.Malibu16]

I am sorry i haven’t updated this sooner.
After my dealership told me I needed a new turbo, I started looking into other options. Once Campb told me about the frozen solenoid I looked into that. Outside temperatures came up for the first time in a few days. Check engine light went away. So I had onstar run multiple diagnostic checks and I went to a few auto zones and no codes were showing. It’s driving like normal with no code. So give this idea a shot first! Luckily I didn’t want to pay $2500 at the moment my dealer told me it was the turbo. Hopefully this is the case for you too

I went through the tsb for the solenoid today now that the weather warmed up. There was quite a bit of condensate in the solenoid itself. Works great now with no issue. Glad forums like this exist.

 

[drewduckro]

I went through the tsb for the solenoid today now that the weather warmed up. There was quite a bit of condensate in the solenoid itself. Works great now with no issue. Glad forums like this exist.

Out of curiosity, what did you use to get it out? I have tried multiple tools to try to get it but have had no luck so far. Luckily it has been driving fine and no issues, but I would like the clean out the solenoid as well

 

[1.Malibu16]

Out of curiosity, what did you use to get it out? I have tried multiple tools to try to get it but have had no luck so far. Luckily it has been driving fine and no issues, but I would like the clean out the solenoid as well

i did not completely remove the solenoid, I disconnected the small lines at the clamps labeled in the picture, I went out and popped the hood to get the pic because I could not quite remember exactly. To get to line 1, you got to disconnect the wire connector and remove the intake boot with the catch can to make it easier. I used my small air compressor regulated to 15 psi and blew through the lines into the solenoid using a blow nozzle. I went in the same order as the bulletin. I got a good 4 drops of water out of mine. The plunger in the solenoid is considered good if you introduce air into line 2 and feel air coming from line 3. My pcv line going to my catch can was all cracked and very brittle and I spliced in some pcv hose for now. The catch can had water in it I’m assuming from the broken line which may have led to the entire problem. I did change the oil after this as well and have not had any problems.

 

[k_nick_99]

I have a 2016 malibu 1.5L, i am looking to replace turbo. Has anyone did a video or know of detailed instructions on how to do this?

 

[campb292]

I have a 2016 malibu 1.5L, i am looking to replace turbo. Has anyone did a video or know of detailed instructions on how to do this?

If doing full replacement you will likely need the service manual or a short term subscription to a site like alldatadiy. Make sure you have diagnosed it properly as they rarely fail - at least under 200k. Several suspected turbo failures have been something much simpler like noted above.