What is a waste gate? - F-DIESEL TURBO & FUEL INJECTION PARTS SYSTEM

What is a waste gate?

F-DIESEL TURBO & FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM 26/6/2014 9:53:57 pm

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What is a waste gate?
On most turbocharger systems you will find a very important part commonly referred to as a waste gate. Since the turbocharger relies on the engines exhaust to drive the turbine, at some point there will be an excess of airflow energy available, so the need to control that flow to the turbo and subsequently, the boost pressure being produced, is the job of the waste gate. The function of this part of the turbo system is fairly straight forward; it provides an alternate passage around the turbine wheel for the exhaust gas to flow. Usually connected to the waste gate valve is the waste gate actuator. This actuator will have a boost reference tied into the engine intake manifold and is designed to “actuate” or move once a desired amount of pressure signal is received. This movement opens up the waste gate valve, allowing the turbine speed to slow, therefore equalizing the boost pressure available in the intake manifold of the engine. On most production gasoline cars this pressure will be between 8-14 PSI at the intake manifold. Almost all production cars will have some type of computer control over this pressure; usually this will be in the form of a waste gate control solenoid located in line with the vacuum signal going from the intake manifold to the waste gate actuator. Allowing the computer to control the given boost is a safe guard against damage due to poor quality gasoline, differences in atmospheric conditions or even the load being placed on the engine due to gear position or operating conditions.

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