P0243
Turbo/Super Charger Wastegate Solenoid "A"
- Severity
- Medium
- Driving
- Drive only to a garage
A fault in the turbocharger or supercharger wastegate solenoid "A". The wastegate controls how much boost the turbo produces by letting exhaust gas bypass the turbine; this solenoid is how the module operates it. Without control, boost will be wrong in one direction or the other and the module will restrict the engine.
Possible causes
- CommonFailed wastegate solenoid
- CommonWastegate actuator seized, or its linkage stuck with carbon
- CommonSplit, perished or disconnected vacuum or pressure hose
- CommonCorroded connector or damaged wiring
- CommonVariable-vane mechanism sticking with soot, on a diesel
- RareFailed control module driver
What you might notice
- Reduced power or limp mode
- Boost too high or too low
- Excessive smoke on a diesel
- Whistling or fluttering from the turbo
- Check engine light on
What to check, in order
- Check the hoses first. A split or disconnected boost control hose is the most common cause and the cheapest to fix.
- Check the wastegate actuator moves freely. On a diesel with a variable-vane turbo, soot seizing the mechanism is extremely common on a car used mainly for short journeys.
- Measure the solenoid winding resistance against specification.
- Inspect the connector for corrosion and heat damage.
- Watch commanded against actual boost on the live data screen through an acceleration.
Read this code from your own car
Plug an ELM327 adapter into the OBD-II port under the dashboard. Pin16 reads every stored, pending and permanent code, explains each one like this page does — offline, with no account — and shows what the car recorded when the fault was set.
Where this code sits
P00xxP01xxP02xxP03xxP04xxP05xxP06xxP07xxP08xxP09xxP0AxxP0BxxP0CxxP0DxxP0ExxP0FxxP10xxP11xxP12xxP13xxP14xxP15xxP16xxP17xxP18xxP19xxP1AxxP1BxxP1CxxP1DxxP1ExxP1FxxP20xxP21xxP22xxP23xxP24xxP25xxP26xxP27xxP28xxP29xxP2AxxP2BxxP2CxxP2DxxP2ExxP2FxxP30xxP31xxP32xxP33xxP34xxP35xxP36xxP37xxP38xxP39xxP3AxxP3BxxP3CxxP3DxxP3ExxP3Fxx
Fuel and air metering - injector circuits
P0200P0201P0202P0203P0204P0205P0206P0207P0208P0209P0210P0211P0212P0213P0214P0215P0216P0217P0218P0219P0220P0221P0222P0223P0224P0225P0226P0227P0228P0229P0230P0231P0232P0233P0234P0235P0236P0237P0238P0239P0240P0241P0242P0243P0244P0245P0246P0247P0248P0249P0250P0251P0252P0253P0254P0255P0256P0257P0258P0259P0260P0261P0262P0263P0264P0265P0266P0267P0268P0269P0270P0271P0272P0273P0274P0275P0276P0277P0278P0279P0280P0281P0282P0283P0284P0285P0286P0287P0288P0289P0290P0291P0292P0293P0294P0295P0296P0297P0298P0299