Corsa wastegate failure

My 2006 Vauxhall Corsa with a diesel engine is giving me grief. It's got about 109k km, and I'm pretty sure the boost pressure system is toast. The check engine light is constantly on, and the engine power is way down. It feels like it's got crazy turbo lag, and the throttle response is just awful. Sometimes it even stalls when I'm idling. Plus, I'm burning through fuel like crazy, and there's this really annoying whistling noise, turning into a loud hissing sound when I try to accelerate. I'm thinking it might be the wastegate valve that's gone bad? Anyone else had similar issues?

4 comment(s)

Sounds rough! I had almost the exact same symptoms on my Corsa a while back. Check engine light, power loss, the works. Is the whistling noise constant, or only when the turbo is spooling up?

The whistling is there most of the time, but it definitely gets louder and turns into a hissing sound when I accelerate. Did you manage to sort yours out? What was the fix?

Yep, sounds identical to what I went through. Turned out to be a faulty wastegate. Honestly, I tried messing with it myself, but it's a fiddly job. I'd recommend taking it to a workshop – they'll be able to diagnose it properly and get it sorted without you potentially causing more damage. Best of luck!

Cheers for the advice! I booked it into the shop. Turns out you were spot on - wastegate valve was knackered. Cost me 860€ all in, but at least it's running sweet again. No more check engine light or hissing!

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