My check engine light came on and the diagnosis was that the wastegate vacuum solenoid is not holding vacuum. I have gotten 3 very different opinions from 3 different mechanics. 1 - Need to replace turbocharger but there is no hurry - can wait until car starts to lose power. 2 - Need to replace turbocharger immediately because other serious damage can occur. 3 - No need to do anything because solenoid controls emissions but has nothing to do with operation of the motor. Who should I believe?
Sounds like they are ALL wrong…The waste-gate prevents over-boosting the engine and blowing it up…Replace the waste-gate vacuum solenoid after you check the vacuum hose that feeds it for leaks…The waste-gates purpose is to reduce boost pressure…
That’s one reason we often ask people to post the actual error codes from the “check engine” light. Interpretations of those codes can be all over the map. Can you get the actual alphanumeric codes those mechanics pulled from the computer and post them here? I won’t know what to do with them, but others will.
Another issue you might have encountered is that some mechanics use cheap code readers, which might only give you one trouble code when there are really three or more.