Boost control solenoid clicking continuously
 

Car is a MY96 Uk Turbo, with a new 3-port solenoid (I just replaced it thinking the old one must be faulty). I'm assuming it can't be normal for the solenoid to activate and de-activate continuously at idle (at a rate of at least one complete activate/de-activate cycle every second), but was hoping I could pick up some pointers as to what to look for beyond the obvious checks for splits or cracks in any of the inlet pipe-work and hoses.

The car's fitted with a stock dump-valve and air-box, and it didn't throw a CEL until I made some slight adjustments to the throttle-position sensor and idle-control valve, in my attempt to fix the issue (TSP reading was very slightly high, so I adjusted this first and then adjusted the IACV however much was needed to compensate).

Aside from actually finding the cause of the problem and fixing it, am I right in thinking the car should be safe to drive with the solenoid's electrical connector unplugged, as that way the ECM will automatically hold the engine back from reaching boost levels it can't cope with?

i wondered this til some1 told me its telling u its workin lol have u never noticed before

It's literally supposed to click on and off continuously? No, I'd never noticed before. The only reason I picked up on it recently is because I was having a very close look under the bonnet, trying to figure out the reason for a slightly wobbly idle.

mine started to click continuasly on idle, few days later it didnt work causing the car to over boost and hittinf fuel cut off. Mattybr5 on here sorted me out with a new one £35 colected and he helped fit it.

He let me try it to make sure it was that knackard.

Even the brand new one I've just fitted is doing it, so either there's a fault somewhere else that's making the ECU send a continously changing signal to the solenoid, or it's actually normal.

You might have connectors under steering wheel in test mode. there are two colours one will be black and one green if together dissconnect, and see if thts sorted.

I definitely don't have the test-mode connectors plugged together. The solenoid on my car's clicking at a far faster rate than that, and I don't have the engine fan pulsing or any of the other things that would happen with the diag plugs connected up.

Any other classic turbo drivers or mappers who can give a definitive yeah or nay on this solenoid clicking at idle?

bttt

try adjusting the throttle position sensor again that'll cause it to click all the time on idle

For the benefit of anyone else who might run into the same problem in future, I re-adjusted the TPS sensor as per incarsolutions' suggestion, this time to a setting somewhere between what it was when I first measured it and the exact factory-spec that I'd recently changed it to, and that stopped the solenoid clicking. Idle is back to normal, and I haven't had any new CELs in the 90 miles I've driven since I reset the ECU after finishing up.

Let's hear it for SNet :thumb: