How Turbocharger Wastegates Work - Internal Vs External

How do turbochargers wastegates work? What is the difference between internal and external wastegates? Is an external wastegate better than internal? What are the advantages of internal vs external wastegates? Why are wastegates needed in turbocharger applications? Wastegates are essentially bypass valves for exhaust gases to reroute around the exhaust turbine in the event that a peak desired boost is reached to limit the amount of boost an engine creates. The wastegate can be internal to the turbocharger housing, or it can be external. Internal turbos are great for OEM applications, but external wastegates allow for more flexibility with the overall design, and can result in a more productive turbocharger as they can route the exhaust gases further away from the turbo housing.

Related Videos:

Please feel free to rate, comment, and subscribe!

And don't forget to check out my other pages below!

To help create more videos, check out my Patreon page!

NEW VIDEO EVERY WEDNESDAY!

[jwardTLS]

Simple but informative. I am in the process of upgrading the turbo on my car right now and just swapped over my wastegate last night to the new turbo so the timing on this is fortuitous because everything you are illustrating is what I'm seeing up close and personal right now.

I love this channel. The enthusiast car community desperately needs real, hard technical information like this that explains how things in cars work. The amount of ignorance you find from armchair experts is astonishing. You're filling a very real need with your videos.

[Someguy]

dude I use you as like a free college 101 course your videos are amazing

[JapanScott]

You should include some waste gate sounds for those who aren't aware of the sound.

[HntrSvrsn]

Hey I'd love to see a video on sizing turbochargers, A/R ratio and all the math that I'm sure goes into it.

[BoostedFilms]

Internal wastegates can also often lead to boost creep if the turbo turbo size is increased or the boost is raised with a boost controller. External gates are almost always the best option for mild to heavily modified cars.

[farerse]

Hi, I have 2 requests for videos that you could make.. :) timing chain vs timing belt and distributor ignition wires vs coil on plug.. I would like to know the pros and cons, thanks

[CeejayBighead]

That's the best explanation about wastegate I have heard. God bless you Sir.
I'm an engineering student.

[VencedorGamer]

+Engineering Explained, I'm not a certified engineer, just an experimental fabricator, but I like your videos, you take the time to explain things without fast speech/mad gab/ancronyms like other Youtube personalities. So I enjoy watching, and learning from your videos.

[sinaniii]

this guys is awesome, like fo real. always helps me out when there is stupid videos out there that doesnt even explain what i want to know. THEN i go to this channel and after 5 minutes i know EXACTLY what i need to know, sick. thx alot man

[waydigga]

This brings me back to my dodge srt4 days! Ppl would either replace the wastegate actuator with a stiffer one (to hold boost better) or put a preload on the spring....Some stock wg actuators allow you to adjust preload of the spring...This is essentially compressing the spring in it's "resting/closed state"... Making it tighter/stronger (preventing the wg from opening as easily)... Which in turn allows the turbo to make more boost or hold peak boost longer. Interesting stuff for sure.

[nickdibart]

I don't know much about turbos and always wondered what a wastegate was. I guess it is essentially just a pressure relief valve and a way to control the boost pressure? Thanks for the info.

[tomroberts]

Most kids in the car scene in my area set their wastegate at a much higher psi for more boost = blown engines. They try to race their car with turbo with stock internals and it doesn't work out for them... wish they would see this video haha. Thanks for further in depth explanation!

[VoraciousPhantasma]

Can you please make a video about what happens when you put a car on a dyno in different gears? For instance, a 2k to redline run and how torque and horsepower change when the car is in 1st vs. 5th gear?

[ghettoflyer]

Congratulations! For making it on 1320 Video, and Car Buzz!

[crazydrifter]

This mic is much better than the one used in twin scroll turbo charger video. I came straight from there.

[chrisdanckert]

Best ever series of enginering vidos will continue to use them in my classes

[SteveBrownRacing]

Your videos have come a long way since you started. this is a good example of that progress. keep it up!

[maxpayne]

Also having an external wastegate venting to the atmosphere, the sound produced when it opens sound awesome. Internal wastegates doesn't give you that screaming sound.

[alphabob]

Very helpful, crisp, and succinct explanation - thanks!

[RobinRhyne]

I absolutely LOVE learning more about engineering. Thank you!