Wastegate control clicking...fan turning on and off again...

[ferrari494]

When the key is in the run position(or with the car started) there is a loud clicking which is coming from the wastegate control solenoid, and the cooling fans on the radiator turn on and off and on and off, etc etc etc.
Also, the check engine light is flashing on and off when I drive the car. There is a SERIOUS lack of power when I drive and to be honest, I can't hear the turbo spooling up, didn't drive the car too long though because smoke or steam(not sure, but am 90% sure its just steam) was coming off of the lower exhaust tubing and turbo charger right next to the downpipe.

Just replaced the heater core, so mi padre and I tore apart the entire interior and replaced the heater core, all this stuff started happening immediately after replacement. We drained the coolant system and refilled it and discharged the AC system. Also replaced 2 coolant hoses, but that is the only work in the engine bay we did, everything else was interior.
Have absolutely NO idea on where to start with all this...

[vrg3]

Disconnect the pair of green single-wire connectors under the driver side dash that you mistakenly reconnected when putting the interior back together, and you'll be fine.

[ferrari494]

wow, thanks, that solved the big problems!
But....the "check engine" idiot light is still flashing and it feels like I'm lagging the engine even though I'm shifting at normal RPMs and speeds, the car is also idling very roughly.
But still a HUGE thanks, I would've spent a number of hours playing with those electrical wires.

[vrg3]

Hmm... did you also connect the pair of black connectors? Disconnect those.

[ferrari494]

Yeah, just now disconnected those, wanted to make sure I plugged all the wires back up, i plugged too many back up
But, the engine still feels like its lagging, and it has a very rough idle, my dad was saying that he almost thinks that one of the cylinders might not be firing? The car seems much weaker.

[vrg3]

Yeah, it's a fairly common mistake.

Hmm. Is the Check Engine light illuminated when running?

The smoke/steam is very likely some coolant that was spilled during the cooling system work.

You don't normally hear the turbo spooling up on a stock Legacy Turbo.

Have you checked the spark plug wires? Maybe some coolant spilled in around one or something?

[ferrari494]

The check engine light never stayed on, it only blinked at me because I still had those two wires connected, now that they're disconnected theres no light.

The smoke/steam was just spilled coolant and that stopped a looong time ago, just at the time it was one more thing that could be wrong that I wasn't sure.

I could always hear the turbo spooling up, true it was never loud and I'd have to turn off the stereo and climate controls, but I could still hear it, and after messing with those wires I hear it again. Right now, the only issue is the car feeling like its lagging, a rough idle, and a big loss of power.

[greg donovan]

i think its time to have the codes read.

the temperature control sensor could be bad.

or you spilled a bunch of coolant on the knock sensor and it is bad.

or i have no idea and am just throwing ideas out there.

rember i am not a mechanic nor do i play one on tv. therefore my advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

[irishsetter]

I would first try and reset the ECU.

[ferrari494]

ok...so i reset the ECU, it helped a bit, at least got rid of all the idiot lights flashing...

as of now, the car idles at like 300 rpm and just dies unless you give it some gas, it rides really rough when driven and lags a TON

any help would be greatly appreciated...

[vrg3]

Did you do all the common checks/fixes? Like doing a tuneup, replacing the fuel and air filters, PCV valve, testing the alternator and battery, stuff like that?

[ferrari494]

in the process of doing so...have to work around work schedule ya know

so was checking the resistance in the ignition wires and found all 4 of them to be down right around 1,000 ohms instead of near 8,000 ohms like it should be, AND on spark plug #2 when i removed the ignition wire...it was full of water! might have something to do with it...