I had posted about a month ago about how I had trouble code 2043 that said "Solenoid A malfunction." When I did research on the code it only came up with results from turbocharged vehicles, ranging from dodge neon SRT-4 to the turbo diesel trucks. When I asked people on this forum I recieved general info, nothing precisely pinpointing the problem. I solved it and saved a lot of money doing it myself, so I wanted to share with everyone to save someone else some money.

When the CEL first came on the car felt very sluggish acceleration during all driving conditions. This was because the actuator for the boost bypass valve was damaged and venting most of the boost from the supercharger into the atmosphere, so the car felt like it lost a lot of horsepower.

I had a hard time finding the part. General parts stores like autozone don't sell anything remotely close to a wastegate solenoid, or boost bypass valve or the like. I went to the dealer and they tried to sham me into paying for a diagnostic fee to tell me what was wrong. I told the guy the trouble code and he insisted that I didn't know what I was talking about and that I HAD TO PAY TO GET MY COMPUTER SCANNED, which was about 65$. I told him to fornicate with himself and went elsewhere. The parts department at the dealer didn't even help me and said that they could not find any related part from my description and that I would have to bring in the part so they could find out more information or check the part number.

I looked under the hood at what and where this part was, I found it easy enough, it was the only thing that could possibly be the part since its the only thing attached to the supercharger that isn't emmisions or throttle related.

I noticed that no matter if the car were running or not, the valve was very loose and did not seem to be holding vacum, it was just flopping back and forth with little effort. I checked the vacum lines and they were tight and leak free, so it must be the actual valve itself.

I went to the dealer with the valve and they found it immediately and said it was sold as "Actuator Kit" part #89018120 and was 252$. There was the schematic drawings with the part easily recognizable, so at least I know exactly what the part is and where and how much it is.

I then went to the local "pick and pull" junkyard and started the hunt for a 3.8 supercharged GM vehicle. I found only one that was not picked clean. It was a late 90's bonneville, but the valve and solenoid looked identical so I figured I would take it and at least try it out. I checked the part numbers on my broken one and the new one and they didn't match, but I decided that since they look identical and bolt up the same that I would still try.

Success! I got the whole "Actuator Kit" from the junkyard for 20$ and it fixed my CEL, performance is back to normal. Now the valve is functioning properly and holds vacum, you cannot easily move the valve back and forth anymore, and when the vehicle is idling it is in the open position and steadily closes as the throttle is depressed.

I saved 252$, plus diagnostic fees 65$, labor from the dealer 70-140$ so that bill would have been easily over 500$! I'm treating myself to something nice for my little bit of mechanical knowledge and common sense to not let myself be raped by dealers!

I'd post pics but for some reason it won't let me and just says "Upload failed."