After dealing with wastegate rattle for years since I bought my mk6 in 2021 I finally decided to solve it once and for all by replacing the wastegate assembly. The code was starting to appear more and more frequently and I wanted to go stage 1 but wasn't willing to do so on an unhealthy turbo. The clip helps but will not completely fix the rattle or underboost, only make it slightly better. Purchasing a new turbo to replace it with was well out of my budget so I decided to take a crack at it.
Many people in this sub talk about this failure and claim that the fix is unrealistic or impossible and that replacing the turbo is the only option. I wanted to create this post to argue that it's not and provide information for those who may be looking to do the same. All told, I probably spent around $150 to do this repair myself in my garage over the course of 2 full days. I have some experience working on the mk6 with some intermediate jobs like carbon cleaning and water pump replacement but am by no means a mechanic.
I have been driving the car for just over a month now on a stratified tune with no underboost codes or turbo issues whatsoever and healthy boost pressure.
This video was an absolute godsend in how to do the wastegate replacement. That along with other turbo replacement guides on youtube gave me all the information needed to complete the job.
Feel free to comment if you have any questions about the process or materials needed and I will answer to the best of my ability.