Wastegate assembly

A wastegate assembly for controlling flow of exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine and through a wastegate channel of a turbocharger, said wastegate assembly comprising:

• a valve element having a valve body and a valve shaft extending away from said valve body, with said valve shaft extending along an axis, and with said valve element moveable between a first position and a second position to control the flow of exhaust gas through the wastegate channel of the turbocharger;
• a spindle having a head defining an opening for receiving said valve shaft for moving said valve element between said first position and said second position;
• a washer coupled to said valve shaft and spaced from said spindle along said axis such that said spindle is disposed between said valve body and said washer for securing said spindle to said valve shaft;
• and
• a cup spring disposed between said spindle and said washer;
• wherein one of said spindle head or said washer includes a raised lip extending towards the other of said spindle head or said washer, with the other of said spindle head or said washer defining a notch configured to at least partially receive said raised lip and configured to cooperate with said raised lip to shield said biasing member from the exhaust gas;
• wherein said raised lip and said notch are spaced from each other in said first position and in said second position by a first distance (FD);
• wherein said spindle head defines a flat surface facing said washer and said washer defines a bottom washer surface facing and spaced from said flat surface by a second distance (SD), and
• wherein said first distance (FD) is less than said second distance (SD) for preventing over compression of said biasing member.