Please help..something bad just happened my car

spunk_monkey

I had my 08 mkv gti remapped recently..car only made an extra 10-15 bhp..brought it back and the guy sorted it today, bringing it to 242bhp, it had a fair few runs on the dyno.

Driving home from cinema tonight the car suddenly lost power....I can no longer hear the whistle of the turbo and that has me very worried...it drives ok but power is gone, it's now like a 1.4 golf than a gti...

Please can someone tell me does it sound like turbo failure, or something less serious?:(
Thanks

Nonoperational

Is there an engine light on?

spunk_monkey

gpf101 wrote: »

Is there an engine light on?

No...

David09

Boost hose split/disconnected/come adrift??

Owen

The wastegate could be stuck open. It happened on my turbo car too, disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes resolved it.

spunk_monkey

Owen wrote: »

The wastegate could be stuck open. It happened on my turbo car too, disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes resolved it.

Ok thanks.. Makes me feel a bit better!

What's the easiest way to disconnect the battery? If this resolves the issue, is the fact that it happened a sign that something is on the way out? Sorry but no v little about engines.

DarrenCroker

spunk_monkey wrote: »

I had my 08 mkv gti remapped recently..car only made an extra 10-15 bhp..brought it back and the guy sorted it today, bringing it to 242bhp, it had a fair few runs on the dyno.

Driving home from cinema tonight the car suddenly lost power....I can no longer hear the whistle of the turbo and that has me very worried...it drives ok but power is gone, it's now like a 1.4 golf than a gti...

Please can someone tell me does it sound like turbo failure, or something less serious?:(
Thanks

This happened to me. I stopped hearing the whistle and then i realised the hose for the turbo came off so i put it back on with a new clip and it hasn't happened again

Owen

Take the positive lead off the battery, and move it away from the battery altogether. If possible, short the positive lead off a metal part of the body which will earth all residual current in the control units. Leave it disconnected for a good 10 minutes, and if it is the wastegate stuck open, it'll reset itself.

Nonoperational

It's really really unlikely to be a shagged turbo, what the lads above said is far more likely. Have a look and see is anything loose. If not take it back to the remapper and he'll scan it for codes etc.

spunk_monkey

Lads, you've put my mind at ease..thanks.

Ill see if he can take a look tomorrow.

Is this a sign that I'm pushing the car too hard with the remap?

DarrenCroker

spunk_monkey wrote: »

Lads, you've put my mind at ease..thanks.

Ill see if he can take a look tomorrow.

Is this a sign that I'm pushing the car too hard with the remap?

I don't think that its a sign if its only the hose that became loose.

Let us know what was wrong when you figure it out anyway:)

Nonoperational

There's a good chance that a hose may have been a bit loose or the clip a bit dodgey. With the higher boost after the remap it may have come loose.

DarrenCroker

gpf101 wrote: »

There's a good chance that a hose may have been a bit loose or the clip a bit dodgey. With the higher boost after the remap it may have come loose.

True that. What happened me was just a dodgy clip on my vito. When i changed the clip it didnt happen again:)

shamwari

spunk_monkey wrote: »

I had my 08 mkv gti remapped recently..car only made an extra 10-15 bhp..brought it back and the guy sorted it today, bringing it to 242bhp, it had a fair few runs on the dyno.

Driving home from cinema tonight the car suddenly lost power....I can no longer hear the whistle of the turbo and that has me very worried...it drives ok but power is gone, it's now like a 1.4 golf than a gti...

Please can someone tell me does it sound like turbo failure, or something less serious?:(
Thanks

You go to the hassle and expense of getting your car remapped, bringing it to and forth to a dyno man to make it churn out an obscene amount of power. Then it breaks and you come on here and wonder aloud what it might be......:rolleyes:

What don't you bring it back to whoever played with it and get them to sort it?

Nonoperational

Maybe because it's 12 at night and he wants a few quick answers to put his mind at rest...

shamwari

gpf101 wrote: »

Maybe because it's 12 at night and he wants a few quick answers to put his mind at rest...

All the OP will get here are opinions, some may be right, some perhaps not. He's admitted he doesn't know very much about engines yet was happy to allow serious tweaks be carried out after which the car has become ill. He needs to bring the car back to whoever played with it and insist they sort it.

Nonoperational

That's true but it's still nice to have a few anonymous people reassure you a bit anyway, makes you sleep a bit easier!

Again I'd say it's almost impossible the remap did anything too serious in a few hours. But we'll see...

Anan1

shamwari wrote: »

All the OP will get here are opinions, some may be right, some perhaps not. He's admitted he doesn't know very much about engines yet was happy to allow serious tweaks be carried out after which the car has become ill. He needs to bring the car back to whoever played with it and insist they sort it.

Yes, but for right now he'd like some ideas as to what it might be - if that's ok with you?;)

shamwari

gpf101 wrote: »

That's true but it's still nice to have a few anonymous people reassure you a bit anyway, makes you sleep a bit easier!

Again I'd say it's almost impossible the remap did anything too serious in a few hours. But we'll see...

Agreed, I suppose peace of mind is something you cannot put a price on. And I do agree with the view that this (hopefully) is not too serious.

However extreme remaps are not to be taken lightly and if the extra power is habitually used then that will obviously impact on reliability. Personally, I would roll back the remap if fault is related in any way to it.

spunk_monkey

gpf101 wrote: »

Maybe because it's 12 at night and he wants a few quick answers to put his mind at rest...

Cheers.

Good news:) I disconnected the battery and reconnected..working back as good as ever..delighted..was seriously going to get no sleep over that...

Never heard of a wastegate..is it anything to worry about that it got stuck open I.e is something on it's last legs?

Thank so much for all the helpful replies

shamwari

spunk_monkey wrote: »

Cheers.

Good news:) I disconnected the battery and reconnected..working back as good as ever..delighted..was seriously going to get no sleep over that...

Never heard of a wastegate..is it anything to worry about that it got stuck open I.e is something on it's last legs?

Thank so much for all the helpful replies

I'd still bring it back to whoever worked on it because clearly whatever happened should not have. The remap may have caused the car to do this and if so, it may well happen again.

Surely the car is fast enough without the remap....?

spunk_monkey

shamwari wrote: »

Agreed, I suppose peace of mind is something you cannot put a price on. And I do agree with the view that this (hopefully) is not too serious.

However extreme remaps are not to be taken lightly and if the extra power is habitually used then that will obviously impact on reliability. Personally, I would roll back the remap if fault is related in any way to it.

Hey,

I wouldn't have called it an "extreme remap"...the car was 210 stock, the remap added 32bhp which is modest enough( but more than enough for me-very pleased with it) for a remap on a mkv gti. Thousands of these cars are remapped to add around +40ibhp and no problems are reported.

I will keep an eye on it though..the car would normally only need to be dyno'd a couple of times, but my car wasn't straight forward (newer stock map was causing issues) and spent half the day on the dyno doing runs after every few tweaks were made to the new map...so maybe this had something to do with it..

I'd be interested to hear what others thing as to what causes the wastegate to stick open..

Thanks

Henry Ford III

This must be the most heavily discussed GTI ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wastegate

It's likely the remap has caused this issue, and it may recur. Take it back to the tuners.

Skatedude

Where did you get it mapped?, i wanted to get my old bmw remapped, but only if i could dyno it as well

Henry Ford III

Skatedude wrote: »

Where did you get it mapped?, i wanted to get my old bmw remapped, but only if i could dyno it as well

How is your wastegate though?

spunk_monkey

spunk_monkey wrote: »

.......... but my car wasn't straight forward (newer stock map was causing issues) ...............

I'd bring it back again if just to explain what happened with the wastegate, as the lads above have said it's quite likely to reoccur.

shamwari

shamwari wrote: »

Surely the car is fast enough without the remap....?

No matter how fast a car is, you will still want it to be faster

dell1211

shamwari wrote: »

All the OP will get here are opinions, some may be right, some perhaps not. He's admitted he doesn't know very much about engines yet was happy to allow serious tweaks be carried out after which the car has become ill. He needs to bring the car back to whoever played with it and insist they sort it.

Well fu(k me did the opinionated posters come up with a fix?

OP you should have done with shamwari recomended and kept the problem to yourself, the internet it reserved for people asking fishing questions:rolleyes:

Anan1

dell1211 wrote: »

Well fu(k me did the opinionated posters come up with a fix?

OP you should have done with shamwari recomended and kept the problem to yourself, the internet it reserved for people asking fishing questions:rolleyes:

Guess who got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning..

spunk_monkey

Was chatting to my mechanic there..he thinks that the car may have gone into limp mode because of too much boost. Says it's nothing to worry about, and that it it happens again that the map just needs to be tweaked a little..happened once to his own car ages ago which is also mapped..hasn' had any issues since.

I'll keep an eye and if it happens again I'll bring it back for a scan and to be tweaked if necessary.

Thanks for all the replies on this..was ****ting myself lastnight after it happened:pac:

Nonoperational

Thought that was it alright. He'll sort it if it happens again...

Brian?

spunk_monkey wrote: »

Was chatting to my mechanic there..he thinks that the car may have gone into limp mode because of too much boost. Says it's nothing to worry about, and that it it happens again that the map just needs to be tweaked a little..happened once to his own car ages ago which is also mapped..hasn' had any issues since.

I'll keep an eye and if it happens again I'll bring it back for a scan and to be tweaked if necessary.

Thanks for all the replies on this..was ****ting myself lastnight after it happened:pac:

Where did you get it remapped? Can I ask how much it cost?

I am thinking of getting my MKIV GTi done.

dharn

an awful lot of remapping going on are the insurance companies being informed also there will be a lot of very shagged engines in stock looking cars on the go if people want a faster car why dont they buy a faster car

Brian?

dharn wrote: »

an awful lot of remapping going on are the insurance companies being informed also there will be a lot of very shagged engines in stock looking cars on the go if people want a faster car why dont they buy a faster car

Why would I buy a faster car when it's cheaper to remap my current car with a tiny impact on reliability?

What do you think remapping a turbo does to the engine of a car exactly? If anything it'll blow the turbo, unlikely though.

briankeating

briankeating wrote: »

Why would I buy a faster car when it's cheaper to remap my current car with a tiny impact on reliability?

What do you think remapping a turbo does to the engine of a car exactly? If anything it'll blow the turbo, unlikely though.

Anything that changes forced induction directly effects the engine, too high exhaust gas temps and you'll know all about it eventually.

Owen

What tends to happen is that the turbo's on song a little more than normal with the map, and stays in it's version of a redline a little more if you're gunning it all the time. As a result, the car has a little brainfart, realises that it's no good to have the turbo spinning close to max rpm for any length of time, and locks the wastegate open, effectively removing the turbo from the equation altogether. Resetting the ECU like I suggested cured it, and has let the car forget the condition/error that caused it.

The boost on the map is probably a little OTT, or and I mean this respectfully, you're driving the hell out of it enjoying the new map and keeping the rpms very high. If you're doing that, stop. If you're not, bring it back to where it was mapped, and if they can't resolve it, ask for your money back and bring it to a reputable mapper.

It happened to my little Smart too the day I got it, and at 3am the wastegate locked open turning my little 130bhp go-kart into a 3 cylinder normally aspirated .7 litre developing about 30bhp and unable to reach 60mph - not good when I'd another 200 miles to do to get it home.

SouperComputer

Who did the remap? Only 35more HP and the map manages to make it hit limp mode? Something's not right. Might be the map, or might be a component like a N75 valve or compressor bypass isnt responding quick enough causing a boost peak and hittimg limp mode.
35HP extra on a boosted car that was putting out 200ish before is a small jump IMO, chat with whoever did the remap, have them to a boost requested vs delivered trace with a VAG-COM.

dharn

briankeating wrote: »

Why would I buy a faster car when it's cheaper to remap my current car with a tiny impact on reliability?

What do you think remapping a turbo does to the engine of a car exactly? If anything it'll blow the turbo, unlikely though.

the posts after mine back up my opinion ,surely you must understand you are not just remapping the turbo you are putting much more pressure on bearings , clutch , cooling system, manufacturers match brakes ,clutch, cooling to power output you are changing one without upgrading brakes, clutch suspension etc thats why insurance companies load chipped cars if they are
told about them

Brian?

dharn wrote: »

the posts after mine back up my opinion ,surely you must understand you are not just remapping the turbo you are putting much more pressure on bearings , clutch , cooling system, manufacturers match brakes ,clutch, cooling to power output you are changing one without upgrading brakes, clutch suspension etc thats why insurance companies load chipped cars if they are
told about them

So if I upgrade the brakes, suspension, cooling system and clutch you think my insurance company wouldn't add anything onto my premium? No chance.

Insurance companies add money on because they are in the business of making money.

SouperComputer

dharn wrote: »

the posts after mine back up my opinion ,surely you must understand you are not just remapping the turbo you are putting much more pressure on bearings , clutch , cooling system, manufacturers match brakes ,clutch, cooling to power output you are changing one without upgrading brakes, clutch suspension etc thats why insurance companies load chipped cars if they are
told about them

Tolerances are engineered for all of these these parameters. Some are huge, some are not, depends on the car. Certain VAGs, Saabs and Volvos over the years have had the EXACT same mechanicals across some of their turbo offerings and the only thing differentiating them was either the boost map and/or the turbo that was bolted onto the exhaust manifold. Intercooler, piping, injectors, MAF, rods, bearings, gearbox and cooling system were carbon copy. The VAG 1.8T is a prime example. Ranging from 150BHP to 225. Volvo's 2.3T 5 cylinder is another example ranging from 190BHP to 240.

Insurance doesnt give two fecks about pressure on bearings, cooling system or anything else. They care about liability. If you make a performance oriented change, they may then choose to view you as a performance oriented driver and therefore whack up the premium. Its nothing to do with mechanicals whatsoever.

Theres a lotta scaremongering going on here. Someone mentioned EGTs, valid if they get high thats a problem. However the reality is that if you are staying with the turbo that shipped with the car its unlikely EGTs will be a problem. Unless its $hittily designed. The turbo can only put out so much boost and create so much backpressure which the system will typically be able to handle, even for a prolonged period of time. Now if you get some goon that makes a map that pulls back ignition advance to get more overrev at the top end, thats a different story!

SouperComputer

SouperComputer wrote: »

.............

Theres a lotta scaremongering going on here. Someone mentioned EGTs, valid if they get high thats a problem. However the reality is that if you are staying with the turbo that shipped with the car its unlikely EGTs will be a problem. ......................

Was thinking more of diesels tbh, but I didn't specify that.

spunk_monkey

Just updating this...the car is driving great now..love it with the remap. I think the car may have hit limp mode because of the amount of time on the dyno that day..anyway all is good now, the tuner said that I can have the map tweaked slightly if I wish so will do so.

Delighted with the difference the remap makes..if anyone is thinking about getting one I'd recommend it..or like someone else suggested, if you are after something more powerful but not in a position to change cars this is a great option.

dharn

could a 320d be done without the turbo going or the dmf id worry every day after getting one done so i think i will stay as i am

Gary ITR

spunk_monkey wrote: »

Just updating this...the car is driving great now..love it with the remap. I think the car may have hit limp mode because of the amount of time on the dyno that day..anyway all is good now, the tuner said that I can have the map tweaked slightly if I wish so will do so.

Delighted with the difference the remap makes..if anyone is thinking about getting one I'd recommend it..or like someone else suggested, if you are after something more powerful but not in a position to change cars this is a great option.

Just seeing this now myself, glad the issue is resolved

If there any issues, which sometimes can happen after a map just give Joe a shout. I'd prefer if you called him after midnight but that's just me