Ford Galaxy 1.9 TDI Loss of power

IrlMonk

Hi,
Recently i noticed my car losing power while driving.
This happens mainly while starting a slight incline in the road.
It's a 2003 Ford Galaxy TDI, would the turbo be on it's way out?

Thanks in advance

George Dalton

It could be the turbo, then again it could be a sensor problem, or a wiring issue or even something as simple as a split vacuum hose.

The only way to know for sure would be for someone who knows what they are doing to carry out a diagnostic scan and other tests and checks.

IrlMonk

And when you get a diagnostics scan do you get an actual paper copy of the scan or would you just take the mechanics word?

Thanks for the prompt reply

George Dalton

Depends on the garage you use. Also depends on what you ask for when you book the car in.

So if someone asked me for a diagnostic scan then I will do a scan and give them the codes because that is what they requested.

But if they ask me why their car is going into limp mode then I probably wouldn't give them the results of the scan unless they asked for them. I would just give them the cause of the issue based on my diagnosis.

It should be mentioned that the diagnostic scan itself isn't going to reveal a whole lot without some follow-up checks by someone who knows what to look for based on the fault codes revealed by the scan.

It is almost certain that the code logged will be related to either turbo under-boost or over-boost. The latter is more likely to be a turbo issue than the former.

IrlMonk

what do you think of the Turbo Cleaners that can be bought in a Motor Factors?

Flood

IrlMonk wrote: »

what do you think of the Turbo Cleaners that can be bought in a Motor Factors?

waste of money.

IrlMonk

Went to two garages over the weekend.

The first chap done a diagnosis and said the turbo needs replacing. He charged me €50 for the diagnosis. He also said it would cost 450 for the turbo and 250 fitting, He will need the car for 2.5 days to do the work.

The second chap, done a diagnostics in front of me, cleaned a part with a cleaner. Charged me nothing for the visit. His advice was to try changing the EGR valve to see if that is the problem, if it is not then there will be no charge as he will replace it with the original EGR that he takes out.
He said the turbo will cost about 300 and will need a day on the car.

Any thoughts on this?

Fundthementals

MAF sensor is prone to failing on this generation VAG engine and would cause this lack of power.
Simple to swap out - two torx head screws and connector plug. If you had a friendly motor factors - they might let you try one on sale or return. Cost me about 100 euro for part a few years back anyhow. No error codes logged or engine management warning light but performance improvement was huge.

IrlMonk

Yes, a MAF sensor sounds like the part he will swap.
Don't mind me, this turbo lark is all very new to me.
I just don't want to spend 700+ on a part for such an old car and especially if it is not required.
The first garage were very clear that the turbo had issues. He was saying that the turbo was struggling! and what I found annoying was that he never even mentioned the MAF sensor could be a possible cause to the problem.
Maybe he is right and a new turbo will be required but I just thought that the guy in the second garage was more honest, he done the diagnosis for free and suggested to swap the MAP sensor out for a known good one and if it still gives an overboost code then he will not charge me.

IrlMonk

No, just checked it out and almost sure he said that he will swap the EGR valve.
None of the garages mentioned anything about the MAF SENSOR.

George Dalton

It sounds like your car is going into limp mode. A bad MAF won't cause limp mode.

Highly unlikely to be an EGR issue either.

The guy who diagnosed the turbo is probably correct, assuming he carried out the appropriate checks and didn't just plug in a scanner and make assumptions based on the code.

IrlMonk

Both garages got overboosting error codes.
The first garage said he could see the turbo struggling and a new turbo is required.
The second garage said it is possible it is the turbo but he will swap out the EGR valve first at no cost if it does not work.
I have a gut feeling it is the turbo but no harm trying cheaper options first.
700+ for a new turbo is a killer, not sure if it is worth getting done, feel like breaking the car.

George Dalton

Are you sure he didn't say he would swap the MAP sensor?

MAP stands for Manifold Absolute Pressure so this sensor could be relevant to the issue you are having as it is what measures the boost levels. So it would make some sense to try a known good one of those first if the tests on the turbo were inconclusive.

Did either mechanic drive the car with the scanner hooked up?

IrlMonk

The second garage pointed towards a visible valve at the back of the engine, just below the wipers in the engine bay, nearly sure he said Egr but I could be wrong.
And "No", neither garage took it for a spin with a scanner attached!

George Dalton

The guy who charged you €50, did he do anything other than plug in a scanner? Did he look under rhe bonnet? Maybe put the car on a ramp and have a look at the turbo from underneath the car?

IrlMonk

Yes he had the car on a lift and inspected it from below. So he said. The car was on the ramp when I went to collect

George Dalton

He probably checked the VNT mechanism on the turbo then. That should be pretty conclusive. Must be the turbo.

IrlMonk

Yes I think he could be right.
I just thought he was a bit on the expensive side.
700+ for turbo, 120 to service after turbo install. And I got a price of 120 to replace two ball joints that are gone.
The second garage quoted me 70 for replacing two ball joints!

IrlMonk

Went to another garage this morning. He ran a diagnosis.
He reckoned that the turbo needs to be cleaned not replaced.
That sounds about right to me. Only problem could be the three bolts within the turbo housing, but fingers crossed it should turn out.

George Dalton

That cleaning never works in the long term. Short term solution at best.

IrlMonk

Surely if the turbo is cleaned of all carbon build up then it should be as good as a refurbished one.
How would you define short term? 6-12mths?

George Dalton

Are you talking about removing the turbo, dismantling it and cleaning it?

Or "cleaning" in in situ?

IrlMonk

The mechanic is going to strip the turbo from the car and open the housing to remove the carbon deposits within.

George Dalton

Well at that stage you may as well pay a small amount extra and have the turbo fully rebuilt at the same time. Doing all that labour to refit a turbo with 12 year old internals is a total false economy IMO.

IrlMonk

Well I would be looking at 400+ extra.

rex-x

Yes to be fair its a 1 hour job max to clean the turbine housing properly once its off, rebuilding the turbo is be a very different job with a huge cost addition. It all hangs on how hard the turbo is to remove.

IrlMonk

Is it worth getting the cleaning done? with a refurb i would be looking at treble the cost.