VW Golf TDI Power Loss

dbre01

Hi There,

I drive a VW golf 1.9tdi have started to experience intermitent power loss, it feels like the turbo is not working, this can happen at any time while driving along. Once I shut down the engine and restart the problem is resolved.

I have checked for poorly connect pipes to the turbo, all are fine. Should I suspect an electrical or sensor fault?

Many thanks,

Dave.

Squirrel

A blockage in a pipe perhaps, that would stop some of th higher pressure air getting to the cylinders. What year Golf?

dbre01

HI Squirrel,

It's a 01 reg, first bit of trouble I've had with it. Filters have been changed every 5k.

ando

might me the MAF dying on you

alias no.9

Could be the MAF (Mass Air Flowmeter). You can check this easily by unpluging the connector plug to the MAF, it should be on the air ducting, and go for a spin to see if the problem goes away.

dbre01

Cool cool, cheers for that folks.

Is a new Mass Air Flowmeter likely to cost an arm and a leg?

Agani, many thanks,

Dave.

HotRodDub

A MAF for my 1.9 TDI A4 only cost me 30 or 40 pounds (can't remember) from a motor factor place in the north. This was just the sensor, its all I needed, the stealers will probably try to sell you the whole unit (the air duct and all).

5 mins put it in, you may need some anti tamper torx screw drivers (or drill bits if you like), I needed these for the Audi, you can get these in many places, including Maplin.

PlayaFlow

dbre01 wrote:

Hi There,

I drive a VW golf 1.9tdi have started to experience intermitent power loss, it feels like the turbo is not working, this can happen at any time while driving along. Once I shut down the engine and restart the problem is resolved.

I have checked for poorly connect pipes to the turbo, all are fine. Should I suspect an electrical or sensor fault?

Many thanks,

Dave.

Exactly the same thing happened to a guy i know in a passat 1.9tdi.
When he would go over 3000rpm the turbo would seem to shut down , and if he was to restart the engine problem was gone.

I can find out exactly what was wrong and how much it was to fix if u like

murphaph

When my tdi passat lost it's poke it was the MAF. Bosch make them for VW and they are well known to be a pile of poo. The things are sold as complete units by VW (air ducting & sensor) and cost a bomb. I ended up buying a different sensor only from a guy in Boston (very cheap). It was a Pierburg one designed for use in the merc CDI engine but it's much more robust than the Bosch one (even looking at them together and you'd know) and it was a straight replacement. There are no known issues with the Pierburg made MAF and lots of TDIers have replaced the crappy Bosch one with Pierburg's. If you have a friend with a VW you can swap them and see the difference, tis a better indication than just unplugging the MAF (which will cause the ECU to go into limp mode).

The funny thing about all this was that even though the MAF was fcuked-no error code was loggedin the ECU. It's a weird gradual failure.

Edit: These are the guys I boght it from, though twas a tad cheaper then.

AMurphy

I'd be inclined to think it was a fuel shortage problem, and as the more knowledgeable point to the MAF, I'll go for that.

Otherwise, being a VW and having had problems with one when going uphill AND when the tank was <1/2 full, it was a fuel pump.

Anyway, I'd focus on teh fuel supply, irrespective.

dbre01

Cheers for all the advice folks, meeting with my mechanic this weekend so hopefully between the two of us and all your pointers we'll get it sorted.

Dave.

HotRodDub

Mine was like that for about 3 or 4 weeks, when the MAF is replaced it'll feel like its a brand new car.

If it is the MAF (fingers crossed), it should nt cost anymore than £40 sterling, maybe 70 or 80 euro if you are in Dublin, and as for labour, its a five minute job, watch him do it and then he can't charge you a silly amount.

murphaph

I'm a little worried that the symptoms go away when the car is retstarted. That certainly wasn't the case with my MAF failure. Another common component to fail is the N75 diverter valve. Please read this troubleshooting FAQ which cover power loss. These guys are very knowledgable about VW TDIs in particular.

1st Toad

Hi ,
I had a similar problem, apparently caused by turbo-overboost, resulting in cut -out of turbo..hence no power.Happened at worst times(passing , up shifting).
Dealer suggested the usual...MAF etc...big bucks anyway...
This problem started shortly after purchase of car with 44,000 km on it.Got progressively worse. Temporary solution ,shut off engine, resart and everything kosher- until next time...
I installed a 'K&N' Air Filter (I'm not a mechanic but my simple logic told me it was needing more air.) and the problem has been 99% eliminated. It rarely has cutout since(once every one or two months, maybe less)
Cheap fix for me...hopefully it 'll be as good for others,
ttfn,
Toad

bumpynut

MAF sensors do give trouble on the vw tdi range . But normally dont reset
by switching engine on/off . Another very common problem on tdi,s is boost pressure sensor / waste gate soloniod . both controling turbo effort

Hope this helps

GTE

OSI wrote: »

Old thread is old

That doesn't matter. The topic is not time sensitive.

The poster who revived the thread obviously used the search function and now there is more info for future searchers to find.

To further contribute to the thread I had a similar problem with my one and it turned out that due to a mistake during a service the actual turbo pipe had come off one of the sockets for lack of a better word.
More precisely it was the one that connected the inter-cooler to the boost pipe leading to the AGR (or the other way around depending on air flow).

As the revs increased with more boost the pipe would blow off and I would lose a lot of power. Stopping and slowing could let the pipe pop back to where it was meant to go but once I revved it again it would pop back out.

Its worth checking the turbo lines and connections for leaks and breaks as well as troubleshooting sensors.

bumpynut

OSI wrote: »

Old thread is old

Old or new hes not the only guy out there to experence that problem .
People only trying to be helpful !

-Chris-

OSI wrote: »

Old thread is old

Unreported thread is unreported.

GTE

OSI wrote: »

Didn't read the charter no?

Motors Charter wrote:

Old Threads - don't resurrect old threads unnecessarily.

How is contributing to a searchable knowledge base for a common problem with a common engine unnecessary?

bumpynut

bbk wrote: »

How is contributing to a searchable knowledge base for a common problem with a common engine unnecessary?

Here here

Skuxx

Had the exact same problem with my tdi golf! Turbo was going off and then be grand once car was turned off and on again. Brought it back to the garage and they put in a new turbo under warranty said there was some vanes in the turbo sticking and it was over boosting and the ecu was shutting it off to prevent damage! I think that's what they said anyway!