My automatic tdi Passat performs very poorly when overtaking or going up long, steep hills, it's OK on the flat and mild inclines, but gutless when the going gets really tough! It's as though the turbo isn't working, how does one know if it's working? There is definitely no "kick in the pants" when flooring the pedal, kickdown occurs because the revs show it, but nothing else happens!
The car is booked into a local, non-franchised garage next month to be investigated. If someone can list some possible areas to check, I would be most grateful. The turbo charger and associated pipes appear to be intact, could the cause be ECU related, or even the turbo itself?
All info gratefully received.
TDi Tortoise!
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I've known VW's suffer from a stuck open waste gate on the turbo-either mechnically or problems with the control system.
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Hi, I've had this problem a few times and it turned out to be an elestrical sensor for the wastegate i can't remember exactly whats its called bt will find out for you. It sits just to the left of the cambelt cover as your looking at the engine about three quarters of the way down into the engine bay it has one electrical plug to it and one or two vacuum pipes ive fitted about 6 or 7 of them!
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Try disconnecting the plug from the air mass meter. This sensor sits in the inlet trunking close to the air filter. If the performance greatly improves it proves this sensor has gone out of spec. It wont show as a fault code because it is still sending a plausible (albeit flawed) signal to the ECM. If disconnecting the sensor doesnt help check all the little vacuum hoses for visible splits. Trouble is these hoses can go porous so I just replace them as a matter of course if searching for a fault.Finally the variable vanes on the turbos are known to stick with gunge but this normally gives an overboost problem which will cause the ECM to shut down the turbo to protect the engine. The symptoms of this fault is it will drive normally if acceleration is kept light but if you give it some welly it will lose power until you turn the ignition off then restart. This does put the warning light on when it occurs.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
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Many thanks to the people who replied to my problem,(jc,hitshot and Andrew Moorey). I removed the plug next to the air filter and took the car for a quick test drive - what a difference! No more "turbo lag", when I hit the pedal, it immediateley responds, it also feels better at higher speeds, although I haven't yet encountered a long steep hill to fully test it.
I assume the fix would be to change the sensor? Will I harm anything by driving around unplugged for the next week or so?
Thanks again for your responses.
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Replace the sensor as soon as wallet allows. Write down the bosch number, should be 0 281 002 216. If you have difficulty email me and I can source one for you.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
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Thanks Andrew, I picked one up today, (before reading your message!), it was £75 + the dreaded vat. It comes complete with the piece of duct, I've invested in a set of "security" torx bits which allow me to just change the sensor - a two minute job hopefully, do you forsee any problems doing it that way? Also, are there likely to be any fault codes registered on the ECU? If there are, should I get them deleted by someone with the necessary equipment?
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