I have a July 2002 VW Passat TDI Sport [PDI engine] with 42,000 miles. Everything ran normally until I took it in for a service. i.e. it pulled strongly until 2,000 revs when the turbo kicked in. There was then a real surge of power at 2,000 revs when the car really took off and pulled like a steam train right through the revs even in high gears and gave excellent performance.
I took it in to a local garage that specialised in VW's for the service. It was a normal service plus the replacement of all the brake pads - £370. I was also informed that the cam belt was starting to crack up an should be replaced in the very near future. When I drove the car after picking it up, it was totally different with a complete loss of power. In particular there was no surge of power associated with a turbo kicking in at 2,000 revs, or any where else in the power range. I've now got a slow donkey of a car with no acceleration that needs to be revved hard to just produce even an average rate of acceleration that my old 1300 Nissan Sunny would comfortably match. I noticed I have to change gears a lot more than before just to maintain a reasonable level of momentum. [and obviously I want to keep the revs at a minimum until the cam belt is changed].
At one stage it showed a reluctance to rev above 3,500 in 4th gear and seemed to stick on 3,500 revs for a while. On another occasion I thought I may have detected a bit of a kick in at about 3,500+ revs and some power. I contacted the garage immediately only to be told that nothing they did in the service would affect the performance of the turbo or create the loss of power. One of the mechanics speculated there could be air in the fuel line.
Any ideas, as I'm about to do battle with the garage and got the feeling they are going to fight their corner and refuse to accept any responsibility for the total change in my car.
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Vince
It looks like a turbo problem.
If it is the same as my Mondeo it has a variable vane turbo and the fault you describe looks like the vanes are sticking. On mine the vanes are pneumatically operated. Has the pipe come off or been damaged?
This also happed to me following a service, but the garage could detect no problem via the computer.
A new turbo is about £650.
TerryN
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If it was a failure of the turbo there would be much smoke and drama! As you suggest terryn, the garage have probably knocked a hose off accidentally.
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Vince
Well that's one garage to avoid in the future. Any competant garage recognizes that things can easily get left/knocked off during any servicing/repair operations and will gladly have a recheck if notified of a problem - not spout ridiculously implausible excuses.
Either take it back and create a fuss until they do look at it; [the words "Trading Standards" often help] or get a better garage to have a look and then sue if necessary. It could be a little as the MAF sensor plug left off while changing the air filter.
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Thanks fellas for the input.
Unfortunately I seem to have selected the garage from hell. The 'VW Specialist' didn't have the necessary VW diagnostic equipment as it was "broken and won't be back for at least 2 weeks". The mechanic also tried telling me there was nothing wrong with the car and that it was my style of driving that was the problem - i.e. he insisted I should be driving it well over 3,000 revs most of the time, at which point the surge of power that I had previously experienced at 2,000 revs does begin to kick in. I pointed out that the joy of the car was the fantastic surge of power that starts at low revs and which gives you excellent performance without thrashing the car the way he was suggesting!
He did check the MAF sensor and insisted it was okay and had never been touched anyway. I was invited to return in a few weeks time when they think their diagnostic equipment may be fixed, though clearly they hope never to see me again.
I think I have a battle on my hands!
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Sounds like a vacuum line to the turbo actuator, or the actuator itsself but without a proper diagnostics and live data, who knows. The garage sounds rubbish, don't let them do the timing belt!
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I recently had to have the flywheel replaced on my Focus 1.8 TDCi. Got exactly the same symptoms that you have described - absolutely no power afterwards - as if there was no turbo. Immediately took it back to the garage who, without hesitation, checked all the connections to the turbo. A pipe had been accidently kinked and split, resulting in the loss of power. This was quickly rectified and upon leaving, the car was back to normal again (except for not having the hot start problem caused by the duff flywheel, but that's another story), absolutely no hassle. Sounds to me like this garage are just trying to wriggle out of admitting that they may, and most probably inadvertinently, have created the problem and their excuses are totally unacceptable - stand up to them.
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