VW Golf 1.9 TDi PD engine 115bhp - Loss of power - poor acceleration

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 21:22
VW Golf 1.9 TDi PD engine 115bhp - Loss of power - poor acceleration - mark95
Hi, hoping someone can help.
Car drives lovely, no overheating issues with this one, fantastic mpg but the revs fall at 2800 in most gears, a very noticeable lag when accelerating, can't overtake on hills, can only overtake on the motorway when there is enough time to "pick up" speed.
I read various reviews on here so i bought a new air mass meter for the car,
In the first 5 minutes of fitting it, the car pulled really well accelerating beyond the 2800 revs for each gear, was still pulling in 6th gear.
Next day the car still felt poorly but better, I have found that if it feels sluggish and i pull over-turn off the the car then restart it it seems to work better.
Still poor acceleration feels like the turbo just isn't there when you need it.

I've been told that it is a variable turbo -what ever that is??
Could someone point me in the right direction regarding a cure for this, or tell me what i should expect from an 11 year old TDi ( 80,000 miles).
Top speed is about 80mph

Have just invested in some "Redex" as i thought i'd start small and build up to big changes like a new turbo!!

Thanks for your time.

Mark
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Mon 11 Jul 2011 13:24
VW Golf 1.9 TDi PD engine 115bhp - Loss of power - poor acceleration - dieselnut

Used to have a Passat with this engine, & although a heavier car, it used to fly & give excellent mpg.

The jammed turbo vanes are a common problem as well as leaking vacuum pipes that control the turbo.

Rather than repeating all the info, have a look at this excellent site. Although it is directed at the Passat, it is a common engine with the Golf.

https://sites.google.com/site/1810martin/home

Look down the left side for the Turbo & Vacuum pipe section.

The vacuum pipes have a cotton covering so very difficult to see any splits etc, usually best to just replace them as the quality of the original rubber is very poor.

It will probably be best if you get a fault code read so you have some idea where to start looking.

Edited by dieselnut on 11/07/2011 at 13:25

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Tue 12 Jul 2011 09:42
VW Golf 1.9 TDi PD engine 115bhp - Loss of power - poor acceleration - mark95

Thanks I'll set to it at the weekend!

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Wed 14 Sep 2011 09:28
VW Golf 1.9 TDi PD engine 115bhp - Loss of power - poor acceleration - mark95

Thanks for your advice dieselnut, eventually after lots of phone calls the turbo was replaced under warrenty and the car is now just dandy!!

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