Turbo lag

[monkgti]

well lads, i have a 01 passat 130tdi, and one thing ive always hated about the car is theres alot of lag in it especially when pulling off from a stop, it seems completely dead until it reaches nearly 2,000rpm, i know this isnt very high but it feels very long when driving the car and waiting for it to pick up, and somtimes between gear changes if the revs drop too much, once it gets going its grand, plenty of pull and power, now i never took much notice because i thought that must be just the way they are, but yesterday i was doin some work on a bora 1.9tdi 100bhp i think, ATD engine code, and i brought it for a spin and the thing just felt so much more lively than the passat and no lag whatsoever, just pulls straight away from a stop, this has made me think now there must be somthing wrong with the passat as its 30 bhp more and feels like 30 less on take off
does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

[caldirun]

well lads, i have a 01 passat 130tdi, and one thing ive always hated about the car is theres alot of lag in it especially when pulling off from a stop, it seems completely dead until it reaches nearly 2,000rpm, i know this isnt very high but it feels very long when driving the car and waiting for it to pick up, and somtimes between gear changes if the revs drop too much, once it gets going its grand, plenty of pull and power, now i never took much notice because i thought that must be just the way they are, but yesterday i was doin some work on a bora 1.9tdi 100bhp i think, ATD engine code, and i brought it for a spin and the thing just felt so much more lively than the passat and no lag whatsoever, just pulls straight away from a stop, this has made me think now there must be somthing wrong with the passat as its 30 bhp more and feels like 30 less on take off
does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

turbo vane actuator not working, could be carboned up vanes.

[yaman]

Check-out the cheap'n cheerful things before you
"amputate" the turbo.

Air+ Fuel Filters

Vacum Hoses

Map+ Maf Sensors

Injector Cleaner

Diagnostics


Regards
Jim

[monkgti]

would the car not be completely dead if the turbo was giving trouble? just that when it gets past the lag it pulls very hard.. how much lag should there be in these cars, or should it be like the bora i drove, no lag atall just immidiate response?

just had a major service 3,000miles ago, t-belt kit, water pump, oil+filter, air+fuel filter and drained out oil from intercooler pipes and clean map sensor, but the car didnt really feel any different before or after this...

actually somthing happened one day i was driving, i was overtaking a car and in the middle of it the car seemed to go dead, like as if there was no turbo atall, put the boot to the floor and it was like i was just barely tipping the accelerater, engine was still running but just no power, and i just turned off the ignition and turned it back on and the car was back to normal... i dont know if this would be connected but just said id say it incase. This only ever happened the once and no lights showed up on the dash...

[vwcabriolet1971]

A VCDS fault code read will considerably speed up any diagnosis and point you in the right direction.

[passat 130 tdi]

would the car not be completely dead if the turbo was giving trouble? just that when it gets past the lag it pulls very hard.. how much lag should there be in these cars, or should it be like the bora i drove, no lag atall just immidiate response?

just had a major service 3,000miles ago, t-belt kit, water pump, oil+filter, air+fuel filter and drained out oil from intercooler pipes and clean map sensor, but the car didnt really feel any different before or after this...

actually somthing happened one day i was driving, i was overtaking a car and in the middle of it the car seemed to go dead, like as if there was no turbo atall, put the boot to the floor and it was like i was just barely tipping the accelerater, engine was still running but just no power, and i just turned off the ignition and turned it back on and the car was back to normal... i dont know if this would be connected but just said id say it incase. This only ever happened the once and no lights showed up on the dash...

if turning off the ignition and back on means sorted it you have suffered over boost or underboost , vacuum leak on a pipe somewhere , or the Map is on its way out , check all hoses , take out the map and give it a spray with carb cleaner , it may be sihtted up on the end.

[monkgti]

i checked all the boost pipes before alright but they seemed ok, i didnt check any vacume hoses though so i must do that, ill give the map sensor another clean aswell...
If there was a fault though would the engine management light not be on the dash?

[passat 130 tdi]

not on an 01 model , vagcom would tell you whats up like. switching the ign off and on resets the ecu , until it happens again .

[caldirun]

would the car not be completely dead if the turbo was giving trouble? just that when it gets past the lag it pulls very hard.. how much lag should there be in these cars, or should it be like the bora i drove, no lag at all just immediate response...

The purpose of the vanes is to increase boost at low revs, if the vanes are not moving it could explain why you have low boost until 2000rpm and also the limp mode you experienced. Take the vac pipe off the actuator and suck or use a vac pump, the actuator rod should lift about 30mm, if you then release the suction it should drop with a metallic sound as it stops. If this works ok get someone to start the car and watch the actuator if it rises all is well (could still be vanes sticking though, but not all the time)

[monkgti]

ok ill try cleaning the map sensor and ill check the actuator aswell, if they fail then next ill do is get a diagnostics

caldirun, when you say get someone to start the car to see if the actuator rises, should i do this while the vacume pipe is still off or back on?