VVT Problem or intercooler?

[MarkTM]

Did it go into a garage on Wed 14th Jan or did you mean Wed 21st?

Are they a VAG specialist, if so they'll probs have VAGCOM and can scan it for you? I do know a place in Wellington called AVS that are good and chap that runs it use to be a Audi Master Tech, they charge £50+VAT IIRC. I think less than 20 miles from you?

[carbonman]

After much reading and deliberation, I decided I had nothing to lose by trying the Mr Muscle trick to de-coke my variable vanes...

With a bit of reading and about a hour figuring out how to get into the exhaust side of the turbo (tried egr removal, no space, tried taking the exhaust manifold off the turbo but didnt want to break the studs as it was very stiff and tight) ended up going in through the lambda sensor hole.

Did the recommended 2 hour mr muscle trick, regularly manually moved the actuator up and down (would have liked to manually move the vanes too but dont know how to do this, is there a rod or lever that can be manually moved??)

Anyway, put it all back together and gave it a good blast.

And its definitely improved things - its better at low revs for sure - a bit more responsive, and ive only gone into limp mode once this week, where I would normally have gone in 4/5 times at least...
So im quite positive that things are improved..

I'll probably give it another go, now I know how easy it is to go in through the lambda sensor hole, but if anyone knows a way of manually moving the vanes that would be great... but so far, I feel like its made a positive improvement - and I figured my next option was a replacement turbo anyway, so didnt have anything to lose :-)

[gupsterg]

Did the recommended 2 hour mr muscle trick, regularly manually moved the actuator up and down (would have liked to manually move the vanes too but dont know how to do this, is there a rod or lever that can be manually moved??)

You were moving the vanes manually when moving the actuator arm. Glad the Mr Muscle trick has made a difference for you .

[carbonman]

Further update to this, the car is definitely better - its pulling better at low rpm, and is much better with regards to limp mode - but... not completely fixed.
One thing I did notice is that its actually going into limp mode before the engine starts - i.e when the ignition is on - and this only happens after a 20/30 minute run, then a quick stop 1/2 minutes, then when i put the ignition on the glow plug light goes out as normal, but them starts flashing indicating limp mode.
If i leave it flashing a few times its actually gone out again before I start the car, but on occasion it hasnt.

Given this cant be a physical boost pressure fault, what happens when I switch the ignition on which is in this area? Does the acutuator arm move before the car starts? Or could there be something else that opens or initiates prior to engine start that might be causing this?

I'm tempted to throw another can of mr muscle in now I know how to do it as it definitely helped, and im wondering whether its still sticking a bit?

Any comments or suggestions welcome :-)

Thanks

[carbonman]

Update on this.

As per the above post, things did get much better - however I went away for a week, and when I came back the car had gone back to its "old ways" :-(
Basically it will go into a virtual limp mode after every time i stop and then start again within about an hour of stopping.
Its strange because the glow plug light doesnt flash but I have hardly any power - boost wont go about 2psi no matter how hard i stamp on the throttle, and the car sounds very strange, very different exhaust note? If i drive it with my foot flat on the throttle for a bit because there is no power it will eventually kick into full limp mode with the glowplugs flashing and even less power.
Stopping and restarting the engine sometimes fixes it, other times i need to do this 2 / 3 times before it gets out of limp / low power mode.

The fault codes are all pointing to the actuator still, but it seems that there are a number of things which could cause that, mainly
1) split vacuum hose?
2) actually faulty actuator?
3) butterfly flaps in the inlet manifold? I have no idea what these are, can any one help explain?
4) sticking vanes
5) egr

Is there a good methodical process I can follow to try to identify the cause for this? And why it doesnt happen ever first thing in the morning....?

Any further help or comments would be much appreciated :-) Thanks.

[MarkTM]

My swirl flaps have both failed but I don't have any power issues, as to what they are you can see one of them in the bottom most part of the picture of this ebay listing:

AUDI VW 2.7 3.0 TDI INTAKE MANIFOLD SWIRL FLAPS A4 A5 A6 A8 Q7 TOUAREG PHAETON | eBay

[gupsterg]

The fault codes are all pointing to the actuator still, but it seems that there are a number of things which could cause that, mainly
1) split vacuum hose?
2) actually faulty actuator?
3) butterfly flaps in the inlet manifold? I have no idea what these are, can any one help explain?
4) sticking vanes
5) egr

1) As actuator is electronically controlled split vacuum hose wouldn't be on my list, have you been reading threads where a turbo actuator is vacuum operated to place this on list?

2) I'd investigate this, you can make actuator do it's stuff by doing an output test in module 01 via VCDS and see if moving correctly or sticking. It may also be actuated before ignition sequence like the swirl flaps but not sure as memory hazy at present and been a while since checked under the hood on mine.

3) Besides Mark's linked pics SSP 350 shows them and explains their function, google the term SSP 350 to gain. IMO you'd be getting codes for them if at fault and if they were faulty you'd not be getting turbo actuator fault code, unless you have an issue there as well.

4) Yes could well be, if sticking the actuator won't move correctly so you'd get the error code for actuator and upon investigation it may reveal which is at fault fault or both.

5) I'd only have this on list to investigate if you were getting an EGR related code, as your not then wouldn't waste time checking this for now.

Have you had a rescan of car for DTCs?

[carbonman]

Another update on this thread.

After a bit of deliberation I decided to try revive turbo cleaner as im convinced my issue is sticking vanes due to the symptoms and the way they manifest themselves.

I followed the instructions yesterday to the letter, and currently I havent had any repeat episode of limp mode / low power. Im very cautious to say this has helped as its very early days, but so far I have done a few journeys which would have almost certainly caused me limp mode in normal circumstances and its been fine.

I'll give it a week and update further for reference.

gupsterg
comments on your comments - 1) yes been reading lots of things - often more generic turbo problems, so some of them i.e vacuum host stuff etc.. may well not apply 2) the error codes all point to actuator but as i understand it sticking vanes could throw the same fault. 3) I agree 4) Im convinved this is / was the issue 5) just wondered if there was any link due to the key on comments.

I have had a rescan but currently havent had a printout of the error codes from vagcom - the ones from the generic obd scanner i have shows P0046 powertrain and P0243 Turbo wastegate solenoid A

Thanks

[s3b4444]

After much reading and deliberation, I decided I had nothing to lose by trying the Mr Muscle trick to de-coke my variable vanes...

With a bit of reading and about a hour figuring out how to get into the exhaust side of the turbo (tried egr removal, no space, tried taking the exhaust manifold off the turbo but didnt want to break the studs as it was very stiff and tight) ended up going in through the lambda sensor hole.

Did the recommended 2 hour mr muscle trick, regularly manually moved the actuator up and down (would have liked to manually move the vanes too but dont know how to do this, is there a rod or lever that can be manually moved??)

Anyway, put it all back together and gave it a good blast.

And its definitely improved things - its better at low revs for sure - a bit more responsive, and ive only gone into limp mode once this week, where I would normally have gone in 4/5 times at least...
So im quite positive that things are improved..

I'll probably give it another go, now I know how easy it is to go in through the lambda sensor hole, but if anyone knows a way of manually moving the vanes that would be great... but so far, I feel like its made a positive improvement - and I figured my next option was a replacement turbo anyway, so didnt have anything to lose :-)

Any chance that you could describe it step by step? I mean cleaning with mr muscle through the lambda sensor hole. I'll be very gratefull for the instruction of how to do it properly without any damage to the engine. Oh and mine is 3.0 TDI do you think these going to be the same?Many thanks!

[carbonman]

There isnt really much to describe - i dont know your engine layout, but for mine it was simply a case of removing the turbo cover unscrewing the lambda sensor which was reasonably obvious on the exhaust pipe not far down from the turbo and then puting the pipe attached to Mr muscle up into the blades.. lots of youtubes about that.
Incidentally the guys at revive were very wary about this - i told them i had done it when i phoned up for a chat about their turbo cleaner - they were concerned that some fragments of carbon or whatever could break of and jam stuff... seems unlikely given the speed of the gasses flowing through, but just thought I woudl mention it.
Personally if i had to start again I wouldnt bother with mr muscle and would go straight for the revive cleaner... but thats just my 2p's worth :-)