Golf TDI Mk3 loss of power

[Mark Scruby]

Hi, can someone help,

My 1994 Golf TDI suddenly lost all power and basically has been reduced to idle speed only, 0 - 40mph in 2 minutes literally. It starts instantly and runs very smoothly etc, it simply has no go!

When parked it will rev through to the limiter albeit a little slower to get there than usual but as soon as I start to drive the throttle has very little response and it is just like accelerating when only just applying a little pressure to the accelerator.

I have had a few suggestions as to the cause but can anyone else help me with this please.

Mark.

[Brian Oblivion]

Hi,

I've had a similar problem with my ´96 1.9 Golf III TDI. I've been reading all these helpful posts and trying to find the cause of the problem(s) which I suspect could come from more than 1 source...

I think you'll find that your car is running itself in "Limp Mode" because it thinks there's a problem. Absolutely no power suddenly, usually when driving up a hill, but returns immediately after restarting the engine? Hmm, that's what I've been experiencing.

... I'm no expert, 'cause if I was the problem(s) should have already been fixed. Over here in Germany, the bill from the dealership workshop may actually total more than what the damn car is actually worth, so I've been trying to explain it all (what I've found throughout this forum) in German to the local village "mechanic" (let me know if anyone needs their lawnmover fixed, because this guy is a real ace. ha ha.)

What we have done so far is: replaced the "luftmassmesser" - MAF (mass air flow), the "steuergerät" - which I think is the CPU central (big silver box the size of a car radio located under the windscreen/firewall), and all hoses between these components and the turbo.

Result: the car doesn't appear to be running in Limp Mode anymore, but still loses a significant amount of power.

After reading a few posts over at the TDIClub (very funny guys!) I found a step by step PDF doc that's downloadable and details every step about how to dismantle the VNT to clean it out. http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=140910
Aparently, this is caused by "babying" the motor, which I am guilty of trying to conserve fuel (it's damn expensive over here) and changing gears without reaching the "recommended" revs.

So, it looks like another weekend working on the car again, trying yet another solution which will hopefully get my heap running how it's supposed to again. I'll post the outcome next week...

Cheers

B.Oblivion

[RickT]

A bit of a late welcome... but better late than never!!

Hello and Welcome to the forum!

RickT