mk 3 TDi loss of power

[wafers]

Hi, hope someone can help. My 97 mk 3 TDi occasionally has a complete loss of power when driving - if you keep the throttle to the floor it dies. If you take your foot off the throttle and dip the clutch for a few seconds, then try to rev it, it is fine again, and never seems to stall. What could this be?

[Crasher]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The first thing you need to do is get a fault code scan done and this will probably show you have a faulty brake light switch.

[wafers]

Faulty brake light switch? How would this affect the running of the engine?

[Crasher]

TDI engines have no throttle cable, instead it is known as Drive By Wire. The system has a safety cut out so that in the event of the accelerator and brakes being applied, the power is cut. If the switch is faulty, you would get this code,

00741 Brake pedal monitoring implausible signal

The possible reasons being

1) Brake light switch (F) defective
2) Brake pedal switch (F47) defective
3) Both switch positions not synchronised

The result being the glow plug warning lamp flashes or the brake lights not working and sometimes a loss of power.

[wafers]

sounds interesting, will investigate. Cheers for the info!