Lack of power on 1.8 turbo petrol

[md1980]

but dont put your fingers in when its running

[minty0_10]

but dont put your fingers in when its running

or lol

[The Stagg]

...Hi, I haven't been able to check the impeller shaft yet, but i'm pretty sure there is no smoke when i rev the engine when it is warm, My friend seemed suprised that when we removed an air pipe from the front of the turbo the car stalled. He didn't think it should. There was also quite a lot of oil in this pipe. I spoke to someone today who implied that even if it were a problem with the wastegate, I may still need a new turbo, as the fault may be at the wastegate end which would mean it wouldn't make any difference replacing the actuator ( I believe you can buy this seperately?)
Surely the wastegate should only open under load?...just revving it slightly shouldn't cause the shaft to move and vibrate should it? I'm not keen to take it anywhere yet, as I've already spent £400 following the main dealers advice and this has got me nowhere!

[minty0_10]

i think im right in saying that if theres is oil in the pipes then the chances are the seals in the turbo are leeking. but there again there is quiet a bit of oil in the turbo inlet pipe on my tdi and that still go,s well.

onther way of finding out is to find a long steep hill and keep it in say 3rd/4th gear when you get to the bottem put your foot down hard and see if theres any excessive smoke for a few seconds this will be the oil burning off thats leaked past the turbo seals.

it could also be worn valve stem seals coman on old fords.

[dc1]

Hi, I've got a 100k 1998 1.8t 20v and these are the problems I,ve had and the solutions,

1. Cambelt snapped, what I did:- re-con head using exsisting cams and chain and tensioner, lifters etc (exc old valves), the rattle which sounds the same as yours is the tensioner, they get a little slacker in there old age but it's not been a problem just i bit noisy.
2. Turbo seal and shaft bearing gone (turbine and shaft knackerd and it took 2 weeks to burn the oil out of the cat converter), more smoke than a steam engine when engine was running, what i did:- re-con turbo and gasket etc and act'er set at 7 psi (£250). One problem that I had was the actuator vacuum pipe from the inlet manifold was perished at differanat places along the pipe, so completely replaced, this might be a problem on yours to.
3. Oil pressure light coming on every now and then, what i did:- This is a common fault on this model around 80k onwards. did a couple of engine flushes and 5 oil changes and the problem went away for a week after the oil changes but then came back again, happened about once/twice (some times more) a journey. On this model the pressure reg valve inside the pump sticks and you lose oil pressure (there is still some there and you can drive gently but time is not on your side) the best thing to do is, pull over and switch off the engine wait a couple of seconds and restart this normal unsticks the valve and you will/should get the pressure back. the only fix is to change the pump (£100+ for the pump and £100+ for the fitting, it's a couple of hours job). this is a cheaper option that replacing the engine went it siezes.

Hope this helps.

[dc1]

See above, the tensioner being the rear chain tensioner.

The dump valves on these can leak too, causing a lack of boost pressure.

[mastertech]

Sounds to me like a turbo fault! the control rod that operates the wastegate can break leaving the wastegate flap open (no boost) ,this can also cause the ringing noise as the broken rod/flap resonates on overrun.Also your oil light coming on is quite worrying,this engine is common for blocking the oil pickup pipe on the oil pump,especially if pooly serviced/high mileage-suspect your oil change is only a temp cure. Low oil pressure will cause the top end (cam area) to rattle and will kill the Turbo very quickly.The broken rod is quite hard to check/see ,it,s right above the engine mount. obviously this is just a bit of a long shot the fault may be less serious AIR MASS METER or split hose/n75 solenoid problem

[The Stagg]

Thanks for all the suggestions, very helpful. I changed the oil and filter on christmas eve, there's been no re-occurrance of the low oil pressure light yet, but i'll know to keep a close eye on this. I'm completely convinced the turbo is the problem now, but I need to find someone reliable to take it to, I have someone in mind. The shaft which operates the wastegate just seems to be floating around, any revs at all and it moves backwards, and its completely random how far back it returns. When it does return all the way it makes the rattling noise. A friend has the same model passat but newer ( same mileage though) I had a peek under his bonnet the other day, and the actator bar has a much more deliberate action. It only moves when you rev it highly, and returns solidly. What i'm wondering is whether i'll need to replace the whole turbo or if replacing the actuator would solve it? The VW main dealers have checked it out and said no faults are showing up, and one of their guys has driven it and thought it was fine (this was before I pointed out the rattling noise mind you) so i'm not going to rush back there!

[The Stagg]

...Oil pressure light came on again this morning!!!!! Damit! It was much colder this morning though, any chance this could be a cause, the last time it came on it was very cold and its been pretty mild since. (sounds wishful doesn't it?)

[passat boy]

some early passats suffered siezed engines from using(vw recommended)standard oil,synthetic must be used with all audi/passat engines with turbo's and as a rule all standard non turbo engines.failure to do so leads the oil to harden into a greasy paste(remove your oilcap and put your finger in and feelaround for greasy gritty blackish gunk).if your oil light has been on once then it sounds like trouble on the way.if the oil was not synthetic at service intervals or the car was driven hard your problem could be worn turbo or slack internal timing chain(twin cam).vw lt35's ive known do what you describe with a horrid screech and after a steady idle for 3 minutes it would go away, poor oil change intervals was the problem.only checks to do are:2 vacuum pipes on front right top of engine(one goes to dump valve) remove throttlebody intake pipe(thick bugger)and check it's all clean(never spray carb or injector cleaner into throttle body as fluid washes factory grease out of throttle bushes accelerating wear rapidly) wipe out with a lint free rag.replace your petrol filter as suggested earlier.lastly,remove the undertray and with the car idling listen for the source of the noise you hear and use caution and keep someone nearby to assist you.