Audi 80 TDi, No Turbo

[Squealey]

Hi All

Im a newbie here so please be gentle with me.

Last week I purchased my wife a cheap runaround, an Audi 80 TDi Avant 1993/L.

When I test drove it I said to the fella selling it I wasn't really interested as it seemed really sluggish, like the turbo wasn't working. He then said to make him a silly offer, which I did, and to my surprise the car was mine.

Well drove the car home from Nunneaton, about a 90 mile journey, and the car ran faultlessly, hardly used any fuel (especially compared to the Volvo 940 Estate I sold a couple of days earlier, this done 18 miles to a tenner) and all is good in the world.

But even though this sluggishness is not causing my wife any concerns, I would like her to have a car which runs as it should.

Now I know with only 90 bhp this is never going to set the world alight but when out on the open road it feels dangerously slow. It tops out at about 75 and takes over 25 seconds to reach 60mph. There is no surge forward when accelerating, its just a constant linear pull.

I have checked the pipes going to and from the turbo for splits and blockages but can't find any. The inlet was jammed with black muck which I have cleaned out.

I have taken the black plastic cover off the MAF and checked its moving the butterfly inside it when running, which it is. The turbo is spinning freely by hand.

As im new to turbo's and diesels this is as far as i've gone. What do you think my next step should be?

As a side note, the previous owner ran it on a 75% Diesel and 25% cooking oil mixture. Could this be a cause. I have put about £50 of Shell Diesel in it so far, should I change the fuel filter?

Thanks for all your help

Wayne

[scotty33]

Hi

Could be the fuel filter, cooking oil tends to clean the fuel system and all the crud ends up in the filter?
Failing that, try disconnecting the MAF sensor, the car will probably run in 'limp mode', which means reduced boost and fuelling so a lack of power, but a malfunctioning maf can make them run even worse i.e. no boost at all.
Other than That I would use some of the money you saved, to get a fault code scan done, there may be a Vag com guru near you who could help out for beer money? see vag com section
does the turbo actually spin ok with no play?