99.5 TDI MKIV no power, feels like 3 cylinders, max 40mph.

[jaw174]

The otherday i was driving home from work in my 1999 MKIV early 1/2 year Jetta TDI. i started the car normaly, and started to drive home. pulling out of work i stall the car... i thought, ok its just my transmission issue, (gear retainer damaged, but drivable if you hold the stickshift in gear...) but no, it was not that issue..

the car does not rev up.

you can be in first and floor it and it will ever so slowly accelerate, as if it is in a stage 2 limp mode all the time.

i am used to the turbo cuttin out on me on the highway, that was normal for a while, but now i cant even get up to highway speeds quickly enough. the turbo never spins up, and it feels like i am driving a car a lawnmower under the hood.

it is not safe to drive, it runs so slow. i would cause accidnet on the highway going 40 mph.... or slower up hills.

any ideas what to look at? i get no codes other than my standard turbo code for deviation, and i know that is jsut the sticky vanes on the turbo.

[jtanguay]

well if the vanes are stuck that should throw the car into limp mode... you're basically running like a N/A diesel which does not have much balls...  

sounds like you should get your intake cleaned and also tear into the turbo to clean it out, and then use the vag com to get rid of the codes and out of limp mode.

[the caveman]

if the check light isn't on it could also be your MAF . before going out and spending the money also check the snow screen at the intake of the air filter box.

[jaw174]

this is far beyond limp mode.
I have hit the limp mode area before, this is like stage 2 limp... its running so poorly you can literaly stall trying to shift gears if you dont watch the rpms.

the rpms stay low the whole time.

[burn_your_money]

how old is the fuel filter?

[MikkiJayne]

It does sound like a fuel thing. Even with no turbo surely it would be driveable? But just like limp mode?

I had an (unmentionable non-VW POS) do something like this once because of a bad (but brand new) fuel filter. It idled a bit lumpy and had no power at all, and changing the filter fixed it.

Doesn't the 99.5 have a lift pump in the tank? Maybe that died or blew a fuse?

[jtanguay]

It does sound like a fuel thing. Even with no turbo surely it would be driveable? But just like limp mode?

I had an (unmentionable non-VW POS) do something like this once because of a bad (but brand new) fuel filter. It idled a bit lumpy and had no power at all, and changing the filter fixed it.

Doesn't the 99.5 have a lift pump in the tank? Maybe that died or blew a fuse?

no lift pump.. the injection pump sucks all it needs.  any bubbles in the fuel lines???

[jaw174]

no air bubbles, just a regular steady flow - no jerking or lurching... a steady haze of smoke, most prominant upon initil start and idling, lessening as it warms up.

i have already  (recently due to CEL, which said sensor so i replaced) replaced the coolant sensor located on the top rear part of the engine. i have an early 99.5, so it was the round blue instead of the green square connector.

previously it has seemed if i let it idle for 20+ minutes it would regain is power, so i thought it might not be thouroughly combusting the fuel, but in my last test, that was not the case. i let the car idle for 5-10 minutes, then took it out on the highway. it was late afternoon, and luckily light on traffic. it probably took me a good mile to get up to 60 mph.

if the vanes were stuck in one particular position, would that do something? like this, such as allow all the exhaust gas out too quickly? could it be a "back pressure" issue?

what could cause it to start quickly, idle ok, smoky, but run bad?!?!

what type of tests should i be doing? i have a compression tester, and have gotten 500 psi in the three cylinders i could test.

the broken glowplug didnt allow me to remove it but i beleive it still to be operational if i jam the connector back in. i plan to test thre resistance of the glow plugs to see if there is a difference in resistance, at least on the ones i know work.


anyone in Connecticut?

[jtanguay]

get a cheapie boost gauge and go from there.  my money is on vanes stuck closed.  no power and smoke = most likely lack of boost.

[the caveman]

if the turbo was shot the motor should still wind up, maybe not redline but there wouldn't be anything stopping it. If the turbo or wastegate was at fault your MIL should come on because the ecm is going to see a lack of boost. If the MAF is shot, the lack of fuelling demanded from the faulty MAF will keep the engine from winding up. It also would not set of your check light because as far as the ecm is concerned there isn't anything wrong, it is only using the information it is being given. Not impossible that both things have failed . Seen it happen almost at the same time and is hard to trouble shoot because the faulty MAF doesn't read the lack of boost= no MIL for the lack of boost +lack of fuel because of the bad reading from the MAF

[jtanguay]

yea true... those maf's are pretty sensitive... and expensive

[jaw174]

someone suggested i check the timing. said that this is how a car runs when the timing is slightly off.

any validity to that?

[jtanguay]

someone suggested i check the timing. said that this is how a car runs when the timing is slightly off.

any validity to that?

does it sound really loud? the computer should control the timing...

[the caveman]

yeah i would also check the belt timing. maybe it jumped a tooth, or possibly just really loose.

[jaw174]

trying to adjust the timing. so far i have tried to advance by 1 degree, and retard by 1 degree. seems to have a pulsing or bucking sensation when this is done.

how does it sound and how much smoke when overly advanced vs overly retarded? if i can tell which way i should go i can use the "adjust and try" method.

i only have the free vag-com software, and i cant find data blocks 02 and 09.