4Cornered
Member
I have a 2002 Golf TDI with 108,000 miles. It has progressively started to lose power and make noise in the last week. Yesterday, while returning from a test drive, I noticed that it was producing black smoke while going uphill. The idle seems much the same as usual, perhaps a bit louder, but I have both the upper and lower covers off. I have VCDS and the only DTC codes being produced are intermittent glow plug failure. I ran the basic settings tests and the solenoid for the turbocharger is moving freely. I checked to see if the car would rev to 5100 rpm in neutral after being warmed up, it does. There is a clattering noise which started occuring during acceleration in 2nd through 4th gear in the 2000+ rpm range. I've cleaned the snow screen, checked the air filter, run it with and without the MAF plugged in (no discernable difference), run it up hill in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear with Wide Open Throttle. I am hoping someone might have suggestions and have a couple of questions.
1) If the car is going into limp mode, will it always (or commonly) produce some DTC that the VCDS will find?
2) Could the power loss, noise increase and smoke production be the result of an injector (or injectors) getting progressively plugged? If so, how can I tell if it is an injector problem, or something else.
3) Could the problems be from a sticking (failing) valve? Seems unlikely, but how could it be ruled out? The car has been lubed with synthetic oil since break-in and has virtually no consumption between changes.
Any help would be appreciated; its a 90 mile round trip to the nearest town with a dealership.
1) If the car is going into limp mode, will it always (or commonly) produce some DTC that the VCDS will find?
2) Could the power loss, noise increase and smoke production be the result of an injector (or injectors) getting progressively plugged? If so, how can I tell if it is an injector problem, or something else.
3) Could the problems be from a sticking (failing) valve? Seems unlikely, but how could it be ruled out? The car has been lubed with synthetic oil since break-in and has virtually no consumption between changes.
Any help would be appreciated; its a 90 mile round trip to the nearest town with a dealership.