Choke valve got stuck

Hello dieselers. a VW golf 1999 that I share with my sister. A most recent scare was on a rainy night, my sister called me saying car seem to choke at higher rev, couldn't make it to 2000 rpm. It was a short drive and I told her to bring it back home. I checked the next day and it started okay. reved at neutral even up to 3800. Second day I came back, and engine keeps cranking but doesn't engage. Upon checking under the hood, I touched the choke valve lever that had a linkage to a "vacuum type" diaphram device and it clicked to open position. With this, car started and I drove for an hour without a problem. Is this a frequent problem and what do you call that assembly and how should this problem be handled.
Thanks. thedieselingine...

Yes, this is common. However, it is not a "choke valve" it is an "anti-shudder valve" It is supposed to click closed when you shut off the engine to prevent "shuddering" from the engine. If your turbo fails and oil starts running into the intake, it will also prevent runaway when you shut off the ignition.

Your intake might be clogged internally, causing the anti-shudder valve to stick. Usually working it back and forth repeatedly will stop the problem.... for a while.

Take off the flexible elbow right where it goes into the antishudder/EGR assembly and shine a flashlight in there.... if it is all gunked up, you will probably need to clean the intake manifold. Search on "intake manifold cleaning" to get a plethora of info.

moondawg

"Do not try to bend the spoon. Instead, realize that there is no spoon."

Balance of post deleted - said the same thing as moondawg, but he got it posted first...

moondwg and mgwerks,
Thanks for the quick reply. I will check this out and see how dirty it is. A previous mechanic who worked on my TDI scraped out a lot of carbon deposits in the intake manifold but did not totally clean out. He told me that it is a typical problem with the diesels "carbon build-up" due to cold temperature in the manifold and is a slow process that deteriorates the performance. Would there be additives or kits to eliminate this problem? Thanks again.

"Do not try to bend the spoon. Instead, realize that there is no spoon."

Balance of post deleted - said the same thing as moondawg, but he got it posted first...

Click to expand...

No spoon??? Well how am I supposed to eat my soup?

You can get an Old Navy CCV filter (check the classifieds section of this website) or delete your EGR, or both. EGR delete is not legal for on-road use.

The gunk forms when soot from the exhaust sticks to the oily film provided by the CCV.

sucks to be us.

moondawg

It sounds like it is time for an intake cleaning.This is a typical symptom of a dirty intake.

BTW it is important the the intake is removed for cleaning. Scraping out the carbon can and most likely will cause chunks of carbon to be ingested through the engine AND then through the turbo if the cleaning is attempted with the intake on the engine -- not good.