ALH losses power at wot

stevenaba

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Location
Canada
TDI
03 Jetta TDI, 01 Golf TDI, 98 Golf 2.0t
Hi fellow TDI owners. My father has a 2001 golf ALH. It is stage 1 tuned. Timing is dead on. The car has 230k kms. the glowplug in cylinder 4 is broken and mushroomed in the head ( bought the car like that). Egr is deleted. IQ is set at 4.8. Injectors were removed and cleaned with seafoam at home. Turbo vanes cleaned twice.

The issue im having is in a 1st gear acceleration when you hit about 3700 rpm the car will lose all power like it has died and you can hear what sounds like turbo flutter. After coasting and shifting to second gear the car gained power back and drove like normal. One time my father says he was driving and the car died on him after leaving a stop and shifting into second gear. He pulled over and had to crank it over 2-3 times to restart. It drove normal afterwards. I have removed the vacuum line to the anti shutter valve to test if that was closing and choking out the motor, so far it hasnt happened again. Any input is appreciated.
 
Last edited:

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I wonder if it's a fuel delivery problem. Clogged filter, worn pump, obstructed fuel pickup in the tank...something like that.

You could run requested versus actual fuel logs with VCDS to determine if the engine is getting all the fuel it's requesting.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Also check the vacuum tubes are all in good shape.
If he runs it hard does it still only does in it 1st?
I'll guess there is a code, if so, CEL should come on in a few more occurrences.
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
I'm with IBW, it sounds very much like a fuel delivery problem. Years ago before I knew better, my car would kind flatten out around 4k RPM; it would not accelerate past that point. It turned out my fuel filter was plugged too much to run WOT, but still passed enough fuel to drive like Grandma.
 

stevenaba

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Location
Canada
TDI
03 Jetta TDI, 01 Golf TDI, 98 Golf 2.0t
IndigoBlueWagon, BobnOH, Nevada_TDI I have replaced the fuel filter twice within the past year along with the thermo T. I filled the fuelfilter with diesel purge when I replaced it.

It will do it mostly in 1st and second gear. Its an intermittent issue because shortly after that 1st gear pull I did another and it was fine. The car also smokes more than my 03 jetta at idle and the revs drop faster between shifts. I will check out those values in VCDS. Thanks
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Another thing to check that does not cost money is the fuel sender in the tank. Our MK$'s are notorious for having the "check valve" get plugged and causing fuel delivery issues. IMPE, my check valve was partially plugged and caused premature wear on my IP from having too little fuel, as well as a loss of power.
 

stevenaba

New member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Location
Canada
TDI
03 Jetta TDI, 01 Golf TDI, 98 Golf 2.0t
Nevada_TDI I will take a look at the check valve. I heard some guys drill them out. Do you recommend that? thanks
 
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