Engine struggling for air, sucking noise, loss of power

Folx,

Up on all the maintenance , including air filter.

Noticed today that I seem to have some kind of air starvation issue going: everything is fine till I try to accelerate and place the engine over 2K RPM. For example, I am in 6th gear, around 55mph. Trying to accelerate to 60 would produce that wooshing/sucking air and it would take forever to accelerate.

I start hearing loud air sucking/wooshing noises coming from under the hood somewhere and there's pronounced loss of power. As if engine is struggling for air and cant get due to some kind of restriction.


I dont hear any signs of turbo troubles nor is there the CEL light.

I looked for any obvious restrictions in the air path and couldn't find any - will look more when it gets brighter.

Sure sounds like the turbo but have you changed the fuel filter on schedule?

sounds like maybe your charge air hose is leaking once the pressure builds too high.

If turbo isn't providing enough boost the ECU is asking (not providing the power demanded), a MIL would be on the dash. Anything look odd under the hood?

Yes, it seems that when pressure builds up past the turbo, there's a leak somewhere in there, it is a nice clean sound of air gushing out.

Went to look at it now that sun is up. No obvious signs of problems and I can not find the pressure-side air hose out of the turbo. Is it directly below in the rubber hose from the air filter ? I have a boroscope at home, may be use that to peak in there.

Would that be covered under the VW's recently extended turbo wty ?

sounds exactly like my car when the charge hose went out. No mil ever set on mine either. The hose is only about 6 inches long with a 60 deg bend in it. Have to take battery and air box out to get to it.

And no it isnt covered under turbo warranty. Its not a difficult DIY. Even at a mechanic no terribly expensive. My was covered by Geico MBI at abiit $400 iirc

Hoping they dont know turbo from a hose and I get a new turbo, gratis, courtesy of VW.

Otherwise, it is $120 "diag" + $200 Part + 2 hrs of labor
Ouch !!!

Anyone has the P/N for JIC ?

Here is a linky to similar issue, from "another" forum
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6999731-2012-Passat-TDI-cracked-intercooler-hose

decisions decisions ...

A) tell them not do anything, go pick up the car and replace the hoses myself ... pros: $$$avings. Cons: no chance of free turbo replacement

B) risk getting hit for $$$$$ (did receive my VW cards today, but still I'd rather save the $500 for TB job)

Another vote for the charge hose, that sounds exactly like what happened to mine as well. I dont live anywhere near a dealer so picked up some radiator hose from an auto parts store and fixed it for $10. I found a hose that had just the right bend in the middle of it, cut it down to size and installed it, it has worked for almost 2 years now and didn't take much time to fix.

Do you remember the diameter ?
Also - did u have to remove anything to get to the hose ? I heard airbox and battery need to be removed to get access ?

r11 said:

Do you remember the diameter ?
Also - did u have to remove anything to get to the hose ? I heard airbox and battery need to be removed to get access ?

Click to expand...

It was a while ago, but I'm pretty sure I just removed the airbox and battery which is fairly easy. I dont remember what the diameter was it seems like it was 2". It has a funny bend so if possible I would recommend removing the hose and bringing it in to compare and make sure you get a similar bend... that way you can make sure to get the same size as well. I ended up finding a piece that had just the right shape in the middle, so I cut off both ends to the right size and replaced the old one.

Cool, thanks !

No cigar @ dealer - all of a sudden they grew tech competent and told me what I already new, so no free turbo.

No part in stock and wont even get it till Tue (!) - AND the total would be $520+tax (!). So I paid the $120 diag fee using VW funny money and picked up the car. Will try fixing it myself...

r11 said:

Cool, thanks !

No cigar @ dealer - all of a sudden they grew tech competent and told me what I already new, so no free turbo.

No part in stock and wont even get it till Tue (!) - AND the total would be $520+tax (!). So I paid the $120 diag fee using VW funny money and picked up the car. Will try fixing it myself...

Click to expand...

I had looked up the cost of that hose from VW and decided I was better off buying $10 radiator hose... especially with so many people having issues with VW's.

It's a pretty easy fix, you shouldn't have any problem. The worst part with mine was diagnosing the problem, I couldn't get it it to fail while under the hood since the pressure had to be built up to a certain point to blow through. I could only feel the hole from squeezing the hose at the right spot.

+1 for a split charge air hose. Go through all of them very carefully, squeeze them, and check for cracks and splits. Sometimes splits are hard to identify when the engine isn't under load, so careful inspection is required.


photo credit: vw_norm

Made a video. Did the repair, saved $$$
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvr8c4896Mc

Used Dayco 71727 to cut out a section to replace the ruptured hose.
To make the hose nice and ez to put on, heat it up with hair dryer.

VeeDubTDI said:

+1 for a split charge air hose. Go through all of them very carefully, squeeze them, and check for cracks and splits. Sometimes splits are hard to identify when the engine isn't under load, so careful inspection is required.

photo credit: vw_norm

Click to expand...

Reading http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=405198&highlight=split+turbo+hose

Looks like vwnorm bought two 4 ply silicone hoses and trimmed them to fit.
one 2" to 2" 45* angle hose
one 2.25" to 2.25" 90* hose

$100 probably gets you a really nice set of hoses.

I don't have an issue with the diagnosis - just wanted to point out that our cars have an air flapper valve that closes when we shut the car off. This is a safety against a runaway engine. Common on diesels. If it failed, or partially failed (stuck half open) it would produce the same result.

I've never heard of one failing on our cars - yet.

Yeah, that would lead to air starvation too - but w/o that telltale WHOOSH release of compressed air when under the load

intake throttles are used for intake air swirl control (and runaway) Torque almost always shows Vacuum rather than boost with less than 1/2 throttle

jrm said:

intake throttles are used for intake air swirl control (and runaway) Torque almost always shows Vacuum rather than boost with less than 1/2 throttle

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Torque shows vacuum at what location? I almost never see vacuum on the ScanGauge reading the manifold absolute pressure sensor.

Got a mouse nest in your air filter? It happens, and overnight sometimes...

PaulB said:

Got a mouse nest in your air filter? It happens, and overnight sometimes...

Click to expand...

This happened to my excavator. And then I hauled it in for service! Fortunately, a friend owns the dealer and he was pretty easy on me.

Pretty sure this is what happened to me yesterday. Coming home and got a solid CEL, then climbing a hill loss of power and the dreaded flashing glow pug light. I figured it was a toasted turbo so pulled over, refueled and read the book. Restarted the car and no flashing glow plug light. Made it home with only solid CEL. Will look for busted hose tonight.

Wouldn't VW honor this under their extended 3/36 deal?

Thanks for that good video. I am tempted to reinforce that part on my car to head-off any future rupture.