Dies at redline

Noob here, but it said to feel free to post so here goes. Currently driving my first Tdi ever and I am loving every minute. There are just a few quirks that have me stumped. The biggest issue I've had since owning the car is it will not allow me to redline. Im not saying that I drive around at redline because I don't. If I am driving sprited, and I accidently hit 4500rpm the engine will bog down with no throttle whatsoever. I usually turn the key off and restart the car while rolling and continue on. It doesn't happen often but it is an annoyance, and it cant be normal. Any help would be appreciated.

Frame said:

Noob here, but it said to feel free to post so here goes. Currently driving my first Tdi ever and I am loving every minute. There are just a few quirks that have me stumped. The biggest issue I've had since owning the car is it will not allow me to redline. Im not saying that I drive around at redline because I don't. If I am driving sprited, and I accidently hit 4500rpm the engine will bog down with no throttle whatsoever. I usually turn the key off and restart the car while rolling and continue on. It doesn't happen often but it is an annoyance, and it cant be normal. Any help would be appreciated.

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Sounds like the turbo actuator or maybe a vacuum leak , or both . Anyways it's called limp mode I believe . Search symptoms And fixes on this forum , there is a lot of really good info floating around . I had similar symptoms when I got my 2006 jetta , I changed the mass air flow sensor , air filter it started driving better . Your actuator may be going out . Im a newb myself but I can tell you use the forum to your advantage there's so much info available .

Thanks for the quick response, I'll have to look into the actuator then. I was planning on bypassing the maf eventually, so if it is the maf hopefully I'll know soon enough.

"Limp mode" is designed to protect the engine from damage from overboost and other situations. It "resets" to normal after a restart. Overboost can be from many causes other than actuator issues.
I'm assuming the term "dies" is being used to describe more of a reduced power situation rather than actually shutting down?
Why would you bypass the MAF??

Not sure if it's a true limp mode. I'm unable to drive after it happens due to no throttle response.if I do try it would most likely die ( I usually don't even try). The maf thing is completely unrelated it's untouched as of now.

How old/mileage is your fuel filter?

Fuel filter was changed less then a year ago, doesn't feel like the same issue I had with the clogged filter.

It would not hurt to check it anyway. One tankful of bad fuel can clog it no problem.
Open the top and see how black the element is becoming.
The PD engines trash fuel filters much more quickly than the VEs.
The injectors on a PD car tend to rock in their bores and that can create a hard time for the seals to do their job.

I had the same situation a while back and it turned out to be the fuel filter.
By dies do you mean engine actually dies, or the engine power "flat line?"
If flat line is what is going on, my solid vote is a fuel issue.

It will kill all power, and drop to almost no rpm's. If I don't shut it off right away the engine will sputter and die. I'll check the fuel filter but it had the same issue before I changed it last. And after changing it, it continued to happen. The only change was after I took out the stock air box and swapped in a pod filter it happens a lot less. But still happens..

fuel filter or maybe the in-tank pump?

If you've had previous issues with the fuel filter clogging , that would be at the top of my list of culprits. I'd change the filter again and treat with a biocide.

It's not much work to pull the sending unit/lift pump from the tank and physically clean it out. I've done this with the 1.8T gasser car that I'm doing the TDI swap to. Took about a half an hour to completely drain and wipe out the inside of the fuel tank.
Then you know that's clean.

Alright I'll add that to the top do list. Thanks for the suggestions

Another thing you might check is the amount of blow by you are getting.
I am working on a car right now that would not even idle for a few seconds because so much exhaust was finding its way into the crankcase and through the CCV vent into the intake. It ran for a few seconds then choked out the engine.
While this was due to a turbo that blew, your condition could be somewhat similar if, at high RPMs, the crank case is filling with exhaust.

A clogged cat means that the exhaust has to find another way out of the engine be it worn valve guides, piston rings, turbo oil return line, etc...
One way to check is to disconnect the CCV tube and plug the intake tube hole and go for a ride.

A bad EGR valve that does not close and is being held open with exhaust manifold pressure can choke an engine out as well.

No O2, no power.

I did just address a similar issue. After switch intakes I put a smallfilter at the ccv. It took a couple weeks to clog it and the crank case started venting out of the dipstick tube. I fixed this by doing a elephant hose mod. And deleting the egr for good measure.

I will be deleting the cat and running a 2 or 3 inch straight pipe all the way out. Hopefully that will help.