HELP 2/8/15 Limp mode, Vegas road trip, P1557 dusty dirt road HELP!

mattpetty

Active member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Location
Oakland, CA
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Hey all. Out in Death Valley this morning. Did 45-miles of dusty washboard road. Pulled onto the Tarmac and pretty much right away had a power loss. I think this is the limp mode. You can feel it turn on. Pulled over and inspected the easiest culprit. Air filter pretty dirty. Knocked quite a bit of dust out but nothing really crazy. Continue with what felt like more power but then again into limp mode and check engine light. Made it to auto zone in. Pahrumph NV, bought a filter, replaced and rolled on. Was fine around town then climbing out back to the limp. Back to auto zone and they pulled a P1557 code. Reading around a little I thought the MAF might have gotten toasted by the dust. A really slight super fine layer made it past the filter upon closer inspection. I read about folks blowing MAFs from dust so that was my first thought. I could drive the 30-min to Vegas and buy a MAF if it's a likely culprit.

The only other possible symptom is there may be a slight change in the turbo noise. You rev it, get the normal whistle, revs fall to idle and then a second or two later you hear a little whistle like some pressure is bleeding off. I have a new PVC valve and vac lines. Intake all inspected during a recent timing belt job. Thoughts?

We are from Oakland and headed back there hopefully. Safe to drive? Also any good shops in Vegas or between Vegas and home? As much as possible I do my own work and have a wholesale hookup on parts so making it home safely would be ideal. Leaving my phone if anyone has any bright ideas but I'll check here also. Thanks a million. Matt 650-504-8800
 

mattpetty

Active member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Location
Oakland, CA
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Also not dusty under-hood really at all. I have a full skid pan and skirts. Lots of vibration on the high speed dirt run that seemingly prompted this fun.
 

mattpetty

Active member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Location
Oakland, CA
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Just tried unplugging the maf and it is worse feels like limp mode right off the bat. Also inspected intake just past the maf and it is really clean. No appreciable amount of dust made it in there. Just a little on the wrong side of the air box of the ultra fine variety mentioned before.
 

mattpetty

Active member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Location
Oakland, CA
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Wiggled the VNT around seemed free, like you're pushing against a vac diaphragm but it is clean and dry down there. While I was underneath noticed that we took a pretty good scrape on the end of the skid plate near the inter cooler but no noticeable dings there and the piping seems intact from that limited angle. What else?? Headed towards Vegas thinking there is likely more opportunity for help there.
 

Enabled

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2013
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Manual, BMW 328d SW
Any of your vacuum lines come loose or disconnect? Inspect them very carefully.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
If necessary, there is only one shop on the "Trusted Mechanics List" in Las Vegas. There are actually a couple of other VW places that I would trust with brake/suspension/etc. issues. For a ALH engine, I would stick with Wolf DMS near Nellis (North East Las Vegas). Wolfgang (the owner) drives an MKIV diesel himself. He is not cheap, but he is German and he knows these engines well.

Have Fun!

Don
 
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