I'm going to shoot my TDI

Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Well if anyone recalls the problems I was having in the past with my little red diesel machine, then you will recall how happy I was when they were resolved...I thought. Well tonight on the way to work they resurfaced. Horrible power loss, poor throttle response, and of course my favorite friend the check engine light laughing in my face.

The last few times this has appeared the fault code was for intermittent intake manifold sensor signal. I would assume I will find the same when I hook up my VAG-Com tool tomorrow.

For those who don't recall I replaced my N75 sensor, bypassed the old EGR (this prob was around long before any of these mods BTW) and did a full service to the car including fuel filter, Relay 109 (which was cooked), oil change, recharging the K&N, and a complete check of all wiring and hoses and such.

What now? I am tempted to shoot my little red diesel machine....damn road rage, except that I love the car when its running right. Anyone know of a diesel mechanic that is worth a damn within a reasonable driving distance from middle TN, or of a couple of Q's to ask a mechanic that claims TDI knowledge? The nearest stealership is about an hour and 20 minutes away so thats where I may wind up. I am beyond my scope of knowledge and its time to cough up a few dollars and have this diagnosed right. Any help that can be passed my way would be appreciated.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
http://members.xoom.com/BetaTDI/
 

valois

Banned
Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Beta, is it still occuring just on hills? I am in Charlotte, And have a 98, if you made it over here we could swap parts until the problem was isolated, I agree with Karl, given what Garrett posted as his symptoms with the bad MAF it sounds similar. The Maf should be outputing close to 1 volt at idle and 5v at WOT. How long did the last repair hold, a couple of weeks? I would be real suspicious of a loose ground wire also.
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Just in case you are still suspicious of K&N oil filters, I have over 60,000 miles on two TDI with an oiled K&N air filter and have had no MAF problems, neither have I have ANY oil ANYWHERE in the MAF.

I would be suspicious of living in the NorthEast or the MidWest due to Acid Rain degrading the contacts in the MAF, the humiditiy, rain, and low pH of the rain all corrode electrical connections leading to all kinds of nightmares. Most of the MAF breakdowns are coming out of high acid rain regions and this is very disturbing. In addtion to the massive wildlife kills recorded in amphibian, reptilian, and fish life, now it appears it is also killing MAF contacts.
 

Ric Woodruff

BANNED, Ric went to Coventry.
Joined
Feb 19, 1999
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Acid rain in rural Tennessee???

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Ric Woodruff

Official Biermeister
of TDI Fest 2000


1998 Jetta TDI Custom Sport
 

Turbo Steve

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Location
.
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Good point SkyPup - regarding "Acid Rain degrading the contacts in the MAF."
 
M

mickey

Guest
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Ric: Acid rain doesn't come from the local environment. The acid rain in the East comes from pollution in the West, like our coal-fired powerplants in Utah.

-mickey
 

Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Yes the problem only occurs on hills. For your basic around the city driving the car does fine. Seems just like new. But get me on a hill where I have to push up it at say 70MPH then the car goes into limp mode, the CEL comes on and the it throws the 00575 fault code. After a while it (the CEL) goes away or else I will have cleared it using my VAG-Com tool.

I'mat work right now so I won't be able to look into it until after hours. I'll post anything I may find. I expect a real long night with just me, the little red diesel machine, and my Bentley manual. I plan on going over everything with a fine toothed comb before I turn it over to a mechanic. I find it hard to believe there is nothing that a determined moron like myself armed with limited info and a few tools can't accomplish given enough time and alcohol. Wish me luck.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
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Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Just woke up. I worked last night at the hospital and all day today at the install shop and needed a little nap before I went back to the shop to check out the Jetta. Rene: I may take you up on your offer to help. Charlotte's only a few hours away...hrmmm. Do you have any equipment that you use with your Upsolute burner that would test my ECU for errors other than DCT codes? Would a flash of the ECU fix this? Or if this is found to be the prob would I need a new chip to be flashed? Any answers to my many Q's would be appreciated. Thanks again to everyone for your eagerness to offer advice and help.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI http://members.xoom.com/BetaTDI/

[This message has been edited by BetaTDI (edited September 11, 2000).]
 

Drivbiwire

Zehntes Jahr der Veteran
Joined
Oct 13, 1998
Location
Boise, Idaho
TDI
2013 Passat TDI, Newmar Ventana 8.3L ISC 3945, 2016 E250 BT, 2000 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

I have a spare MAF if you guy's need one for diagnosing.

I would have to have my wife send it down to you.

Let me know

DB
 

RickyChuck

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2000
Location
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BetaTDI:
Just woke up. I worked last night at the hospital and all day today at the install shop and needed a little nap before I went back to the shop to check out the Jetta. Rene: I may take you up on your offer to help. Charlotte's only a few hours away...hrmmm. Do you have any equipment that you use with your Upsolute burner that would test my ECU for errors other than DCT codes? Would a flash of the ECU fix this? Or if this is found to be the prob would I need a new chip to be flashed? Any answers to my many Q's would be appreciated. Thanks again to everyone for your eagerness to offer advice and help.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hello Beta,

I had this same problem, but not with a Jetta...my 84 Burb 6.2 diesel developed a habit of falling on its face when I had to apply power on a hill or passing, etc...dropping the pedal would cause it. It turned out it was being starved for fuel, and an electric fuel pump did the trick. This is a long shot, I know...others for sure would have more insight. Since most things are governed by ecu, wiping its brain may work, but I wonder..is there a pump in the tank? If you are going up a grade is there any chance marginal pump pressure would cause an air pocket or some such? Sounds dumb when I type it in..sorry. Hey saw your site..nice car..my 98 is same color but only have had for a few weeks...wife has confiscated my checkbook
. Good luck.

Rick

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The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful (98 Jetta)
 

valois

Banned
Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

I do not believe it's the MAF, I am more inclined to think you have a problem with the Boost sense. On your model this is located in the ECU, your boost will peak when you go up a hill, it may be exceeding what the ECU will allow and shutting you down. Do you have a boost guage on the car, if not you may want to purchase an inexpensive one for testing purposes. If you find normal boost levels (on yours that is a continous 13 psi with a peak of around 15, suspect the sensor or line to the ECU. Good luck, I know this thing has been giving you grief for a while now, I hope you get it.
 

Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Well its 2:30 AM. I just walked in the door. What did I find? That the later it gets and the more tired you are the harder it is to read the wiring schematics in the Bentley manual. In all actuality, I found nothing. I don't know if anything has changed. Being as how the shop I was at is across the street, I just walked home. I'll know more tomorrow. Same error code, same symptoms. I cleared them and kept checking....everything still seems to be the way it should be. Like I said...I will know more tomorrow. If I don't get a chance to drive it during work in the morning I will definitely drive it to the hospital for my shift tomorrow night and give a report from there. Like I said...I didnt find anything...boy am I tired.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
http://members.xoom.com/BetaTDI/
 

Karl Roenick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 22, 1999
Location
Clifton Park, NY, US
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

I am sorry to hear of your continuing problems. Think of it this way: it's a learning experience, you didn't pay a mechanic lots of money and not have your car for a long time, even if you bought an unnecessary part, it is peanuts compared.

Here's my take (again, hopefully this pain will end, ha!) :

The 00575 is for "boost pressure control". That means the brain feels that it does not have control over boost pressure. Now the question is "why?".

-Look at the Bentley cd in "boost pressure control, checking" for the complete stuff, which I guess you've been doing.

-We know your N75 sensor is okay


-Did you replace the vacuum line from N75 to the turbo wastegate? After all this time I hope you have. It's cheap, do it. There is up to -18 psi of vacuum and the hose runs in a hot environment down there.

-Do what valois suggested. One wouldn't think it would matter that there is a boost sense line leak, because the ecu would still be able to control what it thinks is the right pressure (eg, an impromptu "bleed"). Maybe because of an intermittent nature of a possible boost sense line or even sensor leak, the brain thinks it can't control the boost. Inspect the MAP sensor and replace the boost sense line - it sees a lot of pressure and can't cost that much to do. By using a boost gauge you can see what boost is doing and compare it with others. Plus you can mount it and it will look cool and not cost that much. (You can also read the intake pressures with your software and see if the MAP says it is within the proper limits (see the test procedures), (like the book says), but it's hard working the laptop while driving
.

-There was a guy from Peru who had problems with loss of power and it turned out to be a clogged cayalytic converter. ( http://forums.tdiclub.com/NonCGI/Forum17/HTML/000532.html ). ("They" wanted to replace his turbo.) Unfortunately, he did not mention any codes. I guess if there wasn't enough exhaust gas available to provide the boost pressure that the brain is calling for it could throw that control error. Maybe a long shot in your case, but who knows?.

-"They" might say to replace your turbo, saying that the wastegate rod is sticking or the solenoid is bad. It can be tested with a hand vacuum pump. I don't know it that is a warranty item or not. That is the worst case scenario.

I would replace those hoses, and check and brighten up the connections on the N75 and MAP sensors/harness. Maybe some contact enhancer from Radio Shack?
 

kiki

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Location
Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA
TDI
2013 Passat SE TDI 6mt; 2011 Golf TDI 6mt; 2005 MB E320 cdi; 2007 Passat Sport Wagon 6mt (FSI Turbo); 2005 Ford Excursion Powerstroke 4x4; 2004 Passat GLS TDI Wagon (Sold); y2k NB TDI (Sold); 1996 Passat TDI Wagon (Sold).
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

BetaTDI, this may be a long shot but, make certain that your air cleaner is not too saturated with oil. If so, it will not allow enough air to be injested under peak demand. Good luck!

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1996 Passat TDI Wagon; y2k NB TDI.
Reside in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
 

Bill Kriese

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 9, 1999
Location
Milwaukee,Wi,USA
TDI
Jetta,2000,White
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Just a quick question and maybe a dumb question.The n75 sensor controls the wastegate. What if you were to remove the connector going to the n75 sensor. I don't know if it would cause damage to turbo, but if you were to remove the connection, in theory the wastegate should not operate. If you tried going up the hill with wastegate disabled and didn't have problems, it might point to a sticking wastegate.
 

valois

Banned
Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Beta, I have the stock OEM chips for your car, can burn more if neccessary, they are socketed, it's easy to change, If you would like I can send you some and you can try them out. I also have the vacuum pump Karl mentioned, I will be back from Canada on the evening of the 24th, If you want to come by, we'll put you up for the night, Kim will feed you and we will fix your car. We can swap parts off of mine to yours until it's running right, I hope to not have to do that, but it's an option. Let me know what you would like to do. I'll help anyway that I can.

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Epsilonians will be at the Mont Tremblant Quebec GTG!
 

Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Valois, thanks for the offer. I sure would like to try one of those OEM chips first before I made the trek to Charlotte to see you. You should still have my mailing address from when I ordered my EGR buster from you. If not just ask and ye shall recieve via email. If that doesn't work (the OEM chip) then I will definitely take you up on your offer of help.

On a side note I would like to say to everyone thank you again. Where else but in a group of people like the one we have here would someone to open their home to me just because we drive a car with the same engine? How awesome is that? Thanks again.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
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Bill Kriese

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 9, 1999
Location
Milwaukee,Wi,USA
TDI
Jetta,2000,White
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

I think you are right BetaTDI, I don't think there is this kind of support out there for any other car, but then this is not a mere car but a TDI.
 

valois

Banned
Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Jose, I have the address, I'll get the Oems to you today, I'll ship em next day via Fedex, hope it works.

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Epsilonians will be at the Mont Tremblant Quebec GTG!

[This message has been edited by valois (edited September 13, 2000).]
 

Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

I got those chips that Valois sent this morning. I'll be installing them tomorrow at work. I wanted to get to it today but we were real busy at the shop and then I had to come to the hospital and work my night shift. Oh well. Thanks again Valois and I'll post more info as soon as I have something to report.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
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Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Well I got the chips put in yesterday and to my dismay they didn't do the trick. I've only driven like 80 miles with them so it might be a little premature to say it didn't work but I don't think so. I took the car out for a drive as soon as I got them, straight to the nearest hill I could find. I started at the bottom of the hill and gunned it. About halfway up at about 60mph I got the expected drop in power, the same poor throttle response, and the same lack of motivation from the engine. The car did seem to recover from this a lot faster than before. And was even up to normal power again after only 1-2 minutes. The MIL never came on. I haven't had a chance to hook the car up to my VAG-Com to see if it was showing a fault code but I will probably have time to look into that tmorrow. I'm here at work in the hospital again so I won't have any answers until I get to drive home in the morning.

Possible steps from here? (I plan on taking valois up on his offer BTW)

Could this be an injector problem?
Could this be a problem from using cheap diesel for so long and not using any additives until recently?
Who knows. I plan on continuing to try everything I can until the little red diesel machine runs like its supposed to. Thanks again for all the info, and look aat the bright side...I am learning a whole lot about my car this way.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
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GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Have you tried hooking up a boost gauge to see how it's behaving?

If everything is functioning as it should, the gauge should go to 15 psi immediately when you floor it at 2500 rpm in fourth or fifth gear, then drop to 12 - 13 psi after a couple of seconds with no noticeable power drop (this indicates that the wastegate is working).

If the ECU thinks it doesn't have control of the boost pressure, I'd say the likely culprits are the boost control solenoid valve, and the condition of the red and blue hoses in the engine compartment. I suppose it's possible that the wastegate is sticking, too.

Brian P.
'96 Passat TDI
 

Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

GoFaster: Thanks for the info. I am definitely picking up a boost gauge soon. I haven't gone shopping for one locally because of all the time I spend working but that is defitinitely something I will pick up this week. I also be picking up an a-pillar mounting pod for it. I'll post info when it becomes available to me. Thanks again.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
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Jose_Perez

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 1999
Location
Waukesha, WI
TDI
'98 Jetta TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

The problems still persists. I've been driving my wife's car for a while now because of it. Rene offered for me to come down a while ago but it seems like our schedules usually conflict. If all goes well I'll be down in NC to visit with him in early November. It seems like life has a way of happening and conflicting with other things I'm trying to do. Oh well. I'm still trying to troubleshoot it every day by reading other's posts and learning what I can about the TDI engine. I have faith in my ability to fix this problem. Thanks for the inquiry and I'll post more as things develop.

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98 Tornado Red Jetta TDI
My Homepage
 

valois

Banned
Joined
Jan 11, 2000
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

Beta, Check out this thread, I believe it might offer the solution, you need to clean out the wastegate solonoid valve, and the lines, and maybe even the wastegate actuator with cleaner, then bypass your PCV. heres the link. wastegate clogging up
 

Frank TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 1999
Location
Yorktown Hts, New York,USA
TDI
2013 Jatta TDI- 1999 Golf TDI
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

BetaTDI, does this loss in power happen in 5th gear? Does it happen in any other gear? I had the same problem, only in 5th gear. Boost would drop to 10 lbs and would not go any higher unless I turned off the engine( while rolling) and restart it.. The boost would then return to normal 15-16 lbs. No lights would appear when it happened.

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Frank TDI
1997 Jetta TDI- UPSOLUTE TB + TT Stainless
1999 Golf TDI- TB + TT Stainless
 

Karl Roenick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 22, 1999
Location
Clifton Park, NY, US
Re: I\'m going to shoot my TDI

So Frank, what was the problem?
ps, I did a search, but Frank, it looks like it just came and went for you. But you had a tuning box.

[This message has been edited by Karl Roenick (edited November 06, 2000).]
 
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