governor?

2001 Jetta;
I have a power problem apparent when highway driving.
There can be a sudden drop in power while cruising. It's happened in warm and cold weather.
Latest example: when Interstate cruising at 70-75mph and accelerating on a hill, there was an immediate drop in power and I could only maintain about 65mph even when floored. It was as if there was a governor on the fuel line. No change in engine sound; no roughness; just less power.
The problem was gone when we stopped at a rest stop and re-started the car.

If this matters: 2 instances of this problem happened within minutes of refueling, but as I just stated, the power-drop disappears when re-starting. So I don't think the re-fueling is related.

Any clues? THANKs.

That's emergency/limp mode. There's a bad actor somewhere - turbocharger actuators and MAFs are common items that go bad. You need to scan and/or test the engine with a VCDS to see what's bad.

can you define "limp mode" please?

Thanks I'll pursue that. But can you define "limp mode" please? I'm ignorant.

NURSEDIESEL said:

Thanks I'll pursue that. But can you define "limp mode" please? I'm ignorant.

Click to expand...

Limp mode is that happens when the car's computers are sensing something wrong in the system that could cause damage. The computer then defaults to a "limp mode" so you can still drive home, but only at reduced power. It is protecting the engine or other parts. It will not be running at its best, but it should generally get you home.

Thanks. It was like driving my old '84 Jetta turbo diesel.