2006 Jetta w/ BRM - EGR cooler + turbo issue?

2006 Jetta w/ BRM - EGR cooler + turbo issue + shift module?

Car: 2006 Jetta TDI w/ BRM, DSG, 220k, stock
CEL codes: P0299 (Turbo underboost), P0673 (Glow plug cylinder 3), U0103 (lost comm with gear shift mod)
Problem: Intermittently, from about 1500-2000 RPMs, the car hisses and there is a loss of power.
Temporary solution: A quick restart and the problem disappears.
According to a local TDI guru, the turbo is seeping a little oil and the EGR cooler appears to be bad (soot on the back of the engine).
Right now, I'm thinking of replacing the turbo and EGR cooler. Am I on the right track?
On a side note, why does the problem temporarily disappear when the car is restarted?
As far as the other two codes (glow plug and shift module), I am thinking of testing the glow plug system with the glow plug 101 write up. The shift module seems to be in the shifter assembly itself, no? Also, the problem has not exhibited itself in quite some time; only the code remains. I'm thinking about clearing it and seeing if it ever returns.

Look at the EGR cooler and vacuum lines before you start playing with the turbo that is a very common area for this problem.

Sounds good. I'll start there.

My guess what is happening is that you have a bad egr cooler which does not hold a vacuum when it is activated. On my unit the whole vacuum case on the egr cooler was broken off. This will reduce the vacuum in the small vacuum lines which will cause the turbo not to activate when it is requested and put you in limp mode. When you restart the car you reset the limp mode so it drives fine for awhile then does it again.

I addressed the EGR cooler issue today and so far so good (120 miles). Fingers are crossed.....

Was it the egr cooler?

jbbnet said:

Was it the egr cooler?

Click to expand...

Yes it was. I've put on 1,000 miles since then and the EGR cooler hiss is 100% gone. The car runs much better now with no boost issues.