Malone Tuning ....Lag Times

PS. I really don't want to give up on this problem. When I do something I want to know what the results are.......but this is making it very difficult to do that.

^^^ update as above....now again, keep in mind I am not the mechanic or guru here.

My car has been to the 4th and last guru with no resolution....last as I am finally going to throw in the towel and bow out of ever experiencing 1st hand the potential I have read so much about here with this "upgrade". And I can't believe this is how a PD140 would behave.....LAME compared to a stock motor with the Malone stg2.
So far it's been to 413Auto, Peoples Auto, kraftwerks, and finally Dr.Volks. Now granted the 1st two are very good at general maintenance and maybe not on board with the performance side of things.....
.....
.....I do NOT believe this to have anything to do with the original Malone Stg2 or subsequent tunes OR the PD140 turbo...unless Kerma sells refurbed turbos as new...? There has BEEN NO CHANGE from original issue!!!! So, again this does not hinge on on the performance side of things....this could simply happen on a stock car...again IMO.

Dr.Volks insisted the tune was at fault, he states he's not a fan of Mark's tunes. Now, from I read there are 3 top TDI tuners...Mark, Mike, and Jeff. So either one you can't go wrong with IMO. I told Bob that it is has had 3-4 Malone tunes for this issue, provided him with a link to this post, and detailed everything that has been looked at/changed....he still insisted it was the tune. He did do a TDtuning tune and shortened the actuator rod and said all was good and it pulls from 1500 to 5000. Well, I was pretty stoked to hear that and went to pick up the car. Unfortunately, the car was no different...still flat and lazy under 2200rpm (I should be driving a gasser!!)

Again......no matter what/who looks at it, it comes back with the same symptom. Weird thing is, I unplug the MAF sensor and I am told if runs the same to change the sensor (because it runs on a default tune...LAME). So, I replace it with an OEM one from IDparts and......nothing is DIFFERENT. So, is it for some reason not recognizing the MAF sensor?? And running the whole time on a default setting? I am looking for any....any option at this time. I really don't want to give up on it. But, with the fall in pricing...thank you dieselgate.....a newer Jetta is looking oh so much better! A;lthough, still with the unknown VW/EPA decision as to what will happen.....

I've exhausted every Guru I am aware of in my area....and I still come up dead. Any thoughts, ideas, or input are more than welcome.

PS: Kerma did sent F.O.C. a replacement 3-bar MAP as they had a run of faulty sensors.....I was very hopeful.....but that wasn't it.

PS2: Kerma wanted me to have this test done, which I will try asap....but it was a brand new turbo right Kerma?????

"I need the customer to tell me what ambient pressure and actual MAP are as shown in engine measuring blocks group 010 with the key on, engine off. Then he needs to go get the car hot...full operating temp, just off the freeway, then go into basic settings group 011. I want to know what the MAP is with 'turbo on' vs 'turbo off' Report back and I'll let him know if the turbo has warped vanes. Procedure must be followed correctly as described though or otherwise I get bad data and we're all just wasting time"

Not wanting to bore you all by bringing this back up to the top. But I had my car at my local guru for other work (he did the original PD140/tune install) and he keeps trying and thinking where the problem may be......

.......anyway. He thinks the stock turbo and Stg2 Malone ran so strong because the stock turbo had failed and was running full boost ALL the time....? And that is why it had such great response from as low an RPM as I can remember.

I find that difficult to swallow because we bypassed the N75 and ran full vac. to the PD140 and it ran NO DIFFERENT. Personally for me, there is no way I can see a failed stock turbo/Stg2 tune running full boost all the time kicking the ass on a PD140/Stg4/3bar MAP running full boost all the time (from how I understood it) with the N75 bypassed.

Can anyone concur?

scrambld said:

Not wanting to bore you all by bringing this back up to the top. But I had my car at my local guru for other work (he did the original PD140/tune install) and he keeps trying and thinking where the problem may be......

.......anyway. He thinks the stock turbo and Stg2 Malone ran so strong because the stock turbo had failed and was running full boost ALL the time....? And that is why it had such great response from as low an RPM as I can remember.

I find that difficult to swallow because we bypassed the N75 and ran full vac. to the PD140 and it ran NO DIFFERENT. Personally for me, there is no way I can see a failed stock turbo/Stg2 tune running full boost all the time kicking the ass on a PD140/Stg4/3bar MAP running full boost all the time (from how I understood it) with the N75 bypassed.

Can anyone concur?

Click to expand...

Get a boost gauge and see what psi you are hitting when you are driving around? Its a cheap tool that will give you some info on what is going on with that turbo...If you have the N75 bypassed you should be making wayyy too much boost and your computer should be throwing a fuel cut so you don't grenade the engine...

Sounds exactly like my brm, but I also have 150 injectors,just got a stage2 and for sure either of my beat up ALH's would eat this thing,I'm told I need a turbo too,It was much stronger on the bottom with the wrong tune for the injectors, really strong up to 2000 rpm and smoked like a train, Mark did defuel it on the top to keep it from limp mode .
Please keep us updated,I don't want to sink a grand in a turbo and be disappointed , also my cam timing was low, fixed that today to .5 speced on the belt cover but haven't driven it yet.

Hell, I'll give it a shot.....been playing with a vac. gauge T'd into the N75 line and all seems well......I'll take my local guru for a ride and get his opinion as well. Boost gauge can be next up cause this this is lame as f'ing **** compared to the stock turbo!!!!!

All of the issues which you described in this thread (poor pick-up below 2500rpm AND being easy to stall) will happen if the timing ring shifts even a hair on the crank. The ring is semi-loosely pressed onto the end of the crank because it has to be able to be removed in order to replace the rear main seal. if you have ever had the RMS replaced, that is the first place which I would look. Even if you haven't, it's possible that it shifted after many miles.

Premier Sprinter said:

All of the issues which you described in this thread (poor pick-up below 2500rpm AND being easy to stall) will happen if the timing ring shifts even a hair on the crank. The ring is semi-loosely pressed onto the end of the crank because it has to be able to be removed in order to replace the rear main seal. if you have ever had the RMS replaced, that is the first place which I would look. Even if you haven't, it's possible that it shifted after many miles.

Click to expand...

Really???? More info PLEASE about this. No, RMS has never been touched. But, I am all ears on any knowledge you can pass on. Now, as the heat is on (heatwave) the AC is on more and it is super easy to stall (especially on any hill) unless I ride out the clutch.....keep in mind I've been driving this car for over 180K....and I CAN drive a stick. Sometimes it seems it's stalling out even though I am giving it throttle....

scrambld said:

Really???? More info PLEASE about this. No, RMS has never been touched. But, I am all ears on any knowledge you can pass on. Now, as the heat is on (heatwave) the AC is on more and it is super easy to stall (especially on any hill) unless I ride out the clutch.....keep in mind I've been driving this car for over 180K....and I CAN drive a stick. Sometimes it seems it's stalling out even though I am giving it throttle....

Click to expand...

That was basically all of the information that I can give you. A long time ago, I ran into a problem with all of the symptoms that you have. I put in a VR6/G60 clutch and replaced the RMS while I was in there. Apparently the pickup wheel did not go back on perfectly and all of the problems which you are experiencing came about from it. I dropped the trans four or five times to try and get it a little better, but in the end, it had to go to the dealer to have the ring installed with the dealer tool. Now, ECS sells a tool for it.

Take this for what you will, but it tells me that timing can cause all of your problems, be it in the tune, the mechanical timing between the crank and cam or the positioning of the pickup wheel. A diesel should not ever be easy to stall.

Did we ever get any resolution on this one?

absalom said:

Did we ever get any resolution on this one?

Click to expand...

No, sorry....Sold car and "upgraded to a '15 Passat TDI.

Never looked into the timing ring for shift or not. 4 TDI gurus have crawled all over this car and nothing so...…...

OMALLEY_808 said:

Get a boost gauge and see what psi you are hitting when you are driving around? Its a cheap tool that will give you some info on what is going on with that turbo...If you have the N75 bypassed you should be making wayyy too much boost and your computer should be throwing a fuel cut so you don't grenade the engine...

Click to expand...

Should be the first thing purchased if any performance mods are planned in the future.

scrambld said:

No, sorry....Sold car and "upgraded to a '15 Passat TDI.

Never looked into the timing ring for shift or not. 4 TDI gurus have crawled all over this car and nothing so...…...

Click to expand...

Dang read whole thread thinking I can't wait to see what the issue was.

Guess I should have skipped to the end.

Simple. Welcome to bigger turbo land.

TDIMeister said:

Simple. Welcome to bigger turbo land.

Click to expand...

Well, not from what I understand. As I understood it the turbo wasn't "bigger" just a more efficient turbo. Hell, this turbo was used on the same 1.9 in Europe...No?

Stock BRM is a BV39 IIRC, equivalent to a GT14V. PD140 is a GT16V/BV40 IIRC, and the next step up from that is a GT17V/BV43. The number after BV is the size in mm of the turbine. Granted, it's a very small increase in size, but an increase nonetheless.

I believe there were other reports of replacement BRM turbos being a little lazy also. Could be vane actuator rod adjustment? Someone more knowledgeable about this can chime in.

Sorry for your troubles scrambld but this thread is very informative.
I was thinking about a PD140 but I think now I would be happy with where you were at before putting on the PD140.
So that's route I am going.

Again, many have reported great results with the PD140 on this very application. I was replacing a supposedly failed OEM BW turbo....for all I know it may have had another issue or a different issue all together and not actually a failed OEM turbo. I may have put on a PD140/3bar MAP/tune onto a platform that had an undiagnosed problem...?

Never could get the same or near the same throttle response or sense of power, even above 2000rpm's as it had with the OEM turbo and Stg2 Malone.