05 BEW Jetta. No power, no codes

[Slowassjetta]

So my 05 BEW Jetta jumped timing a while back. Just got the car running again. The problem is the car stars right up (even on the cold days here is WI) can hear the turbo spool up and car revs to any rpm you want but under load has no power. Boost spikes at like 23 psi and holds a steady 15 psi Car has new head,MAF,n75,turbo actuator, fuel filter. No vacuum leaks. No codes either. Intake and egr valve were cleaned when off. Also is straight piped so clogged cat is outta the picture! Any help is appreciated I miss driving this car.

 

[Tdijarhead]

Does the actuator hold vacuum? Have you cleaned the turbo itself, by disassembling? How about the 3 wires that are connected to the “smart” actuator are they all intact? They are very tiny and tend to corrode.

Edit, after rereading I see you have a new actuator, however since actuators are all aftermarket chinese eBay/amazon C.R.A.P. quality you should probably check it anyway to be sure it holds vacuum.

 

[Slowassjetta]

I made sure it held vacuum. Before I installed it on the car. It starts moving at like 3” and stops around 18”-20” I forgot exact number.

 

[Vince Waldon]

Potentially a cam timing issue... what's your torsion set to ? If "0"... have you tried moving it around a bit to confirm it's a real 0 and not the 0 one gets for being out of range?

 

[Slowassjetta]

It was set at 0.0 I thought that to be the problem also but when I blip the throttle it goes to 0.5. And I set it at 1.0 just to see if it made a difference. No change at all.

edit: I forgot to mention the wires to the actuator looked fine with no corrosion on the plug. Also checked the lift pump when i changed the fuel filter.

 

[Tdijarhead]

I made sure it held vacuum. Before I installed it on the car. It starts moving at like 3” and stops around 18”-20” I forgot exact number.

Starting a 3 and ending at 18 or so is correct. 23 psi is a bit much if your turbo is stock and that much if sustained to long or if it reaches 23 to many times that will put you into limp mode, but that usually throws a code. Have you checked for codes a pending code will not light the CEL but will be present if you put a code reader on it, especially if you have vcds.

 

[Slowassjetta]

Stock turbo No codes at all. Never goes into limp mode either. I’m so lost. The Car ran great with occasional limp mode for actuator before it jumped timing.

 

[Vince Waldon]

The ECU is mostly watching for issues with systems related to emission controls and can miss a lot of performance-related issues, unfortunately, so "runs like crap but no codes" is not uncommon.

Assuming the head is a good one, the valve timing is ok, and nothing else was damaged when valves met pistons I suppose the next logical suspect is that something didn't quite go back together when the new hose was installed, since the car was running fine. Boost hose? Intercooler connection?

Speaking of boost, graphing boost actual vs requested might help you narrow it down. The "low power" how-to listed in my sig is actually a pretty good and logical step-by-step for tracking down wimpy engine issues.

 

[oilhammer]

How did you store the injectors while it was apart? For how long?

 

[Slowassjetta]

I checked all the connections and they are all in surprisingly good shape. Injectectors were place in their own bag in order on a workbench dedicated only to the car. Put them back in the order they came out. I even tried re adjusting them by putting it in full compression in the injector and bottoming it out and returning 180 degrees. Is the the correct procedure?

 

[oilhammer]

I'd send those injectors out to someone who could test them, and on the PDs I think Kerma is the only one I know of.

They need to be stored immersed in [oil] liquid once they have been used, or the fuel in them gums up and they cannot flow correctly. Severe underfueling will cause severe low power. At least rule that out, since we know they were not stored correctly.

 

[Keystoner16]

I'd send those injectors out to someone who could test them, and on the PDs I think Kerma is the only one I know of.

They need to be stored immersed in [oil] liquid once they have been used, or the fuel in them gums up and they cannot flow correctly. Severe underfueling will cause severe low power. At least rule that out, since we know they were not stored correctly.

That's interesting.

I wonder if some diesel purge might help. Like running the engine with the fuel lines directly in the the can.