BEW rough idle/stumbling after pd150 mani swap

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
Hello friends, just finished a mani swap and EGR system delete. Car ran amazingly well first two days, no noticeable difference other than the hard shutdown due to lack of anti-shudder valve. Today (car was parked on an incline with nose facing down the slope over night) I started the car and it ran like boo boo: stumbling, chugging rough as all get out. I shut it down, restarted, same deal, revved it a couple times, shut it down, restarted- back to normal and ran like a top. My vcds cable is with a friend so I couldn't scan it. Any similar occurrences from other PD owners? Up until this morning the car ran better than ever.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
I will also mention the TB was done last November, fuel filter was replaced 5500 miles ago oil is full and has 5500 miles on it as well. Car has a TDTuning 1.5 on it as well as a colt 2 cam. I regularly run diesel clean, turbo is healthy.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
I have also searched the site via Google and in-house search function for similar issues. I couldn't find precisely this issue in my searches. Thanks in advance for your input.
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
Things that come to mind:

In-tank electric fuel pump. Does it work?

Intake plumbing. Could anything be loose between turbo, intercooler, and intake?
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
The in-tank pump did cross my mind. I think it may be the original. But I have been keeping an ear on it when I turn the ignition on before firing up. I'll see if it's intermittent in the morning. The intercooler piping is sound and snug. I've double checked it all. It could just be in tank failure coinciding with and upgrade.
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
Sometimes the wires that connect to the injectors can get flakey. That would definitely cause rough running, and it could be intermittent and random. The wires are under the valve cover, and there's a large connector on the end of the cylinder head close to the tandem pump.

Try googling things like "PD injector wiring" and see what you can find.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
I have a spare injector loom that I've been saving for when I have the injectors "nozzled". I'll see how she behaves in the morning and check all of your fine suggestions. I appreciate the feedback...I overlook things frequently.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
Started her today. Same pattern. Easy fire up mega-rough idle, shutdown and repeat, high rev, shutdown restart...normal. The in tank pump made its welcome noise when I turned the key. Haven't had a chance to pull the valve cover yet and check the loom.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
Hypothetically, let's say a friend of mine did the exact same modification and perhaps didn't go the extra mile and clean the tar-soot-carbon off the intake ports on the head. Then let's say (hypothetically, of course) that some of that stuf got sucked into the engine and is now causing a valve to stick and the fuel can't get to the cylinder. It seriously feels like I'm running on three cylinders. The only fix is to rev it to redline, turn it off and start it again to get it running properly. Could this be a possible scenario/cause of my problem?
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
If you're concerned about gunk causing a valve to stick open, the next step would be to pull the glowplugs out and do a compression test.

Disconnect the injector wiring harness so you don't get diesel fuel spraying all over while you crank the engine. Pooling diesel fuel in the cylinders could lead to inconsistent results, and it will make a mess when it sprays all over the place. (Ask me how I know).

A compression test is about the easiest way I can think of that would help rule out chunks of crap making the valves stick open. If you have even compression, great. If you find a cylinder that is low, or if it changes from cylinder to cylinder, investigate further.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
Do I need any special tool to run a compression test or just vcds? Also, it's gotten worse. It's taking longer and longer for the rough idle to get back to normal. It seems to be doubling in the length of time needed to rev it and many more shutdowns and restarts. I also noticed my glow plug harnes is missing a cap and the wire is exposed. Not sure if that would have any effect. Currently waiting on the motor to cool down so I can pull the valve cover and swap out the injector harness.
 

DieselDork

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
Bothell, WA
TDI
2004 BEW
Just drove it to the store and back. Couldn't get it to run normally at all. Last night was the last drive I had with the car where it was absolutely perfect after all the currently normal procedures to get it to run correctly.
 
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