No power :(

[Startering]

Hello!

Yesterday I received a custom 'Stage 1' Tune and has woken up the engine but STILL is very underpowered.

The main question I have is if my speculations are correct on the problem I believe is causing it or any feedback you guys might have to be causing the problem.

The engine seems like it's struggling for air.
- clogged intake? EGR? (Mechanic has told me it was done at 250,000km but he isn't sure)
- Glow plugs? (The car can 'Roll Coal' when rev'd high enough. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsl2JVnM5mE)
- Bad turbo? (Although my mechanic has told me when you look under you can see the turbo is a bit seized I still can hear and hit boost noticeably.)

Some things to consider:

No CEL (there was one for Negative Boost Charger or something like that, but I replaced all the vacuum lines and turned out to be the one leading from the back of the turbo to the N75)

It's a ALH, 2001 Manual Beetle.

Has 309,000 kms.


Thanks for you help! Any feedback would be amazing.

 

[Nuje]

Clogged intake can certainly be the issue. "not sure it was done" in my experience typically means "I'm 90% sure it was NOT done, but there's a 10% chance it was done, so I'll say "not sure"."

Ask a kid, "finished your homework?" and if you get a "not sure", you know it's not done.

If the turbo vanes are sticking, that'll most typically cause it to go into limp mode (if over-boosts, then almost immediately goes into self-protect (no boost) mode. A turbo with 309K km is probably in need of a cleaning at least, if not a complete R&R.

 

[BobnOH]

Sounds like you might have bad turbo seals (rolling coal? not the glow plugs).
But rather than guessing at what it seems to be, find a good low power diagnostic sequence and find out what the issue actually is.
VW TDI Search Engine

 

[Startering]

Clogged intake can certainly be the issue. "not sure it was done" in my experience typically means "I'm 90% sure it was NOT done, but there's a 10% chance it was done, so I'll say "not sure"."

Ask a kid, "finished your homework?" and if you get a "not sure", you know it's not done.

If the turbo vanes are sticking, that'll most typically cause it to go into limp mode (if over-boosts, then almost immediately goes into self-protect (no boost) mode. A turbo with 309K km is probably in need of a cleaning at least, if not a complete R&R.

Yeah haha. We have been with this mechanic for 20 years now and he really knows his stuff. He probably forgot. Oh well, guess who's going to take apart their engine today!

 

[Startering]

Sounds like you might have bad turbo seals (rolling coal? not the glow plugs).
But rather than guessing at what it seems to be, find a good low power diagnostic sequence and find out what the issue actually is.
VW TDI Search Engine

Maybe maybe. I decided the best way (and cheapest) to try and fix this situation is to clean the intake because it would make sense if unburnt fuel is being dragged all the way though causing the coal.

 

[Startering]

It was just the n75 valve