Problem description goes like this, would appreciate some help if possible.

I took my car to a local garage Monday to have the G61 knock sensor replaced. It had been erroring for about a month. Retorquing it made no difference so I bought one from my nearest stealer and looked at doing the job myself using Bodge's excellent guide , but didn't get time. So, booked it in at a local garage we use for my good ladies Honda, as they would charge only an hours labour.

Drove car home 1/2 mile in rush hour traffic at no more than 30mph and parked up.

I had a quick look for the G61 16711 fault code (I have shareware VAG-Com / ebay cable) and that was cleared. Jobs a good'un - or so I thought....

Yesterday set off for work but after a couple of miles out of town it was apparent it had little or no boost at all , like it was in limp mode. Then occassionally it came back , so not limp mode???

It sounded like the dumpvalve was permanently open. I have a Forge DV relocated to the front kit fitted and the noise was very noticably different - a consistent hiss and no blowoff. Only underbonnet pic of any use I have :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/joolz74/silver%20skoda/forge.jpg = not much use...

It was the same on the way home, little or no boost. When I got to work I checked (as best as I could in a suit) under the bonnet for loose hoses etc. All seemed fine. So reset the code and went out in it.

There was no problem , a little lumpy perhaps but felt like full boost occuring and as quick as it normally is.

Then, the same problem again today. :(

The error I got from VAG-Com was:

VAG-COM Version: Release 409.1-US

Control Module Part Number: 06A 906 032 HJ

Component and/or Version: 1.8L R4/5VT 0002

Software Coding: 10700

Work Shop Code: WSC 13364

Additional Info: xxxxx

1 Fault Found:

17535 - Fuel Trim: Bank 1 (Mult): System too Rich

P1127 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

This made sense if the car was leaking boost somewhere, it would be running rich.

It got me thinking. As the garage would have had to move / remove the N249 to get at the knock sensor, I am wondering if this could be the cause of the problem - perhaps a connector has come loose or a pipe split?

I have left the car back at the garage this evening to be checked tomorrow and will use the Honda tomorrow.

Could this be the case and if so would I reasonably expect them to fix it FOC?

Cheers

Edited 30 October, 201015 yr by modra_vrs

Got to the bottom of this today.

After returning it to the garage Thursday, they could find nothing wrong with it after resetting the fault code. So drove it home and it seemed much better, if a jerky.

Yesterday morning, same again.

So this morning I checked the lower intercooler pipe, as had a suspicion this could be the cause of the problem as the leak sounded to be coming from this area.

After removing the wheelarch liner, intercooler pipe and heatshielding jacket, I noticed that one side of the flexihose to the turbo downpipe was dislodged. Once reconnected, I set about repairing the bracket for the metal pipe.

Once repaired, I put everything back together and went for a test drive, and the car is now back to normal

Turns out the Neuspeed pipe bracket had not dislodged itself or disappeared but was in fact rusted in half.

So to be fair to the garage it was coincidental that fault this happened at the same time they had it in for the knock sensor.

I am not impressed with the quality of this pipe. Considering it cost £145+VAT new and has been on the car for around 4 years. The metal used for the bracket is poor quality and welded badly. The current version of the pipe being sold seems to be anodised so I guess they may have had problems.

A few pics:

Pipe and welding, repaired, after some Kurust to halt further corrosion.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/joolz74/silver%20skoda/30102010327.jpg

Attached securely now

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/joolz74/silver%20skoda/30102010328.jpg

Next job is to clean the engine bay up a bit.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/joolz74/silver%20skoda/30102010331.jpg

Bloody hell that pipe looks like my mum made it! Pretty shocking welding!

Glad your all sorted though, and glad the knock sensor guide was of use to someone.

I have some unexpected suspicions about my knock fault, but need to wait till next weekend to prove it. I´ll let people know when I know for sure....