limp mode question..

[abla]

hi to everyone just a quick one..my mk1 sometimes goes to limp modes when accelerating..my question is would it be alright if i just leave it like that for now?what would be the scenario if i chose not to have it fixed?cos what i do now is when limp mode hits i just stop by the roadside and restart the car..thanks to any ideas..

[chicken_eyebrow]

It will be ok to leave it like that but as the turbo vanes get progressively more coked up it will do it more and more often and get to the point where it becomes annoying. You'll also find if you ever try to sell the car the buyer will notice it and walk away.

Really needs the turbo removing and cleaning, and once it's all back together make sure you drive it hard several times a month to stop it coking up again.

[mbames]

If it only happens slightly/rarely at the moment, then maybe manually exercising the actuator on the turbo might help....

However it really needs to be sorted properly before it becomes dangerous (limp halfway through an overtake for instance....)

[abla]

thanks guys..when you say exercise or drive hard around what mark would my RPM be?and will it make any damage to the engine parts if limp mode always comes up?

[chicken_eyebrow]

Once it's cleaned, excercise it by taking it for a few long drives every month at high revs and rev it close to the redline a few times. On the diesels I guess that is about 4000-5000rpm?

The sticky vanes and limp mode problem always happens to TDIs which get driven gently for short distances at nowhere near the maximum revs so as long as you avoid driving like that then the problem shouldn't develop again.

But it will need to be cleaned first, or as mbames said if it's not got too bad you could try spraying loads of innotec cleaner into it and manually moving the actuator rod with the engine off to try and loosen up the vanes and shift the muck thats clogging them up. A full strip and clean of the turbo is £200-250 depending on where you go.

http://www.innotecworld.com/products/sets-systems.php?productid=6

The limp home mode is down to the turbo, the engine internals shouldn't be affected at all. You don't have to rev it really hard all the time so it won't put undue stress on the engine.

[mbames]

The limp home mode is down to the turbo, the engine internals shouldn't be affected at all. You don't have to rev it really hard all the time so it won't put undue stress on the engine.

You might put stress onto the passengers mid-overtake though