There I was last night, driving along happily minding my own business when BOOM a ford (small rivery one) jumps out of the road infront of me and takes me completely by surprise.

I ended up hitting it at about 35 and it slowed me right down to 15 with a giant tidal wave being pushed out around me but, that's not the important bit.

After I managed to escape the bloody thing, I tested my breaks, went to pull away and noticed my Turbo behaving in a bit of an odd way.

It started spooling way too early (at 1700) in second then wouldn't spool at all in 3rd until I hit about 2600 revs.

So I thought best to avoid aggravating it and decided to make sure I was changing up super early to avoid having it go crazy (I've heard that if the intake fails and it starts drawing oil you can kiss goodbye to your engine because it will literally Turbo itself to death).

Anyways, I carried on toying with it a little giving it 15 minutes of low revs before I got onto some more agreeable country roads before letting the Turbo take over again.

All seemed mostly okay but instead of it kicking in at 2100 like it always used to it was really lagging and doing nothing until about 2600 then almost ripping my face off.

After a quick blast down the motorway it decided it was game over and now, I have no turbo, not in the regular low range, not in the higher range. Literally nothing.

Luckily i'm getting down and dirty on Saturday with sorting some bits and bats out on the old girl before heading up to the Welsh meet in a couple of weeks but, I've almost NO IDEA where to start with trying to identify why it's no longer working.

I'm hoping worst case scenario i've got to nick a MAF from a VW engine at Silverlake this weekend but, I can see this being a nice long day of inventing new swear words and getting covered in oil and road juice whilst I try to find out how and why this has happened.......

If anyone has any helpul hints other than "Nah it's ****'d mate" It would really help me narrow down what I need to do <3

*AFTERTHOUGHT - 1.9TDI ATD engine for those that might need something more specific

Edited 26 April, 201214 yr by Naybothemighty

You mean to actually hit the car?!

Phil

EDIT:!

Haha! I thought you meant a ford car pulled out in front of you! Haha.

Sounds like something has gone wrong for sure.

I would check the VNT lever on the back of engine for the turbo. Sounds like it might have got stuck not allowing the turbo to provide any boost.

Can you get anywhere to get a fault code scan?

phil

Yes mate, get it scanned!

I know there are a few chaps on here that are located in Southampton that are VAGCOM registered so I might try and give one of those guys a shout whilst i'm over there this weekend.

Good old 'Waplord' has said he'll give me a quick scan when I get to Wales to check my CamShaft Sensor (That's an ongoing unrelated one =P) so if I can't get anything discovered before then that'll be my only choice as the last time I had a diagnostic done here, the garage let me off with an £86 charge.

I'd sooner just spend 4+ hours scratching my head and taking bits apart on something that's already not working than spend that sort of money again to be told it's not working.

I'll take a look at that after work though, is the VNT lever then little nubbin that's behind all the air intakes and such?

Yes. Easily accesible from underneath the car (unless you have to remove the undertray first!).

Also check that no water got into the air intake. Could have been a bit of water has messed up the MAF sensor but not enough to get into the engine and cause damage.

I once took an old Citroen ZX 1.9D (non-turbo) through some deep water... it was only then I discovered just how low in the bumper the air intake was... doh!

Phil

I was having a bit of a read through the Haynes manual last night and that was one of the reasons I was thinking MAF.

The intercooler intake is a pain in the rear to get to, its behind the drivers wheel? And you've got to remove the bumper and the wheel arch cover as well as the wheel to get to it?

BLURK

Not that I mind, I do love to tinker about with it but, I've got a feeling it might take a fair bit of time to get to.

Thank you for the suggestion though, I really do appreciate it!

The scan bit is the hard bit but, I think the plan of action is to rip it apart in the morning, see if tinkering makes a difference, pick up a MAF from the scrappers (if the price is right) then see if that makes a difference.

I had a bit of an idea what it might be but, I just really don't want to find the whole thing is knackered and I either go Turboless or fork out to get a new one or something daft.

I might even document it for your amusement xD

I'll fiddle the nubbin tonight with fingers crossed, if that fails, i'll tear the thing apart and have a deeper look with my mate Kris and do some Sherlock Holmes detective work haha.

To get to the intercooler you just need to remove the wheel and the arch liner.

I removed and cleaned mine the other week and just needed to remove the arch liner to get to it.

Phil

Okay chaps, slight update.

Just been out for a cig and had a quick look under her blouse, i've taken the intake hose off (after the air filter and the MAF into the engine) and there was about a teaspoons worth of water sitting in the ridges on the tubing.

Soooooooooooo, that to me says I probably definitely did get some water in places where water shouldn't get to, i've read that if you unplug the MAF and go for a drive you should be able to tell a difference but i've no idea what i'm looking for in that respect.

When I get home from work i'm going to take the filter off and the intake (behind the radiator), might even get the MAF off and see if there's anymore water sitting in there to try and give me a better idea. I doubt any water has gotten as far as the engine but i've learned a lesson through this one.

AVOID FORDS AT ALL COSTS NO MATTER HOW COOL THE SPLASH LOOKS xD

Oooh dear. Well the engine didn't lock-up to I would say you may have avoided any serious damage.

In that case then you need to:

Remove air filter and check. If water has got past it then there may still be water in the filter housing/the filter itself.

Get to the intercooler and remove a bottom turbo pipe. Check that there isn't water in the turbo hoses!

Clean off the MAF with some electrical contact cleaner. Or if you are replacing it then clean the replacement one as if it is a used one then it is likely to still be a little dirty.

That should be everything. And yes you are right. If you unplug the MAF then it will default to some base values and you will probably find that it will run pretty well but the power will tail off under full throttle after 3000rpm. If it runs better with the MAF unplugged then that is the likely cause.

Phil

That's settled then,

I'll unplug the MAF for the journey home, see if it makes a difference.

Take as many of the pipes and Turbo bits off as I can before it rains again, give them a really good clean out and dry out, get them all back on and see if there's any difference at all.

Hopefully the scrappers won't charge me too much to steal a MAF if it really is that that's gone caputt.

Even then, I'd still breath a sigh of relief knowing i've not actually fully obliterated the entire thing,

Yeh. Doesn't sound terminal. When my Citroen died the engine completely locked up so it could have been worse!

Phil

Phil, you have been an absolute life saver for me!

I'll keep updating this thread with my progress so you can see the magic you've worked with your encouraging words.

Thank you so much!!

Okaaaay, a slight update.

I unplugged the MAF and lo turbo was had by all and the people rejoiced.

I've taken the MAF completely off to take a look and the whole thing was coated in drops of water so, i've let it air in the house and i've stuck it back on.

I know it's probably well past it now but, it's worth a shot to see if it might still work.

I'll be definitely grabbing one from another car on Saturday regardless of whether this one's still working or not.

There was soooooooo much water sitting under the air filter as well, I felt so guilty!!

Sounds like you have been very lucky!

Any more water in the intake could have been fatal!

I'm guessing the air filter will be wet too? Get it replaced while you're at it.

Hope the new MAF sorts it.

Phil

Yeah it was slightly damp.

I took the Air Filter and the MAF into the house with me yesterday and gave them both a good airing.

I'll most likely pick up one of each at the Scrappers tomorrow just to be safe.

I've not checked the intercooler yet but just to be on the safe side i'll be checking that tomorrow whilst i'm knuckling down to the other bits and bats i've got to do on the old gal.

I'm swapping my tyres over anyway so, it's not any more hassle to have a look behind the wheel arch at the same time and fiddle with the intercooler pipes just to be on the safe side.