Hi everyone, I think this topic has probably been done to death 😕.

my car is a 2007 1.9tdi Ambiente estate, I’ve had it since 2011, in only the second owner, and have it serviced by my local independent garage yearly,the only problem I experienced was a failed clutch and dual mass fly wheel at 142,000miles my garage replaced this and the car was fine, 3 weeks ago we took the car to Warsaw ( I was getting married ) yep , a 15yr old Skoda with 175,000 miles on the clock,3 people inside and a boot full of luggage, the drive was pretty uneventful apart from a bit of power loss whilst driving through Germany, I put this down to possibly dodgy diesel and continued on our way with no further issues, went to Gdansk before returning to U.K., even took the car on the A2 Autobahn in Germany, nice drive, the car has behaved itself till yesterday when we experienced the same lack of power whilst going up a long incline on the A41 nr Watford, car wouldn’t rev much past 2,000 rpm ( I think some people call this limp mode) upon returning home I parked the car in our garage.

I note that on both occasions there was no warning lights illuminated on the dashboard, I appreciate that my car is old and has covered a considerable mileage.

I’ve googled the symptoms and have come to the following conclusion- there’s something wrong with the turbo , I discovered today that my car has a BXE engine ( have no idea what that means) 

I’ve seen that some clean their turbos out with Mr Sheen oven cleaner - they mention variable vane turbos ? Do I have one of those ? Or Would I be safer using something like Revive, Wynns or something similar which I see from the videos means disconnecting a large plastic pipe near the electrical connector and squirting the contents in according to the instructions on the product.

as you can probably guess I have little knowledge of my engine relying on my garage to keep it fit and healthy.

2 years ago my car failed it’s mot on emissions, the garage suggested I use a diesel treatment as I tend to get my fuel from my local supermarket, I’ve been using RedEx Diesel system cleaner in every other fill up (1/2 bottle as per instructions) 

Has anyone any advice what I should do ? 
thanks in advance 

From personal experience I would check the turbo variable vane pneumatic actuator, it's a cheap replacement and could be the source of your problems on a car of 2007 vintage.

If it happens repeatedly during the warm up phase then a Mr Muscle enema is in order, snake oil fuel treatments will not release the sticking vanes & Mr Sheen is not going to do you any favours.

 

If it happens on long inclines under heavy load especially in higher temperatures then it is degradation of the vacuum hose leading to the variable vane actuator, cycling the ignition will bring a reprieve but if you are still on the incline the boost will fall off again in shorter and shorter intervals.

 

The hotter it gets the quicker the hose will collapse, the fault also implicates a tiny bleed off or leak of vacuum at the actuator which would not be a problem in normal running with the hose not collapsed.

 

Very cheap to repair but the diagnosis is beyond the competence of most garages, I have bought many a PX vehicle being punted on by the trade with this exact fault which they and the previous owners garage could not resolve.

Thank you MicMac and J.R. for replying, tomorrow I’ll have a poke around the engine bay and look to see if the vacuum hose deforms or looks in poor condition.I’m assuming this would be a Skoda ( VAG ) main agent part. I have checked through the service history and the car has only ever had a radiator hose replaced, I guess hoses don’t last forever. 
Can the Actuator be reached from above ? Or will it be a case of removing the underside panels and getting beneath the car, I’ve looked at some pictures to see what I need to look for, will I be able to move the linkage by hand using a suitable lever ? 
Sorry for what must seem like silly questions but I’ve never done any work on a Diesel engine , more at home servicing fishing reels.

The hose is standard reinforced vacuum line hose.

 

I never had to work on or around the actuator on my MK2 Octavia, it was a 90hp TDi Alhambra that was the one that did what yours did, access was tight and from underneath, yours will be cramped, if it wasn't then there would be anough seperation of between the hoses and the exhaust/turbo.

 

You will be able to feel the hose along its length from above though and usually can manually operate the actuator from above albeit with a long rod.

 

Hose replacment will no doubt be from above and below, it was 20 years ago now!

The vacuum lines are just 3mm ID nitrile or silicone rubber.

 

The turbo VNT actuator is best reached from underneath the right hand side, I can't recall if removing the under-guard is necessary.

 

With the engine off the actuator should be firmly against the upper low boost stop.

 

Pulling the actuator down to the high boost stop will be approximately 10-15mm of travel, the action should be free and smooth between the stops with the actuator snapping firmly back to the low boost stop.  If it doesn't snap back firmly it likely has a broken diaphragm spring (mine did) and this will cause an turbo over-boost condition resulting in limp mode and possibly EML.

 

Take it from there.

 

 

Edited 26 June, 20223 yr by MicMac

Don't go to the local stealership for the hose if it's needed, when I had my MK1 Octy I replaced all the vacuum pipes with silicone hose from eBay, the price of one hose from the stealer I was able to replace everything for less and have some left over, just make sure the silicone is specified for vacuum 

A Mytyvac will be usefull for confirming operation and seeing any hoses that show signs of deforming inwards although they wont collapse until very hot, those I removed were clearly deteriorated but difficult to see in situ.

 

To be ahead of the game I bought a Chinese Mytyvac some years ago but have not had cause to use it yet.

I've had good results with https://www.powerenhancer.co.uk/archoil-ar6400-d-max-professional-diesel-engine-turbo-dpf-cat-cleaner-concentrate.html

 

For sticky turbo vanes as it is much more powerful cleaner compared to Redex

Thanks everyone for your help.

Removed the plastic engine cover, the large plastic pipes ( one in left and one on right hand side) hoping I’d be able to reach down to the actuator - hot a hope , arms too short and stomach too large. So borrowed a friends trolley jack and lifted the car, placed it on axel stands for safety, removed the under tray , with a bit of manoeuvring I managed to get under the car, found the actuator linkage and actually managed to move it a bit, access is pretty awkward, fashioned a piece of steel rod into a basic hook, attached a handle so I could pull down on the linkage ( where the E clip fits on) and it moved approx 15mm , snaps back a bit sharpish when released, I had expected it to be difficult to move or at the least stiffish, tried this a few times and have checked the vacuum pipe that feeds it - visually and with a gauge , it holds a vacuum, the actuator looks to be in really great condition, no visible corrosion. Whilst I had the big hoses off the top , I had a look inside the EGR, it’s not that dirty , cleaned the hose ends and reassembled, I’ll have to invest in a fault code reader for the future. 
As the actuator is quite free in operation I’m hoping a Mr Muscle enema won’t be required.