Hi all,

 

Recently my car has been going into limp mode under high load/revs at speed. This only started after a recent service.

 

I returned it to the service garage who said an EGR fault code was showing. They claimed to have cleaned the EGR. After this it was ok for a day or two but the same issue reoccurred.

 

Took it to another garage who couldn't find any faults.

 

So I inspected t myself. This is what the solenoid vacuum block looked like See image 1

 

Hmmm, pipe 6 is not fully pressed in place. I touched this pipe and it broke the nipple off!  See image 2

 

So I'm guessing some garage has done this.  Anyways, I need to get it fixed. I have sourced a used part from Ebay - the cap with the 6 nipples and pipes already attached. Image 3. This part seems to be for a BXE engine but mine is a BSW. Not sure if this makes a difference.

 

So I have 2 questions.

 

1. Is it ok to drive the car briefly with pipe 6 detached?
2. Is it easy to detach the pipes from the cap nipples? Assuming the part I have bought is correct, the easiest thing would be to pull the pipes off the existing cap and attach them to the replacement. But they look really well attached! I wouldn't want to damage them.

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

Jason

 

1. Yes.

 

2. Not easy, if it were easy any idiot could do it! However you can make it easier by using a hot air gun to warm the pipes before removing or refitting them.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Great idea regarding the hot air gun. I guess it should make the pipes more supple.

 

Do you happen to know what pipe 6 is for? I can't seem to find an explanation on the net.

 

Cheers

The trick to removing vac pipes is to push them, rather than pull them. So get a flat screwdriver in between the end and the flat plastic face and twist to push the end away. Go at it from a few angles and it should start to move.

 

Had same issue with my 1.9 TDI fixed it with a straight connection water washer plastic pipe glued it in with ardaldite then cut off excess plastic inside the unit , I  did get a replacement from ebay think it cost around £35 , but it didn't cure the limp home mode, garage said it was the EGR but I  bypassed this buy blocking the rubber pipe up but made no difference other than a slight over run when shutting the car off, it turned out in the end to be a faulty vac unit on the turbo that opens up the turbo when you need more power in the higher gears, it was ok in the first 3 gears but then if you were going up a slight hill in 4th and put your foot down it would throw out a engine management light and go into limp mode, if you stopped and re started it would be ok again untill you did this sort of thing again, I replaced the vac unit with a new one from a oem parts seller and i think it was around £70 but well worth it as the car was back to full power again

Here's the diagram for BSW engine code:

 

Edited 31 July, 20232 yr by Breezy_Pete
corrected engine code

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

41 minutes ago, Murdockman said:

... it turned out in the end to be a faulty vac unit on the turbo that opens up the turbo when you need more power in the higher gears, it was ok in the first 3 gears but then if you were going up a slight hill in 4th and put your foot down it would throw out a engine management light and go into limp mode, if you stopped and re started it would be ok again until you did this sort of thing again ...

 

Mine does exactly the same thing, except there are no engine management lights showing on the dashboard when it happens.

 

I'm meant to be driving to Spain in a week or so, so this issue is bad timing. All the local VAG independent specialists are fully booked for almost a couple of weeks hence why I'm on here.

 

Another thing I've noticed, which might be related, is that the brake pedal feels like it is gets stiff more easily. For example, when idling if you press the brake pedal up and down a few times it becomes really stiff until you rev the engine, which i think is normal. When I'm braking and almost coming to a halt, sometimes I'll release the pedal a bit and then press it again. I've noticed now that if I do this the pedal feels stiffer on the second press than it did before. Not a huge amount but enough to be noticeable. I guess this could also be related to some vacuum issue.

 

 

 

 

I got all excited when I read that 6 goes to the air filter and was going to say you can continue to drive the car, but I had gone straight to the text not seen the other larger numbers on the diagram.

 

Pipe 6 goes to a regulator valve to create the required vacuum level, a fractured pipe there means little or no vacuum

9 minutes ago, J.R. said:

I got all excited when I read that 6 goes to the air filter and was going to say you can continue to drive the car, but I had gone straight to the text not seen the other larger numbers on the diagram.

 

Pipe 6 goes to a regulator valve to create the required vacuum level, a fractured pipe there means little or no vacuum

 

I misread the same thing!

 

I just started the car, it idles fine, and the brake vacuum seems to be working so at least I can stop if I drive it!.

That valve (item 4 in the image) is the turbo vane control actuator, I think.

Any vac hose that is (undeliberately) open to the air like the broken off one can potentially affect the available vacuum for controlling other things.

Yes indeed looking at it again thats what it says in so many words and the icon is an exact representation of the actuator.

 

Speedreading catches me out once again!

 

It will be a very slow drive to Spain if left like that!