Evening all, I'm hoping for some help here, here's the situation.

Son's 53 plate VRS suddenly seems to have lost power, smoking a lot out the back, engine didn't want to rev up and poor idle. After speaking to a few garages and doing a bit of searching on the internet the symptoms seemed to indicate a bad turbo. I bought a remanufactured Garrett and fitted that today. The old turbo had a fair bit of play in the shaft and had obviously been leaking oil past the seals for a while, the intercooler pipework had a lot of oil which I cleaned out before refitting.

Fitted everything carefully, checked everything and then time for test drive. Hey presto - fault still present only now accompanied by brakes being awful - as if the servo isn't working at all. I don't consider the turbo replacement to be a waste as it was obviously knackered and needed doing anyway.

It's too late for me to start checking anything else now but I'm after some tips.

I think the servo apparent failure could be down to a vacuum issue somewhere but I'm not familiar with the Fabia system so that's a guess. I'm also wondering if the engine troubles could be related.

Other things I will need to check:

1) MAF - cleaned it and it looks OK but obviously that doesn't mean anything, I will test it tomorrow and see what sort of voltage it's getting and if the signal wire shows a nice shifting pattern or jerks around all over the shop

2) MAP sensor, there was a check engine light and the code (can't remember what it was) indicated duff MAP sensor. This check engine light has apparently cured itself but interestingly this cure happened at the same time as the loss of engine power.

3) I'm going to check all vacuum connections, all the pipework and all the intake system to see if there's any bad air leaks anywhere.

4) Check intercooler and pipework for any leaks.

Other than that I'm stumped so I'd appreciate any tips folks might have - anything that explains the engine loss of power issue and the brake issue.

The engine is more or less standard PD130, it has had an EGR delete some time back and it has a front mount intercooler with associated pipework, otherwise all standard.

Thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated!

A little update - brake issue resolved, vacuum pipe has a small split at the connection near the pump, fixed with tape and a hose clamp and I'll order a replacement pipe but it works for now.

Also replaced the MAF with a known good replacement (Bosch genuine part) and then test drive - same issue as before, low power and smoking a lot.

Now we've disconnected the battery and we're allowing the ECU to forget everything then we'll try again and see if that's made any difference. Otherwise, I'm stumped.

A little more of an update. Unable to find anything else wrong - no codes being thrown at all other then EGR (we deleted the EGR so expected that) we investigated the vacuum hoses and connections. We also checked that the turbo actuator can move freely which it does.

Vacuum is being produced but it doesn't seem very strong. We found another split in a pipe - the one that goes onto the nipple of the tandem pump, we've repaired that, vacuum seems a little stronger but the symptoms persist.

The engine is still down on power, jerky and smokes a fair bit - black smoke. It's as if the engine is over-fuelling and the turbo is not spooling up. This all suggests lack of vacuum so the actuator is doing its thing - I'm wondering if the tandem pump is in need of a service/replacement. We're going to do the N75 solenoid valve mod and see if that helps at all - going scrap yard hunting tomorrow to see if we can find one, also grab a replacement tandem pump if we can.

Otherwise, as said, can't find anything wrong at all. Car starts immediately, idles happily but doesn't want to rev much and smokes.

Cheers

20 minutes ago, Argonaut said:

The engine is still down on power, jerky and smokes a fair bit - black smoke. It's as if the engine is over-fuelling and the turbo is not spooling up. This all suggests lack of vacuum so the actuator is doing its thing

Check all the pipework from the turbo to the inlet manifold.

I would get it read for fault codes to see what comes up plus as said check pipes. I once removed and replaced pipes but one didn;t seal properly and my old fabia 1.9tdi and it ran like S##t until I found the culpriit also when was airfilter changed. Might be worth running it without one for a short time to check its not choked.

Alasdair

31 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

I would get it read for fault codes to see what comes up plus as said check pipes. I once removed and replaced pipes but one didn;t seal properly and my old fabia 1.9tdi and it ran like S##t until I found the culpriit also when was airfilter changed. Might be worth running it without one for a short time to check its not choked.

Alasdair

Air filter is quite new, maybe a month old. I'll re-check all the pipework although I've already checked it twice, maybe I've missed something. Would any leaks in the intercooler pipework cause the symptoms? (not that I've found any such leaks but maybe there's something). I did already mention we checked for error codes, apart from EGR there's nothing (EGR is deleted)

42 minutes ago, Paws4Thot said:

Check all the pipework from the turbo to the inlet manifold.

Will do

1 hour ago, Argonaut said:

Would any leaks in the intercooler pipework cause the symptoms?

Quite possibly. My Octy (TDI 110) audibly popped a joint between turbo and intercooler after the cambelt change. The results were a total loss of boost pressure and a black smokescreen. TBF to the workshop they replaced the VAG spring clips that popped with proper Terry Jubilee clips same day.

7 minutes ago, Paws4Thot said:

Quite possibly. My Octy (TDI 110) audibly popped a joint between turbo and intercooler after the cambelt change. The results were a total loss of boost pressure and a black smokescreen. TBF to the workshop they replaced the VAG spring clips that popped with proper Terry Jubilee clips same day.

Yeah, had that before, the original clips are rubbish- that’s why we changed it to a front mount intercooler with different pipes- that’s been golden

If you cant find any leaks in pipes it might be worth changing MAP anyway as it pinged up a fault code previously. At least you would know its not the MAP or MAF.

Alasdair

7 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

If you cant find any leaks in pipes it might be worth changing MAP anyway as it pinged up a fault code previously. At least you would know its not the MAP or MAF.

Alasdair

Did that already on Saturday, old one was a bit oily.

Back to checking pipes it is then. Good luck

Alasdair

Well, an update.

Measured the vacuum, it’s pulling 26inches of mercury measured at the vacuum reservoir inlet pipe and also directly of the inlet pipe for the vacuum box.

Checked but found no leaks on the intercooler pipework and it’s pushing good boost (you can feel strong pressure on the silicone hoses if you try to squeeze them when revving the engine).

Still have the same issue though- low power and smoking.

Smoke is more grey/blue than black and something I should have commented before- it stinks- could this be a clogged cat?

Grey blue smoke is normally oil burning but if you have just changed turbo it might be residual thats burning off. On the other hand if the old turbo seals had failed and it was dumping oil into cat then it could very well be a clogged/damaged cat. Had similar probs with a clogged DPF but the PD dont have one. Might be worth a compression check to see if any cylinders are down on compression just in case the HG has gone.

As for the cat I havent had any luck in the past with the cleaner additives and ended up replacing it when they got blocked/damaged. Mine stunk of rotten eggs on my old octavia. Turbo had failed and filled intercooler with oil. Not much smoke when idling but if it was idling for a while when you took off it filled the road with blue grey smoke. Got so bad I had to make sure when I parked I could drive straight on as I couldn't see to reverse. Had no engine light but was down on power like limp mode

A random and probably not thought is the timing might have jumped a tooth? When was the belt changed last?

Alasdair

Thanks Alasdair,

Timing belt, water pump, alternator pulley, idler pulley and tensioner were all changed in March this year.

I’m suspecting clogged cat, the old turbo had leaked oil past the seals both hot and cold sides

Reckon a new or known working second hand one will be in order. Don't think they are cleanable. You coud de cat it but would probably cause MOT problems. I got my last one from https://www.cats2u.co.uk

It was for an old volvo 940 and price was pretty good.

Alasdair