Hi all.

I have asked this before and I'm still experiencing the same issue. I have a 2.0tdi 190, manual transmission. It's a 2016 with 157000 miles on the clock. It's been regularly serviced up until recently by Skoda, now by a local garage. I've owned it since 26000 miles. There is no smoke, no dashboard lights, it starts and runs fine. However until the turbo kicks in it feels odd, particularly on pull away. It just feels weak.

Pulling away i can do on the clutch alone fine, but if I use the throttle the revs all drop as I bring the clutch up and the car feels like it would stall, so I have to dip the clutch and then bring it back up at which point it will go as it's rolling. It's even worse when on a hill or towing our caravan.

I had a new clutch and flywheel fitted in April which hasn't really made any difference to my problem.

I noticed if I have it set on sport mode it feels more responsive when pulling away, but still have this issue with it feeling like it wants to stall. so I'm wondering if somehow it's a mapping or throttle issue.

I've attached a photo of my dpf values from recently. I don't think there is anything too much wrong. It regenerates I guess around every 150 miles or so and the ash residue is at 72%.

Im just wondering if somewhere it's a bit clogged up. I'm reluctant to put it into a garage as I can only assume as there are no codes, diagnostics is going to be costly.

I just wondered if anyone had similar experience and found a fix or where anyone technically minded had any thoughts.

Thanks.

Adrian.

My 2p - if it hasn't always been like that its not likely to be a software issue that is degrading by itself - software is usually either fine or very not. Physical electrical items tend to be sporadic.

What's your driving habits like with regard to journey length and frequency?

Have you tried an Italian tune-up? It probably isn't needed so much these days with DPF but it could be worth it.

Turbo coming on song would point to some sort of assistance on the intake side but that will possibly be compensatory, same as Sport mode. Is there anyone near you with a similar car you could try and try yours?

I drive around 300 miles per week, my journey to work is 30 miles up the motorway. Every now and then I give it a run in 4th gear.

There is no one I know locally with the same car unfortunately so I don't think I can compare.

When I pull away just using the clutch the revs spike up to prevent stalling but as soon as you touch the throttle and bring the clutch up all the revs just fall away.

I have tried to bring the clutch up slower which does help but it still feels like I have to kind of slip the clutch to prevent it stalling.

It just feels like it don't have enough power to get itself going properly if that makes sense.

I wonder if I have some sort of boost leak but then I would see smoke wouldn't I?

23 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

However until the turbo kicks in it feels odd, particularly on pull away. It just feels weak.

Sounds like a diesel....without turbo they are pretty sluggish.

Has it always done this or has it been a recent development?

Does it pull ok when moving?

What about if you let the revs drop off to say 650 rpm in say second gear then give it some beans?

23 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

Pulling away i can do on the clutch alone fine,

Not entirely sure what you mean by this.

Do you mean release the clutch without any throttle? And it doesn't stall?

But if you rev it, then it appears to want to stall more?

Maybe the throttle sensor is a bit worn, what if you give it heaps of beans, like in 4000 rpm and release the clutch and floor it (smoothly), does that still die right down?

Id image a small 2L diesel will die off a fair bit with a load like pulling away, and a caravan would make it really struggle.

Maybe it's just a matter of letting the clutch out a bit slower.

But again, was it always like this or a new thing?

Once I had a landcruiser where the timing was out by a tooth (previous owner didn't time it correctly) at it had bugger all low down torque but was fine at high rpm.

Maybe the variable timing isn't quite right (if equipt) or someone has timed it incorrectly.

23 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

soon as you touch the throttle and bring the clutch up all the revs just fall away.

How much do they fall away? All the way to stall or just down to 800 rpm or something?

A boost leak would more likely show at higher power than idle.

You most likely wouldn't see smoke because it would be caught by the DPF but it would fill up pretty quickly.

Could be a split hose in the intake before the turbo ?

Or perhaps sticky/dirty turbo actuator ?

MAF sensor dirty/faulty?

If you have a OBD tool you could try to measure some real-time data when you pull away, boost pressure, engine speed, Mass AirFlow etc

Yeah agree with that - splits in the intake wouldn’t give any smoke but you’d likely get a loss of performance and possibly hear a whistling sound depending on where etc.

10 hours ago, BlueWagon said:

Sounds like a diesel....without turbo they are pretty sluggish.

Has it always done this or has it been a recent development?

Does it pull ok when moving?

What about if you let the revs drop off to say 650 rpm in say second gear then give it some beans?

Not entirely sure what you mean by this.

Do you mean release the clutch without any throttle? And it doesn't stall?

But if you rev it, then it appears to want to stall more?

Maybe the throttle sensor is a bit worn, what if you give it heaps of beans, like in 4000 rpm and release the clutch and floor it (smoothly), does that still die right down?

Id image a small 2L diesel will die off a fair bit with a load like pulling away, and a caravan would make it really struggle.

Maybe it's just a matter of letting the clutch out a bit slower.

But again, was it always like this or a new thing?

Once I had a landcruiser where the timing was out by a tooth (previous owner didn't time it correctly) at it had bugger all low down torque but was fine at high rpm.

Maybe the variable timing isn't quite right (if equipt) or someone has timed it incorrectly.

So, the car has behaved this way for years. The but I can't remember is how it drove when I first bought it. I've had it since 2018, it had cambelt and pump done in 2021. I'm wondering if it's to do with timing but I can't remember how it drove before having that changed.

I'd say it does pull ok when the turbo kicks in.

If I let the revs drop to idle then boot it, it picks up but slowly until around 2k revs. So again I'd say pretty normal.

If I just pull away on clutch alone it will move without it feeling like it wants to stall as the anti stall cuts in. But tonight I tried pulling away with a decent amount of revs and I just pulled the clutch up slowly and the car just stalled. All the revs just disappear. So to stop this I dip the clutch and then bring it up again and then because it's rolling it won't stall. Not sure how else I can explain it.

Car should be able to tow 2 tons. The caravan is 1400kg fully loaded. So I know that's not a small amount of weight but these cars have won awards for towing but I certainly wouldn't say mines a good tow car.

5 hours ago, Gabbo said:

A boost leak would more likely show at higher power than idle.

You most likely wouldn't see smoke because it would be caught by the DPF but it would fill up pretty quickly.

Could be a split hose in the intake before the turbo ?

Or perhaps sticky/dirty turbo actuator ?

MAF sensor dirty/faulty?

If you have a OBD tool you could try to measure some real-time data when you pull away, boost pressure, engine speed, Mass AirFlow etc

If I was to measure real time data what do I compare it to to see if I have a problem or not?

42 minutes ago, travs said:

Yeah agree with that - splits in the intake wouldn’t give any smoke but you’d likely get a loss of performance and possibly hear a whistling sound depending on where etc.

So, I'm not very technical. If it was a split how would I try to find it and do you know where the intake is on the engine. Does it run from the air box to the turbo?

1 hour ago, Itsrelfy said:

So, I'm not very technical. If it was a split how would I try to find it and do you know where the intake is on the engine. Does it run from the air box to the turbo?

That’s ok - I know more than some, less than others. All good for the melting pot of forums.

My experience is with the petrol engines but checking out a google image, the Airbox will be behind the passenger side headlight and then the main intake pipe goes from there to the turbo which is nestled between the engine block and bulkhead (the back wall of the engine bay).

After the turbo, the charge will exit under the intake pipe and run round that same side of the engine block down to the intercooler (mated to the radiator) on the passenger side at the bottom. It exists the intercooler on the drivers side low down where it runs back between the intercooler and engine and up to the throttle body/inlet manifold (please correct if I’m wrong anyone!)

But…of all the things that could happen, I don’t think this is likely. The example I gave had pipes that split because there were 2 turbos on the outside of the banks of a v6. Different setup/different layout. Much weaker design basically.

15 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

and I just pulled the clutch up slowly and the car just stalled. All the revs just disappear

It almost sounds like either the throttle is being electronically shut off (maybe a dodgy throttle switch/brake switch or the like).

Or

You are releasing the clutch too fast.

What happens if you really really slowly release the clutch but dont put it back in. Does it still stall? If so, I'd say it's got an electronic problem.

I had a fairly modern landcruiser which would cut the throttle to idle if the brake was at all pressed. This included when the brake switch was a bit faulty or not adjusted correctly, or for some, when they had a boot slightly resting on the brake.

Make sure it's not that, your boot touching the brake a bit. That may cause the ecu to cut the throttle.

Yeah it just stalls. Don't seeklm to matter how slow I let the clutch up if I don't dip it again it just stalls. Very odd sensation, make driving quite hard when pulling away especially on hills.

22 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

Don't seeklm to matter how slow I let the clutch up if I don't dip it again it just stalls.

Does the throttle appear to work normally after you dip the clutch?

What happens if you try dipping it earlier?

As in before it even starts to drop revs?

Do you sill need to dip it again?

The throttle seems to work ok. Maybe a little lag, or like a small dead spot at the start but I think that's normal from what I've read.

The revs stay up until the clutch starts to engage. So to dip the clutch before doesn't do anything.

It's when the clutch engages and the car starts to move I get the issue. It is very hard to explain because everything kind of works as it should, it's just that the engine revs drop considerably and the car stalls.

I would say it's me pulling the clutch up to quick but I don't think it is. I've driven for over 20 years all manual gearbox, and I've had this car for 8 years. It's just feels really odd.