Power loss.. Help!!

[schumacher]

I had the strangest thing happen to my car.. It just doesn't pull as hard anymore. I barely had to give 100% throttle to pass cars on the highway but now 100% throttle doesn't seem enough and I find myself trying to push the pedal even harder, though I know that isn't gonna do a thing for a drive-by-wire car. It is pretty hot nowadays but I don't think temperature alone would cause this? To add fuel to the fire, I ran a freakin 16.2 @ 84.7 mph at the track. I did have a bad launch but it should at least be in the mid 15's with the APR 91, notwithstanding the weather. I got a local Vdubber to VAG-COM my car today and the only code I got is the 18010 - Power Supply (B+) Terminal 30 Low Voltage. The reason being that I disconnected the battery to reset the ECU the other day. We cleared that code and checked out the MAF readings. At idle, it read 2.2 g/m and went up as I revved the engine. So,, no codes, no CEL, MAF is working fine, what could be the problem? I did notice that my secondary air injection hose (the black plastic hose that comes off the airbox) was kind of loose, but couldn't get it tightened because the plastic clamp thing looked like it snapped. Would I be better off with a breather filter attached to the hose and the hole in the airbox plugged? I thought maybe it was timing belt that was causing the problem, so I checked it for cracks / dryness but the belt looked like it was brand new. I finally got the boost gauge and I will be installing it tomorrow morning,, so I should be able to give you something more to work with. I'm still waiting on the N75J that Jetta@180 sent.. BTW,, I haven't received the Paypal money request yet...
Any inputs appreciated.

[Klipse]

Let us know what the boost gauge tells you, somethings definetely up if you're trapping 84 mph...

[Kaos]

Out of curiosity do you have one of those upgrade lower intercooler pipes?
My car was doing the same thing be fore the pipe got a leak soo big it just shut me down.
The wheel was pushing on it constanly moving it a little at a time. I felt the car was losing power.Then finaly the leak got too big. Just check it to see if you see oil on the pipe. Thats what I saw and when my friend hit the throttle for me I felt alot of air come out.

[schumacher]

I don't have aftermarket intercooler pipe.. it's just the stock pancake one but I'll see if mine does something like what yours did when my friend comes over to help with the boost gauge install. I hope that is the case..

[Mtetkosk]

Originally Posted by schumacher

I don't have aftermarket intercooler pipe.. it's just the stock pancake one but I'll see if mine does something like what yours did when my friend comes over to help with the boost gauge install. I hope that is the case..

this happened to my buddy's A4 1.8T...the hose connected to his DV came loose and he was getting no boost at all, hell his car felt slower than a freakin civic...check that out

[schumacher]

It ain't the DV hose, I don't know wth is going on because I just went to pick up my brother and the car felt like it got all the power back and then on the way back to my house it felt like it's weaker again. Maybe I went into soft limp mode. The boost gauge is leaking like a mofo,, making a hissing noise everytime I hit boost.. I'm going to try tighten the nuts a bit more and see if that helps.. It's supposed to read somewhere around 20 mm/hg when I'm idling right? Mine's reading like 17 mm/hg.

[Kaos]

My VDO boost gauge reads at 21vac at idle. Ifthat helps.
If I turn on the AC it reads at 18-19 vac.

[turb7]

Originally Posted by schumacher

It ain't the DV hose, I don't know wth is going on because I just went to pick up my brother and the car felt like it got all the power back and then on the way back to my house it felt like it's weaker again. Maybe I went into soft limp mode. The boost gauge is leaking like a mofo,, making a hissing noise everytime I hit boost.. I'm going to try tighten the nuts a bit more and see if that helps.. It's supposed to read somewhere around 20 mm/hg when I'm idling right? Mine's reading like 17 mm/hg.

make sure you are using teflon tape with all of the male screw parts. it shouldn't leak

[schumacher]

I tightened the female threads tighter with a wrench and it doesn't leak anymore,, but I'm still getting 18 mm/hg when idling, and getting 20 mm/hg when cruising. I think I definitely have a leak somewhere,, possibly the intercooler piping like Caezar suggested. Caezar, did you hear any air leak noise coming from the passenger side when you were losing power? Cuz when I was stepping on it in second gear the boost went up to 15 psi, kinda fluctuated and went down to 10 psi and right at that moment I was hearing the air leaking noise.

[Kaos]

I kept on hearing a vveepssssst noise. when it would boost. It got worse as It was time for the tube to come out. I thought it was the turbo going..
Search for oil around all the charge tubes. On chipped cars the intake suck oil back out ofthe crank case( big dong has the fix but I forgot it) it tends to get stuck in the intercooler charge piping. The sight of oil should lead you to the leak Thats how I found mine. Plus I stuck my hand around the piping when my freind pressed the gas. When the turbo spools it still presurizes the charge pipe up to reddy presure so air leaking will be felt.

But is sounds to me you have the leak comming from the manifold side of the throttle body. if it was in the charge pipe only you would still get 20vac on the gauge. so check more around the mani and use dish soapwith water in a spray bottle check for leaks in the gaskets hoses too. Knightrider from 18Turbo had a leak on the FPR hose .He could not see it because of the braded hose. I told him to spray the soapy water and the it showed up.

[schumacher]

The thing is I didn't tap the boost gauge line off the FPR. I tapped it off the DV line. I heard the same noise you were describing, actually for a while now ever since I got the turbo replaced. The shop must've damaged the charge pipes in some way or didn't tighten it enough. If I can't find the leak tomorrow, I'm just going to go to the shop and say "Fix this."

[Kaos]

Ok now some of it makes sence. Not on the power part but on the gauge part. If you have the gauge hooked up to the DV then the reading will be off. You are actualy reading the N249 vac signal. It opens and closes alot and has a diferent reading due to all the stuff from the dv to the mani ( check valves galor) . I would sugest geting a reading off one of the lines directly off the mani. FPR being the best source. Oh get new tubing too. I hate the VW factory stuff. Tends to crumble up

[schumacher]

I think it's alright,, after the engine warms up the vacuum sits right at 20 mm/hg. About the power loss,, at first I thought it was the hot weather but it couldn't be because if the car feels like that just because it's hot outside,, I'd rather be driving a Civic. It has to be the intercooler pipe.. Or my intercooler just has too much blockage with oil sludge and just can't dissipate heat when it's hot.

[schumacher]

Ok,, another symptom. I don't know if this is normal but the cooling fan comes on even when it's cool outside when I'm idling with a warmed up engine. Carlson if you can,, chip in please. No one would know this better than a VW/Audi certified tech.

[schumacher]

Found the reason.



After cutting that part of the hose off and replacing the N75F with the J valve, the car runs like a bat out of a hell. I also ordered Cosmo Racing short shifter kit (Very similar to the B&M Racing one) and the Eibach Pro-kit springs. They should be in by next week sometime so I'll post up some pictures after the install!

Here are some shots of the boost gauge..