Urgent Help Needed With An 2.0 Tdi Problem

[dstev]

Hi all,

I have a problem that has developed on the wives 2009 A3 2.0 TDI CR that has done 113k.

We had the glow plug light come on last week so took it to our normal Audi Specialist who said it was the EGR and that it was probably blocked. Instead of paying the £100+ for them to remove and clean it (plus they couldn't fit us in for a couple of weeks) I thought I'd have a go at it with my father in law. I bought the relevant gaskets and seals from Audi and set about it. Now I had seen a fair few guides and it seemed fairly simple. What I did fail to spot though were that most of these guides were for the older TDI engine and not the newer CR engine. We started undoing the bolts around the EGR and it was only when we were struggling that I looked in to it further and discovered I would need to remove the manifold also. Anyway we thought we'd give it a go still and to cut a long story short, 6 hours later we had removed it all, cleaned the EGR and put everything back together again. The actual EGR was mucky but nowhere near blocked however what I believe was the cooling valve on the side was completely encrusted in carbon and probably couldn't open hence the light.

Anyway I nervously started it again and she kicked in straight away. I had a couple of warning lights (steering wheel one and ESP) but these went as soon as I pulled off. Apart from a tiny bit of coughing and spluttering on the initial start up the engine seemed to be running fine. However I took it for a short drive and as i put my foot down the engine makes a high pitched rattling/whooshing noise as it got above 2k rpm. It sounded like a permanently shaken maraca. To add to this the engine was reluctant to rev much past 2.5k rpm. Then as i took my foot off the accelerator there was a whooshing noise just like a dump valve on a boy racer car. However no warning lights!

Does anyone have any ideas? My wife really needs the car as we have a 4 month baby but I'm wary of driving it. Thanks in advance!

 

[T8DPR]

sounds like your turbo might also need a good clean

I've just put 2 bottles of forte diesel turbo cleaner in with a full tank of fuel after it came back with an overboost fault (not revving over 3k and no warning lights) and so far so good, no more faults and has picked up a lot although I still have half a tank to run off yet over the next couple of weeks, if you do this, don't be alarmed by the amount of crap that comes out of the exhaust when you give it some boot after the fuel additive

ALSO its worth mentioning that this issue you have now may be completely unrelated to the glowplug light issue you've just solved

 

[dstev]

OK thanks for the advice.

I've just driven the short journey home and the problem is worse. The noise comes as soon as the turbo spools up around 1.3 - 1.5k revs and the power is seriously reduced although I'm sure the turbo is still working. I darent take it much past this! Is there a chance the noise could be tiny bits of carbon that have made there way in to the turbo?

 

[Omy193]

my car does the same thing if driven rough with no warning lights

After a good few high end gear changes (past 3k revs) it struggles to rev past 2.5k/3k revs with lack of power (as if the turbo has stopped working). But as soon as i turn off the car and start it again everything is fine again. Engine light will come on after a day or so.
Had it checked out on vagcom and has given glow plug 1,2,4 error and 'Boost control pressure', had the errors erased and light goes out but will come back on after a day or 2 of driving.

Having the flywheel changed tomorrow hopefully so will get the glowplugs and boost control checked out (possibly turbo actuator?) and let you guys know what the outcome is.

 

[Geraldy212]

First thing would be to check all boost pipes for leaks, cracks, and proper fixings. As you have had the manifold off, you may have disturbed the intake air system. Second would be to get it scanned with VCDS and see if any fault codes show up. That may well give you a clue as to what has happened. Good luck.

 

[dstev]

OK just found the problem and it was a bit of an amateur mistake to say the least! When putting the pipe back on under the EGR valve I must have got distracted whilst tightening the jubilee clip and then forgot to go back to it! It was pretty much dark last night when we finished but opened the bonnet up this morning and instantly noticed the pipe had almost slipped off. Anyway tightened it up and took the car on a few mile test run and it runs like a dream to be honest, very very smooth!