mazzo

Thanks!

That's interesting - and it told you it didn't work because although the performance was useless, it was consistently useless? When I disconnected mine I couldn't tell much other than I was about to be hit by a bus when I pulled out of a road! Perhaps the extreme excitement of that blurred my senses somewhat! I think I'll have another go.

That wasn't me who got it sorted, but it is interesting. Now you mention it, although the performance was down when I disconnected the MAf, it was consistently down. It's also interesting that yours was better with the MAF connected, yet it was still faulty. That sounds pretty close to what I'm experiencing. Still I intend to get it diagnosed if I can first.

Thanks that's kind. I'm actually in Berkshire. I guess the VW or Ford dealer will be able to do it. I used to know a local guy some years ago who specialised in VW's and had the software, however he's moved!

Oh dear, that makes grim reading! I hope it is the MAF too. Is there a way to get it checked out before I splash out, possibly needlessly, on a new one?

Right. Can't visibly see any problems with the hoses. The egr is reasonably clean, as is the air filter. But there are some newer developments!!!!!! When accelerating in 3rd, 4th or 5th (not the others because the car is not having as much load in 1st and 2nd), at about 2000 - 3500 revs, the car accelerates but you can feel it being inconsistent - almost hesitant. It pulls fine then hangs back a bit, then pulls again, drops off, etc etc. Perhaps this is the start of the MAF going??? The other thing that I noticed at the weekend - and really a lot this morning, was the cloud of blue smoke as I started the engine from cold. Doesn't do it when it is warm, but on a cold start there seems to be loads of blue smoke. This morning the wind was blowing from behind the car and it blew the smoke all around the car and off across the garden. Lots of it!

No, that was by my calculations as I don't have the trip computer. What I do is fill the tank to the top every time and just work it out from the trip mileometer. What I have noticed though is that the speedo and consequently the mileometer under-read. Speedo is more or less OK up to about 40, then it starts dropping by about 5mph so that at 70 on the clock I'm actually only doing 65. This is according to my sat nav with 12ft or less accuracy - which means its speed calculations are pretty good. Mileage is only a bit out, but over 100 miles is usually about 5 miles wrong.

Thanks. Yes all of this helps. Today I disconnected the MAF. Boy what a difference. No acceleration at all. Once reconnected, it was fine again. So I guess the MAF is not the culprit. I will have a look at the filters and egr. It had the air filter changed a year ago and a new fuel filter, oil filter and oil change 3 months ago. I have just filled up this afternoon and got 39mpg. It has been much better than this in the past. I haven't checked the hoses yet, but will - at the same time as the egr. As for driving, I mainly use it for long motorway journeys and occasional driving the family into town. In October I drove it to the south of France and back - and it was as good as gold. Fully loaded we were doing a constant 80 - 85mph and got about 45mpg. Once again, this is all good advice. Thank you! :rolleyes:

Will do. It's piddling down here today, so hopefully do that tomorrow (wife permitting!) Thanks - will report back when I have.

Thanks - I will do that today and report back. And yes, I have the glow plug light intermittently coming on - which I think is the brake pedal switch, however the performance is poor whether it is on or off. It doesn't always come on, it tends to be when cruising on the motorway or leaving the car idling for longer periods of time.

Hi I have been reading as many threads on poor performance as I can, but I'm still not confident that I'm on the right track. My 98 TDi normally runs beautifully, but recently a number of things have started happening. I'll give them in order: 1. At MOT, it just scraped through emissions. They said "you need a service" and I told them it had just had one! 2. At night as I'm driving and I pull away from lights or accelerate (not madly mind you) I can see lots of smoke in my rear view in the beams from the car behind. I also notice soot if my wife drives off (with me watching out of the car) 3. I used to get about 42 to the gallon consistently, but now it's slipping into the late 30's. 4. Power seems OK - but I'm not a hacker and am used to small engined cars (apart from my last Galaxy which was a V6 and like a rocket!!) I seem to think it's the MAF or injectors? I haven't disconnected the MAF because I've read a lots of posts that seem to contradict the outcome of doing so. Any suggestions, tips, checks etc would be very helpful. Thanks (and seasons greetings :rolleyes: )

Thanks, it's the weekend (hooray) so I will try it out tomorrow and report back.

Hi I have managed to open my boot from the inside after it stopped working. Hard job with lots of cuts to my arms! The switch works - and I can hear the relay clicking, but nothing else is. The wiring seems to be OK, but connecting a voltmeter to the connector to the solenoid seems to give mixed readings each time the switch is operated. It varies from 2V to 10.5V. Any ideas? How can I test things? I am not sure what voltage the solenoid needs to trigger - and for how long the voltage should be there (ie is it a pulse rather than a continuous feed)? Do I just feed 12V to the solenoid or will that ruin it? If it is not the solenoid, could it be the relay or something much worse!!! Thanks

Thanks for that. I did read the other posts (especially the one with the differing opinions!) but mine doesn't fit their description. It has always been "normal" without excessive travel and even now sudden, non-progressive low speed braking is absolutely fine. Did the tests. No engine running, pedal hard - no progressive travel. Start engine with foot on brake and it goes down - but again - no further travel. I may be getting paranoid, but I can hear a whooshing sound as I press the brake. It comes from the pedal area. It might have done this before - but I've not noticed it. Then again - I've never listened before! I've had the car nearly 2 years and it has never done this before. There's a little niggle in my mind that the brake test in the MOT could have done something, because up to then - nada.

Just got through the MOT yesterday without a hitch and then today when I was progressively braking, the pedal kept going down. Pumping it brought it up again - and when braking normally it is OK. It is the slow gentle braking at low speed where the pedal sinks. Any ideas? (96 2.8 Galaxy)