Gutless Below 2100

[motly]

Hi all,

hope someone can help. I bought My Galaxy 2003 Ghia td and within a week it went back for a new turbo ( limp mode 3 times ). Now all ok except there is little or no power until about 2100rpm when the turbo comes in. It poodles nicely in 5th and 6th at fairly low revs but if I need to go anywhere reasonably quickly, I have to drop perhaps 2 gears to get into the 'power band'. Is this normal? If it had more guts at lower rpm it would be great. Apart from the limp home problem, it seemed better before the turbo replacement. I must admit I am used to driving a diesel Ford focus where power is there all the time but the galaxy seems to need a completely new driving technique. Any help apreciated.

Tim.

[motly]

Come on chaps, give me a clue. Do you always have to drive the beast in the 2100rpm plus band up hill or is mine a bit strange. Super thing to drive but you really have to blast it up hills. Some idea of speed in various gears would help. Not much in the user manual. Also lots of smoke from underneath on cold mornings, presume aux heater but doesn't get warmer any quicker. Still takes 2 miles or more for the guage to move. Iv'e got a 2 year 5 star warranty and would like to sort out any problems soonas.

Regards to all.

[Mirez]

Not normally but you do need to remember its significantly heavier then the focus. What engine have you got? The td comes in 90,115, 130 and 150 power outputs. The 90 is a bit of a slug and if your focus is the more common 115 engine then that weight difference will show. The 130/150 should feel spritely by comparison.

[motly]

Hi Mirez,

Thanks for the reply. Mine is the same as yours 1.9tdi 130 but in pepper red metalflake. It's a great drive but I feel that something is not quite right until the turbo kicks in. It moves OK in normal traffic but at 1500 rpm, even if I floor it, nothing much happens until 2100 rpm. I am new to this vehicle, only had it 3 weeks and two of them were back at the dealers replacing turbo and inlet manifold. Over the weekend I will try out a VAGCOM setup on my laptop. Got the lead from ebay but not done anything with it so far. Be nice to see if any codes come up. The Focus is a 51 plate 'estate' and even with 197k miles on the clock goes very well and still returns 10 miles to the litre.

 

Not normally but you do need to remember its significantly heavier then the focus. What engine have you got? The td comes in 90,115, 130 and 150 power outputs. The 90 is a bit of a slug and if your focus is the more common 115 engine then that weight difference will show. The 130/150 should feel spritely by comparison.

[seatkid]

Try a new MAF sensor.

[motly]

Hi Seatkid,

You may well be right but all I can do is pass suggestions on to garage. They love that when you tell the what you think is wrong. Only just got the beast so it's all down to them. They have arranged a Saturday when I can drop it off and pick up 3 - 4 hours later. main man reckons they will adjust things ( rods ) so that bthe turbo comes in earlier. Now if I did that, it would invalidate the warranty. Anyway so far it's cost them best part of 2k. They got Frauds to do the diagnostics, tyhat took them twice replaced several bits before eventually turbo and possibly inlet manifold. Don't much care as long as they pay and it all ends up good. By then it looks like I will have a lot of new parts,

 

-.-. .... . . .-. ... G1FKP

[chrispb123456]

The turbo actuator rod is set by the manufacturer and "shouldn't" need adjustment, it has been mentioned on here before about a slight reduction in power after replacing a turbo with overboost problems, mention to them about N75 valve as this can also result with similar problems.

The MAF sensor is a good bet a this point as it rarely leaves a fault code, so substitution with a known good one or new and not one from ebay is the way to go.

[motly]

Thanks for that info. They said that the turbo should not have needed any adjustment as this is done during before they get it but they are only too happy to move the 'cut in' point a bit lower in rpm. At 1000 to 2000 rpm there really is nothing. They seem to know what they are doing. Unusually for a used car dealer, this one started life as a top notch service / repair center and they honestly don't like unhappy customers or a bad reputation. So far they have gone the extra mile to be helpful. I will take it out for a decent run this weekend, it's only done shopping up till now. Hope to stick diagnostics on it to but not found the connector as yet. Is this model 2003 td ghia ashtry or somewhere near the fusebox / right hand side of steering column?

Regards to all.

[chrispb123456]

When you eventually get it right and running ok You need to give it an Italian tune up regularly!! it reduces the build up of sticky soot on the turbo vanes, what caused the problem to start with. :(

[motly]

Dunno, Just went into limp mode once on the way home from purchasing it and again a few day later. They could not make too much sense from the codes they got so sent it to Frauds as their kit shows more info. Frauds replaced a couple of parts ( I don't know exact details ) but still the same when my guys road tested it. Went back to Frauds and they finally said replace turbo. All is now OK except the lack of GO. Turbo's are expensive and they tried everything else first. Seems to be a few new bits under the bonnet but the MAF looks original. I presume that's the section with the connector in the big intake pipe left hand side of engine compartment. I used to do most things on previous vehicles engines, gearboxes, clutches etc but at 64 and with a 2 year warranty don't really want to get too involved apart from an overly keen interest in whats what hence the laptop VAGCOM setup.

 

When you eventually get it right and running ok You need to give it an Italian tune up regularly!! it reduces the build up of sticky soot on the turbo vanes, what caused the problem to start with. :(

[motly]

By the way whats an Italian tuneup? or is that just 'give it some welly down the motorway to blow cobwebs out'. The other half tends to get a bit edgy when I go into brown trousers flying mode. have to wait till she snoozes off.

[seatkid]

By the way whats an Italian tuneup? or is that just 'give it some welly down the motorway to blow cobwebs out'. The other half tends to get a bit edgy when I go into brown trousers flying mode. have to wait till she snoozes off.

Yep you got it.

 

I really think you should try a new MAF sensor.

 

Turbos should not be adjusted! The "cut in" point as you put it is dictated by the ECU. It looks at throttle demand, revs, coolant temperature and airflow (using the MAF sensor). The ECU is mapped to ensure overfuelling (and black smoke) does not occur. This is largely down to the readings from the MAF sensor. The turbo is fully variable and the ecu controls a solenoid valve (N75) to control the vacuum operated actuator on the turbo. It gets feedback from the turbo pressure sensor and so is a closed loop control system.

 

I really think you should try a new MAF sensor.

[motly]

Thank's for the advice. I will keep you posted as to what they have to replace but If I get a MAF it's expensive and got to be the absolute correct one for the vehicle. Seen too many people just replace it with any old thing and end up with more prob's. As a matter of interest, what results should I get just pulling the MAF plug? might be worth trying?

[chrispb123456]

By the way whats an Italian tuneup? or is that just 'give it some welly down the motorway to blow cobwebs out'. The other half tends to get a bit edgy when I go into brown trousers flying mode. have to wait till she snoozes off.

Yes that sort of thing but a long uphill gradient with a fully loaded car using a lower gear than normal to give you between 3000 to 3500 RPM and hold it there, road conditions etc permitting, you get the idea.

The car had probably done a lot of town driving or to much looking at the MPG display, they do need to be driven hard occasionally as you say blow the cobwebs out.

[motly]

OK on that. What can I expect if I disconnect the MAF plug just for a quick test run? Another unrelated to GAL question... how come I am a newbie? Does this change after so many posts? Couldn't see anything in help files. don't really mind but at 64, old fart would be more exact...

[chrispb123456]

Generally if nothing happens and no difference in performance when you unplug then you have a problem, usually vagcom will register an open or short to ground because of the disconnection but only sure way is to replace.

With Vagcom using measuring blocks and creating a log file you can do a drive and monitor whats going on and save it to an Excel document, with the full registered version you can actually test things like the N75 N18 valves and operation of EGR and manifold flap valve.

[motly]

If I pull the plug, do the codes for o/c MAF sensor get stored? When I take it back next week, these codes will be seen and they might presume MAF intermittent? Will have a go over the weekend if time permits. Not used the VAGCOM setup yet, still looking for the connector. Really must get on and do some work before it's time to go home.

[motly]

I dont seem to be able to do to much with the diagnostics. Using VCDS Lite and other applications but although the software recognises the com port, it spend oodles just retrying and failing to find anything. I gave up as it was taking too long. There was some mention when checking that the communication was slow or poor. It's a nice little netbook that I am running the program on, using Windows XP. Is there a recognised way to speed things up or get better results?

[chrispb123456]

Hi Motly

Sounds like it may not have installed correctly, do you get to many communication errors? you could try turning down the latency from 16 to 3.

 

Where abouts are you in Kent? may be able to help!!

[motly]

Sorry about the late reply, been up to my neck in all sorts of things. Seems to acknowledge that the interface is there but on trying to communicate with various modules starting from 01, it tries and tries but nothing. Took so long looking that I had to abandon the exercise. I am near to Westerham in Kent. Having spent some time this weekend with the car fully loaded and otherwise, it's not so bad. I just expected a bit more gusto.Seems be getting better since the turbo was replaced. Maybe me getting used to it. On a steep hill near me, if I am not quick with the gear change and it drops below 2000 rpm, I have to drop back down and give it some more welly. I just don't like running the rpm up to about 4000 before changing gear. Having said that, when I do push it a bit, it will happily go up the hill in 4th at about 60mph.

 

Hi Motly

Sounds like it may not have installed correctly, do you get to many communication errors? you could try turning down the latency from 16 to 3.

 

Where abouts are you in Kent? may be able to help!!

[motly]

Sorry I missed the bit on latency. How do I adjust this? Did not see a field for latency in the first screen or two.