Car Juddering In Low Revs After Head And Turbo Replacement.

[Wesley]

When driving at low revs the car slightly judders and feels like it's misfiring. If I put my foot down and the turbo kicks in its smooth and feels like normal. (Full story below)

 

 

 

So this has been a long 2 weeks of working on my car and I can finally drive it but it's not 100% back to normal.

 

So I have a 53 plate 1.9tdi 130bhp Galaxy. I have owned it for nearly 5 years now. So a couple of months ago the car was driving perfectly but overheating and over pressuring so last Wednesday I decided to replace the head. So replacement head, head gasket, timing belt kit, thermostat and waterpump.

 

We originaly struggled getting it started and when it did start there was no power. We tried adjusting the timing via the cam and that sorted the staring issue and I had a spare turbo and that seemed to sort the power problem out.

 

The car seems underpowered and has a judder when between 1k and 2k revs then it cleared. I just assumed the turbo was faulty. The car managed to make 80 miles and then the turbo blew.

 

So today I bought and fitted a brand new turbo. And did a service on the car.

 

Now when driving there is no smoke but it still feels like a judder or misfire in low Revs and feels underpowered especially between 1k and 2k and I have no clue where to start. Now if it was a petrol I would start with spark plugs because that's the type of feeling you get.

 

I'm stil thinking it could be the timing (cam) adjustment but am not sure.

 

Thanks.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Wesley

[tamworthleon]

How did you check the timing? Did you use a tool made for the job. I had the same sort of problem when i bought my 130. Belt was stripped and had issues getting the timing right. Bought the tool for the job and all is well. Only other thing the head you bought secondhand?

[Wesley]

The head was off a working engine but I had it skimmed and pressure tested and professionally cleaned and all the seals replaced.

 

With regards to the timing. What tool do mean.

[Wesley]

I have the locking tool but this doesn't allow for the cam pulley adjustment.

[BrianH]

The injector loom is a known problematic component on some of the diesels, bearing in mind you will have had to disturb it to replace the head it may be worth looking there. VCDS being the easiest way to start with if you have access to it, if you don't currently have it then a lead can be picked up off ebay for a few pounds and vcds-lite from rosstech's website will be enough to check for any faults being logged.

 

It should at least allow you to rule it out if nothing else.