Multivan losing power?

[gregozedobe]

How do I find out what engine the MV has in it? It's a 2005 version.

The easiest place to find it is the first 3 letters of the engine number from your rego papers. My 128Kw mit DPF is "BPC".

[h100vw]

I think it has been a lot more responsive before, but it's been five years since it was new, so it is a bit had to remember. Should I ask the dealer to run vagcom and look for error messages while they have it?

They would scan it as part of a service anyway. Probably worth mentioning that it it feels down on power though.

Gavin

[shogun2]

OK
Just arrived in Sydney.
Noticed lack of power when changing down from 6th to 5th to overtake. Engine just took what seemed forever to rev in the mid range under load. Bit frustrating! Could have your foot flat to the floor waiting for the engine revs to catch up.
Any suggestions? Maybe there's someone here in Sydney who could have a look?

[Transporter]

I'd go to independent VW mechanic and get it diagnosed with VCDS.
You can also check the MAF sensor yourself it's easy look in this thread post 2. you can use voltmeter on pin. 5 use long leads on VM and take it for drive. Use graph in the thread for comparing your results.

[gregozedobe]

Any suggestions?

Some other suspects are:

Crap fuel (will fix iteself once you use up most of the "bad" fill and refill with good fuel)

Dirty/partially blocked Air filter

Partially blocked Fuel filter

Boost leak (intake pipes)

Partially blocked injectors

Turbo vanes stuck in low boost position - rare (but still should produce normal power above approx 2,500 rpm)

Have you noticed any other symptoms (eg excessive smoking, engine slow to warm up, running too hot, tapping noises from cams).

[shogun2]

Have already refilled on the way over, but still have the problem.

Air and fuel filters sound plausible.

How do I check a boost leak and injectors and turbo vanes? Suppose a specialist has to do some of these things.

No other symptoms I can think of.

[Golf Loon]

Where are you based in sydney??
I am closed for the hols but can find time to scan your car if you need.

[gregozedobe]

How do I check a boost leak and injectors and turbo vanes? Suppose a specialist has to do some of these things.

You could have a listen for obvious air leaks with the bonnet open and someone revving the engine, but a scan is a better indicator (will show actual boost way less then requested). This can be done by anyone with VCDS(VagCom), not just dealers. A scan might also show up insufficient fuel flow.

VCDS is apparently better for some diagnoses, as you can do logs on various factors, not just scan for error codes.

Not really sure how you check for injectors (although it might show up as increased fuel consumption due to poor atomisation of the fuel).

You said it was lacking power at mid-range revs. What is it like at low (1,400 to 2,000) revs and high (3,000+) revs ? Is the response better/worse/same when cold/tepid/hot ? That might help with narrowing down possible causes.

Just thought of some other possible causes:

Intake blocked with crud (more common on higher mileage TDIs) not allowing full flow of air into the engine.

Accelerator pedal out of adjustment (not requesting full power even though the physical pedal was pressed all the way to the floor). This one was picked up by a bloke on the Brick Yard forum through VCDS logs - only showed up as max 70% load when he was pedal to the metal. Easy and cheap to fix (small adjustment to the linkage in the pedal box - IIRC his was loose), but tricky to diagnose.

Brakes dragging slightly (feel a wheel after you've been driving) - stop without using the brakes too much, and be careful you don't burn yourself.

Please keep us informed.

[shogun2]

Where are you based in sydney??
I am closed for the hols but can find time to scan your car if you need.

I'm at the end of Oxford street in the city, at the Hughenden Hotel.