andrew mason

On occasions when driving my 99uk turbo it appears as if the turbo does not cut in?, then the next time i drive it its purfectly ok. Has this happend to anyone else, do you know how to fix the problem!!!!!!

john banks

2nd gear from about 30mph on steady throttle for a few seconds and then full throttle = 8 PSI (just over half boost) for noise compliance?

andrew mason

Im new to the car and its performance! how did i get rid of the problem, do you know of a reputable tuner? in the north east???

greasemonkey

Hey John, do you know of any reputable tuners?

greasemonkey

Andrew, can you expand a little on what's happening here? The phenomenon John is referring to only happens in second gear when you cruise on part throttle for a few seconds and then boot it.

Is the boost disappearing in other gears, or is it (as your original post seems to suggest) disappearing for extended periods of time?

andrew mason

Yes mate, the problem occurs in every gear. Its as if the turbo is'nt there. It accelerates as a non turbo car and the dump valve does not "go off" on a gear change? It can be quite embarassing especialy when golf's leave you standing. Its a bit weird though cos the car is perfectly fine at the min i've just been out in it.!

nom

Seeming it's a MY99, the usual culprit is the MAF...
If it's mis-reading, the ECU doesn't put quite enough fuel in & so it's very susceptable to lots of retard - too much & the ECU goes into 'panic mode' & releases control of the wastegate solenoid, meaning effectively that you get 0.5 bar of boost rather than the usual ~1 bar. It'll then, over time, start using boost again, and it seems an ignition cycle will bring boost back every time.
Do you have a boost guage? What fuel are you using? Does using octane booster make it less prone to the boost dropping? How is the car's idle?

andrew mason

appologies for the late reply, i've been out for the match. Def penalty, never mind. I hav'nt got a boost gauge fitted to the car and I always ensure that i use Optimax petrol do you think that would make that much difference? I have just recently had the car serviced and the car is idling on 750ish so it seems ok. What do you think??? Help????? P.S what's the MAF?

[Edited by andrew mason - 1/11/2004 7:22:56 PM]

The Zohan

andrew hi there ans welcome.

May well be the maf, try a search on here re mafs, there has been lots of threads re them. A failure can cause piston damage as it effects the mixture. Usually only certian model/years MY's are effected by this due to the mafs' construction. The my99 and 00's have the most problems.

I had a similar problem to you caused by running the car low (less than 1/3 tank) of fuel, the tank has a central strap or something like that so it has two 'wells' on either side (left and right) the take off and pump are on one side, if i went around a r/h bend quickly and booted it (which i did a lot) i had no boost of a few seconds as there was no fuel.

andrew mason

Thanks Paul, your response is appreciated!!!

nom

Ah, now - another clue - it's just had a service!
Lots of garages overfill the oil. The oil can then get into the solenoid & it stops being able to do its job properly - to be honest I can't remember whether the car then underboosts or overboosts, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't just not work properly!
So have a look & see where the oil is when it's cold - note there are 3 marks: one for minimum, one for maximum when cold, and the top one for maximum when hot. If it is overfulled, then you might want to clean the boost solenoid (involves removing a couple of hoses & squirting carb cleaner down them - there are instructions about somewhere on here! )
Worth a go before mucking about with the MAF.

andrew mason

thanks for the help lads much appreciated