1.4Hdi Lack Of Power

[paul1050]

Hi,

I've just bought a 2003 c3 1.4hdi 16v. It starts fine and runs smoothly but it has no power when going up hills. I've scoured the forums and read about some of the potential issues so I've checked the maf (ok), blanked off the egr with a blanking plate (helped) and replaced the turbo pressure valve (no change).

I've checked the pipes for splits and can move the actuator rod on the turbo by hand (it's stiff but i guess thats ok). Thinking that i may have crossed the pipes to the turbo pressure valve, i swapped them over and it made no difference!

 

 

So having done all this I've still not solved the problem so I'm now a bit stuck. Does any one have an idea of what i should do next.

I should add that the turbo seems to be fine at higher revs.

[demag]

Hello Paul,

Have you checked the turbo itself? If you take the main turbo air pipe off you should be able to feel the turbo spindle. Any play at all means the turbo is shot. There's a fair bit of info on FrenchCarForum about turbos.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Some other things to check are a blockage in the air intake or exhaust, a dirty air filter, the fuel filter due for replacement, the accelerator pedal not going to the floor (a mat under it - read this one in a mag).

 

How did you check the maf, by unplugging it and seeing if it made a difference or did you check for fault codes/actual readings ?

[paul1050]

Hi,

I've spun the turbo by hand and their doesn't appear to be any play in the spindle. I unplugged the MAF and it was worse but i haven't had a fault code reader on it. I've changed the oil and air filters but not the fuel (I'll try and do that next week. I'll check the air inlet duct at the same t8me Peddle goes all the way to the floor.

As i swapped the pipes around on the turbo solenoid valve and it made no difference, could it be that the car isn't creating the vacuum to operate the system?

[paul.h]

If the vacuum pump was not that good the brakes would also need a harder push on the brake pedal. However, you could have a look for any splits in any hoses on the various actuator pipes - these have been known to cause error codes such as egr fault, turbo boost fault. You could also check the brakes the next day before starting the engine to see if there is still vacuum in the brake servo but its vacuum hose non return valve may make this check not relevant.

[grin factor]

When can you feel the turbo cutting in? You say it works fine at high revs, I would have thought the turbo would come in around 15-1750 revs?

[paul1050]

Brakes are very sharp so it probably isn't the lack of vacuum. When i blanked the egr i also blanked off the pipework from the vacuum pump to the egr. I've also replaced a couple of the rubber ends around the solenoid valve that, although not split, were a bit loose.

How does the solenoid valve work? It has an electrical connector which presumably progressively enables the vacuum to reach the turbo but should i be able to measure a voltage at the pins?

 

As for the turbo, it doesn't seem to kick in until 2.5-3k revs.

 

Thanks

[paul1050]

Whoo hoo!! Success- checked again and realised i hadn't fully blanked off the egr vacuum circuit. Did that and hey presto - acceleration. There must be a leak somewhere in the pipework but as the egr is blanked off i don't need to worry about it.

Thanks for everyone's input.

[paul.h]

Brilliant and no cost to fix plus we have learnt another cause of poor performance.