Skoda Octavia 1.9 Tdi (110bhp) - Power Loss

spooner_src

Hi Folks

Can someone advise me on this worrying issue I have with my octy!

I have a 2001 Laurin & Klement 1.9Tdi (110bhp).

So I though, great cracking car, pulls really nicely along and will have a nice little kick with the turbo.

But really I have never felt that in the 6 months of ownership. Its always a disappointment espcially on the motorway. I am worried that my turbo is on its way out or is there something restricting the power being developed over a certain revs in certain gears.

From 1st through 3rd its not too bad. But in 4th I may as well get out and walk. Its lifeless and dead hitting 3000 revs or around 100kph on a flat straight part of the M7! Whats going on!
Looking at the trip computer with my foot flat to the floor the fuel consumption never drops below 30mpg in 4th or 5th. Is the ECU cutting of fuel therefore I have feck all power. What about this MAF sensor I read about alot. Is it worth getting it cleaned.
What about the timing belt etc that needs to be changed soon. Would that hurt performance.

I have also been reading about these tuning boxes that you just plug in and fools the ECU to keep the valvues open more therefore increasing torque. bhp etc....

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated

B

HotRodDub

I'd say it is the Mass Air Flow meter, I had similar problems with my A4 TDI, a 2 minute job to change it, and the car was back to normal.

spooner_src

Hi

Cheers for your response, did you get a brand new MAF or just use electrical cleaning fluid to clean the existing one. If you bought a new one. How much did you pay for it?

Rgds
B

spooner_src

Hi

Has anyone else experienced this with their Skoda.

B

alias no.9

It's more than likely the MAF. Just look along the air intake ducting between the filter box and the cylinder head, and you'll see a wire pluged into the outside of the sensor which will be screwed into the ducting. You'll probably need a torx bit (kind of star shaped) to remove the sensor. If you dont have one of these, simply unplug the sensor and take it for a drive. If the problem has gone away, then the MAF is the problem. If this is the case the frist thing to try is cleaning it, you'll need to buy a set of torx bits, a cheapo set will be < €10 and some 'brake and clutch cleaner' spray. Take off the MAF, careful not to touch the metal wires / strips on the sensor end. Spray these metal wires / strips and allow it to dry. Stick it back in and off you go.

spooner_src

Cheers for that, I really hope thats the answer as the warranty is just up on it and I dont fancy paying a fortune is the turbo is shagged.

HotRodDub

Just bought a new sensor, needed anti tamper torx bits to remove the screws holding it in place. The sensor cost me £40 sterling in a motor factors up north!

tred

spooner_src wrote:

Cheers for that, I really hope thats the answer as the warranty is just up on it and I dont fancy paying a fortune is the turbo is shagged.

father in law had same problem with a 98 passat TDI 110. different car when it was sorted...wasnt expensive, and i think he put it in himself..

spooner_src

Thanks for all your replies. I unplugged the MAF sensor last night and took it for a spin on the M7. Seemed to perform better in 4th gear and had a bit more go above 3000 revs. So will give it a clean tonight and see what happens.

Cheers all.

Peace

Just out of interest, can someone tell me how the car will perform without the sensor connected?

spooner_src

Hi Peace. I drove from Newbridge to Citywest this morning and didn't have any problems. will connect it back at lunch. Then will clean it later today and see what the performance is like. Still thinking of getting those tuning boxes to boost the bhp to 130 to so.

alias no.9

Peace wrote:

Just out of interest, can someone tell me how the car will perform without the sensor connected?

The MAF has two wires that it heats by passing an electrical current through them. One wire is exposed to the airflow and one is not. The control system tries to keep buth wires at the same temperature but exposed wire is cooled by the air flow so the control system has to increase the current to keep in the exposed wire to keep it at the same temp as the other. As air flow increases, the cooling effect increases so the current increases. Airflow is proportional to the difference in current between the two wires. When grime builds up on the exposed wire, it reduces the cooling effect of the air and fools the damn thing into thinking less air is going in, the ECU responds by reducing the amount of fuel injected and you have power loss. Since low airflow is perfectly normal at low revs, the low signal is not seen as being out of spec so no ECU fault is triggered. When the MAF is disconnected, the ECU uses a default airflow value which allows operation across the rev range but does not optimise for either power, economy or emissions. When the MAF is dirty the engine will struggle to reach high revs.

spooner_src

Hey All,

Thanks for all your advice. The good news is that it really does work. I removed the MAF and there is an exposed wire (which is not really think but quite think) about 1cm long which has only one side exposed. It didnt look really dirty in terms of heavy dirt, just a light black residue on it. So i wasnt too hopeful. Anyway I cleaned it with the right spray and got a cotton bud, which removed the black stuff, gave it a couple of minutes and then put it back.

Oh boy what a difference, it revved very nicely past 3,000 revs and the turbo was reasonably smooth with a little lag.

So I am going to clean it every 5000 miles or so as its really worth it.

Sad thing is that on that same day my drivers side mirror got ripped off by a speeding car who was way over the center line. He didnt even stop....:mad:

Its going to cost the bones of 250 to replace it.

Ah well at least the car is running well.

Cheers to all.

Peace

With the increased torque & striahgtline speed could you not have caught him?

spooner_src

Peace, Nope cause when I turned to chase his ass 3 cars got infront of me. So i couldn't get passed on this country road. But he must be local so any Red Lagunas driving around Suncroft Kildare (without a mirror), beware I am watching out for you!!!!:mad:

HashSlinging

Get a pirburg Mercedes MAF and fit it your car, I think its 80 - 90 euros.