Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI - Air flow meter ?

craichoe

Ello,

I bought a 2000 Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI with 108k on her about a month ago. Brought it to a mechanic for timing belt, and full service, the mechanic took it for a drive and said the power seemed to be a bit sluggish, he suggested it might be the air flow meter. How much is it to get this replaced and if so where could i get it done in Cork ? Is this something common to this engine ?

scaldybelt

Hi,

I have a 2004 Passat Estate 130bhp tdi (53k on clock)and I noticed the same on my car about a month ago. I thought it was maybe the exhaust going as the turbo was still going fine, but the mpg was down to 39 from 50.

I found some other posts about this on the WWW, and they mentioned getting a Bosch service centre to take care of it with a Bosch replacement part (admittedly posted on a UK site), and they said the part was about £70.
Someone else said to try driving the car up to 4000+rpm to get the fan unstuck or spraying WD40 into it.

Anyhow - I drove my car up to 4000+rpm the next day (nearly broke my heart!), filled it up with fuel, reset the trip and hey presto - I'm back to 50mpg!

So despite it needing a service at the mo - I won't be asking any garage to replace the Air Flow Meter just yet! (VW could charge me a couple of hundred for the part alone - let alone a few hours labour for a 10 minute replacement job!).

Good luck with it.

bf

The part costs about €100 and about an hours labour on top of that - but if you are anyway handy it is quite easy to fix - if its anything like an uadi engine its right beside the air filter and just plugs in and out.

Sometimes the problem can be rectified by just cleaning the mass air flow meter - nothing to lose by trying this, it may have got dirty or clogged up from dirt in the air filter.

Make sure it is the air flow meter that is causing the power loss - I had a similar issue with an A6 diesel and 2 garages diagnosed it the air flow meter when in fact the EGR valve had gone.

Check out VWAudiforum.co.uk for more details on doing the job yourself.

BF

Dilbert75

Also recommend visiting www.briskoda.net - plenty of advice there from other Skoda owners

yellow012

AFAIK the part is about €140+vat through a Skoda dealer or depending on your model you may be able to parts exchange your old maf for a new one for about €100+vat. Very simple part to fit, literally 30 secs to do. I wouldn't be paying anyone an hours labour to do it.

bazz26

The mass air flow meter along with the lambda and trottle body senor are very common problems on VAG TDi engines. As others have suggested it is quite common for dirt to build up on the meter and a good clean may solve the problem. I would try this approach first before spending money on a new part.

craichoe

Would anyone have a picture of where this part is ?

How do i clean it ? I was reading on briskoda that i would have to use circuit board cleaner ?

Symptoms are

1. Turbo spools up fine gets going at around 1800 RPM and cuts out at just over 3000rpm (well this is where the power levels off) i believe, no real lag, can feel a push but just no real go (was overtaken by a transit van).

2. Shes eating a good bit of diesel, only getting about 350 miles out of a tank and i'm not doing that much city driving.

3. Power output seems intermittent, sometimes theres more go than others (even if only slightly) but this could be the way i'm hitting the gears.

Would anyone be able to point me to a guide of how to do it .. Is there torx screwdrivers i need to get ?

Would really appreciate the help ... must say i'm delighted with the car otherwise, would definetly go for another Skoda

Saw that someone suggested disconnecting the cable on the MAF to test if the sensor is the issue ?

craichoe

Went out and unplugged the MAF just there ....
Doh... Looks like it is not working ... far more power with it disconnected !

showing as 25MPG though ... i'm assuming this is because the ECU is getting a reading off the scale and pumping in as much fuel as the injectors can handle ... ?

So will cleaning it remedy the problem you think ?

Lex Luthor

Bosch one for the Alfa cost about €200. They are about 6-8" long cylindrical in shape and about 4-5" in diameter with a electrical connection about half way down.
30secs to fit

Sometimes the clips they use in the factory cant be reused when you tale them off and jubilee clips are fine to use, but if they cant be got, a large tie-wrap should do the trick, even as a permanent fix

gyppo

This would be where I'd go, and save myself a bundle:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-AUDI-VW-AIR-MASS-FLOW-METER-A4-A6-PASSAT-TDI_W0QQitemZ230092731938QQihZ013QQcategoryZ10372QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230092731938


It works out at less than €90

kvw

I have had a few Volkswagen TDIs, the MAF units are 80euro on exchange from the dealers.

things are normally cheaper at a skoda dealer.

some of them do need a torx head type attachment to open them though.

just ring a dealer and ask before buying off ebay.

crosstownk

The VW air flow meter, when faulty, usually displays symptoms more serious than 'a bit sluggish' - usually it's a very noticeable loss of power which can be momentary or prolonged.

What exactly does your mechanic mean by 'sluggish'? And I assume he replaced the fuel & air filters as part of the service.

Rather than buying parts on a 'hope and see' basis it would be better if your mechanic preformed a few checks on the car. First of all a full self diagnosis check - and not just a look at the fault memory. He needs to look at the 'live' readings to see if something is a little out of kilter. Then maybe a exhaust gas test to see if the car is burning too much/little diesel. Then a check for charge air pressure and fuel pressure might be an idea. If none of those test show up something then it could be long, drawn out process to identify what is at fault.