[Vwdiesel] *help! bucking & smoking* - UPDATE

[Rolf Pechukas]

well, turns out Brian, Paul, and Tad were right:

> But really it sounds exactly like the issue I had when I blew a turbo intake
> connection near the aftercooler (behind/below the passenger side headlamp)
> Very little power and under any load it would just pour black smoke out.
> imho,
> BrianG

> Sounds like some of the turbo piping wasn't replaced properly. Either that
> or a vacuum hose.
> Paul L Fisher

> Guys - if it were me I'd still take a look at the turbo hoses first.
> My reasoning is thus- if the boost charge was leaking out, the ECU would be
> delivering fuel based on the MAF reading (too much fuel, lots of smoke).
> *If you pull the MAF, it will default (if I'm not mistaken) to the MAP
> reading, which would actually be accurate (no pressure) so it wouldn't
> inject so much fuel. 
> *In other words it would look like pulling the MAF fixed the issue, but
> really it would just mask the symptoms. 
> Tad


unplugging MAF per James' suggestion DID improve running dramatically, and was almost certainly better for the car
but it seems, after all, that MAF was working correctly
upon checking turbo connections per above suggestions, found hard plastic intake pipe disconnected from hose behind pass side headlight
shop had neglected to replace spring clamp - intake pipe blew off, if it was ever reconnected, and was rubbing up against serpentine pulley for a good 30 miles

my son and I managed to wrestle the pipe back into the hose, and 'clamp' it by tying twine around hard pipe and side frame (too tight & no tools to get clamp on w/ only one hand)
MAF is plugged back in, and car running ~normally
I drove in to Boston last nite to teach; pipe blew off once during hard accel - got dirty tying it back on, but no big deal
tomorrow I will head back to Cape and make shop reconnect hose properly

but in addition to failing to reassemble the turbo connections, here's what else the shop did wrong:
- they insisted that nothing they did in replacing the alt could *possibly* have caused such poor running;
- they told me that the that the ECU needed to 're-learn' itself, and that I should drive it for 30 miles, HARD (thankfully, I ignored the 'hard' part);
- they damaged my side mirror towing it to their own shop, and refused to take responsibility for that

AVOID these guys at all costs if you are ever in Eastham, MA:
Nickerson Service Center


also Tad's email below:

> Rolf - I just took a look at my own Golf to try to figure out what went wrong here, and I think I have a good theory.
> 
> The disconnected hose you're looking is at the top of the intercooler, where to hose to the intake connects.  I bet what happened is that they had it on there, but not clamped properly (and as you can see it's a pain to get to), and it probably popped off the first time the car developed some boost.  That likely pushed the hard pipe over into the pulley.
> 
> So you've basically been pulling unfiltered air into the engine since then, and the turbo has been spraying oily air all over the place from the top of the intercooler.  That's probably normal - it's normal for the intake tract to be coasted with oily residue, which originates from the valve cover and enters the intake tract via the CCV (crankcase vent)- that hockey-puck looking thing at the top of the engine.  
> 
> The unfiltered air isn't a good thing, but you're probably fine - just get the oil changed soon to get all that dirt out of there.
> 
> If you can get that hose back on (and get it to stay on), and assuming the rubbing pipe isn't leaking (and it's not rubbing anymore), you're probably fine to drive back to Boston.  Those hose clamps are a pain and there are special tools made for dealing with them, but if you can get a set of vice grips onto the clamp that might hold it open well enough to get the hose back on.  Also you can remove the back cover of the headlight to give yourself more space(that big wire retainer kinda pivots off to the side). 
> 
> If the hard pipe is leaking, you might be able to use duct tape for a temp fix. 
> 
> Not sure what's up with the blue wire/hose... but it looks like it's capped off?  
> 
> The boxy thing I think is your power steering reservoir.  
> 
> As for how to deal with these guys... assuming you're not going back there, at least you've got photo evidence.  Maybe send them the pics and explain how they obviously just didn't get the hose on right, it popped off, clearly a rookie mistake, anybody could do it but in this case it happened on their watch and it's their responsibility, and see what they say.  If they blow you off, you'd probably have to file a small-claims suit to get anything out of them.  Maybe file a BBB complaint first and see what happens.
> 
> Good luck with the car!
> 
> 
>> On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 11:16 AM, Rolf Pechukas <rbp at 4u2bu.org> wrote:
>> 
>> you can see below the headlight housing
>> the tube is completely out of the hose
>> the clamp ring is still around the plastic tube rather than around the rubber hose
>> you can hear turbo noise wheeezhing up and down w/ RPM
>> not to mention the pulley rubbing on the tube
>> 
>> immediate question:
>> if I can get the tube back in the hose and the clamp ring back on with my one left hand (right arm in a sling), and if MAF sensor plugged back in runs well, am I good to drive 2 hrs to Bioston tonight?
>> what about leaking turbo lube, or whatever the thin black graphite-y oil is?
>> any danger of burning anything up??
>> 
>> (man, these guys really screwed me)
>> 
>> thanks for any feedback,
>> 
>> Rolf in MA

thanks again for all the help, guys
I'd still be scratching my head if it weren't for you all
peace!!
- Rolf