TDI lacking power

Must be mad, going to try to take off the fuel filter on the breaker this afternoon, at least we are under cover, snowing here at the moment. Got a little blower heater ready, its bladdy cold out there..........lol
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You might get cold wet and uncomfortable, but hopefully that will change if you find black gunge coming out of your car when you remove your filter., a new filter and a fuel tank flush will be a cheap and easy fix with instant results!!

Fingers crossed

Steve B
 
Ok , update.
Managed to get the filter out of the blue scrapper, no problem what so ever.
The screw you guys are saying breaks easy, I take you mean this one.
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The base of the housing was spotless.

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And the filter looks clean at the top but black further down so looks like it has been changed at some point.

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Now to take the one off the lads car.
 
Ok, done..............................not nice at all............plenty gunk, but at least the screw came out good. You can see the fuel emptying from the filter in this photo

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And here is the filter and base from the lads.

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And the filter and base from the scrapper.
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Now the question is.............if I put the clean filter in the lads car, will it just get fouled again ????
 
That is a result, that will highly likely be the cause (no guarantees but as I said those symptoms matched the black gunge problem)

But that gunge will be in the bottom of the tank and so when the fuel level gets low again the gunge will start causing problems again..

I would suggest FULLY draining the fuel tank, it is the last few dregs that will have the gunge in.

Be careful, but if you collect the fuel you should be able to re-use it if you just let the gunge settle to the bottom.

But it is good news to see that the gunge is there and so you may have resolved the problem when you have done this.

Steve B
 
That's exactly what I was thinking Steve. just needed it confirming really, thanks.
Best and fastest way to drain the tank would be to syphon the fuel using the hole where the fuel float sensor is, correct?? or is there another way?
 
johnyfartbox said:
That's exactly what I was thinking Steve. just needed it confirming really, thanks.
Best and fastest way to drain the tank would be to syphon the fuel using the hole where the fuel float sensor is, correct?? or is there another way?
Click to expand...
I think that using that method will probably get to the gunge better, it will be the last few ml of fuel that has the gunge in.

Fingers crossed that this will bring you back the full rev range of the A2.

Steve B
 
Right lads, all back together, my filter in, but I put the plastic screw screw back in , not the one with the metal allen key type, I did this because I noticed that the metal one didnt have a hole drilled through it like the plastic one although the metal one had been ok on the blue scrapper.

Plenty white smoke at first, looked a London smog at the local garage lol.
Set off and right away you could feel the difference, pulled in every gear right up through the rev range, smooth engine no flat spots or jerkyness, and within half a mile or so, no smoke, none. In all we drove about a 3 mile circuit and on our return I asked him to rev it and stood at the back, no smoke, white or black.

So hopefully, fingers crossed we might just have cured it.....only time will tell but I will still need to get the gunge in the tank out at some stage soon.

Best.
John.
 
Hi John, I saw today that I had a missed text from you on Sat - sorry for not getting back to you earlier. Glad to see you've made excellent progress and fingers crossed, cured the issue. I'd not bother draining the tank you know - pretty much all the sludge will be in the filter housing and what little remains in the tank will either stay there or be trapped in the new filter.

Just change the filter in a years time and save yourself a lot of effort and it is a properly mucky job too.
 
Only just seen your reply Mike.. just might do what you are suggesting, at least I know it will come apart easy enough next time.
 
depronman said:
An when you break the screw on the fuel filter housing you know were to come for an aluminium replacement :)
It certainly as the symptoms of fuel starvation so the fuel filter the first place to start, then the lift pump / tandem pump
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Hi Paul

Im in a similar boat to Jonny i.e loss of power and am thinking of replacing fuel filter eliment your replacement screw, will this screw straight back into the existing housing or will I need to buy a new housing?

If I just need the screw can you send me one please?

andy
 
Gritty said:
Hi Paul

Im in a similar boat to Jonny i.e loss of power and am thinking of replacing fuel filter eliment your replacement screw, will this screw straight back into the existing housing or will I need to buy a new housing?

If I just need the screw can you send me one please?

andy
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Paul's aftermarket improved screw fits directly into the original housing. I'd get one and have it ready for when you're doing the job - if the old screw breaks, you're sorted with a better than original replacement. If it doesn't, you can then decide which one to replace. Having seen the finished screw in the flesh, it's a lovely piece of craftsmanship and will work superbly.
 
johnyfartbox said:
I also thought that, but it's not a bad bodge, it saved a few bob on a new housing.
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John, whilst I agree that it saved the cost of a new filter housing I cannot agree that it is a good or acceptable long term solution. Firstly there are no O rings on the bolt, the O ring on the bolt serves to seal the fuel system. Without the O ring there is likely to be either fuel leakage or air ingress into the fuel system. Secondly there is no water drain hole in the metal bolt, this is needed to allow water to be drained from the fuel system, the fuel filter is the lowest point in the fuel system and as such is where water will settle (diesel is lighter than water), the small hole is there to allow the water to be drained out of the system periodically by undoing the bolt a few turn until fluid is running out of the hole, water will come out first and then diesel. Once the water has been removed the screw is tightened up (2.5nm) and you are all done

So, whilst the metal bolt is a temporary solution to get you going when the screw is broken it is certainly not a long term solution.
Cheers,
 
Gritty said:
Hi Paul

Im in a similar boat to Jonny i.e loss of power and am thinking of replacing fuel filter eliment your replacement screw, will this screw straight back into the existing housing or will I need to buy a new housing?

If I just need the screw can you send me one please?

andy
Click to expand...
yes my replacement screw fits directly into the existing housing, just take the O rings off the original plastic screw and fit them to my aluminium screw
I have sent you a PM re screw
Cheers,
 
depronman said:
John, whilst I agree that it saved the cost of a new filter housing I cannot agree that it is a good or acceptable long term solution. Firstly there are no O rings on the bolt, the O ring on the bolt serves to seal the fuel system. Without the O ring there is likely to be either fuel leakage or air ingress into the fuel system. Secondly there is no water drain hole in the metal bolt, this is needed to allow water to be drained from the fuel system, the fuel filter is the lowest point in the fuel system and as such is where water will settle (diesel is lighter than water), the small hole is there to allow the water to be drained out of the system periodically by undoing the bolt a few turn until fluid is running out of the hole, water will come out first and then diesel. Once the water has been removed the screw is tightened up (2.5nm) and you are all done

So, whilst the metal bolt is a temporary solution to get you going when the screw is broken it is certainly not a long term solution.
Cheers,
Click to expand...


Hi Paul. I certainly agree with you about the replacement screw/bolt and that is the reason I wasn't tempted to use it on the lads car and so put the original one back in.
 
Seem to be rejuvenating this older thread, but tonight after driving 5 hours home through the Friday night (Bank Holiday) traffic, I stopped at Taunton Sainsburys to fill up my TDI 90 with Diesel. After rejoining the M5 I immediately noticed a lack in power and hesitation getting worse the more throttle I put on.

Having only had the car a month, I've only just started using it for my long commute, I was set to give it a full service this weekend and have luckily bought a fuel filter too!)

Fingers crossed this sorts the issue.

Thanks to all for an informative thread.
 
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