Turbo Cuts out after about 10 mins of motorway driving

U

uncle festa

Member
Hello Peps

Have a bit of a prob with the turbo on motorways in that it cuts out after about 10 minutes and the only way to get it to work again is to turn the car off and then back on again, it will then work for about two minutes then the next time its turned off then on for about 10 seconds,it doesent seam to happen doing the school run or out shopping only when you need the poke of the turbo.We have had it serviced, twice since the fault first started and the mechanic cant find anything wrong with it and nothing comes up on the diagnostic computer

Any help would be very helpfull,its even been into an Audi dealership and they cant find anything wrong with it
 
Check the pipes...

uncle festa said:
Hello Peps

Have a bit of a prob with the turbo on motorways in that it cuts out after about 10 minutes and the only way to get it to work again is to turn the car off and then back on again, it will then work for about two minutes then the next time its turned off then on for about 10 seconds,it doesent seam to happen doing the school run or out shopping only when you need the poke of the turbo.We have had it serviced, twice since the fault first started and the mechanic cant find anything wrong with it and nothing comes up on the diagnostic computer

Any help would be very helpfull,its even been into an Audi dealership and they cant find anything wrong with it
Click to expand...

Hi uncle festa,

I had what seems to be the same problem, usually when I was travelling at around 60mph, but on an incline. The turbo used to cut out like yours and I had to stop, switch off, and then restart to find things back to normal.. until the next time.

I took it to a local (reputable) service guy who found a very small hole in the turbo pipe at the rear, left hand side of the engine. they replaced this, and hey presto, problem fixed.

I hope this will be your answer too. Good luck! ;)

Cheers,

Ian
 
Yep, I'd suggest an airleak - there's another thread similar to this at the moment too
 
If your A2 is a tdi90 there may be a problem with the variable geometry impeller blades on the turbo. My son has a MK4 Golf and had the same symptoms you report. The intermittent turbo problem kept causing the ecu to go into 'safe' mode, hence the loss of power. Switching off the ignition caused a temporary reset and power returned until the next time. Required a new turbo but was replaced under warranty.

I hope this does not apply in your case! Also the same symtoms may indicate a much less costly underlying problem, e.g. air leaks or a dodgy MAF sensor (others can explain what that is).
 
I have a problem with my older one... its generally when you're at reasonable revs and under load (eg going uphill!). Again it seems to be an airleak somewhere in the system but not been able to locate it as yet.... (it first started after someone took the turbo pipes apart when replacing the timing belt)....

Oh well - you can flick the ignition on/off whilst still moving but beware of the key coming out when you do it as that would lock the steering and cut the power assisted brakes!

P
 
hi uncle festa.

I had exacly the same issue during the first months of the ownership of my a2 .
I asked audi, they told , without even taking a look, that the turbo is down... Thank you Mister...
I found a used VW polo turbo for only 40€ (yes 40€!! :) ).
I installed it ... and...and ... the problem was still here .... :mad:
=> The turbo was "innocent"

Guess what, i have found the solution only by a big hazard/chance... it was a small little hose that was unplugged. this hose is placed on the upper left corner of the engine bay.
see the picture bellow:
attachment.php

This hose is very easy to unplug. In this place there are 2 or three other hoses. Please check them very well.


on the other side, the hose is plugged behind the engine (see the arrow on the second picture)
On this side, the hose is well plugged but check it eather.
attachment.php


The problem has almost gone until 4 months later when it had a "relapse"
Guess who's guilty ? the same hose again !!
There I discoverd that it's made by three sections : two plastic doubled with tissue, and a middle section complete plastic made. there was the air leak !!
I uninstalled the three sections and replaced them with a single section plastic/tissue doubled hose.
It was 10 months ago and no problem anymore !! :)



This is my experience. I hope it'll help ( and my approximative/schooly english understandable)
 
Last edited:
Mine was the same problem...

ariles said:
hi uncle festa.

I had exacly the same issue during the first months of the ownership of my a2 .
I asked audi, they told , without even taking a look, that the turbo is down... Thank you Mister...
I found a used VW polo turbo for only 40€ (yes 40€!! :) ).
I installed it ... and...and ... the problem was still here .... :mad:
=> The turbo was "innocent"

Guess what, i have found the solution only by a big hazard/chance... it was a small little hose that was unplugged. this hose is placed on the upper left corner of the engine bay.
see the picture bellow:
attachment.php

This hose is very easy to unplug. In this place there are 2 or three other hoses. Please check them very well.


on the other side, the hose is plugged behind the engine (see the arrow on the second picture)
On this side, the hose is well plugged but check it eather.
attachment.php


The problem has almost gone until 4 months later when it had a "relapse"
Guess who's guilty ? the same hose again !!
There I discoverd that it's made by three sections : two plastic doubled with tissue, and a middle section complete plastic made. there was the air leak !!
I uninstalled the three sections and replaced them with a single section plastic/tissue doubled hose.
It was 10 months ago and no problem anymore !! :)



This is my experience. I hope it'll help ( and my approximative/schooly english understandable)
Click to expand...

Hi ariles,

I had a similar problem to yours :( (see my input above) mine was a very small hole in the same pipe, (the one at the rear, left hand side of the bulkhead) thankfully a new pipe cured the fault... and touch wood it's still OK.

Cheers,

Ian :)
 
i forgot to precise that when changing the turbo, I also
1/ cleaned the EGR van without any result on the issue
2/ disconnected the EGR without any change on the issue.

The only reason was the poorly connected/air leaking hose.



:)

Cheers
 
New Turbo...

I was told by Derby Audi that I would require a new turbo... but I decided to seek a second opinion, which saved me an absolute fortune!

Cheers,

Ian
 
yes Pezza, we had almost the same expériences...
on error/issues we learn ;)

hopefully the new turbo didn't cost me much (only 40€/35£) :)
 
Good advice helps...

:) It's great here on the A2oc, to receive very useful advice from everyday people who have experienced problems, and managed to cure them at a minimum cost.

Sometimes, when we are lucky... we win! :D
 
In my experience with turbo cars, the mechanicals of the turbo itself rarely fail on a road car - they're remarkably durable devices - in normal use, performance problems are nearly always due to air leaks in rotten rubber hoses, or hoses that have fallen off, or a cracked intercooler core, or a leaky wastegate diaphragm, or perhaps a failing MAF.

Having said that, the more complex turbo in the 90bhp TDi are more prone to issues with the variable vane geometry - as is always the case, increasing complexity increases the potential reliability issues.
 
Turbo cutting out Fixed

Hi

Had same problem on my wife´s 2003 1.4 tdi A2 sport. Cut out after 5 mins or when in 5th at 100 km/h. Tried all sensors etc with no luck. I took car to my local mechanic here in Malaga and then found problem directly. The intercooler had blown at the edge and thus the air pressure was too low. Changed intercooler and now car is A1 !! price €300 for new audi intercooler and €200 labour.
 
Hi steviepb, welcome to the A2oc
There have been a couple of reported problems with split intercoolers but your post is a good reminder of things to check on tdi's which go into limp home mode.

Cheers Spike
 
hi folks,
yesterday I had a problem on motorway. It seems to be exactly what has been described here. I took it to the garage and they found an error code reporting low air pressure. They took it to a drive but the problem was gone so they suggested me to take the car back and come back if the problem shows up again. Thanks to you I can check these possible errors.
 
Now that I have read more about the problem from the forum, I have checked the intercooler and I was horrified to see it is wet from the other end. There has to be a leakage either in the intercooler or hose connection near the end.

Let's see how it turns out to be. On the other hand it's a big relief to see a leakage. At least I know where to look :eek:
 
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