Turbo Not Working + Power Steering Pump 'Iffy'

[Motoract]

Hi There.

PD100 Polo with some slight problems

I've lowered the car 50mm all the way round, & for some reason intermittently the power steering seems to just not work, then all of a sudden it'll start working again, I've checked & there doesn't appear to be any leaks or anything, so I'm sort of stuck other than changing the pump... Do the polo's suffer with this problem?

Also, on a cold morning sometimes the turbo just doesn't work also! it's mainly when you boot it, but this can't really be helped as were I live you come out of a 30mph street & your straight onto a 60mph road, so you need to boot it to get it up to that speed. has anyone else had any of these problems & could help? also, when the turbo stops working, a simple turning off & on again with the engine gets the turbo working again, I've changed the air mass metre, & the fuel, any other idea's?

Cheers.

[david burton]

The turning on and off resets the ECU and allows boost again - you're in "limp" mode when the turbo doesn't spool. I think it's actually slower than a non-turbo car as it probably restricts other things too, like the fuelling.

When I had this issue it boiled down to a vacuum pipe (the one in question was leading to the turbo) being worn on the exhaust manifold (or turbo recirc pipe). There was a hole in it and it caused odd delayed boosting and eventually limp mode. Hard to spot but got there in the end - have a look down the driver's side of the engine and follow the vacuum pipes to check for small holes / wear.

Regarding power steering, sounds like your belt is slipping. Get it checked out for tension. Does it squeal at times (through water, lights turned on)?

[Motoract]

I havn't really heard a squealing at all tbh... & nope, no lights to report, even when it goes into 'limp' mode.... Will have a look at the vacuum pipe later when it isn't BUCKETING it down!

Thanks for the help

[Motoract]

Just to add; The car has been vaccume tested with no faults found

[zedzo]

i remember when i got into limp mode i started crying thinking i blew up the engine n id only had the car 2 days LOL the cars are sumtimes slower in the morning untill they warm up nicely however sumtimes in the cold they are rapid so it depends on its mood. u shouldnt b going in to limp mode while the car is standard so theres definatly sumthin wrong wit a pipe or sumthing. i only went into limp mode when i was runing one of them cheap tuning chips.

[Motoract]

Well after speaking to a good friend mechanic, he seems to think that the car is overboosting! But. other than that he's no idea what's wrong or how to fix it...

[david burton]

What do you mean by vacuum tested? Have you physically looked at all the vacuum pipes? A small hole will cause the same issue and might not come up on a VAG-COM test.

Overboosting is one case where it will go into limp mode, but not the only one. Look for the cheap fixes first - holes in vacuum pipes, turbo inlet pipes cracking, intercooler pipes loose and so on.

[Motoract]

yes a vag-com test.... We've checked the pipes & there doesn't appear to be any problems.... I'll have to have another look around