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What is causing this fault with our Volkswagen Golf Twincharger?
I have a 2007 Volkswagen Golf GT Sport Twincharger 140 with 54,000 miles and full VW service history. Whilst travelling at 20mph for 4-5 miles on minor roads on holiday in Wales (with blind summits and bends) I made an emergency stop and stalled the engine. On re-starting, the lambda exhaust probe warning light came on. The car drove ok for the next 20 miles, then suffered a loss of power and began idling roughly.
I took it to the nearest VW dealer who diagnosed a turbo recirculation valve fault and replaced it. Still same problem. They then tried coil packs from a donor vehicle. Still no difference. Checked compression 1, 3, 4 cylinders: 11 bar; 2: 13 bar. Then they said don’t drive with this misfire and power loss, we haven't time to fix it. I ended up having it recovered home (250 miles away). What do you think the problem may be? This shouldn’t have happened at this age.
I took it to the nearest VW dealer who diagnosed a turbo recirculation valve fault and replaced it. Still same problem. They then tried coil packs from a donor vehicle. Still no difference. Checked compression 1, 3, 4 cylinders: 11 bar; 2: 13 bar. Then they said don’t drive with this misfire and power loss, we haven't time to fix it. I ended up having it recovered home (250 miles away). What do you think the problem may be? This shouldn’t have happened at this age.
Asked on 10 August 2013 by AF, via email
Answered by
Honest John
Problems can develop with twincharger engines due to the complex induction. This has been known to result in overfuelling and contamination of the engine oil, which in turn has led the failed engines. More in the Golf entries in www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar. Yours will be a Mk V, but this was also a problem with the Mk VI. The latest belt cam 1.4TSI 140 ACT is a completely different engine.
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