Hi all,

driving yesterday morning, i lost the majority of power in my octy 140 tdi. Felt like no boost, where boost should kick in. So pulled over and switched ignition off/on. Initially it was OK, but then started with the loss of power problem again. My guess is it went into limp mode.

Vagcom shows:

Chassis Type: 1Z - Skoda Octavia II
Scan: 01,02,03,08,09,15,16,17,19,25,37,3D,42,44,46,52,55,56,62,69,72,76,77,7D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 01: Engine
  Controller: 03G 906 016 HF
  Component: R4 2,0L EDC G000SG  7000
  Coding: 0000072
  Shop #: WSC 73430
1 Fault Found:
16618 - Boost Pressure Regulation: Limit Exceeded (Overboost Condition)
           P0234 - 000 -  -
Readiness: N/A

So after reading on here that this likely means turbo failure, was about to take the car to my local indy today only for the car to run perfectly now! (Have taken the car out onto the mway and boost feels as strong as it did previously, all through the gears.)

Is this likely the start of the turbo failing though?

Edited 15 February, 201115 yr by r32

It might be the VNT sticking? You can try driving it hard for a period of time to help burn off the deposits and free the mechanism. Usually a 20 mile country lane spirited drive will help. As the turbo will be working hard spooling etc and much better than 20 mile static speed drives. Have you changed the fuel station you fill up at or altered anything on your car?

My parents Octavia had this ... turned out the large (4" diameter) hose at the front of the engine bay had dropped by about 1-2 fingernail's widths - re-attaching it properly fixed it.

My dad's 140 A3 had this. Used some diesel cleaner additive and took it for a good blast and it sorted it out. Apparently the turbo system can get clogged up.

How many miles on it? What were you doing when it went to limp? What gear and RPM?

Could be a range of things - boost pipe, VNT turbo issue both spring to mind. I'd get the pipework and joins/boost clips checked over as a starter for 10....

I had this on my okd Mk1 Octy and it was the sticking vanes on the VNT. Switch off & switch back on and everything was back to normal. Fuel additive cleaners and a good blast as suggested might cure it.Otherwise strip the vanes & clean.

From what i've read VNT sticking was my thought.. however it seems that usually ends up requiring a new turbo.

It happened after just starting from cold, probably only driven a mile, and accelerating off a roundabout.. not particularly hard in 3rd gear. Noticed a lack of power.

Car has 58k on it.

I have to say though, that the octy is the wifes car, and she does tend to drive it like miss daisy! So that seems to be in keeping with the other posts relating to the sticky VNT issue.

I can't see any obvious boost pipes loose, but thinking back I have noticed the turbo 'whistled' louder than I remembered on light acceleration. Almost sounded like a whine from the radio.. if that makes sense.

I had this on my okd Mk1 Octy and it was the sticking vanes on the VNT. Switch off & switch back on and everything was back to normal. Fuel additive cleaners and a good blast as suggested might cure it.Otherwise strip the vanes & clean.

Stripping and cleaning the vanes is a long and dirty job but probably worth it anyway - they're guaranteed to be in a right state!

See here if you've not seen before.

Edited 15 February, 201115 yr by Lou_O

I had this on my okd Mk1 Octy and it was the sticking vanes on the VNT. Switch off & switch back on and everything was back to normal. Fuel additive cleaners and a good blast as suggested might cure it.Otherwise strip the vanes & clean.

We had the same on ours, you could literally dip the clutch whilst still rolling, switch off & on & it cleared BUT always do it when well clear of other cars & going straight, a loss of powersteering & abs will occur whilst switched off.

The one difference I note from the OP's post is it happened at low speed, ours first developed when the car was accelerating hard in higher gears say 80+ in 4th & top & slowly worked down the rev range over a few months, good thrashings helped but over time it slowly got worse & we ended up fitting a s/hand turbo.

From what i've read VNT sticking was my thought.. however it seems that usually ends up requiring a new turbo.

Yep, well the vanes are obviously integral to turbo operation. So when they *properly* stick, it tends to cause damage to other turbo components.

You'll just need to get her to use a bit more performance, more of the time, and make use of the turbo. Without regular 'exercising' it's going to eventually end badly...

Anyone tried this Kit http://www.innotecworld.com/c-1064-turbo-clean-set.aspx

Found it recomended by someone on Pistonheads, apaerently its a mere £45 & you dont have to strip the turbo ???

All sounds a bit toooooooooo easy

Like you, it sounds a bit too convenient. Could be snake oil....

With something like this you need a decent, trusted recommendation. Otherwise it's along the lines of 'if something's too good to be true....'

Funnily enough i was just gona suggest a cleaner!! By the sounds of it, its most definately clogged up with crap and seizing, cleaners are a simple enough job, slip the manifold back and spray some in, also take the pipe off the turbo and spray it directly inside, wait the suggested time, use the rinser, take a good blast and hey presto jobs a good un! Usually they DO work a treat unless ur turbo's goosed! but may aswell try a cleaner first for the price compared to a new turbo!

The Innotec stuff applied properly is supposed to work well.

Thanks all for the updates, will take a look at the Innotec product.

Been OK for the last few days though, so fingers crossed it doesn't happen again!

OK, so clearly i spoke too soon.

The same issue happened twice yesterday, both not long after initially setting off on a journey. The weird thing is that switching the ignition off/on seems to clear the fault, and the car was fine after that.

Surely it can't be the turbo, if simply switching on/off clears the fault?

Edit: After reading this thread that sounds exactly the problem I have :(

Edited 20 February, 201115 yr by r32

P0234 was the code that came up on my old Mk1 1.9 TDI. The problem was the sticking vanes.

it will b the turbo mate, its a known fault and knocking it off n back on does clear it for a bit, but itl keep doin it!

I have this code 16618 on my BKD engine and it doesn't start anymore. I can't start the engine! Please help me with any advice! Can I take the turbo off the car and clean it? Where on earth is the turbo charger on a BKD engine?? Thanks!

This won't prevent the engine from starting.

Have you perhaps unplugged something and forgotten to plug it back in when looking for your hot starting problem?

I drove yesterday evening 40 miles and everything was fine. In the morning I couldn't start it up. I hope this is not the common problem with the new Passat 2.0 L engines. You know....the injectors.... That's very expensive and I'll scrap the car rather than buy a new set of injectors....

I drove yesterday evening 40 miles and everything was fine. In the morning I couldn't start it up. I hope this is not the common problem with the new Passat 2.0 L engines. You know....the injectors.... That's very expensive and I'll scrap the car rather than buy a new set of injectors....

The only Skoda to be affected by that problem was the PD170 vRS diesel, and Skoda now replace the complete set of injectors for free on those anyway. The BKD engine which you have never suffered with that issue as it uses solenoid injectors which fail far less frequently, and wouldn't cause a complete non-start situation like you have in any case.

The turbo overboost code may be from some time ago, is this the only fault code stored?

Thank you nick74 for your reply. I've got a brand new Varta battery, spin the engine a couple of times and everything is fine now.... The warm hard start issue just disappear. I will change the starter motor with a brand new one anyway to make sure everything is OK. Should be less then 200 quid and easy to change. Cheers!

Thank you nick74 for your reply. I've got a brand new Varta battery, spin the engine a couple of times and everything is fine now.... The warm hard start issue just disappear. I will change the starter motor with a brand new one anyway to make sure everything is OK. Should be less then 200 quid and easy to change. Cheers!

That's good news. If the battery has cured the hot starting issue too then your starter motor is probably ok.

Keep an eye on that turbo overboost warning coming up in future though as it could the first sign of the vanes on the turbo beginning to stick.

Do you know if the vanes can be cleaned or do I have to buy a new turbo? I don't want to drive like a mad man just to clean the vanes by burning the dirt. This is a ridiculous ideea I think. ) There should be services where they can take the turbo off the car and clean it properly....

Edit: Oh, you were right about the injectors. I've done a scan yesterday and all the injectors are just fine, perfect!

Edited 6 August, 201213 yr by Octavia MK1