Hi all,

My first post on here.

Having recently purchase an A4 1997 TDI SE I have been impressed to say the least. I bought the car to travel to and from work as running a 300ZX Twin Turbo has proved rather expensive!

I bought the car 3 days ago so I'm sure this forum will become invaluable as the ZX forums have in the past.

My questions are:

I performed an Oil Change (well the garage did) yesterday. The car has been running so smoothly that I have been planning to purchase another one for my wife - that's how impressed I've been. However, after running the car for some 70 or 80 miles since the oil change I was running at about 80MPH when the car felt like it was holding back. So much so that I had to change down to 4th gear to pull up a slight gradiant. I slowed for some lights and was then dismayed to find that the car felt and pulled away more like a Trasmit van (no kidding!) than 1.9 tdi Audi.

The car is now very very sluggish when before it had been surprisingly nippy and impressive. My query is, the same thing happened on my 300ZX and it was found to be a blown turbo charger. I'm suspecting the same here.

Can anyone advise? Are there any diags I can run?

Secondly (and lastly for the time being!), the ABS and Brake Light (Red) come on at 70MPH. I know this isn't normal but is it a sensor problem.

Thanks in advance for any help with these problems.

C

 

I didnt even know they made a tdi in '97

 

I think we're talking UK, right?

The ABS light probably is a sensor.

Your suspicions are most likely true. Without a boost gauge or a VAG-COM (or other OBD tool) you may be hard pressed to get the exact diagnosis without taking it to a service center. But, all in all, if you believe that the power has dramatically fallen off, yet the car still runs well otherwise, then it's most likely the turbo. A high pitched whine is usually a good indicator of a blown turbo, but this may be hard to distinguish from the correct turbo whine while all the while being drowned out by the diesel sounds.

 

Would failure of the diverter valve do the same thing?

 

Possible... but how drastic is the drop in power? It really needs a proper and thorough DX to be sure of the problem.

 

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies !

The Turbo or lack of it has rectified itself. I've now done around 300 miles (or half a tank of diesel - what a car!) without any power problems at all. I am kind of assuming that once a turbo has blown then there's no way back?

The ABS is more of a problem. It seems that while the light is not on and everything appears OK the ABS is not working correctly as when slowing down in dry, perfect conditions the brake pedal slightly pulsates as though I'm on ice/gravel. When I hit about 50MPH or above for more than 1 minute the ABS (Amber) light comes on accompanied by the flashing red brake light. The ABS does not then activate when slowing down.

I guess this may be beyond diagnosis without a computer now so will need to speak with the Audi specialist this week. I'm hoping it may be a sensor on one of the wheels or something trivial but then I've never really had trivial problems with complicated cars!

Thanks and if anyone knows why the power has come back without a problem please let me know!

The car and I are in the UK - well spotted !

C