2004 tdi loss of power, oof!

[dannyb]

Driving home from work today, accelerated the car from maybe 20mph to 30mph relatively hard, followed by a massive cloud of white smoke from the exhaust pipe at the back of the car, and loss of turbo power, now the car sounds very chuggy and ofc no turbo, There was no Bang, just a cloud of smoke

Though there is no power from the turbo now, there is also no more white smoke, a different kinda smell from the exhaust, maybe a bit of burning-ish smell.

I'm hoping that I have blown off a vacuum pipe somewhere and it's not more serious, such as a dead turbo, though like I say, I'm hoping.

The journey was about 10 minutes, started the car and let it sit for 5 minutes before leaving as always, drove fine on a bypass at 70mph
engine oil is fine, coolant looks ok too. took the car up the road once home just to make sure no turbo, that's where I decided it sounded a bit chug chug.

I am going to put the car on a ramp tomorrow, drop the plastic tray from underneath and check out the view.

If anybody else has any ideas or has had a similar problem they have had to deal with, your insight would be much appreciated.

sorry for the bother and thank you so much for anyone willing to try and help

 

[Alexis27]

Go gentle with it and hope the turbo hasn't damaged the engine

 

[iammooks]

When you say it's chuggy, is it like that when the car is idling? The turbo only spools when the engine is under load, so if it's doing it when it's idling, it doesn't sound like it would be related to the turbo.

Best thing to do is what you're doing - get it off the ground and check all the boost pipes. I had issues with my intercooler pipes popping off under load, but check the pancake pipe and the red turbo pipe by the offside wheel.

If it's a boost leak, the car will give off smoke. Even if it seems like it's stopped, I found I could still see some at night when there were cars behind me with their lights on. If it's a bad leak, it'll make the engine lumpy under load - like the car is pogoing, but you'll get stutter and hesitation even with a small leak.

Check your fuel consumption too - mine was down from 52mpg to 42mpg on motorway runs with my boost leak.

But yes, check the pipes first and come back - I think we've all had this kind of problem and we're more than willing to help!

 

[dannyb]

I think we've all had this kind of problem and we're more than willing to help!

Thank you for the reply bud,
I think the issue is resolved.

So...
driving to work the next day, it was evident the car was in limp mode,
purchased a new MAF sensor on eBay for £20, 2 days delivery, on a whim.
Turns out today the car's turbo kicked in again with a great puff of soot from 3 days build-up of limp mode on route
I think it was the sensor all along. it has been running sweet ever since I changed it over.
I should have known better than to question the integrity of this engine. lol