Strange symptoms on the 1.8Turbo
 

Whilst on the motorway last night, cruising along in top, the wife accelerated to pass a slow moving car, there was a short squealing noise from under the bonnet, the engine cut out with a jolt, then picked up again once the accelerator was eased off, this was followed by a strange smell ! Any idea as to what it may be ? It used to do a a similar cut out thing a couple of years ago, which was eventually put down to a sticking waste gate valve but only under very hard acceleration.

Phil

If the squealing sound you describe is like what i call a police siren and you lost power then i would be looking at the Turbo itself:shrug: Give her a good rev to see if the exhaust has a bluish tinge - if so this points to a failing turbo.
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Thanks for that ! Will check it out in the morning.

Phil

Or slipping Aux belt?

But would that make the engine cut out ??---:shrug:

It cuts out with a real jolt, then, when you ease off it's back in. Put your foot down again and it cuts out !

I'm not sure about the "Squealing Noise" or "Strange Smell" mentioned in your initial post, however - this sounds like fuel cut - if not as a result of Overboost relating to Boost Control issues (faulty Solenoid, Hoses not connected or sticking Wastegate)

Could it be Fuel Filter Seperation ? :shrug:




Paul.

As the post above or crank sensor problems.

By 'cut out' do you mean it lost power or it effectively switched off? Travelling at speed with the engine in gear, it would act as a heavy brake if it had stopped firing. The car would slow down quite quickly.
Could the strange smell be from an overheated clutch? If it stopped firing at motorway speed and was then restarted on the clutch, I imagine that would create a lot of friction heat/smoke, which has a quite unusual smell.

Turbocharger issues have been highlighted and need checking out. It could also be fuel starvation during high power demand. The Fuel Filter Syndrome (FFS) has also been suggested and could be involved if the car is later than 2001. Is it? (Your profile says you have a diesel ??)

TC

Will look into all the suggestions, thanks, much appreciated.

To describe the cutting out, you press the throttle, the car picks up, it starts to accelerate then just cuts out for a second or two. It is quite severe, you can feel a jolt, then it just picks up again. but by that time you have lost revs and momentum. No lights come on the dash, but for a second or so the engine is dead.

The car is a 2003 K series 1.8T tourer. I have a diesel, just never got around to adding the tourer on !

A friend has plugged it into his garage computer and it has come up with two faults, a misfire and a weak mixture, if this throws any more light on the problem.

Phil