Boost hesitation and intermittent lack of power

**960kg** · Friday 28th March 2014, 19:33

As mentioned in my previous post you may have an air leak that you have missed........being a Volvo MAF it should not be ready yet for replacement as you know!

When they replaced the turbo they may of damaged the MAF as the pic. says or damaged the PCV forcing an air leak especially where the nipple is forced into the rubber bung on the intake pipe!

The ECM-6805 still points to the TCV boost pressure fault being too much boost........perhaps when fitting the new turbo again they set the Base Boost setting to high for the ECU tolerances!

If your MAF at fault then why no indication whatsoever of a MAF code which is down among the ECM-1300`s ??

................................................

**deathrider311271** · Friday 28th March 2014, 19:57

Lee just read this thread, i hope my experience helps you out, when my car was being mapped they couldnt get the boost stable with either of the ipd tcv's so i had to get a volvo one problem solved on that front, but it didnt get rid of the hesitation and the feeling of holding back, after several hours testing it turned out my 18 month old gen volvo maf was giving odd readings for air flow, so he used the same maf your car will have, so a further £220 for the new maf and all is well, mine had no codes just the symptoms.

**stribo** · Friday 28th March 2014, 20:34

Not sure why you're using an IPD TCV mate, I replaced the one on our R with a genuine Volvo one (because the old one had done 110,000 miles), and it's as good as gold, holds boost all the way to the redline (6750 rpm)

**LeeT5** · Saturday 29th March 2014, 07:08

Originally Posted by 960kg

As mentioned in my previous post you may have an air leak that you have missed........being a Volvo MAF it should not be ready yet for replacement as you know!

When they replaced the turbo they may of damaged the MAF as the pic. says or damaged the PCV forcing an air leak especially where the nipple is forced into the rubber bung on the intake pipe!

The ECM-6805 still points to the TCV boost pressure fault being too much boost........perhaps when fitting the new turbo again they set the Base Boost setting to high for the ECU tolerances!

If your MAF at fault then why no indication whatsoever of a MAF code which is down among the ECM-1300`s ??

................................................

If my VIDA/DICE worked then I would have seen this!!

My PCV is indeed in need of attention and it is on my urgent list.
I think I will be bringing that to the top of the list. Who'd a thought a blocked PCV would cause a ECM130A fault?

To clarify I do have constant DTC's of ECM6805 and ECM130A

**LeeT5** · Friday 18th April 2014, 09:24

UPDATE:

Having removed this:

Fitting this:

general driving was improved but I still had hesitation under boost at approx 60-80% throttle. WOT seemed fine, but peak boost was only 12psi.

Now I removed my MAF a few days ago:

...and cleaned it using this:

£10 off ebay. Almost impossible to buy in any shop in UK, inc Halfords.

After some research I discovered that using Carb cleaner to clean a MAF may get rid of carbon deposits, Tar, traffic grime and other airborne pollutants etc that over time, contaminate the thin MAF sensor wire and inhibit it's function - Carb cleaner ALSO leaves it's own deposits. So, that's why I bought this special MAF cleaner.
4 squirts of the stuff onto the thin wire and refitted.

The results are awesome!! Base idle improved and now normal. Smoother acceleration, smoother gear changes and now able to drive at lower revs. The best result was the boost. No hesitation at any point and peak boost now up to 15psi. This has been a significant improvement and the car now drives like it did last year. Cleaning my MAF will now become part of my annual service!

Now all I gotta do is replace my PCV system.....Thread to follow!

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Thank to 960KG for the VIDA photo.

**silverhorse** · Friday 18th April 2014, 09:33

RESULT Lee!!! Just had my PCV replaced. Pig of a job, but at 112k miles and still the original, it needed doing. Was well clogged.

**LeeT5** · Friday 18th April 2014, 09:43

Originally Posted by silverhorse

RESULT Lee!!! Just had my PCV replaced. Pig of a job, but at 112k miles and still the original, it needed doing. Was well clogged.

Who changed it, You or a garage?

**silverhorse** · Friday 18th April 2014, 09:53

Had my local Indie do it. I had a look at what is involved with a view to doing it myself, but concluded that it is a fairly hefty job and I want it done properly. I can do some things, but I was not confident with this one. Cam seals were being done at same time and there was a lot of dismantling, so I left it to the experts!
Tech who did it says that it was quite bad, so new one should last for another 100k hopefully.

Edit. just ordered some of that MAF cleaner.

**LeeT5** · Friday 9th May 2014, 10:53

Looks like it may possibly be the MAF. I checked dtc's this morning before my 140 mile drive to MRG and I now have an extra code: ECM1300. I will see what MRG have to say, but I reckon the MAF is goosed and the PCV needs replacing (which I know).
I now have all the parts needed for PCV replacement. Just need two days clear to fit.

**LeeT5** · Friday 16th May 2014, 01:14

Still getting 3 DTCs including ECM130a and ECM 1300.

After removing my severely blocked pcv system I've now discovered my inter cooler is cracked.
That explains everything! FFS.

Watch this space.....

**Wobbly Dave** · Friday 16th May 2014, 22:18

Glad you got it sorted. MAF is a PITA.

**JamesT5** · Friday 16th May 2014, 22:32

When I had boost hesitation and intermittent lack of power my turbo popped its cloggs and the rubber hose that connects the turbo to the charge pipe was split. You may want to check that if you haven't done so already.

**LeeT5** · Saturday 17th May 2014, 00:48

Originally Posted by JamesT5

When I had boost hesitation and intermittent lack of power my turbo popped its cloggs and the rubber hose that connects the turbo to the charge pipe was split. You may want to check that if you haven't done so already.

Sorry James, which pipe are you talking about? Do you mean the rubber hose from the inter cooler to the OTE charge pipe?
Besides, the fault with my car is a cracked inter cooler not a split pipe.

**stribo** · Saturday 17th May 2014, 09:34

I think he means the short hose between the turbo, and over the top pipe, which our cars don't have because we have the V band connector.

**JamesT5** · Saturday 17th May 2014, 10:15

Originally Posted by stribo

I think he means the short hose between the turbo, and over the top pipe, which our cars don't have because we have the V band connector.

That's the hose I was on about Steve, yes. Just a suggestion but if it's not on the R then obviously that rules it out.

**LeeT5** · Saturday 17th May 2014, 11:06

Ahh, I did wonder. Yes, the V band connector is a brilliant design and never fails because of its construction. The OTE pipe goes straight into the top of the turbo.

**LeeT5** · Monday 11th August 2014, 11:45

Boost issue now resolved after 5 weeks of fault finding, smoke leak test, interrogation and a trip to local dealer.

To recap:

PCV system was blocked (which I knew about)
The following codes were all logged at some point randomly, consistently and some were intermittant too:

ECM130A
ECM6805
ECM6814
ECM262A.

Inbetween work, life, heavy downpours, trauling the net, speaking to ppl that know.....the faults were finally fixed! It took about 5-6 weeks. What a total PITA!!!

So, the faults were:

Cracked intercooler
Split pipe from Manifold to Turbo boost gauge
Blocked PCV
Leak from MAF to Turbo
Leak from TCV (red line) to Turbo.

**wezo00** · Tuesday 19th August 2014, 05:38

Lee,
Smoke leak test was it the best tool to find all that leaks?

**LeeT5** · Tuesday 19th August 2014, 13:18

Originally Posted by wezo00

Lee,
Smoke leak test was it the best tool to find all that leaks?

It's a machine not a tool but it's the quickest way to properly diagnose external leaks no matter how small!
Internal leaks you will need a mityvac tool.

**htomi** · Saturday 20th August 2016, 12:08

Currently trying to find the source of the ECM 130A code myself.
No rough idle, just some light hesitation during boost.

PCV replcament done 2 months ago.
TCV hoses are fine, running the OEM Pierburg TCV unit.
IC fine, no cracks, no leaks.
Stock airbox, stock filter.

Once started started looking for possible leaks found the following:
1. Looking at the Boost Pressure sensor (connected to the IC), there is oil around and the sensor and the unit has some little movement while still bolted into its place. I assume its not normal.
The clamp at the IC side (holding the charge pipe coming from the throttle body) is not fully tightened.
The amount of oil around this area is more than just a film.

2. I was able to rotate the clamp (applying only a small force) where the upper aluminium air charge pipe connecting to the turbo. Once disconnected the pipe, discovered the O ring is split and a very small piece is missing. The rest of the O ring was still on the pipe.
At this point, I got really surprised as seen my mechanic buddy tightening the clamp once finished with the PCV replacement. Also before we put back the alu charge pipe I did check the O ring and it was definitely in one piece.

I assume the once the clamp is tightened, then there is no way that this can be rotated by hand at all. Right?

My second concern is the boost pressure sensor. As said it has a very little movement. Would it be vise to replace this too? (I hate wasting money... )