lack of power in my tsi

[RancidDrunk]

I recently rebuilt my tsi engine, went through the whole break in procedure (500 miles), and about 250 miles after the breakin period, my car stops pulling as much as it used to. There is also now a "ticking" noise comming from my head. I cannot get above 5000 rpms without it backfiring. After driving it, my exhaust is glowing red hot, along with the turbo. My guess is one or more of the automatic lash adjusters are shot. If you could please help me out with this that'd be kool. THANX!

 

[-=TWITCH=-]

Check the timing! make sure you are getting fuel

 

[Revolution]

First off let me ask you some questions .
Who exactly rebuilt you'r engine?
If you rebuilt the engine do you have any experience as to timing belts?

My guess ( because thats all it is right now) (need more info) would be that you'r t belt could have skiped a tooth or maybe just maybe the degreeing on the cams could be off.

last but not least you'r turbo is starting to die out.

But take it to a certified mech and let him take a quick look at it.

Like I stated befor this is only a logical guess as to what the culprit could be, by the info you have posted.

 

[RancidDrunk]

My dad, uncle, and i rebuilt this engine. I have worked on engines for a majority of my life. My dad used to work on his cars all the time when he was younger (such as GTO's and such) and is now a mechanic at a construction company. He works as a diesel and gas engine mechanic. My uncle is a certified mechanic except i havent talked to him since he told me to put a new fuel regulator in it. The guy I bought this car from put the wrong one in it.

We double checked timing to make sure that that wasn't the problem. Every thing was still in time.

The belt didn't move on the cam gear at all so thats not the problem either.

As far as my turbo goes i'm not sure if my turbo is dying or not, but never the less, even if the turbo is dying, the car still isn't running right.

As far as my guess goes, what do you think about the lash adjuster being a problem? That is my closest educated guess. I'm eventually gonna check it out if i cant get any other answers or solutions to my problem. I just dont want to take of the valve cover and the cams to find out it was something else.

 

[Defiant]

And what did you do to it after that luxuriant five-hundred-whole-miles of break-in? Sounds like a jumped cam tooth, but it could just be bad plugs and/or wires.

 

[RancidDrunk]

Originally posted by Defiant
And what did you do to it after that luxuriant five-hundred-whole-miles of break-in? Sounds like a jumped cam tooth, but it could just be bad plugs and/or wires.

After the 500 mile break-in I changed the oil and oil filter, then I still took it fairly easy until about 600 or so miles. The engine now has about 780 miles on it. This all started happening at about 760 miles. I still havent red-lined it either. I'm gonna try the new wires and plugs tho to see if that helps. Thanx.

 

[DSMJim]

Better re-check your timing because it sounds like it's out. Just don't assume it's right because everything your describing sounds like timing.

Not to be rude but many people who are "professional mechanics" can't do a timing belt on a DSM nevermind any other work. So just double check the belt, you might be surprise.

 

[BUCK]

Pull the Upper Timing Cover - Bump the Motor over to TDC - Check the Cam Sprocket Marks & report the sad news back.

 

[dsmracer69]

Ok its a first gen so dude it sounds stupid but i had the same problem and couldn't figure it out forever. It ended up being that my electrical plug on my butterfly "isc" came lose somehow after it was working fine.
Sp try unplugging all ur connections and cleaning them.Then if thats not it check your knock sensor because that won't let you rev past 5000rpm if it is bad, don't assume that if its new its good if it is. If it none of those then it was worth a shot and timing could be a factor but wtf it could be anything just check everything.

 

[project94tsi]

Originally posted by dsmracer69
just check everything.

haha yeah just do that

 

[crankbender]

Not insulting anybodies abilities but i am gonna take this step by step

#1 symptons:
really hot exhaust (this one screams at me)
inabilit to rev

#2 possible causes:
Fuel burning in the exhaust (most likely)
too hot of combustion

#3 possible problem areas:
1 cylinder is not firing at all and the gasses from it are burning in the exhause
the ingition timing is off and the combustion can't take place before the exhaust valves open
the cam timing is off and the exhaust gasses are getting out too early
not enough gas is entering the cylinders and they are burning too hot

Check those things first...make sure you short that plug to ground to check the ignition timing. Don't forget the ignition timing is thrown off by the cas on a 1g car.