Cold car lacking something

[Trevor J Foster]

Hey everyone!!! I have a 96 Tsi Talon, its got 66,000kms. I just recently moved from British Columbia to Ontario, so weather is definitely colder.

Anytime I start my car up when cold I let it warm up  so that the temp gauge is showing warm (1/4 way up)  When I drive the car its seems to get power however if I give it gas it sounds as though turbo is kicking in however there is no added power, seems like its a non-turbo car. Once I drive the car for a bit everything is back to normal.  

This only happens when I first start the car up after 6-12 hours of not driving.

Any suggestions ?? or is it the turbo is not warmed up enough??? I have check most of the obvious.

One other thing is since I bought the car i notice the engine light indicator never lights up when i turn the key on??

Thanks for any help

[Robin Toor]

One other thing is since I bought the car i notice the engine light indicator never lights up when i turn the key on??

The bulb is probably burnt out.

[mike griffin]

whenever i start my car i wait till its properly warmed up. ive boosted when it was half warmed up and my af gauge didnt go anywhere past lean.

[Andrew Steele]

If you're accelerating, and hearing the turbo spooling, but the car aint goin no-where, the ECU's prolly pulling timing because of knock. (or you could have a boost leak somewhere - check all your intercooler pipes) If your  boost gauge is showing proper boost, then it's prolly not your intercooler pipes.

I know little about the logging capabilities of the 2G's, but if you can hook it up like us 1G guys do, definitely log your car and find out what the **** is going on.

[Trevor J Foster]

thanks for the replies..... I will check everything mentioned....

thanks again

[Michael Cummings]

It kinda sounds to me like your car might not be warming up fast enough.  If I were you I would check your thermostat because if its broken then it will take awhile for the engine to warm up, and when its cold it will drive like crap.
If your going to go through the effort to check it you might aswell just replace it.
Drain coolant out, then take off rad hose and top half of the thermostat housing.

[Kevin Standeven]

I get lifter tick like mad until the car warms up, and the knock sensor likes to read it as knock and my timing gets pulled. that's probably what's happening with you; the symptoms sound exactly the same

[Cam Bonner]

block heater. buy one.

[Travis Merrick]

Wow guys, thought you wouldn't have been just throwing crap at him.  This is properties of a turbo charged car.  If it is colder out and you dont let it warm up completely (thats why there is a big sticker if you pull down your sun visor about proper care).  Every single turbo car from completely stock to modified has this exact same thing.  Like Andrew said it is more than likely pulling timing.  Just get up 5 minutes earlier and warm it up, OR DONT BOOST AFTER YOU JUST STARTED DRIVING IT!!!  You should see your thermostat gauge go way up almost to boiling point and then it drops off, this means the block has enough pressure from heat build up, but doesnt mean everything is completely warm.  On a T-Charged vehicle I suggest 10 minutes of running before any boosting unless you eventually wanna f*ck it up.

[Trevor J Foster]

Awesome!!! Thanks for all the help!!!

Can you tell its my first turbo? After buying the car I started thinking the guy sold it because there were problems..I had a talon before and looking into getting another I have been warned not to buy one....maybe I am just paranoid after buying a mint car ahha.....I have been letting it warm up longer and finding no problems...plus I get the lifter tick as well when its cold.......

Thanks again.

[Travis Merrick]

I always had lifter tick for about 30-60 seconds after I started it up, seemed to go away for good until I let cool down again.  There are some weird tendencies I have noticed in turbo cars, you may all of a sudden feel a jerk every now and then cause they are so sensitive to the fuel they are running that you can feel the 2 degrees of retard they pull at WOT.  Good gas means a HUGE deal with turbo cars and increased boost levels (15lbs+)

Go out and have some fun, wish I could still do it.

[Mike Schmid]

Letting it warm up is alot easier than trying to stay off boost.  I pretty much can't stay off boost unless I'm accelerating with like 15% throttle and shifting and 2600 rpm, which doesn't get me anywhere.  I warm it up at idle until my new and improved real oil pressure guage shows a drop from 50-60psi down to a more viscous 25psi or so.  Then I go and take it easy until the temp guage comes up, which is pretty quick by this point.  I warm up longer when there's more traffic and I'm going to have to get on the throttle to drive properly.

[Trevor J Foster]

So I figured it out.....

Engine light was burnt out...and when replaced it stayed on...

Engine code directed me to the wastegate solenoid....thats why I was lacking the power..

Waiting for the backordered part however this has to solve it

thanks for the help everyone