daf cf 85 turbo issues

[loud430]

evening all,
I drive a daf cf 85 (56 plate) 380, the turbo doesn't seem to generate much boost, fully loaded if you hold the gear long enough it will creep up to about 1.3 on the gauge on the dash, but it feels very down on power, one of the other drivers followed me the other day in an identical spec lorry & the 1st hill we came to he had to back off as he didn't want to run in the back of me, the power falls off that quickly! the lorry doesn't seem heavy on fuel, or smoke anymore than it used to.
we have changed the fuel & air filters & there doesn't seem to be any leaks/noises, any idea what else we can check or is this a specialist job?
thanks in advance.

[s p a c e m a n]

Honestly, apart from the obvious stuff that you've checked it's just random guessing. They've become so bloody technical that you need to have worked on them quite a bit before you have any fault diagnosing skills, I'm surprised you haven't got any warning lights showing to narrow it down a bit though.

My routine would be filters, leaks and check that its actually got adblue in the tank not derv or water. Then get a man with a computer and a clue, sorry no help

[loud430]

cheers, no problem,
thankfully its a euro 3 so no dreaded adblue!
the garage where it has its 6 week inspections is going to have a look & see if theres a problem with the wastegate, although I would have thought if that was jammed it would sound noisey or run very hot (does neither)
theres no warning lights coming up either..very odd. hopefully we will get to the bottom of it.
(nice chim by the way)

[bearman68]

Does sound like a MAF meter (well it would if it was in a car)

[clarkmagpie]

Intercooler related?

[loud430]

I don't know about the intercooler, I assumed I would hear it hissing if it was leaking? I checked the pipework & couldn't see anything obvious, I don't know if it has a maf unit on it tbh? I will limp it on till next week when it goes in for its inspection, if they cant spot anything I guess it will have to go into dafs.
cheers guys.

[s p a c e m a n]

loud430 said:

(nice chim by the way)

I'm trying not to spend any money buying go faster engine bits, reading your profile didn't help

Hows the exhaust sound on the DAF? My old xf used to be sensitive to anything slightly wrong, bit of a blow used to see her lose a load of power low down.

[AF1]

Exhaust brake sticking on a bit?

[loud430]

the exhaust is all good ( other than the bloody annoying heatshield rattle) when I first drove it a couple of years ago the exhaust brake was sticking a bit but you could feel that & see black smoke. asking my mate who have an identical lorry his hits 1.4 bar boost at 1500rpm, mine you have to hold the gear out to 2000rpm to get the same boost.. will have to chuck it in to the local daf dealership & see what they say I guess. cheers guys.

[s p a c e m a n]

Has it ever had the cat changed in it? I'm going to take a random stab in the dark and say either the intake is filled up with gunk from the egr or the cats knackered, leaning more towards the cat.

I'm not putting any money on it though

[netherfield]

Try changing the fuel pipe from the tank, daft as it may sound, my mate drives a 65, the fuel pipe was changed due to getting damaged, he tells me he didn't realise what he had been missing.

[loud430]

spaceman, I don't think it has a cat on it on a euro three, just seems to be a silencer on there which was £250ish to change a year or two ago.
I will have a look at the fuel pipe, although that & all the filters where changed/checked about 2 years ago when I first noticed it didn't pull very well, its now got pretty bad.
I have to pop into dafs in the morning so will ask to talk to the fitter ive been recommended to have a chat with, hopefully he's on earlys this week. cheers guys.