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Slight engine trouble, advice please


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Hi all, had my 4mo for over a year now but just signed up on a recommendation. I've had a bit of engine trouble and was hoping for some help with diagnosing/fixing it if anyone has any thoughts on the below. Thanks in advance!

Car is a 2002 VW Golf 2.8L V6 4mo 24V (engine code BDE).

I was driving back home a couple of days ago and had a sudden loss of power and it wouldn't let me rev over ~2,200rpm, so clearly in limp home mode. It threw an engine malfunction light and code P0322, Ignition/Distributor Engine Speed Input Circuit No Signal.

It did something similar once before a few days before where it lost power and power steering and flashed up a check oil warning so obviously I cut the power pronto. Oil level and all fluids fine, started up again and went home no further problems (no limp mode) but again had P0322 logged.

So last evening I've been dismantling the car to access the engine speed sensor to do a crude test mentioned in my Bentley - checking the resistance between two of the (three) pins to/from the engine speed sensor. This is meant to be between 480-1000Ω. This returned around 800Ω. Then I thought maybe I should warm the car up since it seems that's when problems normally arise with these sensors, got it up to temperature but couldn't get it to reproduce the error :( and then got another reading, of between around 960-1200Ω (though if I had to guess I reckon the accurate reading would be lower rather than higher since due to engine heat I was having to use two long screwdrivers).

I've also located the actual sensor and it's a pig to get at. It's bolted in with a 5mm hex between the oil cooler/exchange and a brace holding something that looks important (don't know what it is, sorry) and the sump. Even with the car on stands and the front off I can barely get an allen key in, let alone undo (or tighten it up if I got it off, to 10Nm).

So a couple of issues really - am I likely to be barking up the wrong tree by going after the engine speed sensor - is there something I'm overlooking, or do my test results make it unlikely to be that? The other issue here is I can't find the right part anywhere and I don't have a part number (just a hundred sensors on eBay for every model under the sun except mine - including the one for the Automatic version of my car (though really I wouldn't have expected there to be a difference!)

So currently I've got a car in pieces and don't know where to go from here :(

Any advice/help appreciated; cheers.

Obligatory pic:

2013-09-05%2021.14.21small.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

I realise this is a few months old now, but I'd just like to say a massive well done on your guide..

I know these cars pretty much inside out and that guide is spot on..

It's nice to see some people taking the time & effort to write up a guide to this extent in order to help others... Well done mate, good work

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