Problem is now fixed but here is the story behind it.

Please bear with the beginning of the story as you will see later on how it fits.

At my new to me house i have a bunch of deep holes in the yard and need something to fill them so neighbors and friends have been giving me yard waste like leaves, small sticks, acorns, small pebbles etc.

Then two weeks ago I hear something running around in the attic. It was definitely bigger than the standard mouse. So I went up in the attic to find a Squirrel running around. ten minutes later i had chased him out and filled the hole he was going thru with spray foam so he could not get back in.

Now to three days ago. Doing some errands around town and the car seems a little sluggish but it was the first really cold day of the fall. Drove about 30 miles to meet a friend for dinner and on the way back get a half yellow engine light and loose all turbo boost.

So I stop shut the car down and restart the car everything seems fine for a minuter or two and then I hit 3K rpm and engine light comes back on. Code reader reads P12A3. Do this a number of times, every time it comes back to having boost after car is started and then looses it when the car hits about 3k rpm. Cant find the code listed anywhere google search turn up nothing dealer says its not a valid code.

I take the car to a mini specialist near me they read codes 2885 and 28A5 again no data available on these code from two dealers. Really confused as to what is going on.

Jan (tuner) says to check the HPFP as if the fuel pressure is up but it can not supply enough fuel then it could cause the problem.

So I think before that I should tear the air box off and check all the air tubes about the engine for cracks and loose fittings etc then if i find nothing then i can take it and have the fuel pressure checked.

Low and behold I take the intake air box cover off and filter out to find what you see below:

Acorns in air box below Filter:




Acorns filling air intake opening to air box:




and then the totally clogged air intake tube, Clogged so tight i had to take a screw driver to dislodge the acorns and get them out:



I am surprised the car even ran with all the acorns it had in it.

So the morals of the story here are:

1. Check the easy crap first it may be causing the problem.

2. Don't **** off the neighborhood squirrels they will retaliate.

Not sure if this will help anyone else with loss of boost pressure but it is a funny story or at least I think so.

Good luck to anyone else that has lost boost pressure and is having trouble figuring it out.

 

So I guess they went in via the cold air intake tube near the front headlight and hid their snacks? Thats really terrible, makes me want to take mine apart right now.

 

lol awesome story! Glad you did your own trouble shooting. I looked up the 2285 and 28a5 in an old bmw code book http://www.aetool.com/upload/Manual%...set%20Tool.pdf thats an old reference so it could be incorrect.

 

cheeky squirrels, that's the best blocked air intake i've ever seen, without photo's we would be thinking, you've been drinking!

 

I know right like ---->

 

Otherwise know as the KISS principle!

That is one heck of a story, I'm with on of the other posters and wondering how this thing ran at all (not to mention, those are some BIG acorns)!!!! Now I don't feel quite so bad about mice getting into my Prius, tearing up the cabin filters, building a nest and then dying where I couldn't find them to get rid of the bodies and smell!

 

Hey Schatzy! What a discovery. The first mod I did to my car was to install a foam drop in air filter. When I took out the OEM filter I found two handfulls of rat poison pellets underneath, probably put there by some stowaway vermin on the boat ride to the states.

 

With an internal combustion engine, I only thought it could be three things: air, spark, or fuel... Now I've gotta check for acorns too...!

 

Another thought just occurred to my enfeebled, old brain .... you were lucky those weren't chestnuts!

 

But chestnuts roasting would maybe have smelled and made the find easier

 

Holy crap!

That's nuts!! (No pun intended...)