I have owned my van for best part of eight months and had lived with it for what it was (an under powered 1990 campervan) . I had seen all the posts on various forums etc about how bad these vehicle were on hills and in general in their standard guise, and had toyed with the idea of dropping in a different engine because i didn’t think i could live with it for the long term. However, i’d almost made my mind up that i was going to live with (and love) it for what it was.

Little did i know that there was actually a problem with the LDA boost controller. This was there to increase the fuel to the engine under load, and the fact that mine was knackered was a big deal as far as performance was concerned. This was highlighted during a service at Brickwerks.

So I set to rectifying the problem. The new ones were not readily available in the UK so I bought a second hand one from North West VW at a cost of £29 delivered. Fitted it and it made a massive difference to the drive ability especially on hills. So the van doesn’t need to be upgraded engine wise! 🙂

LDABoostController

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Comments

5 responses to “LDA Boost Controller”

  1. Mark Cooper Avatar
    Mark Cooper

    Hi Andy.
    Regarding LDA booster. How woeful was the performance? What were the symptoms?
    I have the little jx engine. Pulling 2.2t. So the performance, acceleration is never going to be stunning. It will cruise at 70/75 even 80 given the terrain. ( too cruel I fear). It does readily drop down to 45 say on those longish/ steepish hills. Am I wrong to accept this a the norm do you think?

    1. Andy Burrows Avatar
      Andy Burrows

      Mark,
      From memory the issue i had was most noticeable on hills due to the fact the extra fuel wasn’t being introduced to add the extra power needed to keep it in the power range. Even on a good run up to a hill i would inevitably find myself continually shifting down through the box and ended up thrashing the arse out of it in 2nd gear just to get to the top of a hill. 45 seems to be a speed i would count as acceptable now on a steep hill . The LDA controller is a mechanical item as your probably aware. It’s usually the diaphragm that fails and starts to leak so the atmospheric pressure controlling the arm isn’t effective. I would imaging that there could be a cross over from the diaphragm becoming part worn and loosing the effectiveness to do it’s job, to the point of total failure. I noticed when the engine was revved the arm on the controller was doing nothing. This was confirmed at the service and that’s when i changed it. 🙂

  2. Bradley Watson Avatar
    Bradley Watson

    Hey Andy, been reading about you for a while via social media and Jed at CVC.

    I have a 1990 Cali, in from Germany, and have experienced the potential issue with the LDA, are you able to offer a bit more info on where you purchased yours from please?

    Really love your van y the way, keep the posts coming!

    1. Andy Burrows Avatar
      Andy Burrows

      Bradley, Thanks for the kind words. Glad your finding the van interesting. Always nice to hear positive feedback :). As far as the LDA boost controller is concerned I did struggle to get a new unit. I think you can get them from Germany, but they are not cheap and i thing you may get stung for postage. I was given the contact details of a chap that supplied second hand parts. His name is Nick and his company is North West VW. You may have seen him at VW shows as he is often there. His mobile number is 07968367046 . Hope this helps.

      Andy

  3. Bradley Watson Avatar
    Bradley Watson

    Only just catching up on this Andy, thanks again for the help. Sadly looks like the head gasket has failed on the Cali, worst case the head too. Looking at changing the LDA when the work is carried out locally. Just seen your comment on Jed’s latest video blog on FB on the current adventure, we have bought a number of things from CVC, always great kit and top advice. I will get in touch with nick re the LDA, thanks again.

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