Gutless at low rev's...

lordrobs

lordrobs

lordrobs

Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
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Location
Norwich
OK no need for any "your cars gutless at all revs" comments please because I know that already.

The problem I'm having is that at low revs (up to 4k ish) my car seems more flat than usual. Doing 70 on the dual carriageway for example I can hit an incline, floor the accelerator and watch the speedo drop to 55 :(

It also seems a bit lumpy when accelerating. As soon as you hit 4k or thereabouts its as good as ever. Infact it almost feels like a small surge of power as you hit that point (vtec yo? :p )

Final symptom is a bit of a drop in MPG, although recently I have been doing more short trips but even so it seems a bit more thirsty than it should be.

Any advice on what to check out or get checked out would be great. Thanks.
 
I don't know what could be causing it but I can think of a few things you can do.

Clean all breather hoses

Clean air flow sensor

Replace air filter

Replace fuel filter

Check spark plugs, change if necessary

Maybe change the leads unless you've done that recently, same applies to the other bits.

Check exhaust for holes
 
Enfield said:
Check exhaust for holes
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There is a weird metallic rattle from the cat area but I assumed it was just the cover the goes over it :o Any way you can test a cat?!

Thanks for that list though, I never service the car myself so it will be good to check this stuff over anyway.
 
Foot all the way to the Floor? :p

Is it injected or a carburetter? :confused:

Sorry there are bugger all pugs down here and i never know how old the models are
 
lordrobs said:
There is a weird metallic rattle from the cat area but I assumed it was just the cover the goes over it :o Any way you can test a cat?!

Thanks for that list though, I never service the car myself so it will be good to check this stuff over anyway.
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Could well be the ceramic honeycomb inside the cat starting to break up and block the exhaust slightly.
It would give all the symptoms you talk about.

Try to jack one side up and get under the car and shake the exhaust side to side a bit you will hear if the rattle is the heatshield or the ceramic inside the cat itself.
 
lordrobs said:
There is a weird metallic rattle from the cat area but I assumed it was just the cover the goes over it :o Any way you can test a cat?!

Thanks for that list though, I never service the car myself so it will be good to check this stuff over anyway.
Click to expand...


Yeah its probably the heatsheild, always rattling

Sounds like ignition but could be a lot of things, but Id start with new plugs and check leads, coil pack etc
 
I had this similar problem on my 306 1.4. I never cured it, I just sold it as-is :p I went through and changed absolutely everything to the extent of removing the cambelt to make sure it was timed properly.

These engines really aren't powerful, a whole 75BHP in a car weighing a shy over a tonne. Maybe you've just gotten used to the shear awesomeness and it now seems slower :D

[Edit] You people are quick on your toes today.. When I was having these problems I even changed the ENTIRE exhaust system and still no luck. Sailed through the MOT too so no emission problems.
 
Bug One said:
How are your temps?
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Only got a water temp guage but thats reading the same as normal.

Yeah its a pain in the rear. I don't want to chuck money at it to try and cure it with no success as it drives perfectly apart from the ocasional slight hesitation whilst accelerating.

Who knows maybe I'll grow to enjoy the sound of third gear at 70 mph to get up the hill :p

Still I'll have a shot at some of the cheepie fixes. If not I'll have to play the " my cars broke and no car means no work = can't pay mortgage" trick with the gf. She's got Octavia VRS sums of money stashed away :p
 
Ok. What I'd do. In order

Give it a full bottle of petrol injector cleaner in your next fill up.
New HT leads. Nothing special, just el cheapo's.
New set of plugs.
New fuel filter
Give it an oil change.

At least then if its still hesitating, you know its none of the cheap jobs.
 
Just wanted to dig this up, mainly as a thanks to Bug One.

Before posting I had stuck half a bottle of Redex injector cleaner in, after Bug Ones post I stuck the rest in and whatever it was it shifted it!

Towards the end of the tank there was a definaite improvement and after filling up on Monday my fuel guage is now just above 3/4 after 107 miles which is great as the guage drops slower the further I get down the tank. That was stop start driving too :) Performance is now back to how it should be, ie small increase in throttle to maintain 70 up a hill and no lumpy acceleration.

I don't mind these little hick-ups when they only cost £3.75 to fix :cool: :D
 
triggerthat said:
When is your next service due?

Check the spark plugs too.
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It had only just had a service. TBH I don't really keep that much of an eye on my servicing. We use a friend of ours who we trust so I just make sure he gets it every 9000 miles or less and pay him what he asks.

All sorted now anyway :)
 
D4VE said:
well well well, thats good news.
What mileage is she on?
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106k

Not that much really but considering a lot of that is going to be short trips over the past 8 years and the fact you have to give it some stick to get it to move the things probably coming to the end of its life. Runs fine at the moment though (if you ignore the slightly rattling tappets that is :o ) mechanically its been great on my wallet, just a shame the quality doesn't extend to the interior and electrics :(

Gave the cat a poke and you were right about the heatshield so thats another expense delayed :)

I'd like something new but having just bought a house I think I'll squeeze as much as I can out of it then bin it when something expensive breaks :)
 
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