Suddenly sluggish

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:24 pm

For some reason I seem to have lost power, acceleration and any speed. It is a 480 Auto Turbo (1990). All electircs have been tested and are fine - HT lead replaced. It starts fine, but driving won't go above 4000 rpm, is sluggish ie takes forever to get even to 20 mph - dicey at junctions. We managed to get 65 mph out of it the other day at a huge struggle. Although plugs, distributor cap etc have been tested it still feels like a misfire.
A mechanic worked on it and possibly damaged the fuel inlet pipe that passes across the distributor cap and into the main engine (sorry for the lack of technical terms). It has now come off completely. Although being stuck back on it has possibly lost the vacuum that it had.
Has anybody else had a similar problem? Fine one day, the next with the acceleration of a traction engine.
Help! I'm driving a Fiesta instead at the moment which really doesn't compare!

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:32 pm

Firstly, Welcome to the Forum.

Sounds like a fuel related problem, the fuel is controlled by its own ECU (electronic control unit) so this could be a place to look for problems.

Best of luck

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:35 pm

Cheers - will try that. It seems to be a fuel issue so far. Will let you know.

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:44 pm

Hi, Welcome to the club

I also have a turbo auto

My HT lead was damaged and it run like a bag of poo until I replaced it.

But you checked that!

volvofox · Post by **volvofox** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:59 pm

Whats a HT lead ?

Luck
JPF

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 11:05 pm

HT = High Tension - the leads that got from the distributor to the sparks etc

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 11:06 pm

HT (High Tension) lead goes from the coil to the distributor cap. Thanks for such speedy feedback.

C6REW · Post by **C6REW** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 11:14 pm

Hi Shaughnessy,

My BMW with Turbo suffered the same. It seemed to run out of steam whenever I put my foot down, performance was useless and could not get much of a top end.

When the dealer looked at it they said it was the air going into the turbo and explained that it was starved of oxygen. If I recall right it was a filtration/forced air system that was at fault.

Not sure if this would be similar or any of the other guys could comment on it.

Regards

Chris

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 11:22 pm

Cheers, Chris.

All suggestions welcome. It has been tinkered with for the last two days and has had rear camshaft seal and head gasket seal replaced over the past two months.

pol · Post by **pol** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 11:23 pm

As far as i know, there is no special routine for re-pressurising the fuel system, other than running the engine. Maybe he damaged the fuel pressure regulator, as that is what that hose you are talking about is connected to??

pol

strangegame · Post by **strangegame** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 12:24 am

has the car got a cat if so have it looked at

David Thornber · Post by **David Thornber** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 5:15 pm

Check the intercooler pipes, one may have come off. Had exactly the same problem on an old renault 21 turbo diesel, in that case the turbo to intercooler pipe had a 5 inch split in it and was loosing all the turbo pressure. The fact that car was a diesel won't make any difference, except it was slow usually and with the fault I was passed by a snail!

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 9:15 pm

Thanks for all the advice so far. Still trying to pinpoint it but have some more info...

It won't above 4000 rpm whether it is parked or driving now. Should the turbo kick in when the accelerator is fully pressed down when it's parked?

Can anyone tell from that whether it would be a fuel or a turbo problem.

volvofox · Post by **volvofox** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 9:18 pm

I think its something silly. something related to the last repair, like a forgotten gasket or so. Go back, and claim repair warranty ("never to shoot is also a mis")

Luck
JPF

hereagain · Post by **hereagain** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:18 pm

I had this with a Rover I had, this was due to the "honeycomb" in the Cat breaking up and blocking the pipe. As a simple check hit your cat with your hand, listen for a sound of a tin filled with gravel....still get it checked if you here no sound.

Hope this helps

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:40 pm

My car is losing power, I'm sure of it (apart from the fact I have the boost to less than normal) - any slight incline in 5th gear renders the accelerator pedal completely useless and I have to change to 4th (and I do mean sligh incline, not great big hills). Even the volvo master technician who took it for a drive said it was massively lacking in power - what could be the cause of this?

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 10:32 pm

Solved at last. The carbon brush had gone in the distributor cap and led to the cat completely deterirating, hence the gravel sound it has now. Took it to Volvo for diagnositc tests and they said, yes, the cat was knackered, cleaned all the crap out and it worked better, but didn't look further to what had caused it. As I was belting along at the new speeds of 70 mph, not seen for the last two weeks, everything went pear shaped, loud noises and no power at all. Called the RAC and they fixed it in 10 minutes!

Cheers for all your suggestions, we got there in the end!

New distributor cap on the way...

shaughnessy · Post by **shaughnessy** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 10:34 pm

Forgot to mention that the crisis point on the way home was the rotor arm finally welding itself to the inside of the distributor cap with the final ghost of the carbon brush giving up. It was quite a sight when the extremely helpful RAC man took it off.