Hesitation And Total Loss Of Power

[James Cornell 10]

Okay I've been looking at this problem for some time now and I just can't quite get this Peugeot to run correctly it's a 1.9 8v and so far I changed the plugs, Leeds, dizzy cap, Rotor arm, air flowmeter, the hoses, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter and have also had a cylinder head change new stem valve seals.

 

After the head rebuild I couldn't really get it to idle properly so I've refurbed the Sad which fixed the poor idling. Now it starts on the button and ticks over beautifully but when you pull away it will judder and have a total loss of power and if you don't catch it it'll cut out and if you put away on the judder it'll be lumpy and kangaroo in until it hits about 2 1/2 thousand RPM.

 

I have tried setting the dizzy (by setting it, driving it for a bit and changing it by 1mm) from so high that it pinks to all the way back to sounds like machine gun (very retarded) and I just can't go to pull away cleanly.

 

I am really at a loss and nearly ready to throw the towel in and get a specialist to look at it. Sorry to sound a little down and out but this has even going on for 8 months now and i am doubting my ability to rectify this issue.

[DamirGTI 342]

Looks like you've covered most of the engine related stuff .. i remember your previous post regarding this issue (if i recall you've checked the timing belt alignment also , which turned up to be good as well ..)

 

There was some head gasket sealing problems - leakage after assembling , does it still leaks or is it fine now ?

 

If the head was disassembled , and particularly if the valves/seats where ground/lapped - check the valve clearances if you haven't tried that yet .. they might be too tight which could have impact on idle and low rev throttle response , and generally kinda poor engine performance trough all the rev range (i've had once an mates car , was an Clio , which simply didn't want to hold stable idle or pull cleanly from low revs on which someone also recently did and HG job and clearly didn't know what he was doing - the bloke who did the HG job wound up the valve adjusting mechanism on all the valves all the way down so that neither one of the valves didn't have any lash at all ! they where all wound up rock tight .. initially i thought it was some kind of electric problem but on the end after some head scratching , when i found out that the valves are actually f***d up , fixed it just by resetting/adjusting the clearances ..)

 

D

Edited February 20, 2014 by DamirGTI

[James Cornell 10]

Feeler gauges at the ready then dammir, if I get a chance this weekend the rocker cover will come off.

 

NB the HG is fine, no leaks (touch wood)

[Tallguy_2 7]

Hi mate, I had the exact same issues with mine, when it does it can you just plant you're foot to the floor and it still not rev?

[James Cornell 10]

That's correct and then it will bang into life jerking you forward at WOT

[James Cornell 10]

I have also found if you pull away slowly and it does if you dip the clutch and let it back out again sometimes you can pull away without kangaroo ing or revving it like a pensioner at Tesco's car park

[Tallguy_2 7]

Mine was exactly the same, gave the Maf a whack and it suddenly worked, since then given the Maf a clean and it's been good

[James Cornell 10]

I have cleaned the AFM and tried a known good one and it is still as bad...I am getting it properly timed tomorrow to ensure it is not a mis timing issue

[Tallguy_2 7]

Wonder if it may be your plug connector to the AFM?

[James Cornell 10]

It could be, I have cleaned it up but that does not mean there is not a break in the wire...

[James Cornell 10]

I have had the timing checked and it is spot on so that is good news. The bad news however is the car is running lean. I have taken the mixture screw up to maximum fuel on the AFM but it is still making the plugs run white.

 

I have been told that is I unscrew the metal prongs on the AFM and move the plastic gear around one tooth it should richen the mix up so I this that will be the next course of action.

 

Probably a silly question but I am assuming the clock who's is rich and anticlockwise is lean?

[DamirGTI 342]

If it's running lean , that'll certainly make it bad performance wise .. bad throttle response with slight delay on picking up the power/revs , hesitation , "kangarooing" etc. .. bad for the engine health as well so needs to be rectified as soon as possible otherwise it'll damage the engine .

 

Is the present AFM another second hand one or is it the same one which was on the engine before the HG job ?

 

If it's a spare one , it might need recalibration .. don't bother with the allen screw on the AFM body - it's just for idle air/fuel mixture , tweaking that wont have any effect on the rest of the rev range .. need to adjust the AFM flap spring tension in order to richen up the mixture on all the rev range .

 

Please read this thread , all you need to know "how to" about doing AFM mixture adjustment via spring tension is there , including some interesting links and photos :

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=153382

 

D

[James Cornell 10]

Good shout on the article I have taken it up one click but it is still a little lean so I will have it off again and do it one more click

[hoodygoodwood 71 3 Cars]

Do you have the correct inlet manifold gasket fitted , I had a 309 GTI with a non injection gasket fitted by a previous owner . It ran dog rough under 2500 rpm and it took me ages to suss what had caused it . the injector was firing directly at the gasket , I removed the plenum , cleaned up the mating surfaces and fitted the correct item and the difference was unbelievable .

[James Cornell 10]

Well I did get the gasket from a motor factors as part of a head rebuilt kit so that could be the case and I may get hold of one and have a go, shouldn't be too much...I hope...

[paul mcgrath 2 1 Cars]

Can i jump on the end of this?? My 1.6 GTi is doing something similar, not all the time but certainly under 2000 rpm light load, i wouldn't class it as a misfire as it doesn't seem to fire on 3 cylinders its just like its died for a split second then comes back. Last week whilst going for MOT it was really bad infact the rev counter indicated 2000rpm (briefly then dropped down) and i would say it was more like 1300rpm. Had to slip the clutch to get it to go anywhere, then all of a sudden the fault disappeared like a fart in the wind but the slight hesitation was still there. Any ideas / common culprits?? Dizzy cap, rotor arm, plugs, leads and fuel filter replaced at MOT last week. Took it out the other day and when on motorway circa 4000rpm ish about every 10 secs or so theres a very brief hiccup. 

 

Worst case rather than change this, that and the other i'm thinking maybe take it to a rolling road and get them to diagnose

 

Many Thanks in advance.

[jackherer 543]

If the tacho is suddenly dropping down it indicates an ignition fault on the low voltage side normally.

 

And ignition problems at 4000 RPM are a classic sign of ignition amp issues, the first thing to try is a cleaning of the back of the ignition amp and a reapplication of some heatsink thermal transfer paste before screwing it back down to the heatsink plate.

[paul mcgrath 2 1 Cars]

7 minutes ago, jackherer said:

If the tacho is suddenly dropping down it indicates an ignition fault on the low voltage side normally.

 

Yeah whilst it was idling (just after starting) - 'twas a bit difficult to start, the rev counter shot up to 2k and then settled at idle revs shortly after never done it before or since although to be fair the car has been sleeping for the best part of 20yrs. At MOT CO was 1.25%

 

Will take the module off over the weekend and clean it. Thanks :). Would this component have an impact on the primary side of the coil or could this be something else?? 

[jackherer 543]

2 hours ago, paul mcgrath said:

Would this component have an impact on the primary side of the coil

Yes, it takes the very low voltage pulse from the sensor in the distributor and amplifies it then the amplified signal pulses the primary side of the coil directly.

[tartanbloke 35 1 Cars]

Just to add, I had a bit of a misfire at 70mph around 4000 rpm, which then caused loss of power on the motorway and it was the distributor itself that was at fault. Was past its best and the springs on the inside had given way a long time before.

 

Therefore, whilst in the same vicinity, check the distributor.