Dave_McC 0 Posted March 12, 2006 I bought an f reg 1600 cti from ebay a couple of weeks ago as a bit of a project / summer toy, but it feels totally gutless to me. The engine starts fine and seems to idle OK. No pinking and no obvious smoke screen following me. It does accelerate, but with no vigour at all. It's quite smooth, and no particularly strange noises. It struggles to get up to much over about 75mph, which can't be right. So far, I've discovered the vacuum advance unit on the distributor is knackered (see separate post) which I'm in the process of replacing. It also seems to have a 1.9 dizzy on it (pt No 0237 009 066). Needless to say for the minimal amount I paid, there's no service history or receipts or anything else!! Where should I start looking for the missing power? Thanks for any pointers Dave Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonmurgie 2 Posted March 12, 2006 Well first thing I'd suggest is give the thing a good service, replace everything you can (plugs/leads/dizzy cap/dizzy arm/air filter/fuel filter/oil filter/oil) and see if that helps as it may be an ignition breakdown... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony 1,003 Posted March 12, 2006 If it really is struggling to do 75mph then it's clearly horrifically down on power, as even really tired 1.6's should manage a ton. Compression check would be a good start to see if there's something wrong internally, and check the cam timing is correct and the belt hasn't jumped a tooth. Plenty of other things it could be, but those two would be a good starting place I'd say. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave_McC 0 Posted March 12, 2006 Cheers - I'll give it a thorough service and check the cambelt is fitted correctly and that it hasn't jumped a tooth. Just need to sort out the dizzy first so I can move it again! It has a K&N induction kit filter on it - with the filter behind the n/s headlight. The filter looks pretty manky. Can these be cleaned and if so how? Dave Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonnie205 1 Posted March 12, 2006 Yes i agree with anthony, cam and ignition timing is the first thing to check. If they are ok i would do compression check, no point in replacing loads of parts as it will almost certainly be low on compression or timed up wrong. Bear in mind though the 1.6s arent that quick anyway Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest yaztromo Posted March 12, 2006 Clean it with compressed air or just wash it with a bowl of water. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
