Loss of power / fuel starvation

[Muckypup]

Hi guys,
further to my other thread regarding my Maverick 2.4i suffering the hiccups, I now have a new baffling issue...
At the weekend i changed the fuel filter, which relieved the car of its major flat spots, but the hiccups under hard acceleration still remained. This issue is not so bad as they are not apparent under normal driving conditions, however I suspect the new issue could be linked.
Due to all the lovely snow that has fallen recently, I have been running the mrs to work via the back roads and also going out for a little play at night. Whilst playing the other day (completely out of mobile signal in the middle of nowhere) I lost ALL power. The car would attempt to rev up, but then all revs would die away leading to a small "pop" then the car would start to rev again only for the power to die away again until the little "pop" appeared. This continued for around 5 mins whilst i limped in low box to a lay-by. After leaving the car to tick over a few mins the issue completely cleared and all power was returned. The issue did not re-appear untill this morning when pretty much the same happened again, which was solved by a short period of ticking over.

??puzzling??

Well theres one other thing i noticed, it seemed to be after driving on wet slush rather than proper white snow. The cars behaviour when power was lost was alsmost identical to when the cat blew on my Focus...
Could the freezing slush be having some sort of effect? Are there sensors in the cat that could be effected by the cold?
Or am I completely barking up the wrong tree? :nenau

Any advise is very appreciated!!! :bow

 

[Timbo_1975]

Weak / dodgy fuel pump, or water freezing in the lines somewhere. Was the tank low, or have you run it very low just lately?

 

[Muckypup]

Weak / dodgy fuel pump, or water freezing in the lines somewhere. Was the tank low, or have you run it very low just lately?

If im being honest... thanks to the resession i've been squeezing every last drop out of it
Changed the filter and not run it down since then, could it have caused a problem? :doh

 

[Timbo_1975]

Very likely yes. Water and or dirt either on the pickup screen, in the pump, or lines.

 

[bobbee]

power

may be wrong but the last pattern fuel filter i got off ebay had a sealing washer that was slightly smaller in diameter than they used to be.kept having to prime the filter til i realised what it was

 

[harlowmaverick]

sounds like an ignition fault to me, something somewhere getting wet and breaking down when moisture is added!

 

[extreme-4x4]

i was thinking time for new plug leads

 

[Timbo_1975]

Generally, poor HT results in spluttering, and misfires, not flat spots....

 

[harlowmaverick]

king lead can cause flat spots when breaking down :augie

 

[extreme-4x4]

Generally, poor HT results in spluttering, and misfires, not flat spots....

did on my polo , tried everything before and nothing fixed it . new leads and away it went

but yes, your right its not the norm

gotta be worth a shot

 

[Muckypup]

Bringing this back to the top as fault not solved as yet...

Engine is not really miss-firing as such, there are blips in the power as it revs up and major flat spots between 2000 and 4000 revs. Also occasionally the engine goes all together, and will only rev intermittently eg - with foot to floor the engine revs to approx 3000 rpm, then all revs are lost and drop to tick-over only to rev up to around 3000 again then drop back to tick over. All with foot still pressed to floor. Switch the engine off for a minute or two then start back up and all is fine... for a while until the problem returns.

Plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor, fuel filter changed, plenty of fuel in tank. Engine revs smoothly with no funny noises or "cylinder misfires", just a simple refusal to rev properly, especially under load, with blips in power as the revs slowly build.

Heres the wild card... (beyond me, any advise appreciated)
a friend of mine mentioned the cat. He said if the cat was getting knackered it would not allow the waste gasses to flow properly, causing back pressure on the engine which would cause the revs to fall.
Has anyone come accross this before?

You see my problem is I must have a 4x4 because of where i live and work, but im skint. I have pretty much tried all the cheap options and are now getting to expensive potential solutions, I must find out the fault before I start throwing £100's at pointless "possible" solutions. A cat being around £150 fitted... if its not the issue OUCH im fooked for trying anything else...

Getting to end of my tether with it now, its disrupting getting to work etc too much and I must fix it

I bought a Nissan 4x4 because Land-Rovers are unreliable and with Nissan's reputation and my budget I thought... oh well

 

[makeitfit]

I had a couple of petrol mavs and each one had some electrickery faults on the engine I'm afraid:augie what's worse is that the last one sounded just like yours:lol
Anyway I think the cat issue is a possibility. Get underneath it and thump it and listen for stuff rattling about in there:augie
Easy enough to unbolt the exhaust and try free flow for a blast :sly:sly
Be a larf at least:lol
The other thing to try is the lambda sensor, could be worth giving that a clean:augie
Good luck

 

[Muckypup]

Thanks for the only reply... :thumbs

Well I took the cat off and fit a proper de-cat pipe... which made the issue worse! I suspect because of the extra power it gives, the demand for fuel or spark has increased making what ever is breaking down worse!
I had also had the air flow meter mentioned and the lambda sensor may also be a culprit, does anyone know its location on the car so I can have a look?
Also I found a bad connection at the back of my ignition barrel. I spoke to a very good auto-electritian and he said if there is a bad contact it will upset things all over due to incorrect voltage coming from the short...
Anyone got and advise there?

 

[makeitfit]

The lambda thing is in the exhaust downpipe, just before the cat . It's bolted in, so un spanner it and clean the soot etc off it. There may be a test for it but I'm unsure:augie
Electrics:doh

 

[lacroupade]

Thanks for the only reply... :thumbs

Well I took the cat off and fit a proper de-cat pipe... which made the issue worse! I suspect because of the extra power it gives, the demand for fuel or spark has increased making what ever is breaking down worse!
I had also had the air flow meter mentioned and the lambda sensor may also be a culprit, does anyone know its location on the car so I can have a look?
Also I found a bad connection at the back of my ignition barrel. I spoke to a very good auto-electritian and he said if there is a bad contact it will upset things all over due to incorrect voltage coming from the short...
Anyone got and advise there?

The ignition electrics are a known weakness on these trucks, although usual symptom is non-starting....worth changing just the back bit with the electricals (don't need to change the whole lock)...

 

[Muckypup]

New ignition switch purchased and fitted, aaaaand...... IT MADE A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE!!!!! :thumb2 :thumb2 :thumb2

I would have never thought! Now the car revs pretty much as it should, has bags of power and im happy! (hope i aint jinxed it...)
Still gonna take the Lambda sensor out and give it a clean, wont do any harm! Thanks for the advise guys :thumbs :bow

 

[extreme-4x4]

bloody hell paullllllyyyyy gave that advise too


we are not worthy:bow:bow:bow

 

[lacroupade]

bloody hell paullllllyyyyy gave that advise too


we are not worthy:bow:bow:bow

Feck me I'm stunned!!:doh

I mean I didn't honestly expect it to be an issue as I assumed once its started the thing its job is done, but then its a spark engine isn't it, not a diesel, so who knows what current draw there might be....it was a cheap and cheerful thing to try though so wouldn't have lost anything.

But its great to have helped someone who was trying to keep their truck going against the odds....nice one Muckypup, sounds like you deserved a break mate! :thumbs:thumbs Changing the switch also means you won't suffer the starting problem that plagues these trucks when the switch contacts burn out (as they often do) so you've done some preventative maintenance as well!

Looks like we've achieved our mission statement yet again!

have we got one by the way??? Good idea for the front page maybe?

 

[makeitfit]

"Looks like we've achieved our mission statement yet again!

have we got one by the way??? Good idea for the front page maybe? "

How about:- A missleading pic with every thread

or :- No sheep were harmed making this thread :lol

 

[clivvy]

i just read this story, what a fix, well done all!!