Poor Acceleration

[Woolfy]

Hi Guy's,
I have a 1999 Terrano 2.7TD and am experiencing a lack of acceleration, sometimes it's ok but mostly it's not.! When cruising the power sometimes fades away and I dare not overtake as you cannot gurantee the required power. Ive taken it to a garage and they were certain it was the Air Flow meter so for £100 of my hard earned they fitted it. Whilst there is a slight improvement it's not right.
This brings me to the next problem, when they were trying to diagnose any faults with the testing equipement the garage found that there was not the required 'tell tale' light from the ECU on the dash board therefore not allowing them to diagnose correctly and also the fault codes did not show up.....!!!!!
So.................. has anyone else experienced this lack of power problem and if so what is the remedy.
Also should this model have this ECU 'tell tale' light on the dash and if so where abouts on the dash should it be......??
Appreciate any advice.

Regards Woolfy.

 

[tezzer]

woolfy, change the usual, ie fuel,air filters, check if you have a mini filter on pump, (check downloads) well thats a start, some of the guy's will be about later to throw some more light on it. :thumb2

 

[Woolfy]

anyone there..?

Has anyone got any ideas........?
The thread entered after mine has received quite a few replies, have I done something wrong.....??

Helpppppppppppp

 

[Woolfy]

Thanks Tezzer, lets hope there are some answers out there from the experts.

Woolfy

 

[zippy656]

have you changed all the filters?

also check fuel lines for air leakes.. could be sucking in air not fuel .
show up as a DAMP area not enough to drip.

 

[makeitfit]

Trouble is mate the descreption is a bit on the vague side? You can still get the ECU codes regardless of the dash light known as MIL. I've had faults on mine that didnt make the MIL come on!
So have a go at the stuff mentioned above then get the codes.
Enjoy:thumbs

 

[mobyone]

if it is gutless, do you mean before boost is developed, or after, or right through the rev range. have you tried someone else's to compare against?
did the problem develop whilst in your ownership, and have you done anything before it went wrong?
if it is gutless when on boost, i would suggest you look at the small hoses which go from inlet manifold to fuel inj pump, and the wastegate may also be stuck open, which would make it very gutless. is there any colour to your exhaus fumes, black is overfueling,(either too much fuel or not enough air to the mixture), white smoke i am told could be air in the fuel, so also could be not enough fuel getting to it,(holes in fuel pipes, return line leak pipes between injectors)
run it without an air filter and or any pipework going to the turbo inlet, and if it has mass flow meter, then you will be disconnecting this too they will run with default settings if no input is recieved. it should run better if it is at fault, i was not aware that the td27 lump had maf sensor. mine doesn't. but then i am in the process of sticking this lump in my navara. and i never got the ancilliaries with the engine so i am sure i will have some follow up questions too.
i am leaning towards the leak in vacuum pipes first, then waste gate being open.
richard

 

[mobyone]

just a thought, but are your brakes/handbrake binding at all. this will keep you slow...
richard

 

[Woolfy]

It wasn't brilliant when we bought it and, in hind sight, didn't take it on a long enough run to realise how gutless it was.
Thanks for the replies guy's, problem is, will have to wait until weekend to have a play.
No, brakes are not binding, all nice and free.

 

[Woolfy]

Hey guy's,
Still no luck on this, it's a right pain. Been to two garages, had a mass flow air meter replaced at £100 but no real difference and of course the part is non refundable. One thing that does usualy work is that if you lift your foot off the throttle and then jab it back down (once, twice or three times) usually you will hear the turbo cut in and away you go until it starts to fade again... But some times it is just a pain at the lights so not turbo linked - just drawing away...... flat as a pancake, then away you go. I need to use this to tow shortly and am getting slightly worried....!!

 

[makeitfit]

So it's mainly pre turbo that it's gutless:augie
Have you checked the vacuum pipes for leaks and did you actually get any error codes:nenau
Have you done the things listed above? FILTERS :augie
Details please :thumbs

 

[lacroupade]

well the fact that you can hear the turbo at all worries me.

I've had three of these trucks and never heard it....that is until I fitted a K&N induction kit that replaces the standard air box and allows a bit more noise to escape, and even then all you get is a bit of a faint sucking noise when you floor it.

So could be your turbo thats kyboshed?

Not sure how you test it but you can get them s/h pretty cheap on ebay or there are guys on here breaking if you think its worth trying - not a difficult swap. But it fits your symptoms I'd say.....

 

[Woolfy]

Hi,
All pipes were checked, filters checked. The garage said they couldn't get any error codes as there seemed to be "a tell tale light missing from the dash".....!!
As for "pre turbo", well it can be gutless away at a junction and also when cruising, put your foot down and no acceleration what so ever let alone no turbo just nothing, lift your foot off and straight back down and 'usually' away you go.....!

 

[Muckypup]

I've kinda got a similar issue with mine but its petrol. Changed all the usual stuff and there were no codes showing on the plug-in and no faults showing on a live scan. No ecu light, but i know mine works cos it lights up when you start up. But there clearly is a fault, which goes away if you plant your foot to the floor or as you say, let off then re boot lol
Determined to find out what it is, very annoying...

 

[Woolfy]

You say the light is on when you start up, where exactly on the dash do you see this light.?
I keep wondering if if it is something to do with the accelerator pedal switch, but you need to one to try as it will be another 'non refundable' part.......!!

'Annoying' is putting it mildly...!

 

[Muckypup]

You say the light is on when you start up, where exactly on the dash do you see this light.?
I keep wondering if if it is something to do with the accelerator pedal switch, but you need to one to try as it will be another 'non refundable' part.......!!

'Annoying' is putting it mildly...!

I keep finding this "non-refundable part" with Terrano bits... not sure its legal to be honest as I own a small parts business and I HAVE to accept returns, opening a plastic bag does not remove your statutary rights...
Nearly every ignition parts says "non-returnable"! Joke

But back to the point...

My ecu light is at the bottom right of my dash. It lights up with all the others when you switch the ignition on but goes out when the engine starts.
I have very similar symptoms with my petrol model, sometimes its fine sometimes its not. I also find on the motorway at a constant speed it really shows the fault! Round town driving aint as bad.
Im convinced now its something to do with my accellerator/throttle/throttle position sensor.
I've had the position sensor checked, and that itself showed no flat spots. What makes me think its something to do with the pedal switch is the fault always shows up when the pedal is depressed around a third of the way down and revs around 3000... or in real terms 70mph in fifth and its like a kangaroo on speed.
Its right dead on where the flat spot is??? What could cause this???
Sometimes it seems to get trapped in the flat spot and thats when the accelleration is non-existant, other times it just judders then pulls through, other times its as smooth as anything and pulls like a steam train... sure as hell got me confused