23 replies to this topic

[joshuarule]

My wagovan has a new problem. what's new??

 

On my last two trips upstate my car has really been struggling on any incline and feeling like I don't have much power in the top end. I have driven my car for about 5 years and once across the states so I understand there was really no power to begin with but this is different.

 

In slower speeds it seems to do ok but once i'm accelerating above 40 (flat or uphill) I get some shaking and sputtering feeling...once again generally this is in the 2.5 to 3k range. I usually downshift to get past the sputtering. It's also losing some coolant and gets a bit hotter when i'm back in the city moving slow. My MPG is around 15 in the city and 20 on the highways.

 

I took it to the shop but they can't really recreate the symptoms without having some hills around...they found a kinked vac hose but that didn't really do much for the $100 I spent.

 

I have previously replaced the ignition coil, ecu, cap and rotor, spark plugs, and spark wires for another issue.

 

Are there any tests I can do (i'm decently handy) do to try and isolate this problem on my own before taking it in? Anything I should suggest the shop to look at?

[CRXer87hf]

Carbed or injected?

[joshuarule]

Carbed or injected?

 

Carbed.

[CRXer87hf]

It sounds a lot like you're not getting enough air flow through the carb.  Winter months always jacked with my carbed car years ago.  The temperature changes created moisture build up in the carb which in turn caused grit and crap to collect in areas that it shouldn't.  I'd blast the carb with cleaner and then compressed air.  

[joshuarule]

Ok this sounds like a good place to start. I actually haven't really ever messed with the carb on my car...only on my old mopeds

 

Are there any tips out there for blasting it? I assume that means using the spray carb cleaner... Do I need to take off the carb to do this?

 

Thanks for your help!

[joshuarule]

Took the filter off and blasted the carb with cleaner and compressed air bit it didn't do much. Here's a video of it starting cold. There is some moisture dripping from the tailpipe which you can see in the video. The rough idle is a new symptom after the 6 hours that I drove on Sunday upstate and back. Are those misfires in the video?

 

[CRXer87hf]

Honestly it doesn't sound bad.  The idle speed looks right when cold.  As far as blasting, just try to get carb cleaner in all of the little holes and slots that you can see when looking down into the carb.  There should be a couple holes inside the main bore around your throttle plate.  Make sure those get blasted.  Make sure it all dries before trying to start it up, otherwise you'll get a small fireball out the top of the carb.  If that doesn't seem to do anything, I would try a Seafoam treatment.  Fill your tank to a certain amount and put the correct amount of Seafoam into the tank.  Run the tank almost empty and see if that helps.

[joshuarule]

ok that's at least good to hear! So when I opened up the carb and looked down into it there was a fair amount of gas in the bottom. Is that normal? Is that something I need to drain before cleaning? Maybe I wasn't able to get to the right parts.

 

thanks again...how can I buy you a virtual beer!?

[CRXer87hf]

In order to answer that question, I'll need you to elaborate on what you mean by opening up the carb and looking down into it.  Is it the factory carb?  My guess is that it's fine, and it's ok to leave the fuel in there.  However, if you are looking into the bowl, take a moment and see if there is any build up on the surfaces of the bowl.  If it's gummy, it's time to clean it out.  Seafoam will help, but if there's build up it'll need to be scrubbed or put into a ultrasonic cleaner.  Good luck!

 

I don't drink so a virtual fist-pump will do

[anjin]

Time for other questions, because I thought about spark/timing side rather than fuel for a drop in power through a rev range, and running hotter.

 

Is the dissy causing issues? The vacuum advance could be sticky, for example. Ignitor could be getting weaker, as could coil, and even the spark plug leads can cause issues.  I assume you have checked the spark plugs.

[joshuarule]

I should check the plugs. I replaced them not too long ago so I guess I assumed they were good. I replaced the cap and rotor, ignition coil, and spark wires when I replaced the ECU.

 

I had to skip town for a week for work so I wont be able to get back to this until then...for now my girlfriend gets to move my car for alternate side parking. She loves looking after my car :|

[PuddleSkipper]

I would investigate the headgasket. Coolant loss, rough idle, water out the tailpipe, and no power are all the things that stick out to me. Headgaskets can break in different ways. I have seen them push antifreeze out the the radiator but I have also seen them suck antifreeze into the crankcase. I also pulled a head one time at the junkyard where one broke to the outside. My guess is for $100 at the shop you went to they did not do much. I am willing to bet they did not do a compression check on it either. I had a car with the headgasket out and they told me all they did was throw it up on a lift and listened to it knock to tell me it was a headgasket out, that was it, and they charged me $90. I realize they have overhead, but that's why no one trust mechanics. Check your oil first, maybe you already did, if it's milky looking that's a for sure sign. There is also a kit that you hook up a cylinder with a colored solution where your radiator cap sits. You also hook a vacume line up to the motor. If there are exhaust bubble coming up through your radiator (head gasket leak) it will change colors. If there is no bottom end knocking and antifreeze got in your oil it's not the end of the world, dump the oil, change the filter. Pull the head, see what needs to be done, if you rebuild the head it might be worth throwing a rag in the bottom of your cylinders and run a hone up and down, just enough to break the glaze and put a little cross hatch on it, it if the cylinders aren't too oval shape. This will reseat the rings and bring up the compression. My friends car was running rough recently and I thought it just needed a tune up. After getting the tune up done and it still running rough he mentions it had been running hot, but I had to go. Later he calls me and tells me it had water in the oil .....nothing like wasting money on a tune up........so now that's the first thing I look for if it's running rough. And I never trust the owner to give me all the details, better for me just to check it myself.

[joshuarule]

Thanks for the info! I just ordered a compression test gauge to use when I get home to test the cylinders. I will take a look at the oil as well and look into the block tester if the compression is not consistent. I feel confident it's got a leak because of it losing coolant. While I don't enjoy that my car isn't running great...I do enjoy trying to understand why and appreciate the help. Looking forward to getting back and running some tests

[joshuarule]

Well today I learned the lesson "check your spark plugs first" I didn't check them since I had changed them 1.5 years ago which I felt was recent I pulled the plugs and they were all pretty grimey / dark and one was busted. Popped some new ones in and my idle went back to having no sputter. I would conclude that it was missing spark. Is that a normal length of time for a sparkplug? Seems short. Does this mean i'm running too rich? Anything I can easily check here?

 

I tested the compression and got solid readings on 1 & 2 but had a bitch of a time getting the hose attached to 3 & 4. They never felt like they screwed in enough to form a seal (due to not being able to wrench the cable and the threads being tougher than the others)...so I don't think I was able to get accurate readings (at least I hope). I will try again maybe with my girlfriend pressing on the hose to seal.

 

After it took it on the highway I didn't experience the sluggishness as before yay! though when I pulled up to my destination I found a radiator hose leak...so now i'm on to that.

 

I will change that hose and while I have some time this week change the fuel filters which I don't have record of being done and i've owned it at least 5 years. Trying to get her ready for another 3hr trip up north this weekend with some hilly terrain.

[CRXer87hf]

Plugs should last much longer than that unless you're driving 40k miles a year.  Are you using NGK?  When you say the plug was broken, can you elaborate?  Also, when you say the plugs were grimey, did they seem wet or greasy, or did it look dry, just covered in a lot of carbon?