Poor throttle response, very sluggish??!!

[Kempy 0]

hello

 

I've got a 92 2.0l 16v, which otherwise is fine. But I had a problem a few months back and ended up with a whole new dizzy but since then I've got issues with poor acceleration in 1st and 2nd gears especially which is worrying at roundabouts and junctions. I've got my foot flat on the gas and its not pulling at all, its not all the time but 90% I'd say. Has anyone had similar problems? I am very interested in getting this fixed at a low cost cause I'm just starting a new job, I wont get paid for a month.

 

Cheers for reading and replying

 

Kempy

[dr_mat 0]

Sounds like weak spark .. typical distributor problem (and since it started happening when you changed distributor chances are that's not a coincidence..)

[Kempy 0]

I got 4 new plugs in?! Could it be the leads? as all else are new 8)

[boost monkey 0]

Yes it could definitely be leads, as they are what connect the dizzy and plugs after all :D

[Kempy 0]

Got new leads, dizzy, plugs still very very poor throttle, real bad flat spots, back firing, feels like poor fuelling :shrug:

[steve_16v 0]

I had a similar problem with mine recently, it was backfiring and had very little torque or power. Going up hills that you'd normally go up in fourth gear at low revs had to be tackled in second with your foot on the floor all the way up, likewise hills on motorways had to be taken in fourth otherwise it would be slowing down with your foot to the floor in fifth. Setting off from junctions required a liberal amount of revs just to get going, which in itself was a pain because the revs took ages to build up. Oh and it was using a LOT of fuel, low 20's on a motorway run doing 60-70mph, single figures in town, also the exhaust manifold would glow orange after a drive.

 

I can't remember the full details of what the problem was because it was months ago when it was explained to me and I didn't fully understand it all, but from what I can recall it was the keyway on the lower crank pulley had sheared, this meant the timing was out and made the car run like a dog.

 

I took it to AwesomeGTI and Jim took it for a spin and diagnosed it straight away, they see it once or twice a month there and luckily know how to fix it without having to take the engine apart (I can't remember exactly what but it had caused damage to something to do with the crankshaft that would normally need the bottom end to be removed to get at).

 

Hopefully that's not what's wrong with yours though because it wasn't particularly cheap to get that sorted.

[flusted 0]

if your mani glows its timing well out

[Kempy 0]

I haven't noticed if the manifold id glowing I will take a look when I drive it next

[Kempy 0]

Inlet manifold does not glow

[colinstubbs 0]

Would that be the 'EXHAUST' manifold you were s'posed to be checking? :wink:

[Kempy 0]

I dont know be honest, why would anything be glowing

[colinstubbs 0]

If the timing is way out it'll be overfuelling and the exhaust manifold will be getting a lot hotter.

I think this could be to a degree of combustion in the manifold?

Dunno, someone better at piston engines than me could tell you.

[Kempy 0]

sorry for bringing up an old thread. but I still got this car and its still got the same problem drove it bout 15 miles yesterday to a new garage, same problems its got all new leads, dizzy fuel pumps. So Im thinking its more like what steve16v was saying...

 

HAs anybody else had similar problems?

[Tim_R 0]

Sounds to me like your ignition timing wasn't setup correctly when the distributer was replaced. What was the reason for having that replaced?

I set my 16v up by the book originally and had no end of trouble with low power and hesitation on accelerating, as soon as i advanced to to around 10 degrees rather than 7 it became completely different. :D

[Kempy 0]

I cant remember. I think I drove it thought a puddle, which turned out to be bigger than first thought. it got cleaned out then I think, but I remember braking down after that again and got it towed to a garage who changed the dizzy. How do you sort out the ignition timing? cheers for help, your not far from me maybe you can have a look.. :D

[Toad 0]

Get a timing light.

 

6 degrees, Etc.

 

Been for a drink, and stuff.

[Tim_R 0]

I cant remember. I think I drove it thought a puddle, which turned out to be bigger than first thought. it got cleaned out then I think, but I remember braking down after that again and got it towed to a garage who changed the dizzy. How do you sort out the ignition timing? cheers for help, your not far from me maybe you can have a look.. :D

 

Slacken off the 2 bolts that lock the dizy in place and turn anti clockwise to advance and clockwise to retard the ignition timing. Mark it before you start and advance it small amounts at a time.

 

If you can get it over to Bristol I'm happy to take a look and can put vag com on it, but I'm only around weekday evenings.

[Kempy 0]

I cant remember. I think I drove it thought a puddle, which turned out to be bigger than first thought. it got cleaned out then I think, but I remember braking down after that again and got it towed to a garage who changed the dizzy. How do you sort out the ignition timing? cheers for help, your not far from me maybe you can have a look.. :D

 

Slacken off the 2 bolts that lock the dizy in place and turn anti clockwise to advance and clockwise to retard the ignition timing. Mark it before you start and advance it small amounts at a time.

 

If you can get it over to Bristol I'm happy to take a look and can put vag com on it, but I'm only around weekday evenings.

 

i'll need to get it legal first :wink: has no mot or tax

[Tim_R 0]

Drop me a PM, we might be able to come to some arrangement to have a look at it one evening.

[Gareth_16V 0]

If the timing is out, one thing to check is that the idle switch on the throttle body is working correctly. I checked the timing on mine and it was way out, or so I thought. The ECU uses the idle control valve and the ignition timing to control the idle.

 

Setting the timing to the recommended 6° BTDC gave me an idle at about 2500RPM before I worked out what was going on.

 

If someone's set your new dizzy up without the idle switches working you might have it set up too far advanced. This would make the ECU retard the timing when it discovers "knock", causing the lack of power under full throttle you describe.

 

HTH

Gareth

[Kempy 0]

I think the timing is out, but I noticed there is fuel coming from the pump which I fitted last year :mad2: so that needs sorting might just need tightning

[Kempy 0]

the stupid car wont start now, battery and petrol is ok. I've had the dizzy off to have a look at it but have put it back. leads are all ok, really at my ends with this car :censored: :censored: :help:

[Tim_R 0]

Is the car cranking over ok, just not firing? Got a spark at the plugs? 3 pin connector for the hall sender on the dizzy plugged in? If the ecu doesn't get a signal from that, it won't switch the coil to give a spark.

[marf497 0]

Check that your getting 12v on the coil (black & green whires on the 3 pin connector I think) i had a problem with mine I was only getting about 5v on the coil and no spark I thought it was the coil amplifier or the ecu as when i disconnected ecu i got 12v I ended up getting the pin out for the ecu and fusebox and it was a problem with a connector on the back of my fusebox

 

 

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76317

[Kempy 0]

I think its spark tbh, leads probably need changing..I got nothing to test for voltage :brickwall: