VR6 lack of power

[dr_mat 0]

Oil into the cylinder has to be either bore wear, valve stem seals or head gasket..

What's odd is that it's all six though, *that* is really strange, unless oil is getting into the fuel.

But I'd expect you to see clouds of blue smoke all the time if it was oiling up the plugs that badly...?

[Critical_Mass 10]

No blue smoke at all. The head gasket was replaced 20k ago by VAG... apparently. Going to get a compression test done on it, see if the cylinders are ok... otherwise ill be looking else where for the problem.

[Critical_Mass 10]

UPDATE

 

Ok an update, changed leads to VAG leads, its better but still doesnt feel quite right. Had a compression test done, couldnt tell you the figures, but was told by the bloke who carried it out (trustworthy mechanic) that the compression was fine. But it still feels like its lacking in power somewhat. Ill put my foot down a bit and it'll feel flat and then SOME power will come in but i dont think as much power as i think it should have. If im in 3rd and i put my foot down in low revs, nothing really happens until i build the revs up gradually.

I know the VR is known to lack low end torque but as little as this? Its also using fuel like theres no tomorrow (going by the MFA) i barely get over 21 mpg around town and in traffic, sometimes it drops to 17. On the motorway i dont see over 28 mpg. The mechanic said the spark plugs were covered in sooty deposits and was gungy due to the fuel wetting the soot. Does this sound like the car is running rich, if so what could be causing this?

 

He also said the scraper rings may need changing due to oil being used, but not burnt, theres no smoke at all and theres no sign of a leak. The engine is really ticky. Could this be causing the lack in power?

 

Any help much appreciated.

 

Cheers guys

[vr6storm 0]

UPDATE

 

Ok an update, changed leads to VAG leads, its better but still doesnt feel quite right. Had a compression test done, couldnt tell you the figures, but was told by the bloke who carried it out (trustworthy mechanic) that the compression was fine. But it still feels like its lacking in power somewhat. Ill put my foot down a bit and it'll feel flat and then SOME power will come in but i dont think as much power as i think it should have. If im in 3rd and i put my foot down in low revs, nothing really happens until i build the revs up gradually.

I know the VR is known to lack low end torque but as little as this? Its also using fuel like theres no tomorrow (going by the MFA) i barely get over 21 mpg around town and in traffic, sometimes it drops to 17. On the motorway i dont see over 28 mpg. The mechanic said the spark plugs were covered in sooty deposits and was gungy due to the fuel wetting the soot. Does this sound like the car is running rich, if so what could be causing this?

 

He also said the scraper rings may need changing due to oil being used, but not burnt, theres no smoke at all and theres no sign of a leak. The engine is really ticky. Could this be causing the lack in power?

 

Any help much appreciated.

 

Cheers guys

 

 

FWIW 21mpg round town is not too bad for a VR btw

[Critical_Mass 10]

REALLY? Still there isnt much power, it could be me not used to a VR but for piece of mind im going to get it onto the rollers and see what that says. What about the possibility of it running rich?

 

Cheers for the reply vr6storm,

[Critical_Mass 10]

Sorry to open this thread again, as it were.

 

As explained in the first post i made- the problem has returned. I went to the shop and the car was fine. I came out and started the car... of dear... the car was misfiring. Got it home with it juddering and all. i took each lead out and they all seemed fine bar one. One had a white coating on the inside of it. So i checked a the spark plugs and AGAIN they are gunked up. The plug with the lead that had white a coating just seemed sooted up and not gunky.

 

Any advise? i dont understand how it can be working fine after getting the leads and plugs changed. Then suddenly, after it was working, getting in the car and starting it can it suddenly be f*cked again.

[Critical_Mass 10]

bump........

[dr_mat 0]

Define "gunked up". You mean oiled up? All five plugs?

[Critical_Mass 10]

Black substance doesnt smell like oil, but not of fuel either.

 

I got the plugs changed and the plugs cleaned. Engine ran ok, bar it seemingly being down on power.... no misfiring. However a matter of weeks later it went back to misfiring. Checked plugs, they were black again.... so i cleaned them and it stopped misfiring. Im puzzled cos if it was burning oil the exhaust fumes would show evidence of that. So this is my theory... tell me if im way off or not. The engine is running rich, which will soot up the plugs. After so long the plugs become that sooted up, the fuel doesnt get ignited propery and soaks the plugs, hence gunking them up THUS the misfiring occurs. Good/bad theory!?

 

Im seeing about taking it down to stealth to see how much down on power it is. The whole sit is pishing me off now.

[dr_mat 0]

Spooky, didn't I see exactly this post in another thread?

 

I did:

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?p=584757

 

You may well be right about it overfuelling. And if it's doing it on all the plugs, you'd surely notice it in MPG .. ?

If it's a fuelling issue on all cylinders, it's either going to be the MAF, lambda or the ECU itself. Running failsafe shouldn't cause enough overfuelling to do this.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeah, i was also trying to find out on the "engine wear" thread, as i didnt expect any responses on this thread anymore. Cheers for the reply.

 

I think my next steps will be to replace the lambda probe to see if that cures it, if not then ill change the MAF. Again, if not ill get it on VAG-COM again. Last time it was on it didnt show any errors, apparently. Ill get a cable and software myself.

[CrazyDave 0]

Sounds like lambda. VAG-COM shows lambda in realtime, so it's easy to see if it's working OK. It should bob back a forward at around 0.9-1 volt if OK.

[Critical_Mass 10]

oh and now that you mention MPG dr_mat. I noticed around town im getting around 20-22 mpg in the last couple of days, unlike before i was getting 18-20. No change in driving style.

[dr_mat 0]

No change in driving style, but a change in air temperature. That's going to make a difference.

A 5 degree change in the air temp during a cold start will radically alter the MPG average over short journeys.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Ahhh... learn something new everyday. Well someone (i forget their name) is selling a lambda probe on here to me for £25 quid. Im gonna take it off his hands and fit it. See if it helps.