power loss

[rado mc 0]

hi, i've had my 16v for about 4 years now (1.8 1991)its been brilliant despite usual things going wrong. however it's recently lost its 'go' it struggles to rev past 5k rpm and past 75-80mph it feels like its a 1.1 with 50 bhp not a 1.8. i had the distributor turned clockwise about 5mm and it made a great difference but that was about a month ago but now almost like overnight its slumped back to slow mode were it struggles to pull out of road ends etc like its starved of something, checked air and checked fuel, both are coming through ok. new spark plugs 3 months ago, new air filter etc. mechanic has briefly looked over but couldn't find anything and tried various things to get it going. I'm thinking ECU but not sure? i did plough through a big puddle a few days before it went wrong and wondered if that was the culprit.... any help/advice much appreciated as people are trying to make me buy a ford probe and such like!! :(

[db82 0]

i have a similar problem when my valver is cold, once the engine has heated the problem goes away. any ideas peeps? sorry to hyjack the thread, but sounds like it could be similar problems

[mattkh 0]

I did plough through a big puddle a few days before it went wrong

Hi

How high did the water come up ? Did you look under the bonnet to see which bits looked damp ?

[rado mc 0]

Puddle was on passenger side, it spluttered to a halt but re-started 3-4 mins later fortunately as engine was already warm. so never bothered to look under bonnet.

 

Regarding when its cold, its usually fine but recently it struggles to move when you engage 1st. esp if its on a slope.

A hill it would normally take in 5th about 35-40 easily, its now having to be dropped to 2nd just to keep momentum :confused4:

[mattkh 0]

Hi

Is it a k-jetronic ignition engine ?

I would dry/clean out the battery earth and the starter/solenoid connections and the inside of the dizzy as they are on the passenger side.

[rado mc 0]

thanks for advice, its been a very frustrating time, but fortunately i have a very good father-in-law/mechanic. who ended up having the car left at his. not wanting to beaten he stuck at it periodically throughout the week and has found the problem. whoever fitted the cambelt last hadn't tightned the cog enough it goes round on the end of the crankshaft (behind the twin pulleys). there's a notch on the inside of this and that had worn to almost nothing and if it had gone completely would have been just like a cam belt failure, app i was 'very lucky'. this threw out the timing and killed power despite the markers reading it was spot! :brickwall:

hope this can helps anyone else who has had similar probs and tried everything else.

[mattkh 0]

whoever fitted the cambelt last hadn't tightned the cog

Hi

The cog does not need to come off to do a cambelt change, surely.

Glad it is sorted.

[Supercharged 2]

Yeah, they shouldn't have touched the crank pulley bolt to do a belt change, people do this becuase the other pulley and vibration damper get seized together and they think they are one. muppets!

[rado mc 0]

i'm not to technical sorry, all i know is what i was told and got the cog handed to me with smeared remains of this notch. just wasn't on tight app.

feels great now and shifts :D despite sounding burbly and jolty when cold then idles at just over 1k when warm. hopefully will be just a few adjustments to the throttle etc after that and everything else got molested and adjusted in search of original problem :scratch: