Is my car fcuked

[SKoob]

I have a 1.2 Nova. It starts firt flick and ticks over perfectly, it is ok to drive round town, but once i get on the open road and floor it, it feels likes its holding back and then eventually cuts out. I took it to a garage, they say its got problems with the 4th cylinder, but i think its just petrol related. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix.

[Stuart]

like i said before, if you buy tescos fuel, dont do it again lol

get a fuel system cleaner in there

oh and give yout ht leads a changing.

should be ok then

[SKoob]

I put new plugs in(the goon b4 had wrong size plugs in) and put new HT leads on, made fcuk all diff though :(

[Aragorn]

carb icing???

if your running a standard airbox make sure the hot air pickup is still in place

if its a k&n then you'll need to rig out some kinda hot air feed to stop it freezing

[Stuart]

at this time of year?? i doubt icing is the problem lol

[Aragorn]

never rule it out tho

[SKoob]

It was even doing it on the really hot days we been having, so i don't thnk it is the carb icing :S. Wud getting an sp injection system off a 1.2 be a performance increase or decrease?

[Chris LR]

decrease....

Give your can a proper good tune-up(service), spend as much money on parts as you can afford. Adjust everything to be spot on and then see what happens

[SKoob]

I took it to the garage to have all the carb and timing etc setup and they said it made no difference and that its got problems with the 4th cyinder, trouble is my mum was the one who spoke to them, so they didn't tell her much, just "its got a problem with the 4th cylinder". I dunoo if they mean its down on comprssion or what.... :S

[Aragorn]

decrease.. not neccesarily:

running the carb head rather than the restricted SPi one as well as the carb's cat-less exhaust and carb camshaft it would prolly be the same give or take a few horses

assuming its setup correctly there is really no reason it would be less powerful - the restrictions GM placed on the engine can be removed - and are removed when fitting it to a carbed engine

the only issue would be ur gonna need to spend a lot of time fecking around with the wiring loom to get all the useless bits out - or transplant the entire car loom to your motor - might be easier in the long run

as a side note - 1.2i 8v corsas have been known to hit 80-90bhp with some hefty modifications so the system aint totally shite

[bob]

my old 1400 had a similar problem to this, it kept cutting out cos a wire from the ignition to the coil was damaged- dunno if that will be your problem tho, its a maybe :?
You could try getting it tuned/set up? its well worth the pennies!!!

[SKoob]

Its just odd the way on the way over to work it was fine, then on the way home it was really s**t :S

[SKoob]

Whats the top speeds ppl get in gears? I was doing 50mph in second quite alot and its only a 4 speed box, but i my m8 jamie who has a 1.2 merit nova saloon gets 40mph :S do u think i've blown my engine up?

[Stuart]

1.2 carbed was 55bhp (or 53 with a 12nv) and the 1.2i was 45bhp.

go to a different garage (without yer mum) and tell them in honest term what youve experienced.

i recon it will be a fuel and or jet (in the carb) problem. this is easy and reasonably cheap to sort.

if cylinder 4 was fooked then it wouldnt drive right at all so the slow speed driving would be an issue too!!!

the garage you went to was trying to do you over mate.

[SKoob]

me dad said if the engine is fcuked, he will get a 1.3 astra eninge and 5 speed gearbox and grind engine number off. So i won't have to inform insurance

[mikeoxford]

me dad said if the engine is fcuked, he will get a 1.3 astra eninge and 5 speed gearbox and grind engine number off. So i won't have to inform insurance

good idea - but come time to sell the car or if you get pulled by the police - how do you explain that one?

just grind the model number off if your gonna do anything like that, but even then it a bit dodgy. just leave alone! stil dont have to tell them!

[Aragorn]

50mph in second is ~5800-6000rpm

fast but not stupidly fast

the rev limiter on the SPi engines comes in at 6200rpm which u can just about squeeze 55mph in second and a bitty over 70 in third

the MPi units have thier limiters set to 6800 so u should be fine

just dont take it there EVERY time your in second - u will wreck the engine in no time

and as for the saloon - he's either got a dodgy speedo or is just not keeping the pedal down long enough :P

[ade]

whats it like wqater/oil wose and is it smoking?

I reckon the heads slightly warped which might explain why it only does it when on long fast journeys - engine gets hotter than if idling round town - short journeys

Like i saidf in prev post - if yer doing 50 in second your mad and youve prob put the engine under emmense pressure for so long the best you can hope for is busted head gasket.

If garage are saying its 4th cylinder get them to do a compression test on it. That'll tell you.

Just before it cuts out what does it sound like? does it sound like its misfiring, all juddery, budumbudumbudumbudum etc... (say it fast in a deep voice for idea). And when you stop (and it doesnt cut out) does it idle reatically sort of berdum berdum berdum berdum.

If its number 4 cylinder and it happens next time, try removing the HT lead from number 4 and see what it does to the engine note?

Bet it doesnt change

I'd get a new engine - THEN DECLARE IT TO THE INSURANCE - 1.3 5 speed wont make slightest bit of diff to insurance - depends on age and who fits it mind - insurance may ask for engineers report...

Then learn to change gear at a lower rev range (2500 - 3000) - may not be rapid acceleration but in a 1.2/1.3 its fast enuff and at least yer engine will last longer and save you fuel (aswell as cost of getting a new engine)

Ade
:roll:

Ade

[Aragorn]

im sorry but driving the car around in 2000-3000 rev range will do nowt but clog it up with carbon and shite

4000 to 4500 rpm will do no harm to the engine and it infact around the most common RPM for a lot of driving including motorways (look at the rev counter in most cars on a motorway cruise and you'll find its around 4k)

find a town/city car owned by a granny and give it some boot and i garuntee youll get plumes of shite out the exhaust cos its that clogged up with crap from driving to the shops and back at 2000rpm

imfact im sure someone on here - possibly dicko - done that to a relatives car and was the same script

6000rpm occasionally wont harm it as long as its maintained properly and donestn have ancient oil or shit in it
6000rpm all the time will kill it relativly quickly - but even then - it will prolly last a good 10000miles being driven like that if not more :twisted:

[Nova-Boy]

60 in second 60 in second! Come on you can do it! (once or twice then your engine will blow up!!) :lol:

The brake servo is connected to the 4th cyclinder. If it is drawing air in through there then like mine was it wont fire on the 4th cylinder. And your brakes will be crap!!

[rgv_stu]

forget compression / 4th cylinder problem
if its ok in town or short journeys then that aint a problem
if it was that bad it would be crap all the time and would be hard to start

i reckon by the description fuel starvation. check fuel lines / fuel pump / filters etc. blocked tank vent can cause this too.

[ade]

I stand corrected.

:|

All I was saying was that if (by the sounds of it) hes ragging it about the place - taking it to the limit on regular invtervanl it aint gonna do it amny good. Granted if motorway driving then it will sit at high revs but what he seems to be doing is HARD acceleration - regularly.

This surely cant be good - over a period of time.

[SKoob]

Its a bit smokey, and i have got it back from the garage, they have told me that its dwn on compression on the 4th cylinder, and they suspect its piston rings. They adjusted the timing and setup the carb and it seems to be like it was b4 the problem. :D