Lack of power, checked almost everything

[R3k1355]

because it will sound different if someone's got induction and/or exhaust mods, or they use a s**t phone, or place the microphone in a different location, or they have s**t noisy tyres, or driving on a s**t road.

IMO it won't tell you f**k-all, unless yours can't pull through the rev range properly or something.

 

[mace¬]

Do you live in the Himalayas? High altitude will reduce the power.

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

Haha no.
R3k none of those parameters are relevant for the comparison because 2000 rpm will always have the same musical note to it, but a video will be much easier to work with.
Either way any of those would really help me.

 

[497adam]

This thread get better and better

 

[497adam]

Do you live in the Himalayas? High altitude will reduce the power.

You know hat the best vehicle is in the Himalayas?

 

[497adam]

LDV SHERPA!

 

[Dan@SJM]

If i lack power or not. I will record too and compare. Not sure why you asked.

I can take 5 different cars out and all 5 will give different results. It will tell you f**k all. I've told you for the past 3 months that you've been posting about your issues that it's timing EVERY SINGLE TIME. Just because you have incompetent mechanics out there and no one to check it properly you're assuming it's correct. And on that note, I give up, I wish you good luck in finding your issue.

 

[NorthloopCup]

I can take 5 different cars out and all 5 will give different results. It will tell you f**k all. I've told you for the past 3 months that you've been posting about your issues that it's timing EVERY SINGLE TIME. Just because you have incompetent mechanics out there and no one to check it properly you're assuming it's correct. And on that note, I give up, I wish you good luck in finding your issue.

So to summarise? Lol

 

[Dan@SJM]

Stop wasting everyone's time and listen to what your told.

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

What about fuel pressure, partial throttle opening, incorrect ignition timeing, fuel mixture, brakes binding and so on... Very professional to say its timing without seeing the car.
I didnt even confirm the car lacks power in a proper way. Obviously i want to know all the options after checking timing once .
Easy to jump and say im wasting time.
Also if 1 car takes for example15 secs for 20-80 and mine takes 20 secs under similar conditions mine is obviously wrong, if mine takes 16 secs it means little to no power loss. Not rocket sience.

 

[dangerous dave]

Trolling?

 

[497adam]

I thought this was a wind up from the start

 

[ADS_V6]

deffo trolling thread

 

[N4TH4N]

Get timing checked some how..

/close.

 

[Dan@SJM]

What about fuel pressure, partial throttle opening, incorrect ignition timeing, fuel mixture, brakes binding and so on... Very professional to say its timing without seeing the car.
I didnt even confirm the car lacks power in a proper way. Obviously i want to know all the options after checking timing once .
Easy to jump and say im wasting time.
Also if 1 car takes for example15 secs for 20-80 and mine takes 20 secs under similar conditions mine is obviously wrong, if mine takes 16 secs it means little to no power loss. Not rocket sience.

I'm the specialist. You're the person complaining of poor performance, poor idle, weird exhaust note. I see these literally every day and can spot a car with timing out a mile off. You apparently seem to question everything else except the route cause.

Btw, incorrect ignition timing and fuel mixture, both controlled by the ecu, most common cause for those? Have a guess!

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

Dan, if there's something else to check such as the options I mentioned, which could be tested free by myself\very cheaply (fuel pressure for example), that would be my first direction, as I'm clueless where to get another timing test, and still somehow trust the mechanics who did despite of the bad experience I had personally, as they are getting very good reviews from many french car owners. I'm sure you can understand why I want to cover every possible cause.
Thanks for your help.

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

...

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

You come from Luton.

Its literally the crotch of Europe.

 

[masekwm]

If you're in Luton, drive to MK go to Beaniesport and ask them to check the timing.

 

[STEVE.M]

You come from Luton.

Its literally the crotch of Europe.

That`s overstating Luton`s role in Europe,but I dare say we could spare a few Poles to prop up your economy.

I`ve always admired someone who can give a quick comeback,but 5 days really does not cut the cloth.

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

I only just seen you were being a c**t an hour ago, but hey ho.

 

[MicKPM]

Trolling?

Rob Barrington pretending to be from other countries now #Stromba'd

 

[paul806]

Very professional to say its timing without seeing the car.

You've asked for advice and are refusing to take on board what you've received back.

People are giving you their time to offer help, not acting as professionals - after all, you're not paying for the expertise of those who are trying to get you to acknowledge what they're advising. How can you question the professionalism of someone who hasn't been anywhere near your car?

 

[nd-photo.nl]

My video, check from about 0:40 seconds. Although I also dont believe it will help you, but judge for yourself (Custom CAI, no middle silencer, steel Elia backbox).

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

Hi,
Been to another garage, checked the timing with me, the tool slides in perfectly.
Fuel pressure 3.5 bar , stable at load. Lambda reads from 0.1 to 0.85 (idle). MAP reading at idle was good (around 450 IIRC). Throttle opens fully.
Ignition advanced goes up to 60+ on load - They say it's normal, can someone confirm ? About 10-15 at idle.
We did get a fault code regarding the VVT solenoid - the connector is a bit broken, we replaced it and went for a drive, no codes were recorded.
BTW the exhaust is smoking white\blue smoke, smells like oil according to the mechanic but I have a decat. I'm not losing much oil, less than 1 liter per 7000km (~4400 miles) and even less antifreeze, so not sure what it's smoking...
Can anyone suggest anything else ? maybe it's just a weak engine ?
I don't like this sort of comparisons but I did lose to a menage coupe 96, I know the car and it's all stock. We both had good launches, the difference wasn't just at the launch.

 

[R3k1355]

It's going to have to be a rolling road by the sounds of it, even if it doesn't give a decent power figure the AFR graph might point to something?

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

RR can only show evidence to the obvious problem ... So forgetting the fact it's very expensive here, requires 4 hours of driving, and is pretty unreliable, I think the smartest route now is to find if there's anything left to check. If yes I'll check it, If not I'll know to give up.

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

Might have found a lead - disconnected the VVT solenoid connector - no difference in power. Could be the solenoid disfunctioning or not getting power from the ECU ? How do I check this ?

 

[Dan@SJM]

It should have 12v, then the ecu switches it low side.

Did they check the crank as well? As that's half the battle getting the pin in the correct hole.

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

not sure, I followed only the part where you insert the tool that checks the alignment between the two things that you put the plastic caps on, as I'm unfamiliar with the rest of the process.
Took the VVT solenoid out, powered it with 12V and it seems to work - the inside moves about 6-7mm. Put it back and checked the power it's getting from the plug - no power. Revved to 2.5k rpm (in neutral of course) and still 0. Checked power at the battery to make sure my volt meter is good. Engine was at 90 degrees.
Am I right to say there's an ecu\wiring problem ? Maybe it's supposed to get power only when in gear ?

 

[R3k1355]

Jack the front up so both wheels are in the air and rev it to 2.5K in gear to see.
Obviously make sure the car is properly supported, don't want it slipping off and tearing off down the road.

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

Can't jack up only the front on this car, if I don't have a choice I will go to a garage to have it on a lift.
Does anyone know if it's safe to hotwire the VVT solenoid to be powered on constantly ?
I'm not concerned about rough idle, but I am concerned why it stops at 6800 rpm (or so) - can it do any damage after that rpm ? Any other side effect I'm not aware of ?
Tried to hotwire it to see if there's a differnce, gave it a few attempts and I believe I can feel a difference when it's on, but could only get 0-100 in 8 secs with a perfect launch - the same as it was before. I believe most of the power loss is at lower rpm, so 0-100 doesn't reflect this (thanks to the wheel spin at launch).
So still any other leads are very welcome.

 

[Chrisgti6]

It really needs diagnosing by someone with CLIP. General code readers aren't accurate enough to isolate the problem. It does sound like you have an issue with power to the VVT solenoid, however tracing that fault is going to be hard without the correct tools for the job. If theirs no power going to it then it won't be activating, meaning you will be down on power.

You could trace the wires back to the source, and check for any breaks, but I don't know anything about the setup in a 1*2 so can't say where any of the wiring is.

Blue smoke is normally oil being burned, so that also needs addressing. It could be a tired engine (rings maybe, or just valve stem seals), but that wouldn't account for the VVT not working, which seems to be the main issue here.

EDIT: Out of interest, why can you not jack the front of the car up?

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

When you jack the front side the rear goes up as well so you need 4 jack stands, not sure if there's a safe point to jack from the front, but either way it seems too dangerous with a trolly jack.

 

[Chrisgti6]

When you jack the front side the rear goes up as well so you need 4 jack stands, not sure if there's a safe point to jack from the front, but either way it seems too dangerous with a trolly jack.

Not sure if serious?

As soon as you jack the other side it will put the first rear wheel back on the ground. Most cars do this if you jack them high enough. Hell - even my Volvo does it!

2 jack/axle stands is all you need.

 

[R3k1355]

So whats the car like to drive with the VVT solenoid disconnected?

 

[Dan@SJM]

It won't idle with the vvt solenoid engaged constantly

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

R3K - nothing fancy, I'm wasn't sure if the difference was placebo.
Tested the VVT voltage while driving , it goes to 13-14v when I accelerate so it's ok.
Now Dan you made me think maybe there's another problem with the VVT system ? when I hot-wired mine, idle was normal (around 800 rpm).
I just watched a video of some toyota with the VVTI system stuck on, and it does idle at high rpm.
Does it point to a fault in the VVT system if it does idle normally with it stuck on ?

 

[Dan@SJM]

It *COULD* be an oil blockage to the dephaser.

 

[Ex-User (107751)]

Any reliable way to diagnose this ?
First to see if the VVT is working, if I measure something like 20-80mph in third gear and get very similar results with the solenoid plugged and unplugged, should I assume there's a problem with the VVT ?
What's the next step if I confirm the VVT it dysfunctioning ? The engine was recently flushed btw, but the VVT system wasn't active during the flush as I didn't drive it (and I just confirmed vvt isn't activated at low throttle position, even cursing at 3000 rpm in second gear).